Chapter 65: Are You Smuggling?
After sending away the kids who had come to gawk at the kettle, it was soon time for Chu Feng’s next crossing.
Gray showed up with a rabbit in a cage. “Boss Feng, here’s the rabbit you asked for.”
Chu Feng eyed it cautiously. “This is just a regular rabbit, right? Not some kind of half-rabbit person?”
“Relax, it’s just an ordinary rabbit.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Good.”
Gray’s eyes lit up. “Boss, are you taking this rabbit to your world?”
“I’m going to try.”
Until now, Chu Feng had only transported non-living items between worlds. He had no idea what would happen with a living creature.
Gray was visibly excited. “If the rabbit survives the trip, will you take me next time?”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Even if the rabbit made it through, he’d still need to run more tests with living beings to be safe. Bringing a person through recklessly, even if they survived—what if they came out mentally scrambled from the back-and-forth?
Gray puffed out his cheeks and said, “Stingy.”
Illya gazed at the rabbit in the cage, green light flickering faintly in his eyes. Although Illya didn’t say anything, Chu Feng knew he was deeply curious about the other world—he likely wanted to see it for himself. Illya was so good-looking that bringing him back would definitely be something to show off.
Illya looked at Chu Feng and asked, “Is it almost time?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yes.”
Illya glanced at the clock on the table. “The crossing is happening earlier again.”
Chu Feng thought to himself: more frequent crossings are a good thing. The more often he could cross, the more supplies he could transport.
Chu Feng took the rabbit and a few supplies back to his villa.
Looking at the rabbit in the cage, he saw that blood had flowed from all seven orifices—it was completely, unmistakably dead. Chu Feng furrowed his brow. As he suspected, there were limits to his ability. The rabbit likely suffered a shock during the crossing and died from internal trauma.
He figured that the lightning-shaped mark on his hand must offer him protection during the crossing, which is why he could travel back and forth so many times unscathed.
Chu Feng took a deep breath. Good thing I didn’t bring someone across carelessly. Losing a rabbit is one thing—if a person died, that would be a huge problem.
He turned on his phone and saw a bunch of missed calls.
“Cousin! You finally answered! Bad news—we’re out of stock!”
“You mean the wood carving shop?”
“Yes!”
Chu Feng: “…Out of stock? Is the shop doing that well?”
He drove over to the shop.
“Cousin, you’re back!” Lin Zhihao greeted him excitedly.
Chu Feng looked around the store and noticed that several display cabinets were empty.
“Sold out already?” He was surprised that people recognized the value so quickly.
Lin Zhihao said, “Actually, it’s a bit of a strange story.”
“I opened an online store for the wood carvings. Someone asked me if the bracelets had mosquito-repelling effects.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yes, there’s a type of wood that repels mosquitoes.”
He remembered telling Zhihao offhand that the purple bracelet had that effect, though he never claimed anything miraculous like calming the mind or extending life. Still, his cousin had taken that to heart.
“A few days ago, someone online asked me if it was true. I said yes, and they bought one. I thought they’d return it, but the next day, I got several more orders.”
“Turns out, the buyer was an actress filming in the jungle. Mosquitoes were everywhere, and she was especially prone to bites. Even mosquito repellent didn’t help, so she gave the bracelet a try—and it actually worked.”
Chu Feng tilted his head. “Did she buy more after that?”
“She placed more orders—and some of her actor friends and even a director ordered too.”
Chu Feng: … Wait, we’re attracting celebrities now?
Even a low-tier celebrity earns a high salary, which explains why so many college grads rush into the entertainment industry every year.
“Then our online store suddenly went viral. One of the celebrities even mentioned the bracelet in an interview, and our shop’s name spread like wildfire.”
Chu Feng raised an eyebrow. “They gave you free publicity?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of awkward—we didn’t pay them anything.”
“In the last few days alone, online sales have reached over six million.”
Chu Feng: … The power of celebrity really is incredible.
“Most buyers want the exact same bracelet as the actress wore—but there are only a dozen of those. Many people settle for other items instead.”
