Under the night sky, Su Han flew back to Mondstadt City on his sword.
Seeing him return, Klee immediately ran up, grabbed his hand, and smiled sweetly. "Big Brother Su Han, what were you doing? Klee waited for you all afternoon!"
"Big brother was cultivating, of course," Su Han said, rubbing Klee's head. He then led her towards the house.
While he was training today, Klee, Xiangling, Shenhe, and Keqing had all arrived in Mondstadt City. Klee and Shenhe were naturally here to find him, while Xiangling was thinking of opening a Wanmin Restaurant branch and had even already negotiated for a shop. As for Keqing, she was here on official business.
With so many people, it would be a bit too crowded if they all stayed in Jean's house. And so, Su Han had found Kaeya and, for a high price, bought a large mansion from a fallen aristocrat.
"When are you planning to open your shop?" Su Han asked, looking at the little chef who was serving the dishes.
Xiangling smiled sweetly. "On the day of the Ludi Harpastum. Dad said that although the tastes of the people here in Mondstadt are a little different, our dishes can still make a lot of money."
"That's true. The people of Mondstadt like to drink, so there will be a lot of people during dinner time. Good luck!"
"Mhm, I'll work hard!"
Soon, all the dishes were on the table, but Jean and Keqing had still not come out of the study. Su Han could only go and check on them. Otherwise, if the food got cold, it would be a hassle for Xiangling.
Just as he reached the door, he heard Jean's sigh.
"It's not that we don't want to develop Dragonspine, but that our Knights are spending more than they're taking in. Last month's salaries were paid by gritting our teeth. The Knights don't know how to manage money, and the investment in the train has completely emptied our coffers. Now with the new recruitment drive, I don't even know how I'm going to pay their salaries."
"I never thought the Knights of Favonius were in such a difficult situation," Keqing sighed.
Liyue had never had to worry about Mora. After all, the person in charge of the moneybag was Ningguang, who had the natural mind of a merchant, and with Rex Lapis's guidance, Liyue had never been short of Mora. Now that she understood the current situation of the Knights, she finally realized how important a good manager was for a nation.
Want to recruit more soldiers? That's a good thing. But the money? You can't just expect people to work for free, can you?
It was a good thing that Falcon Coast was being developed by Ningguang. Otherwise, Jean wouldn't know where to get the Mora.
At this moment, the door was pushed open, and Su Han walked in from outside.
"The matter of Mora, I can solve it for you."
"You? No! This is Mondstadt's affair. I can't take your Mora!" Jean refused without even thinking. She had her principles. Most of Su Han's Mora was Ningguang's, and Ningguang was from Liyue. She couldn't do that.
Su Han said, exasperated, "Is your head itching again? I haven't even finished speaking. I said I can help you solve it, not that I'm just going to give you Mora. With the mess Mondstadt is in, I wouldn't have enough Mora to give you anyway."
"Then what do you plan to do?"
"Isn't the Ludi Harpastum coming up? We can use an official method to sell a 'welfare lottery.' The special grand prize will be a 'special guidance session' from me. First prize will be one million Mora, second prize five hundred thousand, third prize one hundred thousand, and so on."
Su Han explained it in detail, basically using all the methods from his previous life. There would be daily drawings and weekly drawings. However, to quickly rake in the Mora, Su Han set the special grand prize to be drawn on the day of the Ludi Harpastum.
The nearby Keqing frowned. "Is that really appropriate? One million Mora… how many lottery tickets would you have to sell to just break even? At one Mora per ticket, you'd need a million sales. No one would be foolish enough to spend that much, would they?"
Jean was also worried. This world had never had a lottery model like this, so she couldn't be sure.
But Su Han was very certain. "Trust me, the lottery will be an absolute sensation. If it were Liyue, I wouldn't be so sure, but in Mondstadt, it will definitely be a huge hit."
Mondstadt and Liyue were different. The people of Liyue were accustomed to hard work, while the people of Mondstadt loved adventure. To put it bluntly, they loved excitement. And with the lottery's grand prize being so astonishing, who could resist such a temptation?
And, just think, to be personally guided by the existence who had sealed the Vortex Archon—it would definitely attract countless people.
Looking at the incredibly confident Su Han, Keqing smiled at Jean. "I think we can only give it a try. Since we've already hit a dead end, let's just do as Su Han says."
"Mm, I think so too. By the way, what's the first step?"
"Of course, it's to ask that Witch of Purple Rose for help," Su Han said with a mysterious smile.
A lottery like this had to be counterfeit-proof. Otherwise, it would be exploited by those with ill intentions. And as an authority on magic, the Witch of Purple Rose was naturally up to the task.
