"Howl—"
'Is Lord Fu Li around? Boss Bai is here, ready to begin the nightlife spree!'
'Boss Bai, brought two East Star Groupers!'
Resting inside the shrine and watching the tea leaves dry, Ansheng suddenly heard barking. The barking kept repeating one meaning: Ah Bai has arrived.
"Woof—"
Ansheng turned towards the courtyard and let out a bark, informing Ah Bai of his location.
"Ah Bai's quick! Setting out at midnight and catching fish by half-past two." Ansheng glanced at his phone's time and couldn't help but laugh.
Though the orcas in the sea helped, it still takes time to catch top-quality East Star Groupers. Plus, Ah Bai drove over forty kilometers from home to the beach and from the beach to Changxi Town, carrying two groupers.
Two and a half hours, Ah Bai is indeed interesting.
"Let's call it a night here! Later, when drying's finished, Mr. Chen, please help put the tea leaves into sealed bags. As for the tea stems, let Old Deng pick them out slowly himself; we don't bother with him....."
Ansheng gestured to Mr. Chen, walked to the sink by the door to wash his hands, removing the grass green dye from making green teas.
Turning fresh tea leaves into tea requires picking out the tea stems before selling.
Ansheng chose old tea leaves to remedy the lack of flavor; the stems are especially hard.
Tea Masters wouldn't leisurely remove them; tea merchants or tea estate owners handle these.
Having started a business in a past life, Ansheng now gets annoyed at tea stems and sealing bags and leaves it to Old Deng.
"No problem."
Mr. Chen responded, looked at the tea leaves in roasting and drying, smelling the room filled with orchid fragrance and a delicate sweet freshness, marveling.
As Ah Qing's small tea trees grew, the tea leaves personally made by Lord Fu Li exploded with fragrance.
Just by smelling, Mr. Chen can imagine the explosive floral scent, honey aroma, and fresh Oolong tea aftertaste, slightly sweet like cool minerals.
If Mr. Chen hadn't personally seen the process from picking to tea making, he absolutely wouldn't believe the tea seedlings could produce such charm.
"The village's Fox Immortal Temple is set well! In future tea making, we must worship Lord Fu Li." Mr. Chen teased with delight about the new temple in the village, pulled out a teapot to steep tea for enjoyment.
Without those two foreign lassies chatting away in discord... Mr. Chen had just sighed inwardly when his expression froze.
Just now, busy making tea.
Seems...he forgot something!?
"Lord Fu Li! Those two foreign lassies of yours!" Mr. Chen hurriedly chased outside.
Upon rushing out, he only saw the red taillights of a tourist bus.
...
On the bus.
"Howl! Howl howl—"
Sitting at the main driver's seat, Ah Bai skillfully shifted the gears of the bus, letting out a series of barks to the back.
The entire fifty-seater travel bus wasn't packed with seats; the interior had been converted into an RV.
"Hmm? This bus can transform?" Listening to Tu Song and Ah Bai's introduction, Ansheng's expression slightly stunned.
"Howl!" Ah Bai said happily.
The bus's box can expand approximately a meter outward. Once opened inside, it's like a regular reception room, with suitable height, and spaciousness like a living room.
Combined with custom furniture, it's very comfortable.
This bus was chosen by Ah Bai after multiple inspections, selected for Fu Li Bro for business travels.
Unfortunately, the only drawback is it's a bit pricey.
"Price-wise, that's not an issue; mainly, how's our current profit point? What about the stray animals' placement situation in Jiule City?"
Seated on the leather sofa, Lord Fu Li pressed an electric button, entering zero-gravity mode:
"Tax-free business profits are high, but those aren't long-term. For our foundation industry, what happened to the previously set-up...oops, begging business?"
"Howl!" Ah Bai full of confidence.
"Hmm!? Charging a special protection fee?" Hearing Ah Bai's confident answer, Ansheng was full of question marks.
Ah Bai drove towards the commercial street, parked, then unlocked the seatbelt, ran to the window, proudly inviting Lord Fu Li to look.
Lord Fu Li stood upright, stepped on the counter, looked following Ah Bai's direction.
All he saw was three big dogs at the entrance of a 24-hour open beef noodle shop and a dozen tabby cats wearing white gloves cornering a huge rat, including its tail, against the wall.
The rat stood upright, baring teeth, made alarming noises attempting to intimidate the cat-dog crowd.
But!
The muscular white-gloved tabby cat raised its paw and gave it a slap.
The rat covered its face.
Tabby cat turned around, another cat approached, without a word delivered another slap.
In no time, the bruised and swollen rat submitted.
The cat crowd rushed into the noodle shop, dragged out two huge rats from the ceiling, seven or eight small rats.
"Howl!"
The Labrador walked to the noodle shop's owner, blocked the path with its burly body.
A sign hung on it.
Rat extermination fee (each): Large/20, Small/10, family eradication 300 once.
Roach extermination (each): Large/1, Small/0.5, currently not supporting family service.
Watching the excitement, the boss smiling, scanned the Labrador QR code, scooped out three hundred bucks.
"Howl!"
After confirming the amount, the Border Collie announced to the cats for confirmation, the tabby cats' eyes flashed with cold light, instantly issued the extermination order against noodle shop's rats.
"Howl!"
The Labrador wagged its tail, expressed gratitude to the noodle shop owner, led the cat-dog crowd to the next store.
"Howl?"
"Go away, my shop just opened, no rats yet."
"Howl....." (None now, there will be later)
The Labrador continued down the commercial street, diligently promoting its protection fee business.
"Hehe..."
In the car, Ah Bai let out a series of wolf howls, satisfied with his underling dogs' work attitude, especially a big order opened when Lord Fu Li inspected.
Lord Fu Li formulated the "strategies to sell cuteness and freeload with food" for Spirit Beast Gang's development.
Let humans help raise followers.
But under the grand strategy, Ah Bai also consulted Hedgehog Grandma for business knowledge, expanded into several small branches.
Such as the current project of collecting protection fees.
Morning dogs and cats beg at set points.
Night time send enforcers, collecting protection fees along the street.
Now, it's gradually heading towards scaling up, fee transparency, and interest bundling.
Future goal is with one phone call, they can provide protection fee services city and province-wide.
Or like Hedgehog Grandma said.
See which cities are developing cultural literacy, directly contract cities for total rat extermination, sweep past several streets!
"Goodness! That's gonna require paying taxes!"
Listening to Ah Bai narrate the grand plans, Ansheng's cheeks showed a hint of astonishment.
They...
If you carry on like this, I'm afraid it'll go public. We'll be chairmen, and Ah Bai be CEO, inviting Hedgehog Granny as CFO, and Golden Lion as CTO.
Only.
We can't let the shrews know, otherwise, Chang'an City's biological intelligence network might strike and protest Spirit Beast Gang's violent acts against rats.