Chapter 87: The Way of Making Money

"Hiccup..."

Chen Shu gave a very unrefined hiccup, took a cup of hot milk tea out of his jacket, and handed it to Ning Qing as she approached: "Why so long? I thought you'd be done and have handed in your paper in half an hour at most. I really overestimated you..."

"The last question took some time." Ning Qing took the milk tea; it was still hot. Chen Shu's was original flavor. She inserted the straw, "Been waiting long?"

"Not long." Chen Shu paused, "What kind of question is so hard? It could actually stump you."

"It's not hard, just time-consuming." Ning Qing drank the milk tea very calmly.

"What was your exam today again?"

"Cosmic Radiation and Spiritual Power."

"Sounds so high-end... Tell me about it later, so I can use it to show off and fool girls."

"?"

"Haha..." Chen Shu gave two dry laughs, "What's tomorrow's exam?"

"Theoretical Astrophysics."

"Tsk tsk..."

Chen Shu drank the milk tea in one gulp, threw the cup into the trash can nearby, and patted his stomach back and forth with both hands; the sloshing sound of water inside could be heard. He looked up at Ning Qing, who was secretly eyeing him, and said foolishly: "It's all water..."

Ning Qing held the straw in her mouth and said nothing.

This cup of milk tea had milk tofu and diced strawberries in it; the milk tofu was soft, tender, and rich in fragrance, while the diced strawberries were tart and sweet, creating a wonderful collision.

"Chen Shu."

Ning Qing called out softly.

"Hmm?"

Chen Shu turned his head to look at her: "What is it? Auntie Ning."

"..."

Ning Qing pursed her lips, not wanting to say it anymore.

But Chen Shu was a person with strong curiosity, and she couldn't just ignore him like she did with a certain roommate; this person would keep pestering her and even get handsy. Under his frantic shaking, she had to say the question she had just wanted to ask: "If there were a chance to do it all over again, or, before you were reincarnated, you had already seen the detailed script of this life in advance, but you couldn't change anything and had to follow the original script, would you still come?"

"Are you there?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll come."

"You've already experienced it once."

"I'd come even if I'd experienced it a hundred times."

"..."

Ning Qing drank her milk tea and stopped talking. There was a lot of milk tofu at the bottom, and she focused on aiming with her straw to suck them all up; she couldn't let them go to waste.

"Why ask that?"

"Wanted to ask."

"Hey, why are you so sentimental today..." Chen Shu looked at her suspiciously, "Is your estrus period here?"

"Slap!"

"Why hit me?" Chen Shu was baffled, "That was a reasonable guess."

"The exam question."

"You guys have questions like that on your exam? Isn't it about cosmic something-or-other? Who wrote the question? I'll go file a complaint and get them fired." Chen Shu said seriously.

"Go ahead."

"Tell me what they're called?"

"Ouyuan Gong."

"..."

While Ning Qing was still struggling to aim her straw at the milk tofu, the person beside her had already grabbed her arm, pulled her up from the chair, and while pushing her forward, said: "Time to eat, time to eat. Last time you said the stir-fry in our cafeteria wasn't as good as the one at your Lianyan Building. Let me tell you, I only later discovered the pattern for ordering stir-fry at that cafeteria—if you go to the left window, it's that skinny chef cooking, and it doesn't taste good. If you order at the right window, there's a high probability you'll get it from that chubby chef, and it's delicious. His skills are better than the chefs on the second floor of your Lianyan Building..."

Ning Qing lowered her head, focusing on aiming at the bottom of the milk tea cup.

Afternoon.

Chen Shu had to take his Cultivation Rank test.

It was said to be the same process as the entrance test, and the machine was the same, but this test would definitely expose him.

Chen Shu's mindset was actually steadier than it had been during the entrance test; he wasn't as worried about causing a sensation—having studied at this school for a semester, even without thinking or analyzing things in detail, he would still perceive some things in the dark.

For example, the arrogant attitude of the academy's teaching staff, for example, Teacher Shi Qian's remarks about his Spirit Power Talent, for example, the Ancient Cultivation Group in this University City...

They all pointed to certain issues.

So Chen Shu lined up honestly.

Two classes were testing together today, in order of student ID.

In front were students from the next class, and behind were students from his own class; everyone stretched their necks to look ahead.

In this era, people no longer judged heroes by their Cultivation Rank. Many globally renowned academic bigwigs were only ordinary Intermediate Stage, and there were truly Fifth Stage ones, so the cultivation speed that was once crucial was no longer so important now. But as everyone knew, the Spell Principles curriculum at Yujing Academy was quite special, and the students in the class were all young, hot-blooded, and even a bit "chuunibyou," so they still valued cultivation progress very much.

Whether or not you could get the supreme evaluation of "awesome" from your classmates depended on this.

Those students whose cultivation speed was exceptionally fast or who were exceptionally diligent often drew everyone to compete in praising them; a few words of "awesome" could make a person feel like they were floating on air.

However, students with slow cultivation speeds wouldn't be looked down upon either. As long as your character was fine, everyone would still like to hang out with you. Well, to be precise, most people would like to hang out with you more.

Chen Shu was one of these.

Because Teacher Fu always took special care of him, and Chen Shu often went to find Teacher Fu after class, through this back and forth, everyone knew—

This student, whose talent was comparable to the Emperor of the Martial Sect, had actually suffered damage to his Spirit Sea due to an unscientific advancement in his early years when he was in a rush to open it. Thus, his image instantly changed from a high-and-mighty peerless genius to someone approachable. Students with poor cultivation talent no longer felt inferior when hanging out with him, and students with good cultivation talent wanted to learn from his mistakes; everyone loved to sit with him during class.

The one in charge of the test today was Teacher Fu.

After students finished testing, they would often ask Teacher Fu for the results, and because they were already very familiar with each other, as long as they asked, Teacher Fu would tell them.

From time to time, a student would test at 1a, representing that they had reached the peak of the First Tier, and their Spirit Power Talent was excellent—both a and f are relatively rare; the vast majority of people can only receive a grade of b when they reach the peak of a certain tier.

At such times, there would often be a burst of Surprise.

It would also be accompanied by waves of flattery.

Of course, this was just mutual commercial flattery between friends; the flatterer would be all smiles, the one being flattered would pretend to be embarrassed, and it was mainly for fun.

There were also students whose results were not ideal; depending on the student's usual personality, their closer friends would react differently: some would exclaim in disbelief at how this could be possible, some would point out that it was all the game's fault, and some would kick them while they were down, saying it was all over...

It was quite interesting.

Chen Shu made up his mind not to ask Teacher Fu later.

Soon it was his turn.

Swipe the card, confirm the information.

Press his hand onto the testing machine.

"Beep beep!"

"Beep beep!"

The test was complete.

Teacher Fu was quite attentive to him; while staring at the screen and boredly rubbing her face, she was stunned for a moment after seeing the test result, her brows furrowed, her expression the same as during the entrance test at the start of the semester, and then she slowly looked at the testing machine in front of her.

Chen Shu was afraid she would smash the testing machine again, so he spread his hands: "Don't be too Surprised..."

"I understand the logic..."

Teacher Fu finally moved her gaze away from the testing machine; she wasn't very Surprised, just very puzzled: "But can you explain to me how you went from 3f to 3a in one semester?"

Chen Shu:...

After a brief silence behind him, there was a flurry of whispers.

3a.

It meant a Third-tier Peak genius.

The vast majority of students in the class had only opened their Spirit Sea a few months ago, and those with better talent were only at 1a now; 3a made them feel very distant.

Teacher Fu looked at Chen Shu.

Chen Shu chuckled foolishly, too embarrassed to speak.

Teacher Fu had taken good care of him throughout this semester, so he really couldn't bring himself to say the words, "I lied to you."

However, Teacher Fu was an experienced teacher after all; combining this with the expression of the person in front of her, she quickly figured out the reason. But she was still somewhat skeptical, so she picked up the testing machine again and slammed it onto the table twice with a clatter.

"Do it again."

"Beep beep."

"Beep beep."

"..."

Teacher Fu looked at the same result on the screen, was silent for a moment, and waved her hand impatiently at Chen Shu repeatedly:

"Get out, get out, get out!"

"Alright!"

Chen Shu lowered his head and walked out.

"Buzz buzz!"

Just as he reached the classroom door, he took out his Mobile Phone.

Gate of All Wonders: @Qingcai Keke

Gate of All Wonders: Another half month has passed, have you found out any definite information?

Grandma Always Says: If you are so bored while practicing in the Daoist temple, I have hundreds of selected seeds here; take them to pass the boring time.

Grandma Always Says: Or go and repaint the outer wall of your Daoist temple.

Haoran:...

Nameless Person: What seeds?

Gate of All Wonders: Amitabha...

Qingcai Keke: Grandma-fellow apprentice has a honey-smeared mouth, what he says is so pleasant to hear, please say more.

Gate of All Wonders: @Qingcai Keke

Qingcai Keke: Grandma-fellow apprentice has been very alert recently; he even planned a reverse operation to catch me, which caused the investigation to progress very slowly. So far, I've only found out one piece of information about Grandma-fellow apprentice.

Gate of All Wonders:?

Haoran:?

Nameless Person:?

Just Call Me Luo Huaian:?

Zhaoye Qing:?

Grandma Always Says: @Haoran

Grandma Always Says: What are you asking for? Don't you already know? Winter is here; have you finished visiting all those welfare homes and nursing homes in Yujing?

Haoran: /eating melon seeds

Qingcai Keke: I found out that Grandma-fellow apprentice is studying at Ling'an Academy, not Yujing Academy.

Qingcai Keke: However, the investigation has been really difficult recently, and with the New Year coming up, if we continue the investigation, funds will be insufficient again. If all the major shareholders still want to know more information, please crowdfund one last time!

Gate of All Wonders: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Haoran: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Nameless Person: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Zhaoyeqing: Swindling money.

Nainai Zongshuo: I'm cracking up / cracking up.

Nainai Zongshuo: Try acting like a human for once / cracking up.

Nainai Zongshuo: Finally, someone with a clear head. You've all had your eyes blinded by gossip; there's nothing in your brains but gossip!

Nainai Zongshuo: Especially that Daoist who practices asceticism, what the hell are you even practicing?

Nainai Zongshuo: Good.

Nainai Zongshuo: I've decided, I'm going to conduct a reverse investigation into Qingcai Keke. Any bosses here willing to sponsor me?

Zhong Miao Zhimen: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Haoran Zhengqi: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Wuming Renshi: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Nine-Tailed Fox Luo Huaian Forget It: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Zhaoyeqing: 【Exclusive Red Envelope】

Grandma Always Says: I fucking knew it. You lot only have gossip on your minds; you've already lost your reason just to hear some gossip.

Awe-Inspiring Righteousness: Enough nonsense, hurry up and investigate.

All Wonders Gate: Amitabha, that makes sense.

Green Lamp Lone Buddha: Which organization are you from? / palms pressed together

All Wonders Gate:......

Grandma Always Says: Anyway, I've accepted the red envelopes.

Grandma Always Says: Seems like I've found a way to make a fortune.

Qingcai Keke: /side-eye smile