The staircase was a massive spiral, with a handrail made of what felt like silk-smooth jade.
The entire mansion’s color scheme was peculiar, with different colors for each floor and area.
Often, grand, light colors set the environment, like fish-belly white floors and ivory walls, then strong bright or dark colors would highlight specific areas, such as a vibrant orange sofa or dark blue chairs and tables.
Priceless artworks were everywhere, strange sculptures, inscrutable paintings, and exquisite gemstone ornaments.
Jiang Ye couldn’t understand it, but he instinctively felt that Tian Rao’s home was more fashionable, imbued with a strong artistic elegance, while his own home was just an ordinary, unremarkable mansion.
“Your house is decorated quite well inside, why use double-sided transparent glass for the exterior walls?” Jiang Ye asked. “When I stand outside, I can see right through the entire house; there’s almost no privacy.”
“Who would stand outside and look?” Tian Rao chuckled. “There are sixteen families on this island, each within their own territory. All incoming vehicles and aircraft require verification, and unauthorized personnel cannot land on the island. Apart from the occasional golden snub-nosed monkey passing through the woods, no outsiders come here.”
“I didn’t go through any verification when I arrived,” Jiang Ye said.
“My heavens, Jiang Ye, what are you saying? This planet belongs to you, who would dare to verify you and not be tired of living?” Tian Rao burst into laughter.
Reaching the top floor, they entered the gym.
The gym floor was made of wood, not the usual narrow strips, but massive planks two meters wide and ten meters long. The oil-polished, reddish-brown grain resembled feathers rather than wood grain. It was likely made from trees felled after two hundred years of growth. The entire gym was about four hundred square meters; the cost of the flooring alone could probably buy several apartments in a residential complex.
The walls were still water walls, with golden spotlights beneath the water, creating the illusion of flowing gold from all directions, a rather cool effect.
There were over thirty types of fitness equipment, some familiar and some unseen before.
Tian Rao got on a treadmill. It wasn’t a traditional treadmill that moved in one direction, but a black circular area embedded in the floor with a diameter of ten meters. Once a person stood at the center point, they remained stationary relative to the ground; no matter which direction they ran, the ground would move at the same speed in the opposite direction.
Tian Rao began to run, changing directions at will, her long legs striding rapidly. She looked lean and strong like an antelope, possessing an incredibly high level of physical fitness, more energetic than any athlete.
“Your pace is incredible,” Jiang Ye said, sitting nearby and watching. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Who are you underestimating!” Tian Rao continued to accelerate. “I can run a marathon in three hours!”
Jiang Ye quickly calculated, which meant running each kilometer in four minutes for forty-two kilometers.
“Holy cow, that’s impressive!” Jiang Ye exclaimed. “Your physical condition is that good?”
“I’ve only been training for a little over a year. In another two years, I’m confident I can break the two-and-a-half-hour mark,” Tian Rao said, starting to pant. “Next month, Birong Star is hosting the second Super Marathon, one hundred kilometers long. I’ve registered and aim to get a good ranking.”
Jiang Ye was stunned. He had always thought of Tian Rao as a cute and soft girl, but her athletic ability was comparable to a triathlete.
“I heard your business empire has expanded again,” Jiang Ye said. “Are you making trillions in profit each month now?”
“Not that high, the net profit is only around eight to nine hundred billion each month,” Tian Rao said nonchalantly, as if a white-collar worker was mentioning their monthly salary of eight thousand.
Jiang Ye remained shocked. “Eight to nine hundred billion is still terrifying. How did you achieve that? According to the data, your company’s scale on Jiang Ye Star, Birong Star, and Exile Star isn’t very large. Is the profit mainly generated on alien planets?”
“Yes, eighty percent of the profit is from alien planets. Normally, most of the profit from alien planets is kept for operation by the branch companies there. However, during critical moments, all that money can be recalled,” Tian Rao said, panting heavily, her body drenched in sweat. She slowed down a bit.
“Let’s chat after you finish running,” Jiang Ye said.
Tian Rao further slowed her pace, transitioning to a walk. “What are you curious about? Teacher Tian is here to answer.”
“It’s already incredible that a clothing company like yours has reached this scale,” Jiang Ye said. “It feels as absurd as a sweet potato vendor earning tens of millions a year.”
“Jiang Ye, you only know part of the story. The profit from selling clothes is only ten percent; the remaining ninety percent comes from other derivative industries. Just selling roasted sweet potatoes might only earn you a hundred thousand a year, but if you find a few celebrities to do live streams selling roasted sweet potatoes, you can touch tens of millions,” Tian Rao chuckled. “Actually, I was also a bit clueless about this process; it just snowballed bit by bit.”
“It started like this: I sent my subordinates to open a branch company on Tuoyi Star to tap into the local clothing market. After my subordinates went there, they said there were many barren lands locally that could be acquired for producing raw materials for clothing,” Tian Rao said. “After reviewing the detailed information, I thought it was feasible. Buying land there was very cheap. After producing the raw materials, it would not only supply my clothing factory directly, saving me money on raw material suppliers, but if there was any surplus, I could also sell the raw materials at a high price to local friendly competitors, thus increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.”
“So, the land was acquired, and production went smoothly. It also created fifty thousand jobs for the local area. The local government was pleased and signed a twenty-year partial tax exemption agreement with us, as long as we could ensure employment. This saved a significant amount in taxes,” Tian Rao said. “Then, for employee welfare, I contacted Xu Yan to build residential areas nearby, including apartment buildings and a commercial city. As a result, local housing prices soared, and we made a substantial profit from real estate, which I split fifty-fifty with Xu Yan.”
“The most crucial part is that many clothing raw material suppliers on Tuoyi Star now rely on my production base for supply. This allows me to control the local pricing standards and industry influence. Everyone has to listen to me; those who comply will make a fortune, and those who defy me will go out of business,” Tian Rao said. “Several of my subordinates are now taking turns serving as the president of the local clothing business association. Any local clothing enterprise that wants to grow must first pay their respects to my subordinates, otherwise, they will be suppressed by the entire industry.”
“After the model on Tuoyi Star was a great success, I replicated it on other planets, copying it to over ten more planets,” Tian Rao said. “However, it’s just a conceptual replication. The concept is to start with the clothing industry, establish related industries, and achieve cost savings and implicit monopolies. The specific operations, because the circumstances of each planet are different, are actually vastly different.”
“For example?” Jiang Ye listened intently.
“Let me give you two examples of planets, one very backward and one very mature. These two extremes are quite representative.”