Chapter 203: Who said desert people can't make money?

Compared to Luo De.

Kantisi, Dixiya, and Cyno are a bit slower in speed.

When they arrived.

Luo De had already straightforwardly signed a contract with Albedo to hire Klee for the Blasting Team.

Of course.

Klee couldn't possibly go alone.

Albedo, as guardian, also needs to come along.

"How did you hire such a little guy?"

"You didn't say before that hiring child labor is illegal?"

On the way back, Dixiya asked puzzledly.

As soon as this was said.

The accompanying Cyno and Kantisi also looked over.

Speaking of this matter.

Sumeru previously allowed hiring child labor, and many shops, to save costs, would even specially hire some kids to run errands.

Wages were low.

Moreover, kids running errands inevitably encounter various mishaps, and one can take the opportunity to deduct some.

Later, after Nadixa took office.

They specifically amended this law, no longer allowing the employment of child labor, and explicitly stipulated that employing child labor is illegal; if caught, lightly they'd be fined and required to rectify, severely they'd have to spend a few days in jail.

Before Luo De could answer Dixiya's question.

Cyno spoke for him first: "Sumeru's laws don't apply to Mondstadt people; are you trying to say this?"

A rather far-fetched reason.

After all, Luo De's identity remains in Sumeru; if investigated further, his employment contract with Klee would still be illegal.

However, Luo De now in Sumeru can also be called powerful and influential.

Especially among the desert folk residing in Hope City, his prestige even surpasses that of Nadixa, the god stationed there.

No one would dare to easily come find fault with him.

Just because no one finds fault doesn't mean Luo De wants to give people a handle over such a trivial matter.

No matter how you say it.

Regardless of how unwilling he may be, he has now become a prominent figure in Sumeru; not leading by example, he wantonly tramples the laws set by the Dendro Archon, which is tantamount to stabbing Nadixa in the back, which is not good for him, Nadixa, or Sumeru.

Thus his personal answer is as follows.

"Who told you I signed an employment contract with Klee?"

Saying this, Luo De shook out a contract.

At the signature spot, there were neatly written the three characters 'Albedo'?

Cyno: '???'

Dixiya: 'Ha—ah?'

Kantisi: '.'

"Albedo is Klee's guardian."

"If I were to sign an employment contract, I would also look for him."

"Albedo is the one who goes to blast the mountain; Klee is just a kid who follows him."

Luo De spread his hands: "The kid himself mischievously blew up the mountain; can that be blamed on me?"

This is no wordplay.

What Luo De hired is indeed Albedo.

Indeed, this Klee, just like her mother, is someone who can't control their hands when playing with explosives.

No one knows how many times Mondstadt's city gates have been blown up by Klee's mother.

Therefore Luo De specially asked Albedo to come and be responsible for calculating the explosive amount and placement, letting Klee only handle the final detonation.

This way the safety of blasting the mountain is guaranteed, Klee can also enjoy herself to the fullest, best of both worlds, right?

As for the deeper considerations of this employment contract.

It's relying on this blasting mountain affair to drag things out, so Albedo will have to stay in Sumeru for a while longer.

Venti said so.

Albedo personally is still willing to share his mastered alchemy with the Academy, but since he can't leave Mondstadt either, according to the schedule, after reaching a cooperation agreement with the Dendro Archon, he will return together with Kaeya and Diluc, unable to stay too long.

In order to let him stay longer.

Luo De had long thought of letting Klee unleash her blasting talent, so that even if Albedo wanted to leave, he couldn't leave quickly and could only stay in Hope City.

By then, let Nadixa arrange some Plain Talk Faction elites to follow along; during the blasting process they can also gain experience, without delaying other matters.

Luo De and the others finally managed to gather together.

It just happened to be mealtime.

Under Luo De's slogan 'People are iron, rice is steel, miss a meal and you'll panic,' Dixiya and the others didn't object, and the four went together to a nearby open-air snack stall near the Academy branch.

If we talk about what is most abundant in Hope City now.

That naturally is various snack stalls.

Especially that kind where different types of dishes are separated on plates, so when eating you can put a bit of each onto an iron plate in a self-serve style; not only in Hope City, but throughout Sumeru it is now extremely popular.

This novel business model.

Originated from A Ru Cun.

It originated from a dinner that Luo De hosted for the Blaze Light Beast Hunters.

That unlucky guy who initially saved Luo De but got punched by Luo De, after finishing that meal at Luo De's house, he clung to Luo De, made an otherworldly recipe book, and then chose to quit the Blaze Light Beast Hunters.

Talking about this is still a bit embarrassing.

At that time Luo De really didn't think that much.

Originally his relationship with the Blaze Light Beast Hunters was good; when that guy came to ask for the recipe, Luo De thought he was just greedy, wanting to make something tasty for himself.

Unexpectedly he switched careers to open a restaurant.

