"I Became a Witch, but Now Everyone's in Love with Me!"

Chapter 71 – Compared to Buying, Maybe Handcrafting Everything is Jiang Cha’s Best Destination

 
“Mother Qin! Our family is rich now!”
“...?”

He Qin blinked in confusion as Jiang Cha came bursting in from outside, shouting nonsense before darting away again with a silly grin plastered across her face. A giant question mark might as well have appeared above the bun on her head.
“Don’t look at me. Chabao’s probably been under too much pressure lately and had a relapse.”
The blonde loli spread her hands, equally at a loss.

“Oh—remember to come home for dinner tonight.”
He Qin sighed and sent a quick reminder to Jiang Cha through the communicator.
“As expected of you, Mother Qin!”

“Does Mom Qin have any snacks?”
“I told you—don’t call me Mom!”
Jiang Cha really was excited about being rich. She’d kept her composure back at the Alchemy Society, playing the part of the calm professional. But once she got home, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Now she had to think about how to actually spend the money.

“Hmm... maybe it’s time to finally put our shop plan into action?”
Fifty thousand witch-gold sounded like a fortune, but in reality it wasn’t that much. Any one of the mid-tier spells Mortel had gifted her could be worth tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands. Not to mention the cost of exploring a fragmented world.
Still, this was the first real cash she’d earned herself. The hundred-thousand material quota from the Alchemy Society or Mortel’s investments didn’t count; those weren’t things she could freely turn into money.

In truth, Jiang Cha hadn’t had any spending money for a long time. Even her clothes had been bought with He Qin’s help. Pocket money in name only.
Well then—better act while the idea is fresh.
She set aside five thousand witch-gold, took out another thousand to pay back He Qin, and used her commuter card to apply for a student store rental: three thousand per month, paid monthly, no deposit required. The academy really did encourage student entrepreneurship.

Outside campus, renting such a prime location would’ve been far more expensive.
Of course, rent was never the biggest cost for witches starting a business. Jiang Cha wanted to open a proper, fully equipped magic goods shop. That meant serious upfront investment.
“A basic alchemy set costs five thousand. This one’s a little higher... And the mechanical equipment is even worse—a universal assembly line for ten thousand? That’s daylight robbery.”

Scrolling through WitchTao listings at a café, Jiang Cha sighed. The money she’d just earned was already evaporating before her eyes.
“What? You’re opening a shop?”
Annie appeared at some point, peering over her shoulder at the light screen.

“Yeah. We can’t just sit around and live off savings forever. We need a way to make money...” Jiang Cha paused halfway, realizing Annie’s expression had shifted. The girl was about to whip out her card to sponsor her. Hastily, Jiang Cha steered the topic away: “More importantly, I need a proper place to practice my secondary profession.”
“It’s hard to build hands-on skills just tinkering in isolation.”
“Eh—”

Annie quickly withdrew her restless hand.
Since Jiang Cha had made it clear she didn’t want outside funding, Annie didn’t push. After all, only when a store managed its own profits and losses could it truly temper its owner.
There were tens of thousands of materials in the Witch World. Learning to combine them in the most cost-efficient way—while still producing equal or even better results—was the essence of a secondary profession. If a shop could simply waste materials without worry, that crucial skill would never develop.
“So that’s what you’re aiming for.”

“Mm-hmm.”
Jiang Cha let out a subtle sigh of relief. With Annie, a girl from an absurdly wealthy family, she had to be extra careful. Lina was different: though also rich, Lina understood social nuances. She never threw money around thoughtlessly, and even happily shared the snacks bought by He Qin.
Her philosophy was simple: good sisters kept accounts clear, so relationships stayed healthy.

But Annie... Annie had no concept of money and spent extravagantly. Otherwise, how could her maid café—clearly profitable—still be losing money?
“You could try the flea market. Sometimes people sell second-hand equipment there. The quality isn’t great, though.”
“Got it.”

Annie’s words sparked an idea.
Of course, Jiang Cha didn’t actually plan to buy second-hand gear. Quality depended entirely on the conscience of the seller—and witches, as a race, weren’t exactly known for that.
It was like trying to buy a ‘99% new’ graphics card online. Good ones existed, but the odds weren’t in your favor.

Better not to buy at all. In fact, not buying might be the best option.
“Thanks, Annie! I’ve got it!”
Impulsively, Jiang Cha hugged the red-haired witch, downed her coffee in one gulp, and bolted out the door.

Leaving behind a flustered Annie, cheeks burning as she fidgeted with the hem of her maid uniform, utterly at a loss.
“The manager got teased again~”
“Come on, Manager! Win Jiang Cha’s heart already!”

“Manager, when’s the wedding with Xiao Jiang Cha?”
The maids swarmed together, mercilessly teasing their young store manager.
“B-back to work!”

Annie roared, trying to assert her authority—though it carried little weight. Still, the maids were consummate professionals. They chuckled, then smoothly went back to serving customers.
Most of them were academy students themselves, upperclassmen in their second or third year. But here in the café, they had no identity beyond being maids.
That was simply how witches handled part-time jobs.

Meanwhile, Chabao had already left Annie’s café and headed straight for the Alchemy Society.
The technical requirements of low-tier equipment for secondary professions weren’t particularly high. What made them tricky was the sheer range of knowledge involved.
Take an alchemy workbench, for example. The enchantments, inscriptions, and beaker runes on it were all still considered basic. If they went beyond that, the bench would be classified as mid-tier equipment.

The problem was how many different fields were involved—alchemy, enchantment, mechanics, potionology. Just building a low-level bench touched on at least four disciplines.
Witches who knew how to use such tools usually couldn’t make them. And those capable of making them generally didn’t need them.
Besides, corporate-manufactured props were meticulously designed by master artisans—optimized for usability, engravings, size, and efficiency. That was why most witches simply ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ bought their gear.

It wasn’t too expensive, if you only needed one set.
But Jiang Cha was different.
She could build everything herself—her training as a fully developed professional made sure of that.

Well, that and the fact that she couldn’t afford the equipment otherwise.
“Figures. The techniques aren’t that advanced—it’s just tedious to reproduce them. But it’ll help me consolidate what I’ve learned.”
“Yeah, this is doable.”

Jiang Cha nodded, standing before a dismantled alchemy workbench. The inscriptions were clear; there were no hidden tricks. She was confident she could replicate it, even if her version ended up bulkier and rougher in the details.
It was still within her ability.
Her immediate goal was simple.

“...Put this mess back together first.”
She sighed quietly.