“How about in-store sales?” Chu Feng asked.
Lin Zhihao shook his head. “Not great. People here haven’t made the connection between our shop and the celebrity bracelets. They think it’s just a coincidence. But if the online shop keeps gaining popularity, the physical store should benefit eventually.”
“But online hype comes and goes quickly. Our carvings are still expensive—regular people can’t afford them, so sales will likely drop soon.”
Chu Feng nodded. “That’s okay. We’ll take it one step at a time.” Selling several million in such a short time was already impressive.
“Oh, by the way, there are copycat shops now.”
Chu Feng was confused. “Copycats?”
Lin Zhihao nodded. “Yeah—they stole our product photos and are selling lookalikes for much cheaper.”
Chu Feng: … Someone’s copying our products? Are you kidding? I brought that wood back from another world!
“Doesn’t matter—fake stuff can’t replace the real thing.”
Lin Zhihao nodded. “The wood we use is special. It’s hard to fake. And actually, we’re getting a lot of repeat customers—people are buying second and third pieces.”
He took out a bank card. “Here’s the income from the last few days.”
Since the online shop was opened under Zhihao’s name, he had been receiving all the payments. The large sums flowing into his account lately made him extremely anxious.
Chu Feng smiled. “How much is it?”
“Close to six million,” Zhihao said.
Chu Feng nodded and said, “Good, good. Take the money and go buy a few apartments near the shop. Use one of them as a staff dormitory.”
Lin Zhihao’s eyes widened. “Buy a few apartments? Isn’t that a bit too…”
Chu Feng chuckled, “It’s fine. Money’s not an issue.”
Lin Zhihao took a deep breath. “Then, cousin, give me your ID and documents. I’ll buy them under your name.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Sure. But buy one under your name too.”
Lin Zhihao frowned. “Cousin… that’s a bit too much.”
His cousin had recently helped cure his stutter, even gave him money to buy a van—and now he wanted to put a house under his name? It was overwhelming.
Chu Feng smiled, “It’s nothing. As long as the wood carving business continues, money is just a number to me. But you must keep this confidential.”
Lin Zhihao nodded. “I understand.”
Wealth should never be flaunted—word gets out, envy follows.
He hesitated, then asked, “Cousin, are you involved in something… special?”
Chu Feng raised an eyebrow. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“…Smuggling.”
Chu Feng: … Not a bad guess. In a sense, what he was doing was smuggling.
“You’re importing your wood carvings from overseas, right? Through unofficial channels?”
Chu Feng: … This kid’s sharp. He’s only one step away from the truth. “Something like that.”
Lin Zhihao looked conflicted. “If it is smuggling, maybe involving celebrities isn’t a good idea.”
Chu Feng’s eyes twitched slightly. “We’re just doing a small business. Shouldn’t cause much trouble.”
“True,” Zhihao nodded.
Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Chu Feng was hiding something. “Cousin, I don’t know what you’re really doing, but I’ll help you no matter what.”
Chu Feng smiled. “Thanks. How’s Grandpa?”
“He’s alright. But the other day, he accidentally let it slip that you won 300,000. Now he’s been hiding at home, sighing all day.”
Chu Feng gave a wry smile. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”
“He feels like he caused you trouble.”
Chu Feng thought for a moment and said, “Go tell Grandpa it wasn’t 300,000—it was three million. Let people know he has a grandson worth hundreds of millions, and they’ll see that three million is nothing.”
Lin Zhihao looked at him, confused. “Why don’t you tell him yourself?”
Chu Feng crossed his arms. “If I go, he’ll start pushing me to get married again.”
Zhihao asked, “You don’t want to get married?”
“Career first, then marriage,” Chu Feng replied casually.
“But your career’s already going great!”
Chu Feng: … Good point. He was basically a multi-millionaire now—successful and well-known.
Lin Zhihao narrowed his eyes. “Brother Feng, do you have someone you like, but haven’t confessed yet?”
Chu Feng thought to himself: Since when did this cousin become so sharp? He really had changed—must be the retail job training his observation skills.
