With excitement, a trace of curiosity, and a few questions, the two eagerly opened the magazine, whose cover featured a naked witch wearing an apron, and began reading its tofu-making tutorial.
The witch on the cover appeared on the first page, holding a bag of soybeans. Beside her, in regular script, was written: "Tofu-making is an ancient traditional craft in our country. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar each year, it has long been customary among the people to grind soybeans and make tofu..."
It really was a genuine tofu-making tutorial.
It was a little different from the process Jiang Han had imagined, with two mirrors grinding against each other!
What the hell, hand-ground tofu!
"This is the hand-ground tofu method from the Guangyue region. I've been hearing about it for years!"
Li Li's excited voice made Jiang Han realize she really had misunderstood something.
So she awkwardly coughed and said, "Handmade tofu is great..." Then, with some gentle prodding, she got Li Li to explain the whole story.
It turned out that hand-ground tofu in this world was much like hand-ground coffee in her previous life. Every witch loved making a few blocks of tofu to eat. Some even made their potions into tofu so they could use them at a moment's notice in battle, and there were also methods for making dried tofu.
Though it was only ordinary tofu.
For ordinary witches, it was just a simple snack to satisfy their cravings. But at least when they ate it, they could taste the flavors of home. Treating a newly met companion to homemade tofu was also a way for witches to grow closer.
If they could share tofu and the wine of their hometowns, perhaps they could take their relationship a step further.
Jiang Han and Li Li had been studying the hand-ground tofu method for a while when the birdcage carriage came to a stop. Cen Jing, wearing a provocative witch's robe in black and pink, led them off the boarding platform and into the floating mountain. The inside of the mountain had been hollowed out, and the dozens of circular levels of the supermarket were enough to leave first-time visitors awestruck.
The levels were brightly lit, and witches flew back and forth on their brooms.
Even without knowing what the place was called, anyone seeing such a scene would be moved to exclaim in wonder.
This was the Witch Market.
Strange bottles and jars, all manner of materials, and countless other goods filled the stalls. The prosperity of South City's trade was on full display here. There were materials from Africa, materials from Europe, and countless specialties from Folded Spaces. Witches of all kinds mingled among the stalls, trading, chatting, or asking after the latest news.
"This is where many witches made their fortunes, and where many others fell into poverty. There's no end to the spells you'll want to learn, and you'll never have enough materials. That's why witches in every country have sayings or mottos similar to 'Self-Restraint,'" Cen Jing explained.
Jiang Han nodded. She'd already seen just how expensive witches' knowledge was at the cram school earlier.
Five thousand yuan for a single rare spell...
No wonder the news was always full of stories about Archwitches on the brink of bankruptcy. Without a suitable business, witches really did have a high bankruptcy rate... The spells needed to hunt powerful monsters were incredibly expensive, but to get stronger or learn more sophisticated spells, they had to hunt monsters. That created a vicious cycle: the more desperate they became, the worse things got.
She did the math in her head.
If a witch didn't need to learn new spells, hunt for magical items, or strive for greater power, then as long as she could cast a third-level spell six times in a row, she could easily save over two thousand yuan a month.
But once a witch began pursuing power, things got ugly. The path to power could just as well be called the path to debt. A monthly surplus of two thousand yuan would instantly turn into mountains of debt. Debt was like a Hollywood actress taking off her clothes: once she started stripping... she could never put them back on. And once you started going into debt, it was hard to pay it off.
"Keep a close eye on your finances. Never take out a loan..." Jiang Han murmured. Along with the benefits of advanced communications, people had also brought over the bad habit of spending money from the future. But Ye Keshu and Jiang Xuan, the two parental figures in her family, were both firmly against borrowing. They hadn't even taken out a mortgage to buy their home. Instead, they'd worked long hours and taken on more jobs, increasing their income and savings through their own efforts.
Following behind Li Li and Cen Jing, they passed one stall after another. Whenever anything caught their attention, Cen Jing stopped to explain its uses and value in detail. The three of them strolled along as leisurely as three girls of the same age out shopping.
Substitute teachers were generally like this; most of them slacked off. They made their students think, "If only our substitute teacher could teach us all the time." But in reality, the same substitute teacher would never teach her own students this way.
Wake up! There was no way a teacher would take you out to browse street stalls every day, tell you stories, and let you have free study time!
A teacher like that could only be a substitute, because she had no idea what to teach her students over those few days.
Wandering around with the substitute teacher, Jiang Han learned about quite a few minerals.
She also learned to identify most of the precious stones witches needed most, such as rubies, cat's-eye stones, topaz, amethyst, and moonstone.
Gemstones possessed a spiritual quality that ordinary materials lacked. They held an extremely important place in the mystic traditions of both East and West, second only to gold and silver. The Daoists also considered gemstones and jades important materials. Of the unique spells developed by Daoist witches, nine out of ten required gemstones as catalysts for brewing their potions.
"Too bad they're so expensive..." Jiang Han muttered again.
With only fifty yuan in her pocket, this pitiful witch couldn't afford such expensive materials unless she followed Joyous Bodhisattva's example and offered her body.
Putting aside the dangerous idea poverty had inspired, Jiang Han kept up a sweet, obedient smile as she followed her teacher around the stalls on the first level, learning to identify various plant-based materials. She paid extra attention this time, since she might come across plant-based materials when she went out, and gathering them was also a good way for a poor witch to make a fortune.
With not a single coin in your pocket, head into the mountains and forage for your travel expenses!
Jiang Han turned around. Li Li was listening just as attentively, probably thinking the same thing she was: making some extra cash.
Noticing how focused the two of them had become, Cen Jing smiled and said:
"Most plant-based materials aren't very expensive, apart from a few especially rare ones. If you want to make money, hunting dragon species is the best way."
She'd heard the term "hunting dragon species" quite a few times lately, but didn't know the details.
"Isn't it dangerous?" Jiang Han asked deliberately.
Cen Jing gave her a faint smile. "It's not dangerous as long as you don't hunt large dragons."
At the mention of dragon species, Li Li also perked up.
"Hunting small or medium-sized dragon species really isn't dangerous. I heard a single Fireball Spell is enough to hurt them?"
Cen Jing replied, "Probably not. Dragon species are quite agile, and most of them can resist spell tracking. It's hard to hit them with a Fireball Spell alone. Third-level spells are costly for many witches, so they only use them as trump cards when an opening appears."
After discussing dragon hunting for a while longer, Cen Jing turned her attention back to the materials on the stalls.
Jiang Han nodded thoughtfully.
She had an Archwitch's mana pool, so she didn't have to be as cautious with her Fireballs as ordinary witches. This way of making money was worth considering!
Before you continue