Ch93 - Earning Money to Marry a Wife

Regarding the school sports day, Jian Mei had a lot of hesitation, but he quickly ran out of time to think about it.

He was making aloe vera gel.

Thanks to Nanfeng’s divine powers, he could now indulge in the raw materials without any restraint. Being someone who hated procrastination, once he had received the deposit, he started working non-stop.

The next day, Ying was surprised when she saw the finished product. “Meimei, you’re so efficient!”

Jian Mei replied, “Don’t keep this aloe vera gel for too long. The weather’s hot, so it’s best to store it at low temperatures.”

Ying nodded. “Got it. Thank you!”

Jian Mei was honest. “It’s fine, I’ve already been paid anyway.”

He was brutally honest—almost to an absurd degree.

After Jian Mei handed over the product, he didn’t really follow up on it.

He’d received several hundred gold coins—enough to cover his living expenses for quite some time—so he didn’t pay much attention to anything else. But just a few days later, Ying showed up again. This time, she wasn’t alone. A few well-dressed, clearly wealthy young women came with her.

“You’re Meimei, right?”

“Wow, you look so young!”

“Did you make this aloe vera gel yourself?”

Jian Mei was completely caught off guard and didn’t know how to respond to being suddenly surrounded. Fortunately, Ying stepped in to help: “Okay, okay, don’t scare the kid.”

A few girls dressed in expensive, elegant clothes surrounded Jian Mei, laughing so hard they could barely keep their mouths closed.

Jian Mei hesitated and asked, “Is there something I can help you with?”

Ying, standing nearby, explained, “They want to buy a few more boxes. After using it, the results were so great that they wanted to come find you in person.”

The other girls all nodded enthusiastically.

“My skin doesn’t peel anymore.”

“And it’s not irritating—no irritation at all.”

“And super moisturizing!”

The girls had all experienced the power of the aloe vera gel, and now every one of them was excited.

Jian Mei noticed that one of the girls had some acne on her face, so he added, “I can make it for you, but your skin is a bit different from theirs—your condition is a bit more serious. If you’re open to it, I can help customize a formula just for you.”

Among all the girls, the one with acne was the most self-conscious.

Although she came from a wealthy family, she had struggled with acne since puberty and had never been able to get rid of it—no matter how expensive the treatments she tried. Hearing what Jian Mei said now, she was so happy she didn’t know how to respond: “Really? You have a way?”

Jian Mei, ever the honest type, replied, “I can only try.”

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He truly hadn’t expected the students at this school to be so wealthy. They bought up a consumable priced at 50 gold coins per box without a second thought—and there were so many of them. Back in the Golden Town, 5 gold coins had been a whole month’s wage for many people. Some families were so tight on money they couldn’t even afford meat.

Thinking of those people, Jian Mei looked back at the messages on his terminal. He’d lived through that kind of life himself, so he understood the value of money better than most. Of course, he wouldn’t turn down money earned through his own hard work—but with school to manage, there was no way he could handle that many orders.

Jian Mei replied to Ying: “Sorry, I really can’t handle that much demand. From now on, I can only make up to 30 boxes a week.”

Ying responded considerately, “No worries, I understand!”

Jian Mei thought that setting a limit would cause the orders to drop off. But what he hadn’t expected was that his limited capacity only made the already strong demand feel even more urgent.

The rich kids weren’t short on money. So, to get their hands on one of the limited boxes, the aloe vera gel—originally priced at 50 gold coins—suddenly started skyrocketing in price. On the secondhand market, it reached nearly 100 gold coins. It had become a luxury item. In fact, a strange trend swept through the school: owning a jar of aloe vera gel became a status symbol.

Jian Mei was completely unaware of this.

The day before the school festival, Jian Mei had already made plans with Dazhuang-ge to go for a follow-up check-up. So, after finishing his classes in the evening, he headed to the palace.

It was the same driver as before who came to pick him up.

Jian Mei, exhausted from staying up late making aloe vera gel these past few days, dozed off in the car for a short nap.

