Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1949 Economic Issues
Before long, the elves discovered that many new products had been added to the various shops inside the trading market.

Putting everything else aside, the exquisitely crafted wooden tables, chairs, wardrobes, beds, and other household furniture attracted the attention of many elves.

Similar furniture exists among the elves, and its creation also utilizes wood from the forest.

However, when making these furniture pieces, they don't process the raw materials; they simply shape the wood into the styles they need.

Simply put, the elves' wooden furniture, over time, will even sprout new branches and attract insects.

The forest was already damp and infested with insects, so the living conditions of the elves with such furniture in their homes were even worse.

Before this, although they hadn't seen much furniture from the Great Zhou Dynasty, they weren't stupid; the difference between their furniture and that of the Great Zhou was obvious to the naked eye.

Not to mention that there are many ingeniously designed folding furniture pieces among them.

Outside the furniture store, the owner casually pulled something open, and with a "snap," it unfolded into a small round table, causing the onlookers to gasp in surprise.

However, the boss didn't stop. He casually folded the round table up again.

"See? When you need to use it, you can pull it out and it becomes a table. When you don't need it, you can fold it up and lean it against the wall to make the room more spacious."

The boss's actions made the onlookers, including the elves, envious.

In their view, this was wonderful and amazing.

Jenny, who was also watching, couldn't help but ask a question.

"Boss, how much is this folding table?"

The boss just chuckled in response.

"This size, fifty copper coins."

The moment the words were spoken, the scene erupted in uproar.

Fifty copper coins? This was a huge sum of money for the elves present.

In fact, this price is not expensive at all in the Great Zhou Dynasty; it could even be considered cheap.

After all, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, a wooden folding table like this is expected to last at least five years after purchase, and it's not uncommon for it to last ten or eight years. A high-quality one can even last longer.

Considering this, the price of fifty coppers was practically free to them.

However, this price was somewhat beyond the elves' means.

Let alone ordinary elves, even Jenny, who ranks among the top earners in the elf race, couldn't come up with fifty copper coins to buy this in a short time.

The shop owners in this trading market were naturally aware of this.

In their view, even Jenny didn't earn much. In their Great Zhou, he was just an ordinary factory worker, and his life wasn't even as good as that of an ordinary factory worker.

In the blink of an eye, the boss unfolded a folding chair with a 'click'.

"This folding chair is a bit cheaper, only twenty copper coins. If you buy the folding table and folding chair together, I can give you a discount."

The boss wasn't expecting to sell them all at once; this was just a way to let the elves know that they had a new product.

Indeed, that was the case. Although the elves were interested, they were short of money. Even Jenny, who had asked about the price, could only say they'd talk about it another time.

Back home, Jenny skillfully picked up a honeycomb briquette, stuffed it into the coal stove, and lit it to boil water.

Previously, the elves would drink dew or lake water directly, but since buying a coal stove and kettle, influenced by the Great Zhou, Jenny now only drinks hot water.

For this reason, he even bought a thermos so that he could boil water and take it to the mine.

While boiling water, Jenny brought his hands close to the coal stove to warm them, and while warming himself by the fire, he was thinking about folding furniture.

Since buying the coal stove, Jenny has been able to clearly feel that his room is noticeably cramped when the stove is set up and water is boiled.

As his gaze swept over his table, which was now sprouting new shoots due to the dampness, Jenny felt more and more that he should buy some folding furniture.

On this day, Jenny was definitely not the only elf to have this idea.

These elves generally began to work even harder.

However, the future of the Elf Forest is uncertain, but at present, its potential is essentially locked.

As mentioned earlier, there are too few opportunities and jobs available, so no matter how hard you try, you won't earn much money here.

In the past, it was enough to buy some small items for the house, have some food, and satisfy my appetite appropriately.

But once you see large pieces of furniture, you'll realize that, given the elves' income, those things are simply luxuries to them.

But the seeds of 'desire' have already been sown, and many have even taken root and sprouted in the hearts of the elves.

These elves gradually became restless and wanted to improve their lives.

This is perfectly normal, but if you compare the Elf Forest to a small, obscure county town in the countryside, everything becomes clear.

Life here is predictable, unchanging for decades or even centuries. For the restless elves, there is no hope. If they want to make a living, they have to go to the big city.

Of course, the elves at this stage do not yet have this concept, or rather, they have not yet realized where the fundamental problem lies.

Even the most ambitious elf is only thinking about working harder and saving money to buy the latest folding furniture!

But gradually, they discovered that there were more and more elves in the Elf Forest who wanted to make money, while it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to do so.

Buying the first folding table proved to be far more difficult than Jenny had anticipated.

"I'm almost there, I should be able to save enough money next month."

Just as Jenny was counting the copper coins in his money bag and pondering this matter, more and more ordinary elven laborers began to express their dissatisfaction to the Elf King.

They indicated that their current jobs don't earn them any money at all.

At first, Wright tried his best to deal with it and managed to get by, but it really was just a struggle.

As winter fades and spring arrives, temperatures rise, and the elves, having worked hard and saved up to buy cotton-padded clothes and quilts, gradually put them away to be brought out again next spring.

The shops in the trade market began to stock up on new products, hanging out the latest spring long-sleeved shirts and coats. The thick, warm cotton quilts were replaced with thinner, more breathable ones. This directly led to the elves' economic problems starting to erupt completely!
(End of this chapter)