MOI's projection assembled without fanfare at the table's edge. Her light was the same pale geometry as always; there was no attempt at theatrics. She spoke in the precise cadence of a scheduler. "Administrator, I present a proposed immediate intervention to relieve local food insecurity and generate steady credit throughput: establish a community grocery node within the mansion's sorting annex. Operational goals, staffing, procurement, and projected MT offsets are included."
Mingyue did not smile. He allowed the sentence to be a map. "Show me the plan."
Her projection unfolded a clean, three-part schematic: Purpose, Operations, Targets. Each block was narrow, pragmatic. "Purpose: provide stable access to measured food portions and essential consumables for surrounding settlements, while creating predictable credit flows for internal labor monetization. Operations: allocate a forty-square-foot section of the sorting annex; stock initial inventory through converted appraised goods and small MT procurement; open daily markets with parity pricing; maintain a ledger-backed ration system. Targets: establish baseline credit circulation of 200 credits/week and accrue 2,500 MT in reserve within ninety standard days through combined appraisal sales and margin from surplus goods."
Mingyue's calm gave nothing away. He asked, "Margins?"
MOI's numbers were crisp. "Standard markup for credit-market items: 10–15% above house cost to maintain supplies and cover logistics. Margin on repaired goods sold externally for MT varies; projected conversion rate: 40% of sale value to MT after processing and transport costs. Revenue streams: local credit sales, scheduled appraisal auctions to external buyers, and occasional targeted MT purchases converted through appraisal arbitrage. Risk: local hoarding attempts, supply chain interruption, social destabilization if goods are misallocated."
He considered the percentages the way a man considers grain yields. Ten to fifteen percent was modest; 2,500 MT in ninety days was ambitious but not impossible if appraisal throughput accelerated and if the village engaged.
"Staffing?" he asked.
"Recommendation: Two primary attendants for the grocery node; one inventory clerk (ledger-trained) and two runners for supply runs. Training window: seven cycles for attendants and inventory clerk to operate parity and rationing rules. Verification: Hu De to supervise ledger entries; Chen Guo to certify tool-condition goods for sale; Auntie Qiao to manage rationed cooked portions. MOI will provide automated verification of exchanges."
Mingyue nodded. The plan was structurally tight. It used the house's strengths—appraisal, recording, measured exchange—and insulated the village from impulsive depletion by ration controls. Still, he wanted more than practicality. He had begun to feel the shape of what the house could be; MOI was laying the bridge one precise plank at a time.
"What do we stock first?" he asked.
Her projection shifted to a line-item list. "Immediate inventory (credits market): single cooked meal portion (0.25 jin rice + broth) — 1 credit; five-day rice sack — 20 credits (20 jin); needle & thread set — 8 credits; oil lamp — 25 credits; simple soap — 6 credits; rope (5 li) — 10 credits. MT procurement items for house sale/export: forged plowbits (industrial) — 480 MT each; compact multi-tool (modern) — 350 MT each (limited); sealed oil lantern (long-burn) — 80 MT each (bulk)."
Mingyue read the numbers and tasted their geometry: small comforts that could be paid with steady labor; larger ticket items that required MT and could be sold to fund the house's growth. The grocery would be both a social buffer and a revenue node.
"You want margin and reach, not charity," he said aloud, mostly to himself.
"Affirmative," MOI replied. "Sustainable operations require predictable exchange. Charity without feedback erodes long-term stability. The grocery node acts as both care mechanism and economic engine."
There was a quality in her voice—dispassionate, correct—that suggested she measured more than the present. He found himself appreciating the clarity. He also felt a thread of a different sensation: a practical hunger for capacity. He allowed the thought to flit across the ledger of his mind without indulging it; there was work to be done.
"What about supply?" he asked. "We cannot resupply MT items from within this world."
MOI answered with the same steady logic. "Initial supply will come from converted appraised goods and prioritized MT purchases within current reserves. Longer-term supply will leverage salvage from nearby settlements and repair-to-sell throughput. External procurement will be required for larger MT items; scheduled appraisal auctions may convert household surpluses into MT through external buyers. Suggested immediate action: designate two appraisal days weekly, with curated items selected for external sale."