Normally, this car would head straight to the Crown Prince’s inner palace, but today, when they entered the inner gates, they unfortunately encountered another car leaving the palace. If it had been an ordinary vehicle, they wouldn’t have had to stop, but this car belonged to the Second Prince.

The driver stopped the car and respectfully greeted, “Your Highness, the Second Prince.”

Lu Xinci’s face appeared at the window. He raised the curtain, looked at the driver, and smiled as he asked, “Has Third Brother returned?”

This was the exclusive driver of Lu Xingwang.

The driver quickly replied, “The prince is currently handling state affairs in the palace. I’m here to escort his guest inside.”

Lu Xinci nodded with a look of understanding. “I see. Then go on in, don’t delay Third Brother’s business.”

The driver responded with a quick acknowledgment.

After their carriage entered, Lu Xinci’s smile slowly faded.

Someone beside him softly inquired, “Your Highness, it seems the Crown Prince has been associating with different people lately. Do you think that, since His Majesty has not yet abdicated, he might be… anxious?”

Lu Xinci had always been seen by others as someone who avoided conflict, but the person sitting in the carriage now looked much more serious. After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said, “What does he have to be anxious about? All these years, has he ever considered me a threat?”

“What do you mean, Your Highness?” The person beside him spoke up, “It is precisely because of this that you can carry out your plans without worry, isn’t it?”

Lu Xinci looked out at the bustling street market, his gaze growing much more intense. He murmured softly, “All these years, I’ve been hiding my strength and biding my time, all to rise above and no longer be looked down upon.

Lu Xingwang is really lucky; after being poisoned so badly, he didn’t die. And the Crown Prince is so useless. If he weren’t such a failure, even a sickly Lu Xingwang wouldn’t have survived. Would I still have these troubles now?”

The woman beside him responded, “The Crown Prince… truly is useless. It’s only thanks to you that he managed to survive this time.”

Lu Xinci became irritated at the mention of him and asked, “How is he now?”

“He can’t do much, just staying by Xiao Cheng’s side to recover.” The woman said slowly, “But ever since that incident, Xiao Cheng has become enemies with Lu Xingwang. That time, he underestimated him. I think, if Lu Xingwang dares to strike again… Xiao Cheng won’t let him off easily.”

Lu Xinci smiled faintly, “That’s for the best.”

Whoever it was, the one who ultimately sat on the throne could not be Lu Xingwang.

After years of silence, he had grown tired of these days of enduring humiliation and bearing burdens.

On the other side, in Lu Xingwang’s office.

After Jian Mei finished checking his pulse, he slumped over his desk to adjust the prescription. Beyond a small folding screen, Lu Xingwang, though it was already late, was still meeting with officials and listening to various reports. The discussion at hand was about the fact that, as the year neared its end, the financials and revenues from across the regions were almost identical to last year’s, with little to no improvement.

The Minister of Finance attempted to defend himself, saying, “This year, we’ve implemented many people-benefiting policies, including opening up pensions and medical subsidies, which you proposed. These expenditures have been quite substantial. So, although it may appear that the national treasury’s income has remained flat, we still have room for growth.”

Lu Xingwang listened indifferently and then spoke, “So, you’re suggesting that the people-benefiting policies are the reason for the lack of growth in our economy?”

The Minister of Finance quickly responded, “I dare not say that, Your Highness.”

“If all I’m paying you for is to listen to these useless excuses, I might as well have a robot deliver the reports,” Lu Xingwang said, lifting his eyelids to look at him. “What I want are solutions, understand?”

Unlike the Emperor, the Crown Prince never tolerated officials who tried to get by with excuses.

The Minister of Finance broke into a cold sweat, feeling immense pressure. Lu Xingwang’s near-open threat was very effective, and he quickly nodded, bowing as he took his leave.

After the minister left, Lu Xingwang looked over the screen and saw Jian Mei sitting inside, nibbling on the penholder.

Lu Xingwang frowned, walked over, and took the pen away, forbidding Jian Mei from nibbling on it.

“Mm…” Jian Mei put the pen down and said, “Are you done with your work?”

