Chapter 119
Chapter 119
[After the Transmigrated Man Broke Off His Engagement to the Princess – 2]
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
After being cursed bloody, Jiang Yingchen was both agitated and furious. His face flushed red as he demanded, “What kind of System talks like this? The fact that Heaven chose me to transmigrate proves I must be a one-in-ten-thousand genius. Otherwise, with so many people in the world, why was I the one who transmigrated? You’re just a support System. What makes you think you’re so impressive?!”
Liu Che sneered. “If you’ve got any backbone, don’t ask me for help!”
Jiang Yingchen was so furious that his lungs nearly burst. Without thinking, he snapped, “As if anyone wants your help! I’ll thank Heaven and Earth if you merely avoid dragging me down!”
Realization dawned on Liu Che. “That’s right. I never thought of it until you mentioned it. I can drag you down!”
“…” Jiang Yingchen: “????”
Jiang Yingchen’s face swelled crimson. It felt as though a wad of cotton had lodged in his chest. He could not speak for a long time, afraid that opening his mouth would make him spit blood.
Jiang Weier watched her brother’s complexion change repeatedly after he woke. Her worry only deepened. “Do you still feel unwell, Brother? No, we must send for the physician to examine you again.” With that, she immediately ordered a servant to go.
The Jiang Family had once been prosperous, after all, and still possessed some resources. It had servants, farmland, and shops. As the old saying went, even a broken ship had three thousand nails. More importantly, the original body’s grandfather had once been a powerful duke of exalted status.
But times had changed. The world was no longer what it had been.
Jiang Yingchen lay limp on the bed, rubbing his chest and slowly calming his breathing. He recalled scenes the original owner had witnessed as a child in the ducal residence. That had been a true household of bells at mealtimes and bronze cauldrons at banquets. Wealth filled every courtyard, visitors crowded the gates, and servants swarmed everywhere. By comparison, the current Jiang household was little more than a wealthy family in the countryside. It still had some money and connections, but was far removed from its former glory.
The original owner was eighteen, an age when marriage ought to be discussed. Yet he had been stubbornly fixated on the former Emperor’s promise that the Jiang Family’s eldest grandson would marry a princess. As a result, he had taken neither a wife nor even a concubine. Who knew what he had been thinking?
His younger sister, Jiang Weier, was even more pitiful. She had once been the legitimate daughter of a ducal household, cherished by thousands. At thirteen or fourteen, matchmakers from great families should have worn down the threshold. Now that the Jiang Family had declined, only minor households came to inquire about her.
The original owner had already died in that sudden bout of wind-cold. Jiang Yingchen had inherited all his memories. Recalling the siblings’ deep affection over the years and Jiang Weier’s meticulous care for her brother during his illness, his expression hardened with silent resolve.
Only the finest man in the world would be worthy of my younger sister!
The physician arrived quickly, hurrying so much that sweat still glistened on his forehead. He took Jiang Yingchen’s pulse, and his furrowed brows soon relaxed. “The young master’s pulse is steady, and he has already sweated out the illness. Rest and recover properly for a few days, and there should be no lasting harm.”
Jiang Weier was overjoyed. Her eyes grew wet as she announced that she would visit the temple the following day to fulfill her vow.
Jiang Yingchen thought nothing of it. What male lead had ever transmigrated only to die from a simple case of wind-cold?
He certainly would not worry over nothing!
A Jiang servant led the physician away to write a prescription, and Jiang Weier personally went to supervise. Lying on the bed, Jiang Yingchen considered his next move with boundless ambition.
Should he produce soap and glass first, or begin with iron smelting and salt production?
Or should he write poetry, become a literary plagiarist, and overwhelm the age with his talent?
Right, this dynasty had an imperial examination, didn’t it? Perhaps he should sit it and become the top-ranked graduate!
Jiang Yingchen decided to proceed one step at a time. He ordered the household account books brought to him. The instant he opened one, his head began to ache.
This age had neither Arabic numerals nor modern bookkeeping. Although he had inherited the original owner’s language and writing abilities and could read the dynasty’s script, changing one’s mode of thought required time. It could not happen overnight. One glance at the densely packed writing in the ledger made his head feel half again as large.
He instructed the steward, “Read it aloud to me instead.”
The steward gave him a simple overview, and Jiang Yingchen understood.
The Jiang Family was slowly consuming its capital. Its income fell far short of its expenses. If their ancestors had not left such substantial savings, the household would have collapsed long ago.
Fine, Jiang Yingchen thought. It is time for me to display my abilities!
His first thought was to make soap. He had read plenty of transmigration novels, and making soap to amass wealth was the most basic and simple method. Better yet, the Jiang Family still had resources. Unlike impoverished transmigrator protagonists, he did not need to gather the raw materials and perform all the labor himself.
Once he made up his mind, Jiang Yingchen began preparing. He rose from bed and went to the study, where he picked up a writing brush. It felt soft in his hand and could not be pressed firmly. Even with the original owner’s memories, it was far less convenient than a fountain pen or ballpoint pen.
He opened his mouth to order a servant to make him a charcoal pencil, then swallowed the words.