When Su Han and Jean found her, Lisa had already changed into her nightgown and was drowsy.
"What is it that requires you to find me so late at night?"
"It's like this: the Knights are in a bit of a financial bind recently. Su Han thought of a way to make money, so we'd like to ask for your help."
"Oh? A lottery? What an interesting thing," Lisa said, her eyes lighting up. She was clearly intrigued by this business model. Her eyes were full of surprise. The Ludi Harpastum is about to begin, and the citizens of Mondstadt will all be returning to their hometown to celebrate. To announce a lottery at this time is truly brilliant.
"Alright, leave the anti-counterfeiting measures to me. Let's do it overnight." Lisa was full of energy.
Jean was surprised. "Don't you need to rest?"
"Don't worry. It's all thanks to your man that the power in my body has been sealed. Although I'm sleepy, for the sake of Mondstadt, I have to persevere." If they missed this golden opportunity to make money, it would be too late for regrets.
Subsequently, Jean contacted Kaeya and Diluc. The former was responsible for notifying the shops and promoting it, while the latter mobilized the servants of his winery to produce the lottery tickets overnight.
Until the dawn of the next day, as the brilliant sunlight scattered over the land, the people of Mondstadt walked out of their homes. They suddenly discovered that the streets were filled with many new posters and banners.
"What's this? A lottery? An event to give back to the people of Mondstadt in celebration of the Ludi Harpastum!"
"The prize money is actually one million Mora!"
"My heavens!"
"And you can even get a 'special guidance session' from that great hero from Liyue!"
"Where can I buy a lottery ticket? I want to buy ten!"
"This is too good! If you buy twenty, you even get a free bottle of wine from the Dawn Winery! This is a huge bargain!"
"If I had that one million, I could marry Nina!"
In less than half an hour, the lottery was the talk of all of Mondstadt. The key was that a single draw was very cheap, only one Mora. And if you bought twenty at once, you would get a free commemorative bottle of wine. It was a good deal no matter how you looked at it.
And if you could win the guidance of that great lord, it would be like a dream. Look at that lucky Ellin! She was already the captain of a seven-person team, all because she had been looked upon favorably by Lord Su Han and had obtained her current strength.
Inside the Church of Favonius, the Deaconess, Barbara, hearing the news of the lottery and the chance to get Su Han's guidance, couldn't help but think, If I rely on just myself, it's impossible to beat my sister. If I can win the lottery, maybe I'll have a chance.
She returned to her bedroom and opened her small safe. Inside were tens of thousands of Mora.
Barbara was all in! The young woman took a portion of her own money and walked out of the Church.
At this time, in the Adventurers' Guild, a young woman was saying excitedly, "Hey, have you all heard? The lottery tickets go on sale at noon sharp! Should we go and try our luck? If we win, it would be amazing!"
The others all nodded. "Of course! Who wouldn't want to try their luck on such a good thing? And it's being released by the Knights of Favonius. The most important thing is that the special grand prize is just too attractive! Just think, if you get the guidance of that lord, you could probably surpass countless people in a short time. By the way, Bennett, are you going?"
At that moment, a young adventurer looked at the young man in the corner and asked. The latter was taken aback, then gave a bitter smile. "Me? I'll probably just watch. As for things that rely on luck, I'll pass."
His name was Bennett, and he was famously unlucky. When it came to matters of luck, he was always the one to suffer.
But at this time, another adventurer said, "It's precisely because you've always been unlucky that you should buy a lottery ticket to change your luck! Just think, Bennett, what if all the luck in your life was saved up for this? Wouldn't that be awesome? Not to mention the one million Mora. You could buy a big house in the city. And if you could win the special grand prize… hiss, becoming the 'Pyro Archon of Mondstadt' wouldn't be out of the question!"
"This… well… maybe I should go and try? I just happened to do a mission a few days ago and earned a lot of Mora."
"That's right! We'll all go together later. Hehe."
Seeing his companions' kind smiles, Bennett couldn't refuse.
On the other side, the knights came to Kaeya and said with a smile, "Vice-Grand Master, the people in the city are all asking when they can start buying."
"At noon. We can't miss this time. It's the first time we've had such a lively event. I'll go and buy a couple of tickets later, too. I wonder if I can win a small prize."
Kaeya didn't even think about the grand prize. As an insider, he knew how low the probability was. To win, you'd have to be the luckiest person.
Of course, the lottery tickets weren't just being sold in Mondstadt City. Springvale also had a sales point. Kaeya had sent people overnight to set up the station. If it wasn't impossible to get to the port, he would have wanted to open a lottery stand there as well.
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