Chapter 152: A Big Payday
After handing the jade over to Zhuang Feixue for auction, Chu Feng and Illya set out on a journey to find Witch Stones.
After days of tireless searching, they managed to secure six more Witch Stones.
Online, people were now openly offering huge sums to purchase Witch Stones.
At first, buyers had kept quiet, afraid of drawing attention to their value. But things had changed—now many were posting blatant public bounties.
It seemed many had realized that finding Witch Stones was extremely slow and inefficient unless they leveraged the masses.
Even so, results were still underwhelming. Many Witch Stones were too ordinary—so much so that even ability-users or people with abilities had trouble detecting them.
Illya looked at Chu Feng. Chu Feng shook his head and said, “We need to strike first—those who wait will lose their chance.”
Witch Stones were becoming increasingly scarce. If they didn’t act now, they might be too late.
“Word is, the scientific institute is developing a device to detect Witch Stones. They’ve probably made some progress. Once those machines are widely deployed, we might be out of luck.”
Illya nodded. “That’s true.”
He was reminded of how, in their original world, people fought bloody battles over Witch Stones.
Those who got ahead early became legendary powerhouses. Several wars had even broken out over them.
*
After a short break, Chu Feng and Illya moved on. During one of their teleports, Chu Feng accidentally landed in a small mountain village. Suddenly, their device gave off a signal.
“Can you sense where the Witch Stone is?” Chu Feng asked excitedly.
Illya nodded. “Yes.”
They wandered through the village, with Chu Feng murmuring, “This place looks pretty poor…”
The mountain village was remote and disconnected from proper roads. The houses were made of old stone, and the land looked barren.
Most of the villagers were elderly. Nearly all the young people had left for work in the cities.
As they walked, Illya suddenly stopped. “The Witch Stone is in that house.”
Chu Feng looked at a dilapidated stone-tile house. In front of it, an old woman and a child were cooking.
He glanced at Illya. “The Witch Stone’s there? Don’t tell me they’re using it as a pickle stone or something.”
For some reason, he was reminded of the time he found a stone being used as a manhole cover.
Illya shook his head. “No, it looks like it was used in the construction of the house.”
The online price of Witch Stones—even the cheaper ones—was already in the tens of millions. And someone had used one to build a house? What a waste.
Then Chu Feng thought about it and realized it wasn’t so strange.
Some Witch Stones looked extremely plain. It was entirely possible people would mistake them for regular rocks and use them for construction.
Looking at the rundown house in front of him, Chu Feng thought: Never judge a house by its exterior. Who would’ve thought this crumbling shack could be worth tens of millions?
It’s not that life lacks opportunities—it’s that people lack the eyes to see them.
“Which stone is it? Can we remove it quietly?” he asked.
Illya shook his head. “No, the Witch Stone seems to be part of the foundation—it’s been built into the walls.”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. This family really used a Witch Stone for their house…
Without any specialized equipment, no one would’ve guessed it was there.
In the end, Chu Feng paid 500,000 yuan in cash to buy the old house, to avoid revealing his identity, he dressed in a black trench coat and wore a mask. The old woman and her grandson living in the stone house saw his outfit and thought he was some kind of agent or spy—they almost screamed for help to draw attention.
Chu Feng had no choice but to put on a show by slicing a table in half to scare the two people and assert his dominance. Afterward, he handed them a backpack containing 500,000 yuan in cash. The elderly woman had never seen so much money in her life and almost fainted from the shock.
With the 500,000 yuan and their own savings, the grandmother and grandson immediately moved out. Shortly after they left, Chu Feng had the house demolished and dug out the Witch Stone hidden inside.
“Why did Granny Wang’s house collapse?”
“Well, the house was quite old. Probably just collapsed naturally.”
“I’d better reinforce my own house before it collapses too.”
Granny Wang stayed in town for two days and called back her son and daughter-in-law. With 500,000 yuan suddenly appearing in the family, everyone was overjoyed.
A few days later, the family returned to the countryside to check on the situation—only to discover their house had collapsed. Granny Wang privately suspected that there might have been some antique buried beneath the house. Otherwise, why would someone pay so much to buy it? Of course, all of this was no longer related to Chu Feng.
A few days later, Chu Feng received a call from Zhuang Feixue. She informed him that the proceeds from the jade auction had already been deposited into his account.
Looking at the numbers in his account, Chu Feng felt a strange sense of unreality.
Illya asked in confusion, “It actually sold for that much? That’s unbelievable.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah!”
In his heart, he thought: From this moment on, he was no longer just a small-time millionaire worth over 100 million. He had now stepped into the ranks of mid-tier tycoons worth a billion yuan. Given time, becoming a billionaire worth tens of billions wasn’t out of the question.
With that much money, he wouldn’t have to worry about finances for a long time.
