With all the core positions of the companies filled, registering the companies and constructing factories were next on the list.
Everyone worked hard in the next few weeks. With the support from Secretary Qian and the connections in Provincial City, they managed to obtain their licenses at record speed.
During the rare moments when Tang Hao was free, he either studied for his upcoming term exams or went deep into the mountains to tend to his plants.
The ginseng and lingzhi plantation did not need much care, other than checking on the conditions of the plants once every few days. Tang Hao was most concerned about the Liquor Tree.
The pond could store a lot of tree sap, but when the liquor factory eventually went into production, the pond would eventually run dry. One tree alone was not enough to supply his entire production line.
He needed to prepare for the future.
The Liquor Tree was not a normal tree as it was bred by cultivators. It did not bear any fruit or seeds. The only way to grow another Liquor Tree was by cutting.
The process of cutting involved removing a part of the original plant which could be either a branch or a part of the stem, plant it in the soil, and obtain a sprout that would eventually grow into a tree.
On the other side of the pond, Tang Hao cleared an area of land, used a hoe to loosen the soil, and watered it with water from the magical spring.
Then, he also laid a leyline gathering formation around the area.
The land was ready for planting.
Next, Tang Hao climbed up the Liquor Tree.
The Liquor Tree was almost six meters tall and was as wide as several arm spans. Tang Hao guessed that it must have been at least a thousand years old.
The tree bark was glossy and golden in color. He could faintly smell the fragrance of liquor.
Tang Hao nimbly climbed to the top of the tree and cut off fifty young twigs with a knife.
He climbed down the tree. He did not immediately plant the twigs, but instead retrieved a big vat from his pocket dimension. It was filled with a black liquid.
The black liquid was a fertilizing potion. It was concocted based on the Scripture of the Divine Herbalist. It sped up the growth of plant seeds.
Tang Hao modified the formula so that it could apply to twigs as well.
Using the black fertilizing potion on the Liquor Tree was not always going to be a success. It was not a normal tree after all. The fertilizing potion would always work on a normal tree though.
He placed the twigs into the vat and soaked them for half a day. After that, Tang Hao removed them from the vat and planted them into the soil.
Tang Hao clapped his hands satisfactorily after all that.
Tang Hao went around the area and roughly estimated that he could fit one hundred Liquor Trees in the area.
As long as a fifth of those twigs sprouted, then he would be satisfied. He would obtain ten Liquor Trees.
He could repeat the process several more times and gather a total of one hundred trees. That should provide enough tree sap for the liquor factory once the trees matured.
One hundred Liquor Trees should be enough to satisfy the market for Divine Liquor.
For the next few days, Tang Hao spent almost half a day every day there to tend to the twigs.
He read the Scripture of the Divine Herbalist one more time and employed all methods of accelerating the ripening and growth of the plants. He also fertilized the soil with serpent monster and sea dragon blood.
Three days later, some of the twigs sprouted.
Tang Hao was ecstatic when he saw the tender, green sprouts. The feeling that his hard work paid off was the best sensation in the world.
He carefully tended to those sprouted twigs, preparing to transplant them when they were slightly bigger.
Some more twigs sprouted in the next two days. He yielded a total of eighteen sprouts from the fifty twigs.
Tang Hao carefully transplanted them to the other side of the valley.
The next day, at about five o’clock in the morning, Tang Hao left for Provincial City to take his term exams at the university.
According to his schedule, the exams were spread throughout the entire week.
After taking the day’s exam in the morning, Tang Hao went to Imperial Kitchen at noon.
He saw many people sitting inside. They were regulars of Magical Kitchen.
“Hey! Boss Tang!”
They stood and greeted Tang Hao when they saw him coming in.
“We’re all on your side, Boss Tang. The Ling family has gone overboard. They’re underhanded for burning bridges once they see profits.”
“Hey, Boss Tang, how about… you start your own restaurant? Imperial Kitchen is too small. I can’t bring all my guests here.”
Tang Hao replied with a smile. “Thank you for all your support. We’re still weighing that possibility. You will be informed once there are updates.”
Tang Hao could not say that preparations for a new restaurant were already underway. He did not want the Ling family to know about it and sabotage them.
The Ling family must be feeling desperate. Magical Kitchen had been closed since nine days ago, and every day they remained closed was a blow to their reputation. They must have also found no progress with cracking the secret of the qi gathering jar.
Under those circumstances, they could not tolerate Tang Hao opening a new restaurant.
After chatting with them for a while, Tang Hao went into the kitchen and met Master Chef Ding and the rest.
“You’re here, Lil Bro Tang!” Master Chef Ding came over and greeted him.
“Right, we’ve met with Manager Shi earlier. She’s quite ambitious. She wants to open up six restaurants at once,” Master Chef Ding said, a little surprised.
Tang Hao smiled. He knew all that; Manager Shi had already discussed the ideas with him.
Manager Shi planned to take the market by surprise to gain a foothold in Provincial City. That was why they needed to open one main restaurant and five branches simultaneously.
Manager Shi was the manager of a restaurant chain before, and she was well-connected to other restaurateurs. She managed to pull her connections and recruit many people to work in all the restaurants.
With the support from Vice Governor He, all the licenses and inspections were cleared at record speed.
“She is quite an aggressive manager. She’s even asking us to recruit as many people as we can. We’ve contacted many of our old friends from the culinary academy. That should be enough to fully staff all six restaurants,” Master Chef Ding said excitedly.
“Thank you for your hard work!” Tang Hao said with a smile.
After leaving Imperial Kitchen, Tang Hao immediately went to look for Shi Yiwen to be updated with progress reports.
Tang Hao traveled between Westridge and Provincial City every day. He tended to the young sprouts while he took his term exams at the university.
Finally, the term exams were over, and the university was closed for winter break.
On his way back to Westridge, he brought Liu Bingyao and Cao Fei along.
Another seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
In those seven days, Tang Hao grew more than thirty sprouts with cutting. With the earlier batch of sprouts, he had more than fifty Liquor Tree sprouts in total.
All the sprouts survived and grew rapidly under his care. They thrived with the guidance of the Scripture of the Divine Herbalist, and also with the nourishment of serpent monster and sea dragon blood.
Good news came from Masculine Wind. The construction of the factory had been completed. Production lines were operational and the first batch of the aphrodisiac was produced.
Many distributors around the country had been keeping an eye on the aphrodisiac. Orders came in like snowflakes in a blizzard.
The factory for Divine Liquor Company had started construction. It would only be completed after the Spring Festival.
Meanwhile, after about three weeks of preparations, the restaurants in Provincial City were finally open for business.
