Chapter 71: Perhaps hand-crafting is best for Jiang

“Mom Qin! We’re rich!”
“Huh?”

Watching Jiang Cha rush in from outside, shout that out loud, then run off again laughing like an idiot, He Qin’s bun-shaped hair seemed to sprout a giant question mark above it.

“Don’t look at me. Tea-bao’s probably been under too much stress lately—must’ve snapped a little.”

The blonde loli shrugged, equally confused.

“Oh~ remember to come home for dinner tonight.”

He Qin sighed and pinged Jiang Cha through her communicator.

“As expected of Mom Qin!”
“Mom Qin, got any snacks?”
“I told you, stop calling me Mom!”
“…”

Jiang Cha really was excited about finally having money.
She’d kept calm and collected back at the Alchemy Club, of course — maintaining her persona required discipline. But once she got home, it was time to think about how to spend it.

Hmm… the shop plan she’d been talking about before might actually be doable now.

Five thousand witch gold sounded like a lot — but not that much.
A single mid-tier spell from Mortel would cost at least ten thousand, sometimes even a hundred thousand.
Not to mention that fragment world.

Still, this was the first cash she’d ever actually earned herself.
The Alchemy Club’s ten-thousand-material-credit, or Mortel’s investment — none of that could really be turned into money.

For a long time, the girl hadn’t even had a single coin to her name.
Even her clothes money had come from He Qin — technically labeled as “pocket money (loan)”.

Well then — act now, think later.

She kept fifty thousand witch gold, took out a thousand to pay back He Qin, and used her commuter card to apply for a small storefront lease.

Three thousand witch gold a month, paid monthly, no deposit required — the academy’s way of supporting student entrepreneurship.

Witches outside the school couldn’t dream of getting a location like that for so cheap.
Of course, rent was never the main cost of starting a business in the witch world.

Jiang Cha wanted to open a little shop for professional supplies — which meant she’d need the proper equipment.

“A basic set of low-tier alchemy tools costs five thousand… that’s already expensive enough. But the real killer is the mechanical gear — a universal assembly line goes for ten thousand! Robbery!”

Looking at the prices on WitchBay, the girl sat in a café, a bit disheartened.
Her freshly earned money was already slipping away from her hands.

“What’s this? Jiang Cha, are you opening a shop?”

Annie had appeared out of nowhere, peeking at the holographic screen in front of her, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

“Yup! I can’t just sit around burning through my savings forever — gotta have some kind of income…”

Halfway through the sentence, Jiang Cha noticed Annie’s face starting to look suspiciously like she was about to pull out her credit card and sponsor her. She quickly changed the subject.

“More importantly, I need a place to practice my side professions.”
“It’s hard to improve your hands-on skills if you’re just tinkering at home.”

“Ehh—” Annie pulled back her eager little hands.

Since Jiang Cha put it that way, that meant she didn’t want outside funding.
And besides — a self-sustaining shop would train her ability much better.

After all, there were thousands of materials in the witch world; figuring out how to combine them cheaply yet effectively was one of the key skills of any artisan.
If her shop didn’t have to turn a profit, and she could just throw money at materials, she’d never learn that.

“So that’s how you’re thinking about it, huh?”
“Mm-hmm.”

The girl let out a sigh of relief — talking to this little rich witch required careful phrasing.

Annie wasn’t like Lina. Lina might be rich, but she was sensible; she’d never casually flash money around.
She’d even happily come mooch snacks off He Qin, saying, “Good sisters keep the accounts clear — that way the friendship power goes up-up and we can stick closer together!”

Annie, on the other hand, had basically no concept of money, and spent it pretty lavishly.
Even though her maid café should’ve been a goldmine, she somehow kept losing money.

“Then maybe check the flea market — they often have second-hand equipment. Not the best quality, though.”

“Ohh, I see.”

That gave Jiang Cha an idea.
Not that she actually planned to buy second-hand gear — the quality of those things depended entirely on how honest the seller was, and witches… well, they were known for having a conscience, just not many of them.

It was like buying a “girl-used once” graphics card off the internet — not impossible to get a good one, but the odds were…

Anyway, Jiang Cha decided: better to make nothing than buy trash.

“Thanks, Annie! I’ve got it now!”

She hugged the red-haired witch, drained her coffee, and dashed out in a blaze of phoenix fire — leaving behind a blushing Annie, clutching her maid skirt and staring at the floor.

“Aww, the boss got flirted with again~”
“Boss, you can do it! Go get her!”
“Boss~ when are you marrying little Jiang Cha?”

The café maids gathered around, teasing their flustered manager.

“Back to work!”

Annie finally exploded — or at least tried to. Her “manager’s authority” wasn’t exactly intimidating.

Still, the maids were professional enough; they giggled, dispersed, and went back to serving customers.
All of them were academy students too — many even upperclassmen — but inside this café, they had only one identity: staff.
That was the witch world’s rule for part-timers.

—

After leaving Annie’s maid café, Jiang Cha headed straight for the Alchemy Club.

Low-tier professional tools weren’t exactly hard to make — just complicated.
For example, an alchemy workbench might have engraved runes and enchanted beakers — all still within the “low-tier” range.
If it went beyond that, it’d be a mid-tier device.

The real issue was the breadth of knowledge needed — the bench alone touched on four disciplines: enchantment, alchemy, mechanics, and potions — three of which were major branches of study.

And anyone with that much skill wouldn’t need low-tier equipment anyway.

Large companies’ products were designed by masters — humanized, optimized, compact, and seamlessly integrated.
That’s why most witches preferred to just buy one complete set. It wasn’t even that expensive if you only needed one.

But Jiang Cha was different.
As an all-rounder witch, she could build her own!
(Also, because buying all the tools she needed would bankrupt her.)

“Yeah… the techniques and theory aren’t that advanced. Making one myself would take time, but it’d help consolidate what I’ve learned.”
“Mm, doable.”

She nodded in satisfaction at the dismantled alchemy workbench before her.
The rune engravings were clear enough, and there were no confidentiality seals — she was confident she could recreate it.
Sure, the details might be rough, and her version would probably be bulkier,
but still — it was within her capabilities.

So her goal now was…

“Put all these pieces back together first.”

The girl sighed quietly.