Chapter 221
In the office.
Stealing a moment of leisure, Chu Feng, after working all morning in the Crescent Village, had returned to the Crescent Group and was now reclining in a massage chair, resting.
Lin Zhihao pushed the door open and walked in.
“Brother Feng, taking a break?”
“Yeah.” Lately, the matter of the green silkworm silk had kept him busy to death, but now things were mostly settled.
The Sang Maiden Tribe’s preparations were nearly complete; all that remained was for them to start producing the silk. The green silkworms refused to eat if they didn’t have their preferred food, but with plenty of mulberry leaves, they seemed to grow and reproduce quickly.
“Is something up?” Chu Feng asked.
“I’ve been thinking about something,” Lin Zhihao said.
“What’s that?”
“I was wondering if our group should launch some new products. We are a company, after all.”
Chu Feng tilted his head. “What do you think we should launch?”
Lin Zhihao thought for a moment. “Beauty Elixirs, Health Elixirs—they’re all too expensive. Many people can’t afford them. What if we had something with slightly less effect, but priced for the general public, and mass-produced? Honestly, the public is eager for Crescent Group products.”
Lately, Lin Zhihao had been getting a lot of calls from “friends”—old classmates from primary school, high school, neighbors… He hadn’t realized his “network” was so vast. Many wanted to buy products from Crescent Village, but couldn’t afford them, and were asking if there was anything cheaper.
Chu Feng thought for a moment. “That might be possible.”
Lin Zhihao looked pleasantly surprised. “Really?”
Chu Feng nodded. “It’s worth considering.”
Previously, much of the white snake he brought to Crescent Village had been made into snake wine. It had proved popular, and some of it had already been drunk, but there was still a lot left.
Chu Feng had been to the castle wine cellar before—there were over a hundred large jars still remaining.
If they didn’t export it, the castle residents could probably drink it for years.
Given the strong kick of snake wine, the castle folks couldn’t drink much anyway.
They could take some, dilute it, and sell it.
Snake wine was known to help treat rheumatism, and the raw materials for his batch were no ordinary stuff.
The bones of that white snake had been made into bone-strengthening pills that could heal broken legs—so the wine might well have other special effects. For him, as an S-rank ability-user, it probably wouldn’t do much anymore, but for ordinary people it should be quite beneficial.
Zhuang Cheng pushed the door open and came in. “Second Brother, here you are! What are you guys talking about?”
“Talking about whether to launch a new product,” Chu Feng said.
Zhuang Feixue asked curiously, “Any ideas yet?”
Chu Feng thought for a moment. “Maybe a medicinal wine.”
“Wine?” Zhuang Feixue tilted her head, thinking: Father still hadn’t forgotten that monkey wine Chu Feng once brought out. If Father and Chu Feng were on better terms, he’d probably already have asked for some. Pity…
“Monkey wine?” Zhuang Feixue asked.
Chu Feng shook his head. “No—snake wine.”
Zhuang Feixue nodded with an “Oh.” “How much are you planning to produce?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Not sure yet.”
A single jar could be diluted dozens of times. At that ratio, they could produce a huge amount.
“We might as well buy a winery,” Chu Feng said.
“Sure, no problem. I actually know a friend whose winery isn’t doing well—we could acquire it cheaply,” Zhuang Feixue replied.
“Handle it as you see fit,” Chu Feng said. Then he paused. “Sis, when I came in earlier, I noticed a lot of people in the company wearing clothes made of that rainbow silkworm silk?”
“I found a designer to make clothes for everyone—consider it a benefit for the female employees,” Zhuang Feixue said.
Chu Feng nodded. “That’s nice.”
Occasional perks could boost team cohesion.
“You found a good designer,” Chu Feng said.
Zhuang Cheng shrugged. “My sister paid a lot to bring him in—he’s an ability-user designer.”
“An ability-user designer?” Chu Feng was a bit surprised.
Zhuang Feixue briefly described Ni Shaoan’s ability and past experiences.
Chu Feng blinked. “Making clothes? That’s a really unique ability.”
Perhaps Sang Jin and Ni Shaoan might have some common ground to talk about.
Zhuang Feixue tilted her head and said, “The National Bureau of Paranormal Abilities offered a high price to buy silk cloth. I sold some to them — could that be a problem?”
Chu Feng waved his hand. “No problem at all!”