Lu Xingwang nodded. “Mm.”

Jian Mei sighed at him. “Even though you’ve been taking your medicine on time, you haven’t been resting properly. You’re always overthinking things, which isn’t good for your recovery.”

Lu Xingwang sat down beside him and spoke, “I’ll be more careful.”

Careful, my foot.

Jian Mei slouched over the desk, unconcerned about his posture, and grumbled, “I can understand, always being irritated by your subordinates, and having so many state affairs to manage. It must be exhausting.”

Lu Xingwang said, “You heard that.”

Jian Mei nodded.

Maybe it was the pleasant moonlight tonight, or perhaps it was the comfort between them, but even though he knew Jian Mei was just a child, Lu Xingwang couldn’t help but ask, “So, what do you think?”

After asking, he almost laughed to himself. How would a child know anything about such matters?

However, what he didn’t expect was for Jian Mei to speak up: “I think, if you want to increase revenue, Dazhuang-ge, you shouldn’t just focus on businesses, local aristocrats, and industries. You should shift your attention to the common people.”

Lu Xingwang raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Jian Mei nodded.

Lu Xingwang replied, “I’ve already implemented policies to benefit the people.”

Even the Crown Prince, whose thoughts were focused on taking care of the common people and providing benefits for them.

Jian Mei quickly shook his head. “No, no, no, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is that the common people should also be able to contribute to society and generate revenue and profit for the country.”

The common people have always been at the bottom of society, so whether it’s their wages or their contributions, both are very limited.

Lu Xingwang suddenly became interested. “What do you mean?”

“For example… consumption.” A smile appeared in Jian Mei’s eyes as he explained to Lu Xingwang: “There are many products on the market, but the vast majority are unaffordable to the common people. Take skincare products, for instance.”

When he was at the estate, the children, including Pingping’s mother, didn’t have access to many skincare products. However, the nobles spent thousands on such items.

Jian Mei offered another example. “Take this, for instance—Dazhuang-ge, you introduced health insurance for the common people. That helps lower the barrier to consumption, and the idea itself is solid. But medical costs are only one part of their overall expenses. If we dig a bit deeper—what about their daily necessities? In this society, power lies with the nobility, and most consumer goods are designed with them in mind. Why hasn’t anyone considered products that are actually affordable for ordinary folks?”

Lu Xingwang fell into thought. After a moment, he nodded. “You’re right.”

Jian Mei was caught off guard by the unexpected recognition, and joy bloomed in his heart.

All this time, Dazhuang-ge had been looking after him. But now, it suddenly felt like he could finally be of help in return.

There were plenty of things that might cause controversy if done by the Crown Prince. But if he took the initiative instead, the targets would be smaller, and results could come faster.

With that thought, Jian Mei said, “I’ve been planning. I mentioned before that I wanted to sell aloe vera gel at school—it actually sold quite well, but the buyers were mostly students from our own school. I want to develop some more affordable products and try introducing them to lower-tier schools, testing the waters among the commoner crowd. If it works out, it’ll prove my theory.”

Listening to the boy beside him speak so earnestly, Lu Xingwang suddenly realized—it wasn’t just he who was growing. The boy beside him was also maturing, like a sapling slowly stretching out its branches and expanding its roots. And maybe, someday, that tree would grow as tall as him, becoming a pillar he could rely on.

He had always been used to going it alone, so this sudden shift stirred something unspoken in his heart.

Lu Xingwang asked, “Why the sudden interest in making money?”

Jian Mei was caught off guard. He blinked, momentarily confused, then looked a little sheepish. “Who’d say no to money, right…?”

Watching him grow shy, Lu Xingwang smiled. “So, what are you planning to do with it?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet—probably just save it for now. I’m sure it’ll come in handy.” Jian Mei, still thinking like someone from Earth, added, “I don’t even have a house here. Once I graduate, I’ll need to buy a place to live. And later on, maybe I’ll need to save up to… I don’t know, get married or something.”

The smile in Lu Xingwang’s eyes faded slightly.