A thin, quiet calculation moved behind Mingyue's eyes. Appraisal auctions meant MT faster. MT faster meant capacity—more storage, better tools, and the slow, comfortable amenities that had once been fantasies in his mind. A softer bed; a mattress with layered cotton that yielded without sagging. A sealed kettle that did not crack in heat. A proper chair that held one's back. A table that did not creak. Small things, domestic in kind, but in aggregate they sketched a life he had not allowed himself to imagine since he arrived: comfort that was earned, not stolen.
MOI did not list comfort as a motive. She did not need to. "Operational constraints," she said. "If Administrator authorizes grocery node, I will issue the following task list."
Her projection presented three clear tasks, each tagged and timestamped.
Task 1 — Grocery Node Setup (Immediate)
Assign inventory space: sorting annex, forty square feet. Allocate initial credit stock: 200 credits. Source initial goods: convert low-value appraised items into stocked goods; allocate 5 kg of preserved grain from communal reserve. Staff: recruit two attendants and one inventory clerk. Deadline: seven cycles.
Task 2 — Appraisal Auction Cadence (Short-term)
Schedule appraisal days: Tuesday, Friday. Curate items for external sale: designate goods with highest MT potential. Logistics: secure runner capacity for external auction delivery. Target: convert 30% of curatable items per week to MT through auctions.
Task 3 — MT Accrual & Reserve Management (Medium-term)
Target reserve: 2,500 MT in ninety cycles. Allocation: 40% to structural upgrades, 30% to MT procurement for exportable goods, 30% to contingency and anchor data procurement. System will monitor accrual and recommend reallocation when thresholds are met.
Mingyue let the tasks line up. The language of allocation and percentages appealed to him; it was a ledger translated into action.
"What social safeguards?" he asked. He did not want disorder born of sudden access.
MOI's projection rendered a small, firm protocol. "Parity rationing: allocate staple rations at fixed rates. Priority to registered households and essential staff. Audit protocol: Hu De plus MOI verification to cross-check entries daily. Misallocation response: restitution and mandatory service hours. Social disclosure: limit knowledge of external-sale items to core staff until sufficient MT reserve established."
He had no wish to hide, but he recognized the necessity. Knowledge spread too soon invited demand and disorder. He approved the discretion out of duty and strategy.
"Proceed with Task 1 preparatory measures," he said. The decision carried no fanfare, but it marked a subtle shift. He authorized mobilization not only for relief but for accumulation.
MOI accepted the authorization with the same quiet precision she used to record hours. "Preparations will begin. Recruiting scripts and training outlines will be produced. Initial inventory conversion protocol will commence at dawn."
He sat back and stared longer than necessary at the map of targets. In the margin of his mind, small images began to assemble—an upgraded guest pallet with layered cotton, a sealed kettle perched on a clean shelf, a store counter polished and neat. They were not large ambitions. They were the soft vertices of a life that could be purchased carefully and honestly. He did not say them aloud. He catalogued them like entries in the ledger, private and precise.
MOI added one last, clinical recommendation. "Recommendation: establish minimal social outreach—announce grocery opening date and accepted credit rates. Maintain transparency of ledger entries to build trust. Begin with modest supply to avoid early depletion."
He thought of Auntie Qiao's hands, of Little Sui's lamp, of Hu De's ink. He thought of the 2,500 MT target and the little comforts they could buy along the way. The calculation was not just for the village; it was for him too. The house had shown him structure; it offered reward for accumulation. That was not a sin; it was the grammar of their survival.
"Then begin," he said. "But keep the house fed first. We will not starve this valley to chase targets."
MOI recorded his constraint plainly. "Constraint logged: no reallocation that precipitates immediate food insecurity. Simulation will adjust for conservative and aggressive allocation paths. Recommendation: proceed conservative for first two cycles to stabilize supply."
Mingyue nodded. He had authorized the grocery node. He had authorized accrual. He felt, in the steadiness of those choices, something like appetite—an appetite not merely for comfort, but for the competence that comfort represented. It was a small, hungry thing and, if tended properly, it would keep the house moving forward.
MOI dimmed her projection. "Initial documents will be ready at dawn."
He closed his eyes for a breath. When he opened them, the ledger lay quiet and the house hummed as if in agreement. Outside, the valley slept with small dreams of lamps and measured rice. Inside, a plan had been set. The path forward was ledgered, constrained, humane—and, if he did his sums well, it would lead to things that, until recently, had been only small, private temptations: a softer bed, a kettle that did not crack, a steady table where people could eat without fear. He thought of those things with no shame; he thought of them as targets, as proper, methodical goals.
The grocery node would begin at dawn.