Colored silkworm silk wasn’t exactly some ultra-luxury item. Leaving it to rot in a warehouse would be meaningless. Since the National Bureau of Paranormal Abilities wanted it, they might as well sell it to them.
The National Bureau of Paranormal Abilities’s ability-users came in all sorts; making friends there could only be beneficial.
*
Maple Leaf Distillery.
“Feixue, you’re here,” Ding Hongye greeted her.
“Long time no see.”
“Long time indeed. Feixue, you look exactly the same as you did ten years ago.”
“Really?”
Ding Hongye nodded sincerely. “Yes! So young it makes people jealous.”
In her heart, Ding Hongye felt a twinge of bitterness. Ten years ago, she and Zhuang Feixue had both been the belles of their class, but now she herself had aged quite a bit, while Zhuang Feixue somehow looked even younger and more beautiful than before. No amount of skincare could achieve that — having a powerful ability-user younger brother really was something.
“These two are ability-users?” Ding Hongye thought Zheng Xue and Jin Jie looked somewhat familiar.
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “Yes, they’re both strength-type ability-users.”
Ding Hongye nodded to them, full of admiration. “Feixue, you’re truly impressive!”
Not many people could afford to have two ability-users as bodyguards nowadays — and Zhuang Feixue had brought both along at once.
“Let’s catch up later — we should look at the distillery first.”
Ding Hongye nodded. “Sure!”
Zhuang Feixue stepped into the distillery. “There aren’t many workers here, I see.”
A little embarrassed, Ding Hongye said, “Because the wine hasn’t been selling, the distillery has been shut down for over three months.”
“Do you have a lot in stock?” Zhuang Feixue headed for the warehouse.
Ding Hongye sighed. “Our wine’s quality is actually pretty good, but we can’t break into the market.”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “In that case, why don’t you calculate it all out and sell the entire stock to me?”
Surprised and delighted, Ding Hongye said, “You want to buy it all?”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “Yes.”
Ding Hongye smiled. “Alright, alright. Honestly, our wine really is good — slap the Crescent Group’s label on it and it’ll sell out instantly.”
Zhuang Feixue: “…”
*
Chu Feng shipped in a truckload of snake wine from Crescent Village. After mixing the snake wine concentrate with the distillery’s existing stock, they produced a new type of snake wine.
Zhuang Feixue had it tested at a lab to ensure it was safe, then packaged it and put it on the market.
For the first trial run, she priced the snake wine at 1,000 yuan a bottle and released 10,000 bottles.
Within less than an hour, they sold out completely, with orders flooding in like snowflakes.
At a thousand a bottle, it wasn’t exactly cheap but not exorbitant either. There were only a handful of wines on the market that could hit that price point and still be widely accepted.
Zhuang Feixue’s wine launched without any advertising and still sold out instantly — a very good result.
Zhuang Cheng looked at Zhuang Feixue. “Sis, this wine is selling like crazy!”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “It is.”
Zhuang Cheng rested his chin on his hand. “I was thinking we might need a celebrity spokability-userson, but it seems we don’t need one at all.”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “Indeed we don’t. Crescent Group itself is the best brand.”
Now that they’d entered the ability-user era, the name Chu Feng alone was a powerful brand. Everyone knew Crescent Group was his company, and their beauty elixirs and other products had already built a strong reputation. This time, with such an affordable product, people naturally scrambled to buy it.
“We’ll need to implement purchase limits.”
As soon as news of the snake wine’s release spread, many major factions caught wind of it. The first batch had largely been bought up by these big players.
“Purchase limits?” Zhuang Cheng asked.
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “This wine can improve physical fitness and treat rheumatism to a certain extent. It’s best if it’s widely available, not monopolized by a few major powers.”
Zhuang Cheng nodded. “True. Sis, since the first batch sold so well, should we speed up production?”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “Already doing so.” Judging by the first batch’s sales, the market was huge — selling several million bottles shouldn’t be a problem. The only issue was that production might not keep up.
Zhuang Cheng asked curiously, “Sis, has Dad asked you about the wine?”
Zhuang Feixue shook her head. “No.”
Last time Chu Feng bought a building, he had come clean to their father, and since then, their father had been too embarrassed to contact them much.
This time, she’d only released 10,000 bottles. With their father’s abilities, if he really wanted some, he could probably get it himself…
*
National Bureau of Paranormal Abilities.
“Miss Shen, the test results are in.”
