418: Chapter 419 Family Business!

One proposed a requirement, and the other immediately understood.

Without deep trust and understanding between a husband and wife, it would be impossible to achieve such seamless coordination.

She lowered her eyelids, took a gentle sip of tea, and did not interject.

Ye Changge's gaze shifted from Lu Shiyin and landed on Lu Shiqing, who was seated second on his right.

Lu Shiqing was wearing a lotus-root-colored jacket with a front opening and a long skirt today, with a silver-threaded tassel belt tied at her waist, which made her figure appear even more slender and graceful.

She had always loved being pretty; although they were discussing business in the main hall today, her attire remained exquisite.

A white jade hairpin was inserted obliquely into her raven-black hair bun, and two small pearl pendants dangled by her ears,

swaying gently with her movements as she stood up, glowing with a soft luster under the candlelight.

As she stood up, she was already holding a thin ledger in her hand,

and the six characters "Overview of Longmai Mountain Industries" were written on the cover in neat, small regular script.

"Husband." Lu Shiqing offered a slight curtsy to Ye Changge, then turned to everyone in the hall, her voice clear and crisp:

"I am responsible for the shop industries of Longmai Mountain in the outside world. After this year, I shall report the accounts to everyone."

She opened the ledger, her gaze sweeping over the pages, her speaking pace neither fast nor slow:

"Currently, our Ye Family of Longmai Mountain has a total of eleven shops in the outside world. Among them, there are three Talisman shops, distributed in White Bird Market, Qingzhu Market, and Chiyan Town;

two Spirit Fish shops, one of which is still in White Bird Market,

in addition, there is one Spirit Rice shop, one Magical Artifact shop, one Formation shop, one restaurant, one Puppet shop, and one Spirit Wine shop."

"A total of eleven shops have initially covered the main markets and towns around Longmai Mountain."

Upon hearing this, several clan elders in the hall could not help but whisper to each other.

Eleven shops, for a Foundation Establishment Family that had only risen for a few years, could already be considered quite substantial.

Lu Shiqing waited for the murmurs of the crowd to subside, then continued:

"Among these shops, the Talisman shops and Spirit Fish shops are operated and managed by our own people,

while the rest of the shops—the Spirit Rice shop, Magical Artifact shop, Formation shop, restaurant, Puppet shop, and Spirit Wine shop—all adopt a form of outsourcing,

leased and operated by experienced Loose Cultivators or small families, while we only collect rent and a share of the profits."

"In this way, it not only saves us the energy of training our own personnel and managing the storefronts, but also guarantees a stable cash flow without having to bear the operational risks."

She paused slightly here, raised her eyes to look at Ye Changge, her eyes carrying a smile as if asking for credit:

"Overall, the total revenue brought in by these eleven shops this year amounts to thirty-six thousand seven hundred Spirit Stones."

Ye Changge's expression remained unchanged; he only nodded slightly, signaling her to continue.

Lu Shiqing naturally understood her husband's meaning, so she continued:

"In addition, we also have three Spiritual Veins under our name, located respectively on the northern foothills, western foothills, and a branch vein on the eastern foothills of Longmai Mountain.

We have not mined these three Spiritual Veins ourselves,

but have contracted them out to the Wang Family of White Tiger Mountain, the Zhao Family of Blue Bird Mountain, and the Wu Family of Qingfeng Ridge respectively. We collect a total of one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones in annual contract rent."

"There is another source of income, which is the share from White Bird Market.

When we first took over White Bird Market, we agreed with all the merchants in the market that any shop operating within the market

must pay us a certain percentage of management fees every year. This year, the revenue from this share totals over five thousand seven hundred Spirit Stones."

Lu Shiqing closed the ledger and nodded slightly to Ye Changge: "Husband, the above is the complete account of the shop industries I am responsible for."

Her words were clear and logical, and the data was distinct; she had clearly put in real effort.

Ye Changge looked at her, his eyes revealing undisguised approval.

The Second Young Miss of the Lu Family, who still carried a bit of arrogance and naivety when they first met at Baifang Tower back then,

was now able to handle things on her own, managing such a large Family business in an orderly manner.

"You have worked hard, Shiqing." He said gently, "Just now you said that the Talisman shops account for the largest proportion of revenue—come, tell me in detail, what percentage do the Talisman shops account for in the total revenue? And what is the net profit?"

Lu Shiqing heard this, reopened the ledger, lowered her head to glance at it, and answered fluently:

"As for the Talisman shops, they account for 40% of our total revenue and are undoubtedly the biggest contributor among the Family industries. As for the net profit—"

She paused slightly and raised her eyes to look at Ye Changge

"Because you, Husband, occasionally draw some second-rank talismans and hand them over to the shops for sale, and second-rank talismans have high profit margins, which drives the overall net profit to be quite high.

This year, the total net profit of the three Talisman shops is over five thousand Spirit Stones."

Upon hearing this, Ye Changge tapped his fingers on the table twice and pondered:

"Over five thousand Spirit Stones... accounting for 40% of revenue, yet the net profit is only over five thousand?"

Lu Shiqing heard the question in his words and immediately explained:

"Husband, you may not know, but the gross profit of the Talisman shops is actually very high. However, most of our Talisman shops are self-operated; we need to support staff, lease storefronts, and maintain inventory,

plus the material costs for second-rank talismans are not cheap... after deducting various expenses, the net profit is discounted.

But even so, a net profit of over five thousand Spirit Stones can be considered the top one among all our industries."

Ye Changge nodded and then said:

"Shiqing, in the future when reporting, there is no need to list every single item of income and expenditure in this regard.

In the future, for these shop industries, just record the total income, expenditure, and net profit. Make a comparison every year, clearly noting the reasons for any growth or decline, and that will be enough."

Upon hearing this, Lu Shiqing was slightly stunned, then a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, and she offered a slight curtsy: "Husband is right. Then I will handle it accordingly."

Ye Changge's gaze had already fallen on the next reporter—his second son, Ye Qingfeng.

"Qingfeng, it is your turn."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qingfeng stood up straight.

He was only fourteen years old this year, but his figure had already grown quite a bit taller. Between his brows and eyes, he had both the delicate beauty of a youth and a touch of the steady demeanor inherited from Ye Changge.

He held a slightly worn booklet in his hands, which had clearly been read repeatedly.

"Father." Ye Qingfeng cleared his throat, his voice clear, "I will report the situation of the Puppet Factory to you."

"Currently, the Puppet Factory has thirteen Puppet apprentices, three of whom are Loose Cultivators recruited from outside who have worked as assistants in workshops in large markets and have some foundation;

the other ten were selected from the clan's children; their Aptitude is passable, but they still need time to be polished.

There are seventy ordinary workers, mainly responsible for basic processes such as rough processing of Materials, polishing of parts, and assembly of shells.

"Up to now, we have successfully manufactured four Puppets.

Two of them are beast-shaped Puppets,

one is an 'Iron Wolf Puppet' imitated from the Iron-Spined Wolf, and the other is a 'Green Bull Puppet' imitated from the Green-Horned Bull;

in addition, there is a Flying Eagle Puppet and a humanoid Puppet."

When Ye Qingfeng said this, a trace of excitement unique to a youth flashed in his eyes, but he still controlled his speaking pace and continued: