Chapter 82: Are All Adults Like This? (Monthly Ticket +2)

Bai City, Sixth Talent School.

It is currently lunchtime.

Teacher Liu followed the principal, vice-principal, the head of student affairs, and other school leaders to enthusiastically host this visiting teacher from Ling'an Academy.

After finishing their meal and returning to school, Teacher Liu, as Xiaoxiao's homeroom teacher, walked in front to lead the way, while the school leaders and the teacher surnamed Zhan walked behind; the large group chatted and laughed as they headed toward Xiaoxiao's classroom.

At this moment, the students were still eating; the vast majority ate in the cafeteria, while a small number brought their food into the classroom to eat.

The school had a rule forbidding eating in the classroom.

Student Ning Ji is a bit of a badass.

Teacher Liu knew the young girl would be eating in the classroom. As she walked, she introduced her to the tall, thin Teacher Zhan: "Student Ning Ji is a very simple girl; I know the students in my class quite well. Student Ning Ji rarely buys food in the cafeteria. In the past, she would occasionally leave school at noon, perhaps to go home to eat. But starting this semester, her older sister was specially recruited by Ling'an Academy—haha, it just so happens to be your Ling'an Academy, and she was also specially recruited through the National Spell Competition."

"What a coincidence," Teacher Zhan already knew. "Please continue, Teacher Liu."

"Oh, oh, that's right..." Teacher Liu paused. "Anyway, starting this semester, she stopped going home to eat, but she doesn't go to the cafeteria either. Unless the cafeteria has the cheapest shredded potatoes for lunch that day."

"Is Student Ning Ji's family in great difficulty?"

"It's not exactly difficult; their circumstances are actually quite good, right? But her parents are very irresponsible; they basically ignore her and don't even cook for her. I even doubt whether they give Ning Ji any living expenses."

"Even with her like this, she is still..."

"Her sister is like this, too. The two sisters don't have a very good relationship with their parents. However, she and her sister get along quite well. Last month, I took her to Yujing for a competition, and her sister even came to see her. After the competition, I granted her a few days of leave to let her stay in Yujing for two extra days."

"Such parents are truly irresponsible!"

"Aren't they just!"

"Then does she usually bring food to school to eat?"

"She used to." Teacher Liu nodded. "I often used to see her carrying a large thermos all by herself, which I assume was filled with plain boiled water. Every time I saw this scene, my heart would ache. You tell me, it's not like the family lacks money, yet they can't even bear to buy a bottle of mineral water—what kind of parents are these?"

"And what about food?"

"Either she goes home to eat, or she brings it herself," Teacher Liu said. "When she brought it herself in the past, it was just a stainless steel thermal container. I often saw her silently hiding in the classroom eating alone. Whenever someone passed by, she would cover the lid, embarrassed to let others see. A few times, I used the excuse of having her help me carry assignments to call her to my apartment after the last class of the morning, intending to have her eat with me, but she wouldn't have it; she insisted on going back to eat what she brought herself."

"Teacher Liu is very responsible," the principal laughed.

"Having an educator like Teacher Liu is the students' good fortune," Teacher Zhan also casually complimented, then immediately returned to the topic of Xiaoxiao. "However, children at this age have very strong self-esteem."

"Isn't that the truth..."

"What about this semester?"

"Now that her sister is gone, no one prepares lunch for her, so she packs food from outside herself—it's always just a few yuan worth of potatoes."

"Eating only potatoes?"

"Eating only potatoes!"

"How can she manage eating like that? Buying a steamed bun would be better..." Teacher Zhan felt very uncomfortable. "Student Ning Ji is only fifteen, right?"

"Yes, she is still at the age where she is growing..."

Teacher Liu felt a bit guilty when she said this; what she said was the truth, but she had concealed a part of it.

Previously, she had indeed felt heartbroken over the young girl's miserable life, and thus often paid attention to her. That was until one time when she inadvertently saw that the young girl's thermos contained milk tea with a reddish hue, and her thermal container held potato beef that was different from the common preparation, emitting a strange and alluring aroma. At that time, after noticing someone walking over, the young girl had immediately covered the lid of the thermal container and looked over with a vigilant and hostile gaze.

It was only after discovering that it was a teacher that she breathed a sigh of relief.

That was the only time Teacher Liu had seen the contents of the young girl's thermos and thermal container, and it was also the last time the young girl brought food to school to eat.

Therefore, Teacher Liu dared not be certain whether that was the norm or an accident, so she didn't mention it.

"To be able to take first place in the nation with such poor conditions is truly remarkable," Teacher Zhan sighed. "Her sister was also first back in the day."

"This must be genetics."

Teacher Liu added: "And she only signed up this semester; she hadn't trained at all before. Teacher Zhan, I know Student Ning Ji is still quite young, but your school must not miss out on such a talent. Perhaps in a couple of days, Yujing Academy and the National Academy will also call, and the conditions offered by the National Academy will certainly be even higher."

"Teacher Liu is right," the principal said hurriedly.

"This will have to be studied after we return," Teacher Zhan said. "We will definitely consider it seriously."

"Then I will trouble Teacher Zhan to put in a good word," the principal said. "Student Ning Ji has outstanding talent; her life will be better once she gets into university."

"Of course, of course..."

"It just so happens that Ning Ji's sister is also studying at your esteemed school; this is truly an indescribable fate."

"Yes, yes..."

At this moment, the group had already arrived at the classroom door. Standing in front of the window, they suddenly dimmed the light in the classroom. They leaned over to peek inside; apart from a group of students gathered together chatting and laughing, there was only a small, lonely figure in the corner.

A thick book blocked her head.

Teacher Liu pointed over there, signaling that it was Student Ning Ji.

Teacher Zhan felt a bit of heartache, wondering if the young girl was being ostracized because she was too young and too excellent.

He then signaled that he wanted to go in and take a look.

Teacher Liu still walked in front.

A large group of people arrived in front of the young girl's seat.

The young girl was indeed eating lunch, but the lunch made one feel a bit of heartache—

A bowl of five-yuan fried potatoes.

Two dried persimmons, one of which had been half-eaten.

Sensing their arrival, the young girl subconsciously placed one hand over the intact dried persimmon, then silently raised her head to look at this group of people.

Teacher Liu wanted to say something, but Teacher Zhan waved his hand to stop her, then looked kindly at the young girl:

"What are you eating?"

"..."

"Dried persimmons? Would you let me have a taste?"

"!!"

The young girl's face immediately showed a look of vigilance as she stared at this tall, thin teacher.

It's one thing for other students to like asking their classmates for food, but who would have thought that even at such an advanced age, there are still people who like to ask for others' food?

Can't you buy it yourself? How shameless!

The little girl didn't make a sound, clutching the dried persimmon tightly.

"Can I take a look?"

"!!"

A hint of hostility began to appear in the little girl's expression; she would glance at this group of people from time to time, and then glance at Teacher Liu.

Teacher Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained: "This is a teacher from Ling'an Academy. Because you won first place in the country in the National Spell Competition, and you are so young, the teacher came specifically to evaluate you. If things go well, perhaps you won't have to wait for the global competition; you could go to study in Yujing..."

Upon hearing this, the little girl was stunned for a moment, then she put away the hostility on her face and became much more well-behaved.

But looking at the dried persimmon on the table...

She still couldn't bear to share it.

This was made by her brother-in-law himself, and she had only received about ten pieces in total.

"Student Ning Ji..."

Teacher Zhan's voice was even trembling: "Do you usually eat these? Is this how you won first place in the country in the National Spell Competition?"

"?"

The little girl looked at him with the eyes one would use to look at a fool.

"Sigh..."

Teacher Zhan let out a long sigh: "People often say that there are no wrong parents in the world; it seems that saying is indeed too absolute..."

The little girl's eyes softened a bit.

Since you are criticizing my parents, we are now friends.

"Sigh..."

Teacher Zhan let out a long sigh, turned around to leave, but after taking two steps, he looked back: "Don't eat these anymore. I'll bring you something hot to eat later. In the afternoon, I'll buy you a few crates of milk. Remember to drink two bottles every day; at your age, you are in a period where you need nutrition."

After saying this, he left.

The little girl stared blankly at his retreating figure and reached out to scratch her head.

She picked up the half-eaten dried persimmon and was just about to stuff it into her mouth when the principal ran over to stop her: "Don't eat it, don't eat it, it's ice-cold. How about this: from now on, the school will provide you with a cafeteria subsidy. You go to the cafeteria to eat; it won't cost you any money."

"??"

The little girl looked at the principal again, her head full of confusion.

They must have all gone crazy...

Better eat a bite of dried persimmon to calm my shock.

Seeing this, the group of adults let out another round of long sighs...

Seeing this, the little girl couldn't help but fall into deep thought: when she grows up and reaches their age, will she be like this too?

Time slowly arrived at the seventeenth day of the eleventh lunar month.

Spiritual Power Conversion solidification complete;

Absolute Spiritual Perception modification complete, solidification progress about 10%, it has only just begun.

Both are Spells that bring people a sense of security.

The former is a sense of security in daily life; from now on, there is no need to worry about the Mobile Phone automatically shutting down while out, and there is no mileage anxiety for motorcycles or private cars. If one buys a household Spirit Storage Device with a spirit-supplying function, one doesn't even need to pay the Spiritual Fee anymore.

The latter is a sense of security for one's person.

At this moment, Chen Shu sat in front of the computer desk, using his own Spirit Power to charge his Mobile Phone while calculating his assets.

Today, he sold all the shares of Qingzhou Spirit Power he had on hand. This time, the increase exceeded 100%—the original eighty thousand became one hundred and forty thousand. Adding the two hundred thousand from selling out his fellow villager to Crown Princess Zhusha, and the tens of thousands in income from the agency company, he had a total of nearly four hundred thousand to invest.

To be honest, there is a high probability that it will continue to rise later; even if there are fluctuations, rising is the general trend.

But Chen Shu really doesn't know how to play this.

Better not earn money he doesn't understand.

Lest it be mentally exhausting.

After securing the profits, he had nearly nine hundred thousand.

Adding the eighty thousand bounty sponsored by Zhao Haojiang, plus the commission received this month, the account totaled just over one million.

He didn't feel much about it, though.

It's just that getting easy money feels very comfortable, like it fell from the sky.

Chen Shu bought funds with half of it, which were also in directions he was relatively optimistic about, and left the other half to earn interest for consumption. He calculated his cultivation progress; he would likely need to make his first breakthrough to the Intermediate Stage during the winter break, a speed that was about the same as his estimate.

Don't know how many times he will need to attempt the breakthrough, but it costs over one hundred thousand each time anyway.

Strive to enter the Intermediate Stage during the winter break.

This is the ideal progress.

Then breakthrough to the Fifth Stage, the sooner the better. According to his judgment, Grandma, "Always Says," Nüxia of the Moonlit Night, and other group members should all be at the Fifth Stage.

They certainly didn't open their Spirit Sea only after entering university. In their sects, they likely underwent regular testing after the age of ten or so, and whenever the test results suggested opening the Spirit Sea, they would open it immediately, walking ahead of others from the very beginning.

Of course, Chen Shu also opened his when he was nearly twenty, half a year before entering university.

But it was definitely not as early as them.

Females naturally develop earlier than males.

Normally, females can open their Spirit Sea as early as seventeen and as late as twenty, while males must be at least eighteen and at most twenty-two.

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu sighed, thinking about how tiring it is.

Then he looked at the calendar.

"Tomorrow..."

It's the Winter Solstice tomorrow.

Chen Shu rose from the computer desk and walked out swaying, seeing Meng Chunqiu pacing on the balcony with a book held in one hand. He said, "Brother Meng, did your family receive any high-quality mutton from the northwest this month? Quickly get me a few catties, and I want the mutton offal too."

"Hm? Is Brother Chen planning to make Mutton Soup for us? It's a pity that we have to go into the palace to spend the Winter Solstice; we truly cannot defy that, so I'm afraid we won't have the fortune to enjoy it."

"Oh, you misunderstood. I'm making it for my girlfriend, whom I haven't started dating yet, and my good-for-nothing sister." Chen Shu was merciless. "Do you have any? If not, I'll just head to the local wet market."

"Uh..."

"Hm?"

"Yes! We definitely have some!" Meng Chunqiu coughed dryly twice. "As long as it exists within the borders of Yiguo, there is nothing that I, Meng Chunqiu, cannot get my hands on!"

"Brother Meng is awesome!"

"Brother Chen, why are you sometimes elegant and sometimes vulgar?"

"I just act according to my nature."

"A fine 'acting according to one's nature'." Meng Chunqiu laughed twice while holding his book. "I'll have someone send it over tomorrow morning; I guarantee it will be freshly slaughtered that very day."

"Alright..."