Chapter 52: Very Principled Dolly

No matter how angry Dolly gets.

Dolly still followed Luo De to his experimental field, personally watching him direct people to plant each of the date palm trees he had bought.

This also aroused some interest in Dolly, who had still been angry.

Planting date palms in the desert is indeed quite popular.

Any tribe or village capable of finding a settlement will plant date palms.

But no one had ever planted date palms like Luo De, spacing them at regular intervals and arranging them neatly to form a structure resembling a tree wall.

Interesting.

This was something not written in Luo De's plan; Dolly blinked her eyes and finally felt that the trip wasn't in vain.

For the windbreak forest, Luo De simply chose mature trees in a crude and simple manner.

To ensure these mature trees retain sufficient vitality after transplantation.

After the mature trees were planted.

Luo De deliberately scattered a circle of Fertility Blessing under each tree.

The relatively more fragile saplings received the same treatment.

Dolly watched and took note.

She did not criticize Luo De for wasting precious Fertility Blessing on these vigorous date palms; instead, she carefully recorded each of his current steps.

A tree wall to block wind and sand?

That is indeed a novel approach.

Sharp-eyed Dolly instantly saw Luo De's idea behind arranging the date palms this way.

If it works well.

We'll market the date palms this way in the future.

Dolly watched while stroking her chin, pondering.

Date palms aren't valuable.

Date palm saplings aren't valuable either.

Moreover, transplanting them is very troublesome and consumes a lot of manpower and material resources.

Like this time she sent date palms to Luo De, the shipping and labor costs incurred were several times the value of the date palms themselves.

But mere talk isn't proof.

We still need to let these tree walls withstand a sandstorm to see how effective they are.

If they work well against wind and sand, then we'll have a selling point when promoting date palms in the future.

Dolly nodded in satisfaction.

Although she was angry at Luo De's place to the point her stomach still hurts, now seeing his little surprise, Dolly has much more anticipation for his upcoming demonstration.

It took one day.

A preliminary windbreak forest now looks the part.

Will you go back to Kawanyi today?

Or stay at A Ru Cun?

Seeing Dolly had no intention of leaving, Luo De asked with a smile.

Standing in the middle of the windbreak forest, the cold wind that had begun to rage again with nightfall was now considerably weakened.

Although it couldn't completely block wind and sand.

But this now feeble cool breeze brushing over the face actually made one feel quite comfortable.

In response to Luo De's question, Dolly replied, "Staying at your place!"

Oh.

That works too.

Today it's also dark; let's finish the rest tomorrow.

Luo De glanced at Dolly's guards, raised his chin and said, "What about them? I can't accommodate that many people here, and besides, I haven't prepared enough food for them to eat."

As the wealthiest merchant in Sumeru, Dolly naturally brings sufficient guards when she travels personally to protect herself.

Luo De merely glanced casually.

He discovered at least five guards bearing Visions, not to mention the guards stationed outside the village who didn't show up here.

Such a guard force.

Even placed before the Academy's hired thirty-person team, it is not inferior.

It appears.

In this regard of protecting herself, Dolly is still willing to spend money.

Tsk—

On the other hand, in response to Luo De's stingy remarks, Dolly snorted angrily: "They'll stay at the inn in A Ru Cun; you don't need to worry about them."

Hehe, then it's settled.

Luo De, satisfied, extended his hand to invite.

Luo De's reception dinner for Dolly was quite simple.

Stewed meat with sunset fruit, stir-fried leafy greens, and a large bowl of mushroom soup.

Huh?

Your cooking isn't bad, huh?

Dolly took a bite, smacked her lips in praise, then said, "Did you study cooking in Liyue?"

The traditional preparation of Sumeru cuisine is nothing more than stewing, grilling, and cold tossing.

It's rare to have occasion to use such a cooking skill.

Just now, while Luo De was cooking, Duo Li watched from the side for a while.

From Luo De's skilled technique, she easily deduced that his cooking was not learned in Sumeru.

"More or less."

Luo De wasn't in the mood to reveal his transmigrator identity to Duo Li, so he gave a vague answer.

"What do you mean 'more or less'?"

"Hmph."

"If you don't want to say, then don't."

Duo Li also couldn't be bothered to argue about it; seeing Luo De unwilling to speak, she let it go.

Afterward.

Duo Li then turned her gaze to Ke Lai, who was eating while still reading.

"Hey, this little girl is quite studious."

The book Ke Lai was reading was the *Teyvat Literacy Compendium*, and seeing it, Duo Li couldn't help but feel surprised.

In the desert.

Such a diligent, eager-to-learn child is not often seen.

Unexpectedly.

Ke Lai's reply, however, was: "If you finish the practice problems and get them all right, you can earn an extra milk candy."

"Milk candy?"

Duo Li raised an eyebrow, feeling some curiosity about the milk candy Ke Lai mentioned.

Just how delicious must this candy be to give a desert dweller such strong motivation to study?

Luo De saw her doubt, took out a milk candy from his pocket, placed it on the table and pushed it over: "Here, this is it."

An unwrapped, milky-white candy.

Duo Li first turned it over and over to examine it, then held it to her nose to smell it, before finally putting it in her mouth to taste.

"Mmm—"

"Hmm—"

"The taste is okay, there are a few flaws, but it's passable; the texture is quite novel—did you make it yourself?"

Unlike Dixiya and Ke Lai, who could find no fault, Duo Li's palate is obviously much more discerning; after just one piece she pointed out many flaws.

Such as the sugar not being cooked long enough, too much cream added, the milk added at the wrong time, and so on.

"The recipe is not bad; if you added some fruit juice or something here, the flavor could be even richer."

"What else can be said?"

Luo De had nothing to say.

All one can say is that she truly lives up to being Sumeru's richest person—her experience and knowledge are truly beyond what ordinary people can match.

He could even now foresee the sight of a milk‑candy craze sweeping through Sumeru's future.

Fortunately.

Luo De originally had no intention of making money from milk candy.

He isn't a professional confectioner; this simple milk candy was, in his previous life, merely an ordinary home‑made treat—good enough to pacify a child, but far from being a market‑worthy product, and certainly not qualified to be patented as a formula.

But unexpectedly,

Luo De originally thought that after Duo Li tasted it she would figure out what it was made of, go home, and copy it for mass production—end of story.

But she instead seriously began to estimate its price.

"A candy formula that has never appeared in Sumeru before."

"Although the formula is simple and the method easy, making it easy for others to learn, its novelty is its strength—no one has ever seen it before, and before others start mass‑producing it, one can still make a tidy profit in the short term."

"One hundred thousand Mora."

"I've bought this milk‑candy formula."

"Don't haggle."

"It's worth exactly that; if you think my price is too low, go sell it to someone else."

Duo Li's offhand remarks nevertheless gave Luo De the feeling of having reevaluated her.

This super‑corrupt merchant, whose moral character is denounced by the people of Sumeru,

really is a person of very, very strong principles!

(End of chapter)