Shen Yutong glanced at the report and raised an eyebrow.
“As Crescent Group claimed, it really does treat rheumatism — and quite effectively. Some ingredients are the same as in the Bone-Strengthening Pill, though at much lower concentrations.”
Shen Yuxing nodded. “Just as I thought.”
Once Zhuang Feixue acquired the distillery, various factions scrambled to plant spies inside, though most were removed quickly. Still, some managed to slip through.
How Crescent Group’s Crescent No. 1 Wine was made wasn’t much of a secret: it was basically ordinary malt wine mixed with a special snake wine concentrate.
The wine’s special effects came almost entirely from that concentrate.
As for exactly how the concentrate was made, that was unclear — Shen Yutong suspected it had to do with a ferocious beast, and possibly an ability-user as well.
“Actually, with the medicinal effects of this wine, even if the price were set higher, it would still sell very well.”
Shen Yutong took a deep breath and said, “It seems Zhuang Feixue is trying to take the mass-market route this time, deliberately lowering the price. If this wine can become widely available, it would be a blessing for many people suffering from rheumatism, and perhaps it could even help improve the general public’s physical health.”
“This young lady of the Zhuang family… She’s no longer in the entertainment industry, yet she’s making waves in the business world as well!”
Shen Yutong thought to herself: With such an outstanding product, as long as the manager isn’t a complete fool, the Zhuang family is bound to do well.
Su Manqing looked at the wine bottle in Zhuang Zhenyang’s hand and asked, “Is this the new wine launched by the Crescent Group?”
Zhuang Zhenyang nodded. “Yes.”
“Did Feixue give it to you?” Su Manqing hesitated.
Zhuang Zhenyang shook his head. “No, I had someone scramble to buy it.”
Su Manqing was taken aback. “Oh, I see.”
She sighed inwardly: For their family to get Crescent Group’s wine, they actually had to scramble for it?
Zhuang Zhenyang frowned. “This wine is not easy to get. Quite a few ability-users pulled strings to grab some. Honestly, the taste is just so-so.”
Su Manqing gave him a sidelong glance. “You really have a picky mouth.” She thought: He was picky before, but after tasting the wine Chu Feng brought before, he’s become even pickier.
“This wine is getting rave reviews online. I heard follow-up orders are pouring in like snowflakes.”
Zhuang Zhenyang looked at her suspiciously. “How do you know that?”
Su Manqing looked a little embarrassed. “I just… casually looked into it.”
Chu Feng is all the rage right now; naturally, she couldn’t help but be curious.
“This wine’s mediocre flavor is normal — the original liquor must have been diluted countless times. What you’re tasting is basically ordinary malt liquor.”
Zhuang Zhenyang nodded. “Compared to fruit brews, monkey wine, and the like, it’s still lacking.”
Su Manqing shook her head. “That’s exactly why it’s cheap.”
“Maybe. Where’s Xiao Cheng? Hasn’t he come back?” Zhuang Zhenyang asked.
“He’s probably staying at the Crescent Group dorms,” Su Manqing replied.
“Feixue is one thing — she’s always on the move and rarely came home before. But now Xiao Cheng hangs around the Crescent Group every day and doesn’t come back either,” Zhuang Zhenyang muttered.
Both his eldest daughter and youngest son were thriving at Chu Feng’s side, and it felt like they’d completely forgotten about their father.
Su Manqing took a deep breath. “I heard Feilei once tried to buy nutrient soil from Feixue but got turned down.”
“I know about that,” Zhuang Zhenyang sighed. “You can’t really blame Feixue.”
Every time Chu Feng transported spirit soil back, no one even knew where the trucks ended up delivering it.
And Chu Feng didn’t seem to have a good impression of Feilei either, so Feixue had no reason to jeopardize her relationship with him over Feilei. Besides, Feixue wasn’t the only one in charge at Crescent Group — that Lin Zhihao fellow held no less power than she did.
Su Manqing hesitated. “Last time there were only three truckloads of soil, but I heard this time there are ten. Couldn’t she spare just a little?”
Zhuang Zhenyang looked at her and said, “Don’t go scheming about Chu Feng. Haven’t we embarrassed ourselves enough?”
Su Manqing was startled. “It’s not exactly like that…”
Zhuang Zhenyang closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. If only he had treated Chu Feng better back when he first learned about his identity, things wouldn’t be so awkward now.
