"Tch, I thought... Wait, what did you say?"

"You really are short-sighted, not even knowing about the Western Regions?"

Zhang Shizu suddenly stood up: "Of course I know! But that road is extremely dangerous, you..." He looked Fang Zhiyi up and down, and finally shook his head, "You're probably just bragging."

"You don't know anything!" Fang Zhiyi said bluntly. "Do you think my connections are all for nothing?"

"Connections? Those lowly people? Hahahaha!" He naturally knew that Fang Zhiyi spent all her time hanging out with those commoners.

Fang Zhiyi wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, she shut her mouth.

Seeing Fang Zhiyi like this, Zhang Shizu assumed he had nothing more to say and got up to leave, but two strangely dressed people walked in.

"Young Master Fang, the goods have been delivered. As for this round of profit sharing..."

Fang Zhiyi glanced warily at the young man from a prominent family: "What are you still doing here? Get out of here!"

"Let's go!" But Fang Zhiyi piqued his curiosity. Could this notorious good-for-nothing really be good at business? Who knows? Although he couldn't cultivate battle qi, he might actually have some tricks up his sleeve?

He simply turned a corner and stood in the blind spot by the door, where Fang Zhiyi couldn't see him.

"I know, I know. You've all worked hard this time. Each of you will get an extra 10% profit. Your 100 taels will be... 30 taels. Your 50 taels will be 15 taels."

The two expressed their deepest gratitude.

"Young Master Fang, when will the next shipment of medicinal herbs be made?"

"Next time? We'll have to wait. I've put a lot of effort into this project... mainly because we didn't invest enough money. If we could have invested more, well, I'll ask for more money when I get home."

"How much did Young Master Fang earn this time?"

"Hehe, with an initial investment of ten thousand taels, I've made five thousand!"

Listening to the flattery of the two people inside, Zhang Shizu, who was hiding around the corner eavesdropping, was startled. Ten thousand taels to make five thousand taels?

Such profits are simply terrifying! His mind started racing. He knew that most aristocratic families had many brothers, and someone like him would only ever be a supporting character to his elder brother. Since he couldn't compete in cultivation, doing something for the family would be an achievement in itself.

"Zhang Shizu, what are you doing here?" Suddenly another companion saw him.

"Idiot!" He turned around quickly, only to see Fang Zhiyi close the door and leave.

Zhang Shizu was a shrewd man. From that day on, he frequently appeared in the vicinity and figured out the situation at Fang Zhiyi's shop. Every now and then, some penniless people would go in and come out beaming, clearly carrying silver in their arms. What convinced him even more was that some strangely dressed outsiders would appear from time to time, as if they were coming to report on the situation.

He finally couldn't hold back any longer. When he entered, Fang Zhiyi still had that arrogant look on her face.

"What? Buying air?"

Zhang Shizu swallowed hard: "Young Master Fang, how about we discuss this?"

"What is there to discuss with you?"

"Don't say that. We've known each other since we were little. Back then, you would play at your house and I would play at mine. We got along really well, didn't we?"

Fang Zhiyi almost choked on the water; this guy really knows how to come up with something like that.

"What do you want? Just say it!"

"I... I want to invest in it."

"What stock? Don't talk nonsense." Fang Zhiyi was clearly impatient and got up to shoo him away.

The more he acted this way, the more certain Zhang Shizu became that this good-for-nothing had indeed found a way to make money.

"Fang Zhiyi, have you thought this through? You won't make much money cooperating with those poor bastards, but I, this young master, am rich!"

Fang Zhiyi paused, looking at him suspiciously.