Chapter 103: The Price of Progress

Lin Yuan brought the ledger upstairs after the tavern closed.

That alone was enough to make Su Mei suspicious.

"You never take that to your room."

"I need quiet."

"You have quiet downstairs after everyone leaves."

"Qiao Ren knows I’m looking at construction estimates."

Su Mei considered that for a moment. "Upstairs is safer."

Lin Yuan nodded. Exactly.

He carried the ledger, Master Han’s estimates, and a smaller record of recent expenses to the table in his room. After arranging the papers, he opened the tavern’s accounts.

The first page he examined was the income record, not the construction estimate. The new lodging price had been in place long enough to show a pattern. Rooms still filled regularly, and the additional income was noticeable whenever six, seven, or all eight were occupied.

At two low-grade spirit stones per room, a fully occupied tavern could now bring in sixteen stones from lodging alone, provided every guest was paying the new rate.

Of course, that was income, not profit. Some nights still had empty rooms, and running the tavern required food, supplies, maintenance, and other expenses. Nevertheless, the improvement was real.

Food sales had also risen with the increase in travelers. The growing market brought more activity around the tavern, even when not every merchant or customer stayed overnight.

Business was doing well. That was the pleasant part.

Lin Yuan opened the expense record. The formation repair had already taken a portion of his physical spirit-stone reserve. Master Han’s current work would take another, and the contractor’s estimates made the remaining obligations impossible to ignore.

The tavern entrance needed proper repairs whether Lin Yuan liked the price or not. The damaged market stalls also had to be restored, and he had already approved two additional stalls while Master Han and his workers were in Blackstone.

Those costs were commitments now. Everything after that was a choice.

Lin Yuan took a clean sheet and arranged the figures into three sections: spirit stones currently available, money already committed to approved work, and the reserve he wanted to keep untouched. He checked the totals against his physical holdings, then checked them again.

One thing he refused to do was count the Territory Core’s revenue record as spendable money. The Core measured Blackstone’s development in its own way, but Territory Revenue was not a pile of spirit stones he could place in Master Han’s hand. Construction required actual stones, as did food, supplies, repairs, travel, and anything unexpected enough to arrive carrying a weapon.

Lin Yuan had developed a strong appreciation for the last category.

Once the approved work and ordinary expenses were accounted for, he turned to the remaining estimates.

The guesthouse was easy to set aside. Eight rooms were filling often enough to make expansion worth considering, but Master Han had been right. Several busy nights did not justify constructing another lodging building immediately.

The storehouse was harder.

Lin Yuan had seen the current storage room. More accurately, he had watched Su Mei somehow continue fitting supplies into a room that should have surrendered several weeks ago.

A separate storehouse would make daily work easier, provide space for bulk purchases, and reduce the constant effort of reorganizing supplies. It would also consume spirit stones without directly producing much new income.

Useful did not automatically mean urgent. For now, they could manage.

Lin Yuan moved the storehouse estimate beside the guesthouse.

That left the bathhouse.

He stared at the page longer than he intended, partly because the bathing building actually made sense. The well’s initial test suggested that a modest facility was possible, provided they monitored its water consumption carefully. Travelers were already asking for heated washing water, and the rooms were increasingly occupied.

People arriving from the wasteland were usually dusty enough that even Lin Yuan had begun noticing how often basins were requested.

Unlike the storehouse, a bathhouse could charge customers directly. Unlike the guesthouse, it would provide a service Blackstone did not currently offer at all.

But construction was only the beginning of the expense.

Lin Yuan added another section to his calculations: heating fuel, cleaning materials, water handling, replacement towels and equipment, maintenance, and someone’s time to manage the service.

Master Han’s estimate covered building the place. It didn’t mean the bathhouse would operate for free afterward, nor would the additional income begin the moment the first wall was finished.

He considered how much the bathhouse might earn on a busy day, then deliberately considered what would happen if only a few travelers used it. The result was less exciting. A profitable day was easy to imagine, but recovering the construction cost could take much longer, especially if operating expenses proved higher than expected.

