Before Liu Zhu had left Blue Mount City, he sold the second batch of plants grown using his blood. Visiting the Ji family was a good opportunity to offload goods without leaving any traces in Vermilion City, so he took advantage of it. To make doubly sure no one caught onto his activities he disguised himself and made sure the shop he was using wasn't owned by the Ji family, but even he would admit that these actions were more cautionary than necessary. In all likelihood no one would ever notice anything unusual about these sales, but better safe than sorry. If someone was able to piece together some of the mysteries about his blood and whatever happened in that cave, then it's possible both his life and the Liu Clan as a whole could be put in danger.
The second batch of herbs being sold increased Liu Zhu's funds once again, bringing it back to 388 gold coins even after accounting for Dai He's cut and the new set of plants he needed to purchase. Almost immediately after Liu Zhu returned to Vermilion City he sought out Dai He, planning to give him his cut of the profits and then inquire into a few business related matters now that he had so much money on hand.
Liu Zhu and Dai He met in a secluded corner of the Liu Clan's estate, a pile of gold coins and a few banknotes sat between them. Dai He silently stared at the money before taking a small coinpurse and beginning to count coins out from the pile. "1...2...3..." Liu Zhu didn't say anything until Dai He finished counting, a smile on his face. "...and that makes 53 gold coins, 8 silver, and 4 bronze." After Dai He finished counting out his cut he considered asking Liu Zhu if he was sure a cut of 15% was fine, but given that the matter was already settled. It would be unprofessional to bring it up again.
Once Dai He's cut was taken out Liu Zhu provided a list of prices for each plant he'd sold among some other data he'd collected. He wouldn't have considered writing down this much information beforehand since it was a pain, but Dai He insisted that it was necessary. They were making quite a bit off of Liu Zhu's ability, but if they collected further data then it wouldn't be difficult to increase the profits by 10% or 20% in the short-term by changing up their purchasing patterns.
Dai He looked over the data for a moment before putting it away. "I'll look over a few books and write up potential plants for the next batch that might mature better. You said you bought another batch at Blue Mount City, so it should be safe to sell it here, although maybe a representative would be better..." Dai He thought for a moment before lightly sighing. "Well, I shouldn't think about it too much now. Want to get a meal? Since you've been travelling we haven't hung out in a while." Liu Zhu accepted the offer, vaguely mentioning that he'd wanted to get Dai He's help on something else anyways, so it'd be a good chance to talk.
The two got a private room in a relatively expensive restaurant near the city center. Funds weren't a concern for the time being and they needed privacy while they were speaking, so this was the best arrangement Liu Zhu could think of. Their conversation opened up with the normal pleasantries and small talk, and as they spoke Dai He gave Liu Zhu repeated compliments on his rapid rise in cultivation. He'd known Liu Zhu for years, and watched as he kept struggling to break through into Flesh Tempering, so it was unbelievable that his cultivation had risen from Late Strength Rendering to Late Flesh Tempering in under five months. Despite being confused, Dai He was genuinely happy for Liu Zhu.
As their conversation winded down Liu Zhu found a chance to turn it back towards business. He explained what happened with the gold silk butterflies while he was staying with the Yu Clan, and asked Dai He what he thought he should do with his sudden influx of funds. Dai He stayed silent for a moment, thinking, before shrugging. "Isn't it obvious? You have these valuable butterflies and are raising plants used in pills and medicinal powders, so just follow the route of an herbologist or apothecary and make a garden."
Liu Zhu had thought of the idea, but had several reservations about it. "I've thought of that, but if the garden is going to be large, isn't that, uh... too much of my blood? I'm only human after all. Besides that, if the plants grow too quickly we could stand out. How are we supposed to keep this hidden?" Dai He chuckled, a smile on his face. "That's an easy problem to fix. You'll take out 100 or 200 coins and buy a large plot of land. Then we'll rent it out to farms, businesses, whoever wants a chunk. Vermilion City isn't a major center of commerce, but if we buy land in a good location then it shouldn't be terribly hard to rent it out. Anyways, that's just a cover- the main point is to make sure no one is suspecting that we're buying the land for our own use."
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As Dai He went on, Liu Zhu started to get the point. "So this is how we'll hide the garden?" Dai He nodded. "That's part of it. We'll put it in the most hidden spot we can find on the land, make it look as ordinary as possible, and cover our tracks when we visit it. Naturally one of us will have to go by in order to water the plants, but depending on what we plant, we could get by with visits every two or three days."
Liu Zhu was convinced, and accepted that the garden could be hidden from the public before they tried to sell the plants. Still, he had concerns about how much blood he had to provide. He voiced this to Dai He, and got a reply he didn't expect. "Naturally, that is a problem, and I do have a way to partially solve it. Still, you will need to provide more blood. I'm not sure how much it's possible for you to... let out, but it shouldn't be a dangerous amount." As Dai He stopped speaking an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Dai He was the one who broke it, trying to explain further. "If you're bothered by the prospect then I'm fine with your decision, but... it's probably in your best interests to go along with my idea. I've heard some mutterings from the Liu Clan, and I know your position isn't as steady as before. If we can show that we're bringing in a large amount of funds and attribute it to something else, then it could help stabilize your position in the family. I've known you for a long time, and I'm saying this as a friend- now is the time to do whatever you can."
Liu Zhu sighed and hesitantly nodded after Dai He's explanation. "You're right. Alright, I'll do what I can. So how will whatever amount I provide sustain a whole garden in addition to what I'm already growing. Is it that small?" Dai He's smile grew bigger as he talked about the last point. "This is what I think is the masterstroke, and it will also reduce how suspiciously fast the plants are growing- we'll dilute your blood! Of course we haven't done experiments yet, but I believe that if we dilute it we should be able to get enough to run a garden while it still has a large efficacy. Once it's diluted I could also try and mix it with some sort of fertilizer to reduce how suspicious it looks and possibly increase the effectiveness further, but to be frank... that's beyond my skills. I'm a businessman, not a farmer. For the time being we can stop at finding a good ratio to dilute it at. There's still the problem of the plants suddenly appearing in the market, but if we use plants which can be regrown and sell them across different cities using my connections, then nobody should suspect anything."
Liu Zhu was surprised by Dai He's idea to dilute his blood, and felt a bit dumb when he realized how simple it was. He felt like he should've thought of it before now. After the main ideas were laid out the two spent an hour working out the details. Liu Zhu decided to purchase a large parcel of land that ran by a nearby river and which had a forest they could hide the garden inside. That took up 163 gold coins, and then the garden itself would probably take 60 gold coins to set up. These funds would go towards the initial batch of plants, construction, and gardening equipment. That left Liu Zhu with a bit over 150 gold coins, 130 of which he gave to Dai He to invest. It wouldn't do anything sitting in Liu Zhu's coin purse, and making some investments at this point would make a good cover for why Liu Zhu was making so much money in the future. Plus, according to Dai He, this was simply another opportunity- to make the most of it, they needed to reinvest the money they earned and avoid becoming satisfied with whatever they currently made. Liu Zhu understood this, although Dai He was naturally more excited about this since he was a merchant at heart.
After the talks ended the two parted, still excited. Liu Zhu was simply happy to earn more and possibly improve his standing in the family without much effort on his part, while Dai He was fired up for different reasons. He was receiving a sizable cut for taking care of the day to day affairs of the garden and the other investments for Liu Zhu, but his main motivation wasn't his personal profits. It was whether he could turn this into a sizable business and begin forging his legacy as an able merchant and businessman. It was yet to be seen whether he would crash or burn or turn this opportunity into a foundation for his future achievements, but either way it would be interesting.