USWHC -Chapter 266 Getting Rich (Part 6)

“Ah—It worked! It worked!”

A howl rang out like a thunderclap, jolting everyone awake from their sleep.

Who was that? Getting so excited this early in the morning? It sounded like someone had taken a dose of stimulants! Huh? That sounded like Zhu Jie’s voice. What happened?

Ji Yi hurried outside, only to see Huaihua rushing out of the room opposite him at almost the exact same time. The two of them followed the sound and ran toward the kitchen together.

The faint morning light filtered through the half-closed door and spilled into the room, illuminating a figure whose body trembled like swaying flowers.

Oh dear… why did that look so terrifying?

Had that rotten soup made of flower petals and leaves finally been successfully produced?

Just as Ji Yi was about to push the door open, Zhu Jie suddenly turned around, revealing a smile as mysterious as the Mona Lisa.

“Congratulations,” she said. “You’re about to get rich!”

“Me? Get rich?” Ji Yi froze in confusion.

Zhu Jie held up a small box in her hands, looking both gentle and extremely proud as she declared,

“Look—this is the most important invention of the century!”

Ji Yi looked at what she was holding. It was just a small red-lacquered wooden box. What was that originally used for again? It looked strangely familiar.

“Sis, why are you holding a chopstick holder?” Huaihua asked in surprise.

So it was the small box used for storing chopsticks at home. No wonder Ji Yi thought it looked familiar. But why was she carrying it? Had she improved the chopsticks?

That couldn’t be it, right? Two wooden sticks—no matter how you improved them, at most you could carve patterns on them or paint them. That had nothing to do with her flower-petal-and-leaf soup.

But Zhu Jie shook her head gently and said proudly, “Not chopsticks. It’s my secret weapon!”

“Huh? Secret weapon?”

Was she going out to poison someone? Had she purposely made that rotten soup for that reason?

“Come on, let’s go to the town!”

Zhu Jie smiled slightly without explaining, carefully carrying the wooden box as she headed outside.

Wait… she was really going to town to poison someone? That was way too ruthless! Was this some kind of hatred toward the rich?

Seeing Zhu Jie walking out on her own, Ji Yi couldn’t help feeling anxious. What if she got caught? He quickly followed after her.

Without the Ji family’s ox cart, Zhu Jie had to take Uncle Ge’s horse carriage again. Fortunately, this time there were no ill-mannered passengers on board.

But honestly, she was probably worrying too much. By now, her reputation had already spread far and wide—what reckless rogue would dare provoke her?

Still, Zhu Jie guarded that chopstick box carefully the entire journey, as if afraid someone might snatch it away. In Ji Yi’s eyes, though, it looked exactly like the behavior of someone with a guilty conscience.

They arrived safely in town, but Zhu Jie suddenly looked completely lost.

Had she not yet decided on her target?

“Do you have any large stores that sell daily necessities?” Zhu Jie asked.

She had actually wanted to ask if there were any big supermarkets around, but Ji Yi definitely wouldn’t understand that term.

“A daily-goods store? A big one?” Ji Yi looked puzzled. “Do you mean a trading firm?”

“Yes! A trading firm!” Zhu Jie nodded vigorously. “A large one that sells soap!”

Soap?

Ji Yi suddenly seemed to understand. So that flower-petal-and-leaf soup was meant for this!

He burst out laughing. “There’s a Liao Trading Firm just ahead. They don’t specialize only in soapberries, but their soapberries are the best.”

“Is the soap our family buys also from there?” Zhu Jie asked cautiously.

“Yes,” Ji Yi replied.

After receiving Ji Yi’s confirmation, Zhu Jie became even more delighted.

When Zhu Jie arrived at the Liao Trading Firm, she was actually a little shocked.

This place didn’t just sell soap—it was practically like a small supermarket.

Silks from the south, mink furs from the north. Expensive items like imported gemstones from foreign lands, and small ones like glass cups. Rare and exquisite eastern pearls worth a fortune, or cheap soapberry blocks that cost only a single copper coin.

Not only was there a wide variety of goods, but the quality here was clearly a step above ordinary tailor shops or small jewelry stores.

For a business in such a small town, the building was actually two stories tall, and inside people were constantly coming and going. One glance was enough to tell that business was thriving.

Thriving business was good!

Zhu Jie nodded in satisfaction, looking around as if she were inspecting her own future enterprise.

Had she already begun imagining the day she’d rise from poverty and proudly sing her victory song?