After the three women each picked their favorite rooms, they came together to the hall, where Zhao Ling was brewing tea.
Seeing the three approach, he quickly waved to them.
"Come, come, you must be hungry. The kitchen just finished cooking not long ago, so have some snacks first to tide you over."
With that, Zhao Ling took out two jin (about 1 kg) of sliced cooked beef and some pastries from his storage space.
Bo Saixi wasn't very demanding about food, mostly eating for pleasure, but Ah Yin and Liu Erlong were indeed quite hungry.
After drinking coffee all afternoon at a coffee shop, it was no surprise Ah Yin and Liu Erlong were hungry now.
Seeing Zhao Ling pull out food from his storage, their stomachs rumbled, and the two quickly sat at the table, eating pastries and beef.
Bo Saixi also sat at the table, taking a piece of dragon pastry candy and tasting it.
At this moment, Zhao Ling's eyes rested on the low-grade spirit beast meat stored in his storage space. Thanks to the storage's maximum freshness function, the meat was still as fresh as when the beasts were killed.
Zhao Ling considered holding a barbecue party in the courtyard in the next few days. There was plenty of meat, and it would help quickly build a good relationship between him and the former servants of the mansion.
He felt that relying on power and money could only earn surface respect from servants, but it wouldn't bring them closer.
A truly excellent leader should build good relations with their subordinates.
Before crossing over, many large companies on Blue Planet rose to success because their CEOs shared hardships with their subordinates. This made the subordinates genuinely loyal and willing to work hard.
But many CEOs forgot that after gaining success, they must share wealth with their subordinates too.
As a result, their subordinates gradually drifted away, eventually leaving the companies, which led to their decline or collapse.
Although Zhao Ling hadn't shared hardships with the mansion's servants before, he wanted to use other methods to build real rapport so they would sincerely work and dedicate themselves to him.
When steward Qian Liu brought a group of servants carrying cooked food into the hall, Zhao Ling beckoned him over.
"Liu Zi, come here a moment..."
Qian Liu carefully placed the dishes on the big table and then respectfully approached Zhao Ling.
"Master, do you have any instructions?"
Zhao Ling nodded and told him about the upcoming barbecue party, emphasizing that everyone in the mansion must participate.
Qian Liu was stunned for a moment before cautiously asking, "Master, how many people should we send tomorrow to buy the needed meat?"
Zhao Ling shook his head, gesturing to the floor. Instantly, a pile of low-grade spirit beast meat appeared on the ground.
"This is all meat from low-grade spirit beasts I hunted in the Sunset Forest. Though low-grade, these beasts are over a hundred years old. You probably haven't had meat from century-old spirit beasts before, so everyone can have a taste."
Most of the servants, including Qian Liu, had either useless spirit beasts or very low-level ones. If they became spirit masters or great spirit masters, the Spirit Hall would give monthly subsidies to encourage them to advance further.
But none had done so, choosing instead to work as servants in the mansion, showing their spirit beasts were indeed weak and their prospects bleak.
They probably never had the chance to eat century-old spirit beast meat, so seeing so much laid out made their eyes light up.
"Yes, this much meat is definitely enough for a barbecue. But just meat wouldn't be good, I'll have someone buy vegetables tomorrow," Qian Liu suggested while looking at the meat.
"Okay, you handle that," Zhao Ling said, then took out a thousand gold spirit coins from storage and placed them before Qian Liu.
"Take this money. One thousand gold spirit coins should cover the mansion's monthly expenses if we don't buy luxury items."
Zhao Ling expected Qian Liu to happily accept the money, but he shook his head vigorously.
"Master, you don't need to give us money. All food, clothing, and wages here are paid by the royal family, as before and continuing in the future. This is a direct order from His Majesty."
Zhao Ling raised an eyebrow—he hadn't expected the old Snow Night to be so generous.
Not only did he get this huge mansion and a 5 million gold spirit coin annual salary, but the royal family also covered all household expenses and wages. Zhao Ling had to give that old guy some credit.
Still, since he'd already taken out the thousand gold spirit coins, Zhao Ling said to Qian Liu:
"You keep this money as a bonus for you all. Since the royal family covers all expenses and wages, this is extra. If you serve me well, I won't treat you poorly. It also avoids people saying I'm stingy, right?"
Zhao Ling's words immediately brightened Qian Liu's and the other servants' faces.
Getting a monthly salary from the royal family was already great, but receiving 1000 gold spirit coins as a bonus on their first meeting with the master? Who wouldn't want that?
There were only about a hundred servants total, so dividing the 1000 gold spirit coins meant nearly 10 coins per day each—like a dream come true.
They suddenly felt Zhao Ling was so kind, even more so than their parents. If they got 10 gold spirit coins annually from their master, life would be perfect.
Zhao Ling had no idea what the servants were thinking. He glanced at the full table of dishes and invited the three women:
"Come, come, let's taste the skill of the mansion's chefs."
The three nodded and eagerly ate. The chefs' skills were quite good—no worse than those in external hotels, maybe even better.
The four ate happily. Zhao Ling thought the chefs' cooking could rival some great chefs from Huaxia.
He just didn't know if the mansion's chefs had spirit beasts related to food. He planned to meet with them personally someday.