Lin Yuan leaned back and rubbed his forehead.

Repairs were easy to justify because damaged things had to be fixed. The bathhouse was different. He would be spending spirit stones because he believed Blackstone’s growing traffic could support a new service.

That required more confidence than repairing something already broken.

He returned to the ledger and calculated what would remain after paying for the approved repairs and stalls, followed by the full estimated cost of the bathhouse. Not merely its initial deposit, but the entire project.

He also left room for the tavern’s ordinary operating expenses and the possibility that something unexpected might need attention before the new service began earning money.

The remaining reserve was smaller than he would have liked, but it was still sufficient for normal operations. That mattered. Having enough spirit stones to begin construction was very different from having enough to finish it comfortably.

Lin Yuan made one final calculation. The answer did not change.

He could afford the bathhouse.

Whether he should build it was another matter.

A knock came at the door.

"Come in."

Su Mei entered carrying a cup of tea. She placed it beside the ledger and glanced at the papers covering the table.

"You’re still working."

"I’m trying to decide whether Xiao Lan is about to cost me a large amount of money."

"She’ll be happy to hear that."

"She’ll hear nothing until I decide."

Su Mei noticed the estimate lying in front of him. "The bathhouse?"

Lin Yuan nodded. "You handle more of the daily work than I do. Tell me whether it would actually help."

Su Mei considered the question before answering. That was one reason Lin Yuan had asked her. Xiao Lan would have said yes before he finished speaking, while Qiao Ren would somehow have suggested three additional buildings.

Su Mei actually thought about it.

"Guests ask for washing water often now," she said. "Especially when caravans stay overnight. On busy evenings, heating it and carrying it upstairs takes time away from the kitchen."

Lin Yuan looked at her. "You never complained."

"It was manageable."

"That’s not the same thing."

"No." She examined the estimate again. "If the bathing building has its own heating area and water storage, it would reduce some of that work. But someone would still have to clean it and manage the water."

"I was afraid you’d mention that."

"Someone has to."

"Xiao Lan pointed at you when Master Han mentioned cleaning."

"I know."

Lin Yuan paused. "You saw that?"

"Yes."

"And you still let her live?"

"For now."

Lin Yuan took a drink of tea while Su Mei continued studying the estimate.

"If you build it, we should decide how it operates before opening," she said. "Who manages it, when customers can use it, and whether guests staying upstairs pay separately."

Lin Yuan slowly lowered his cup. He had been thinking about construction costs. Su Mei had already reached daily operations.

"That is why I asked you."

"You were hoping I’d tell you not to build it."

"That would also have been helpful."

She smiled slightly. "Can we afford it?"

"Yes."

Su Mei waited.

Lin Yuan sighed. "I’ve accounted for the repairs, two additional stalls, and the estimated cost of the bathhouse. We’d still have a reserve."

"Enough for normal expenses?"

"Yes, though I’d prefer the reserve to be larger."

"Of course you would."

"And I haven’t decided what we’d charge customers. Fuel, cleaning, and maintenance could make it less profitable than it looks."

Su Mei nodded. "Then start with a simple service. Don’t make it more expensive to operate than necessary."

That was precisely what Lin Yuan had been thinking.

"If only a few people use it each day, the spirit stones will take longer to earn back."

"But the work of carrying heated water around the tavern would still be reduced," Su Mei pointed out. "And travelers who don’t stay overnight might pay to use it."

Lin Yuan looked down at the estimate. She was right.

The bathhouse did not need to become Blackstone’s most profitable business immediately. It needed to provide a useful service without placing too much strain on the settlement’s finances.

"So you think we should build it?"

"If we keep it small, yes."

Lin Yuan considered that. One sensible vote in favor, and unfortunately, it came from the person whose opinion he trusted most on matters involving the tavern’s daily operation.

That made it difficult to ignore.