Moreover, once opened, business boomed; within less than a year, he had opened outlets in all big and small towns of Sumeru, thanks to low prices, many varieties, plus Luo De's recipe book that belongs nowhere in Teyvat, giving it an excellent reputation and making it popular among commoners.

Thus when eating.

Dixiya had only taken a few bites when she seemingly resentfully said: "Ah, the cook of our Blaze Light Beast Hunters is just good."

"Er, hehehe—"

Luo De couldn't help but let out an awkward laugh.

"You still have a head chef, right? Just let him cook for you from now on."

Kantisi also broke from her usual seriousness and teased with a sentence.

"That's right."

Sahno also not willing to be outdone chimed in: "My junior disciple's cooking is great, he's also capable, his jokes are better than mine; with him around, why worry about lacking a good cook?"

Indeed from his words, everyone present could sense a hint of resentment.

That is indeed correct.

Sahno now, whenever he runs into Luo De, is full of resentment.

No other reason.

Since the last time Luo De thwarted him in his forte of deadpan jokes, whenever he feels the urge to tell a deadpan joke, he involuntarily recalls the scene where Luo De froze him with a deadpan joke.

Therefore, he even went to Juleish to seek scriptures, painstakingly practicing new jokes for a long time, preparing to avenge his previous humiliation.

As a result, Luo De simply didn't engage.

This left Sahno feeling vexed and also gradually losing interest in telling deadpan jokes.

Therefore how could he possibly have no resentment toward Luo De!

It's just that his subtle remarks have no effect on Luo De at all.

Not only did it have no effect, Luo De even said with a smug grin: "That's right, my cooking is universally acknowledged; you haven't had it in a while, have you? Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll let you properly recall my skills."

The atmosphere instantly became cheerful.

However, after the few of them merely chatted briefly about their recent situations, they began to discuss the main topic.

"I've received news that Lahman will arrive in a few days."

"He's coming back together with Tadela and the others."

"Do you really have a way to persuade him?"

"The mercenary circle's news, the first-hand fastest information Dixiya obtained."

"Persuading him is still no problem."

Luo De is very confident about this.

Lahman's reaction speed is much slower than expected.

Earlier, when Dixiya went to unify the mercenary groups, she had originally planned to, after eliminating the remnants of the God King, go find this Hope City Manager appointed by Luo De.

But later Luo De discovered that his reputation in the desert was problematic, so he called off this plan.

During this period.

After Tadela and the others wiped out the tribes that had damaged Luo De's reputation, plus the construction of Hope City, Luo De's reputation in the desert improved considerably.

At the very least.

Finally someone said that he is truly the Red King's Divine Envoy, serving the Dendro Archon, and that he bows down only so that the Red King's people can live better lives.

Some of these rumors about him state facts, while others are overly beautified through packaging.

Luo De doesn't really care about these matters, letting the rumors spread outward.

The power of rumors.

He has experienced this in both Mondstadt and Sumeru.

Negative rumors can severely damage one's image, but positive rumors can likewise make a complete stranger feel favorably toward oneself.

His previous image was already bad enough.

Now someone is voluntarily spreading a good reputation for him, which is a good thing.

That's about all there is to say regarding the mercenaries.

After discussing Lahman, Kantisi moved on to the topic of the Red King believers in A Ru Cun.

"The radical Red King believers and the tribesmen have had another clash these past two days."

When saying this, Kantisi felt quite helpless.

This is a very difficult contradiction to mediate.

Luo De had also told Nadixa before that it could only be smoothed over gradually with time.

What they can do now is merely, through Sumeru's laws and Hope City's regulations, allow these two faith factions to barely maintain peace without conflict.

"I saw that."

There's no need to say; Luo De could see it as soon as he entered the city.

Now the Red King believers and the tribesmen live and work in separate areas, each maintaining an attitude of never interacting with the other; anyway, you build your stuff, I'll build mine.

For example, the tribesmen are now actively participating in building settlements, reclaiming land, constructing breeding farms, and building sandbreak forests; the moderate Red King believers do roughly the same, whereas the radical faction's first act is to expend their limited resources to erect a Red King idol and then provocatively position it facing the Pure Virtue Palace.

"Or maybe I just ate too much."

This is Luo De's comment on that.

Compared to the destitute tribal people who came to Hope City seeking hope for survival, this group that followed Kantisi to Hope City as Red King believers all had some savings.

The money for building the Red King statue was also paid by them themselves.

This was something Luo De had previously promised them, so no one raised objections about it; even though they were so provocative toward Nadixa, no one bothered to blame them.

But it was such a waste of precious manpower and resources on a stone statue.

This left the radical faction far behind in early resource allocation—not only was land distribution far inferior to that of the tribal people and the moderates, but job positions were also much fewer.

In Hope City now, where everyone is just kicking their heels, it's surprising that there could be no work.

That's also rather ironic.

But the radical faction didn't blame themselves; instead they blamed Luo De's favoritism and those clueless tribal people.