A billion yuan! Even if he lazed around doing nothing from now on, he probably wouldn’t run out of money for decades.
Illya narrowed his eyes. “So much money… how are you even going to spend it?”
Chu Feng laughed. “Good question! How am I supposed to spend all this money?”
“Oh right, my sister asked to meet us,” Chu Feng said.
Illya looked puzzled. “A dinner?”
Chu Feng smiled. “To talk about the elixirs.”
Back at Zhuang Feixue’s birthday, Chu Feng had forgotten to give her the Slimming Elixirs. Then he got busy looking for the Witch Stone and forgot again. She probably couldn’t wait any longer and subtly messaged him.
In addition, many people had started inquiring about buying the Health Elixirs and Beauty Elixirs. His sister was likely overwhelmed.
In a private room at a restaurant, Zhuang Feixue sat anxiously checking her watch, waiting for Chu Feng.
Chu Feng finally pushed open the door and entered. “Sis, have you been waiting long?”
Zhuang Feixue shook her head. “No, I just got here.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Good, wouldn’t want to keep a celebrity waiting.”
Zhuang Feixue playfully scolded, “You rascal. Did you bring the slimming elixirs you mentioned?”
Chu Feng hurriedly nodded. “Yes, I did.”
She had reminded him multiple times each day, so there was no way he could forget.
Chu Feng pulled out three bottles. “These are the Slimming Elixirs. This one is for health. And this one is for beauty. Fifty elixirs each. I promised Shen Yutong first pick, so please help coordinate the rest.”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “How many elixirs did you promise Shen Yutong?”
Chu Feng blinked. “Ten elixirs.”
“So many?!” Zhuang Feixue exclaimed.
Chu Feng looked puzzled. “Ten is a lot? Isn’t it good to have a big client like her?”
Zhuang Feixue rolled her eyes. “There’s not enough to go around!”
Chu Feng still didn’t get it. “Really?”
Zhuang Feixue frowned. “We’re seriously out of stock! Just word of mouth was enough—these elixirs are probably gone in minutes. So many rich people! Even with the high price, they still scramble for them. Some think we hired actors to fake demand!”
She continued, “I think we should raise the price.”
Chu Feng asked, “How much do you think?”
Zhuang Feixue thought for a moment. “Double it. Two million.”
Chu Feng blinked, thinking: That’s a steep increase.
He had considered raising prices but hadn’t been able to make up his mind.
Illya looked at Chu Feng and jumped in, “What’s wrong with that? The more expensive houses are, the more people want to buy them. Even pork prices have doubled recently. People always ignore cheap stuff, but regret not buying it when it’s expensive.”
Chu Feng nodded. “That makes sense!”
He was a modern man, but Illya seemed to understand market trends better than him.
Zhuang Feixue took a deep breath. “There was a Health Elixir that ended up in an auction and sold for six million. If we don’t raise our prices, all the money goes to resellers.”
“Lately, a bunch of rich bosses have been calling me, saying things like, ‘Niece, do you have any Health Elixirs? Save me seven or eight. Not less than five!’”
“And that’s the polite crowd. Some idiots asked to buy them all at once.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Alright then, I’ll leave it to you. After this batch, the next won’t be available until spring—there’s a shortage of ingredients.”
Zhuang Feixue immediately said, “What kind of herbs do you need? I might be able to help. A lot of ability-users have appeared recently, hunting rare herbs. Some traditional medicines have become expensive and hard to find, but I’ll see what I can do.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Thanks, Sis. I’ll need your help sourcing rare herbs.”
She nodded. “Alright. Any specific requirements?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Not really.”
He didn’t know much about herbs anyway. He’d just let the shaman handle it.
“Oh right, about the jade auction—the price was really good! It sold for over 800 million!”
Zhuang Feixue’s expression changed. “Over 800 million? That can’t be right! The total was 730 million. Did someone else send you money?”
Chu Feng looked puzzled. “What? Could someone have transferred extra money to me?”
An extra 100 million isn’t a small amount. Is he really that lucky? That someone would just give him money?
It was a good thing, sure… but also a little unsettling.
Chu Feng glanced at Zhuang Feixue and said, “What are you trying to say?”
Zhuang Feixue shook her head and replied, “It’s nothing. A few days ago, Xiao Cheng asked me for your account number.”
Chu Feng nodded and thought to himself: Could it be that little brat Zhuang Cheng who sent me money? Where did he get so much money?
Zhuang Feixue thought for a moment and said, “He saved some pocket money, and also got the proceeds from the jade auction. Our father gave him everything.”
Zhuang Cheng’s just a minor, and he has that much money? Chu Feng mused. I’ll find a time to ask him.
He also remembered: Illya still keeps thinking about that 50 million reward we never claimed. Could Zhuang Cheng have been influenced by that?
Zhuang Feixue nodded, “Okay.”