He still intended to become the greatest talent of the age and casually take first place in the imperial examination. How could he accomplish that without beautiful calligraphy?
He would use the brush!
Jiang Yingchen might never have eaten pork, but he had seen pigs run. He scribbled several sentences on the paper. Once he gradually recovered the original owner’s feel for the brush, he bit the handle and carefully began reconstructing the process of soapmaking.
Fortunately, it was not very difficult and the ingredients were uncomplicated. After struggling for two quarter-hours, Jiang Yingchen finished his masterpiece.
“Damned System, still don’t want to help me?”
He wore a mocking expression and declared proudly, “I can rise to wealth and power just fine without you!”
Liu Che performed the entirety of a famous work called Pride and Prejudice using his voice alone. He sneered. “Forget it. Trash like you was trash in the modern world, and you’ll still be trash in ancient times! You couldn’t distinguish yourself among more than a billion people in modern society, yet you think you’ll soar here? You’re more likely to end up with neither chicken nor eggs!”
Anger flared in Jiang Yingchen’s heart. “Shut your damned mouth!”
He waved the soap recipe in his hand. “Once I’m earning a fortune every day, we’ll see what bullshit you have left to say!”
“A fortune every day? Good heavens!”
Liu Che burst into squealing laughter. “Do you have a brain? Have you ever run a business? Have you managed even ten people? Do you know how much a peck of gold weighs? Tie eight hundred of you together, and your brains still wouldn’t weigh that much!”
Jiang Yingchen had only recently transmigrated, and the original body was already frail. Rage surged to his head, and his vision went black. “Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west-never look down on a poor young man!”
Liu Che nearly laughed himself breathless. “Never look down on a poor young man… Did you not survive to adulthood in your last life? You’re a grown man. Can you try thinking clearly?!”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Pain throbbed in Jiang Yingchen’s chest. Supporting himself against the desk, he slowly sat down and forced the words through clenched teeth. “Just you wait, damned System!”
“You look down on me, don’t you?!”
He snarled, “Then I’ll accomplish something just to show you!”
“Oh no. I’m so frightened!”
Liu Che said sarcastically, “Young Master Jiang, hurry up and make your daily fortune. Hurry up and take first place in the imperial examination. I’ll be waiting! Other people plan three steps ahead for every one they take, but you’re far more impressive. You only transmigrated today, yet you can already start choosing the style of your urn!”
“You’ll accomplish something to show me? Hahahahahahahaha!”
Once again, he squealed with laughter. “Show me what? Your pig-pancreas soap? That already exists. Didn’t you know? Ordinary people wash with honey locust pods, poor families use plant ash, and wealthy households use perfumed cleansers blended from fragrant orchids and spices. What use is your pig-pancreas soap? To make bubbles in water so you can compare them with the bubbles in your brain?!”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Jiang Yingchen had believed he had discovered a shortcut to riches. Never had he imagined that before he could even put his plan into practice, he would be struck squarely over the head.
So pig-pancreas cleanser already existed in this age.
So soap already had substitutes such as plant ash and honey locust pods.
But he was not from this era. How could he have considered so many details while writing down the production process?!
Soap cost money to produce. He could not sell it cheaply, which meant ordinary people would never be willing to buy it merely to experiment.
At the same time, the soap he produced could hardly be exquisitely refined, so it seemed equally impossible to sell to nobles and high officials.
Yet the protagonists in those transmigration novels had clearly succeeded!
At that thought, inspiration struck Jiang Yingchen. Clinging to his last shred of confidence, he said, “I can improve the formula and sell floral soap! I’ll market it specifically to noblewomen. All women love beauty. They will definitely pay for floral soap!”
“Could you please stop using yourself as the standard and assuming ancient noblewomen possessed extremely low intelligence? And what exactly is wrong with you? Do you read selectively? You know that talented sons of distinguished clans didn’t want to marry princesses, yet you never bothered learning how those clans actually lived. Then again, a loser like you only needs to know how to survive a month on ten yuan. There’s no reason for you to think too deeply!”
Liu Che clicked his tongue several times. “The dates nobles stuffed into their nostrils while using the privy were carefully steeped in spices. Anything applied to their faces was produced by famous physicians and tested repeatedly. Why would they abandon those products for your cheap, unbranded, unregulated rubbish? What does your floral soap do? Restore their youth? Grant immortality? What, does it make them as absurdly confident as you, until they no longer know who they are?!”
Jiang Yingchen proposed one plan after another, and the System demolished every one. When he tried to reconsider his ancient entrepreneurial scheme, its success suddenly seemed infinitely far away.
He had never been broad-minded. After being repeatedly attacked, his confidence suffered an enormous blow and his dignity was trampled into the ground. Fury overwhelmed him. All the blood rushed to his face, the veins on his forehead bulged, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood!
“Good heavens! What’s wrong? Are you all right? Hurry and invent bandages and hemostatic medicine while there’s still time!”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Thousands of grievances and ten thousand unspeakable frustrations converged into a single sentence.
Damned System, fuck your mother!!!
Liu Che snorted and declared arrogantly, “There isn’t a daydream in existence that can’t be ended with one slap. If one isn’t enough to wake you, use a few more!”