Although after a lesson they dare not openly fight, behind-the-scenes tripping and quarrels are still inevitable.

This also gave Sai Nuo's wind‑machine team and the thirty‑person city‑defense squad a lot of trouble.

"The temporary jail is almost full."

Sai Nuo complained, then gulped down a big mouthful of rice.

He boasted that his fearsome reputation among the desert people was notorious, and ordinary desert folk would flee at the sight of him.

He never expected that this notoriety would now be useless.

These radicals really ignore him, and even dare to openly scold him.

"There's nothing we can do."

Regarding Sai Nuo's worries, Luo De could only shrug and say, "After all, this place practices a law‑based society; violent enforcement simply won't work."

"Sigh."

Sai Nuo felt a bit down; even the food in his bowl wasn't appetizing, so he put down his spoon and complained, "I'm exhausted—more tired than chasing fugitives in the desert. If I'd known, I wouldn't have listened to the teacher and come help you."

"The teacher didn't say you'd also come help me."

Luo De chuckled: "I've come up with a good way to quickly resolve this over the past couple of days—want to give it a try?"

"Oh?"

As soon as he said that, the three of them perked up, leaned in together, and listened seriously to Luo De's words.

About how to resolve the conflict between these two factions.

Luo De's method is very simple.

That is to incorporate both the tribal people and the Red King believers into Hope City's management system.

It's a very simple and easy‑to‑implement method.

Yet it made everyone present frown.

"Can they manage it?"

On this matter, all three have a say.

Dixiya has traveled much in the desert and seen the tribal people's ignorance and backwardness; even if they have knowledge, they would struggle to bear the responsibility of city management.

Especially now, the tribal people who have come to Hope City to make a living are mostly from small tribes, with over ninety‑nine percent illiterate.

Putting them in management posts would not be a challenge for them—it would purely add chaos.

These Red King believers from A Ru Cun, however, are not bad—at least they've been educated, some even held minor authority in the village, and taking on not‑too‑important posts would be fine.

Sai Nuo's point of entry is different.

He isn't worried about whether these two groups have the ability to manage their own areas; he worries that if they become coworkers, they might trip each other up, undermine each other, and ultimately hinder the work.

Regarding their respective concerns.

Luo De laughed and said, "What I mean is, let the tribal people manage the Red King believers, and let the Red King believers manage the tribal people."

"Huh?"

At first hearing it sounded utterly unbelievable, but soon Dixiya and the other two understood what Luo De meant.

"Should we also add performance evaluation?"

Kantisi recalled the management scheme Luo De had devised earlier in A Ru Cun.

It was a plan that left a deep impression on Kantisi.

Back then, relying on this zoning administration and setting a time limit for performance assessment greatly reduced the burden on Kantisi and Uncle Anpu when managing the village.

"Hmm."

"Let's divide the two groups' settlements into zones, with the tribal people and Red King believers each managing their own communities, using the presence of hospitals, schools, security departments, etc., as the standard for division—not forcing a neat grid like drawing a picture, but dividing according to what is suitable for habitation."

"The person in charge of community management must be from a different tribe than the settlement."

"With a three‑month limit, using livelihood surveys and income levels as the assessment criteria."

"We must set up a generous reward mechanism that benefits the whole community—for example, in budget allocation, or as a bonus for community‑wide progress."

Luo De articulated his idea word by word, and the three fell into contemplation.

Hope City's design and planning is that of a very large city.

Compared to a huge city.

Actually, not many people live here; the main income also comes from the wages paid by the Academy, and other means of creating wealth are limited to opening a restaurant or a blacksmith shop hammering iron.

If we follow Luo De's distribution plan, it would severely test the community heads' ability to generate wealth and drive locals to earn money.

"That's not very fair."

Thinking of this, Dixiya shook her head and said, "The desert folk simply don't have the money‑making experience that those old hands from A Ru Cun do."

Luo De retorted, "Does having experience make it useful?"

"."

"Then."

In Dixiya's thoughtful expression, Luo De said: "If placed elsewhere, I definitely wouldn't allocate it this way, but in Hope City, in this just-started city, everyone has unlimited and equal opportunities."

Yes, the people of A Ru Cun are more experienced in making money.

Then what?

Can they continue using the same set of money-making ways from A Ru Cun—hunting, doing business, farming?

So...

Don't dwell on who has more experience; here, everyone's opportunities are the same.

Luo De chuckled and concluded with a vivid example: "A mercenary who only knows brute force and can barely read a few characters can think of a way to make money after a meal, going from a lowly mercenary to a prominent figure in the catering industry in one fell swoop—who could say that uneducated desert folk are worse at making money than others?"

He finished speaking.

A silence fell.

Whether Kantisi, Dixiya, or Sai Nuo, they all stared blankly at their bowls and plates, pondering the information in Luo De's words.

(End of chapter)