Chapter 9: Work
After school that day.
In the cafeteria.
Zhang Yu sat with Zhou Tianyi and Bai Zhenzhen, having dinner together.
As usual, Bai Zhenzhen was cold and silent, calmly devouring the large plate of food in front of her.
Zhou Tianyi glanced at Zhang Yu and said, "Your financial situation seems a bit rough lately."
"Is it that obvious?"
Zhang Yu was slightly startled, wondering if the debt collectors had already called his classmates. Did that mean his 700,000-credit debt was about to be exposed to the whole school?
Zhou Tianyi looked at Bai Zhenzhen's lavish meal, complete with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, then glanced at Zhang Yu's meager 5-credit "poor man's special."
He stroked his chin and said, "Based on my three months of observing the cafeteria, what someone eats here can effectively reflect their financial situation—and even their cultivation level—during that period."
"For example, someone who eats ten pounds of food in one sitting wouldn't sit at the same table as someone who eats three pounds."
"Because they're not in the same social class. One is at the top of the school's social hierarchy, and the other is at the bottom."
"So it's because I'm eating less," Zhang Yu thought, relieved that his status as a super-poor student hadn't been exposed.
He turned to Bai Zhenzhen, eyeing the dozen chicken legs in her bowl, and asked curiously, "Zhenzhen, those chicken legs look special. Can I try one?"
Without looking up, Bai Zhenzhen replied, "Get lost."
Zhou Tianyi chuckled and picked up a duck leg from his own bowl, handing it to Zhang Yu. "Zhenzhen had a particularly intense workout today. She's starving. Here, try mine."
"Good man!" Zhang Yu gave Zhou Tianyi a thumbs-up and immediately started devouring the duck leg.
Watching Zhang Yu wolf it down, Zhou Tianyi smiled and said, "If you're having money troubles, I can lend you some."
Zhang Yu waved his hand. "No need. I'll figure it out myself."
Although he was buried in debt, Zhang Yu didn't plan to borrow money from his classmates. Even if he did, it wouldn't solve the problem of his massive 700,000-credit debt. What he needed was a way to earn money consistently and pay off the debt over time.
"At the very least, I need to cover the monthly interest payments. I can't let the debt collectors escalate their tactics."
Zhang Yu knew that as his overdue payments piled up, the debt collection agencies would resort to increasingly aggressive methods—from online harassment to real-life intimidation.
"Then there's rent, utilities, food..."
Just thinking about it made his head hurt.
After Zhou Tianyi left, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly spoke up. "Based on my three months of observing you and Zhou Tianyi, he's been unusually nice to you."
Zhang Yu: "Has he?"
Bai Zhenzhen smirked. "In my eighteen years of life, I've only seen two scenarios where a guy willingly gives his duck leg to another guy."
"One, they're father and son."
"Two, well... heh heh heh..."
Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow. "Zhenzhen, you've been reading some interesting stuff."
Bai Zhenzhen: "Zhang Yu, you don't need to be afraid. In this school, you're the one with the upper hand."
With that, she pushed her plate toward Zhang Yu. "Ugh, I can't finish this. You can have the leftovers. Consider it a reward for being my good little boy."
"Get lost." Zhang Yu grabbed the plate and noticed that the food was neatly arranged, clearly untouched.
Just as he looked up to thank her, he saw Bai Zhenzhen's back as she walked out of the cafeteria.
Outside, Bai Zhenzhen's expression cooled again. She thought to herself, "Zhang Yu, there's actually a third scenario where this happens."
She turned her gaze to the steps outside the cafeteria, where a cafeteria worker was pouring leftover food into a bowl for a stray cat.
---
After leaving school, Zhang Yu began planning how to make money.
"My rent is 1,500 credits, utilities are around 200 credits a month, and the loan payments are 15,000 credits a month..."
"Ugh..."
Just thinking about it made his head throb.
"I need to earn at least 20,000 credits a month. A regular job won't cut it."
With a thought, the Feather Book appeared before him.
**Zhang Yu**
**Dao Heart: Level 1**
**Magical Power: 7.7**
**Physical Strength: 0.84**
**Martial Skills: Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Techniques (Level 2 (17/20)), Freehand Combat (Level 1), High School Basic Sword Technique (Level 0)**
**Dao Techniques: Basic Breathing Technique (Level 1), Basic Heart Refinement Technique (Level 1)**
Seeing the newly added "High School Basic Sword Technique (Level 0)," Zhang Yu recalled today's martial arts class.
Martial arts class was where students learned various combat techniques, both unarmed and armed. Out of the 100 points available in the class, 80 were based on practical combat.
First-year students were required to master one unarmed combat technique and one armed combat technique.
The High School Basic Sword Technique was what he had learned in today's class, but since he hadn't truly mastered it yet, it was still listed as Level 0.
Zhang Yu tried dragging the "High School Basic Sword Technique (Level 0)" text and found that it could be moved, just like the other skills.
He guessed that if he specialized in this technique, he could quickly master and level it up, thanks to his awakened potential.
After briefly considering this, Zhang Yu turned his attention back to his stats, thinking about what kind of work he could do.
"Even though I've just started on the path of cultivation, I'm still an official student of Songyang High..."
Soon, Zhang Yu began contacting his old tutoring center.
The original Zhang Yu had attended this tutoring center before getting into Songyang High.
"The income from tutoring should be decent, and since I'm an official student of Songyang High, I should have an advantage."
But when he inquired, the tutor said they were fully staffed and suggested he try other tutoring centers.
So Zhang Yu contacted several other tutoring centers.
"Hello, I'd like to work as a part-time tutor. I'm a first-year student at Songyang High..."
"May I ask which elementary and middle schools you attended?"
"Wait, I'm already an official student at Songyang High!"
"Sorry, but there are many tutors with high school diplomas from prestigious schools. Parents tend to place a lot of importance on the tutor's elementary and middle school backgrounds."
After learning about Zhang Yu's elementary and middle schools, the other end of the line went silent.
After repeating this conversation five or six times, Zhang Yu gradually understood.
"Damn it!"
"Are they really that picky about elementary and middle school backgrounds?"
"Is the tutoring market this competitive now?"
Zhang Yu felt like his elementary and middle school backgrounds were ugly labels stamped on his face, making it incredibly difficult to find even a part-time tutoring job.
Reluctantly, Zhang Yu gave up on tutoring and turned to his backup plan.
"I guess I'll have to try odd jobs."
Zhang Yu had some understanding of odd jobs from his original self's experiences over the past three months.
Of course, these weren't the kind of odd jobs ordinary people took. These were temporary jobs for those who had already embarked on the path of cultivation.
High school students made up a significant portion of this group. After all, not every high school student came from a wealthy family. Many needed to work to ease their family's financial burden or to buy things they wanted.
Since high school students didn't have diplomas yet and most of their time was spent in class, they could only take on temporary work.
Zhang Yu had looked into this recently and quickly contacted an agent, asking if there were any jobs available.
"You're a bit late. All the jobs for today have been taken."
"Why don't you come over and wait? If something comes up, you can grab it right away."
---
Half an hour later, Zhang Yu arrived at a small square.
From a distance, he could see people scattered around the square, sitting or lying down. There were men and women, young and old. Some were napping on the ground, while others, still in their school uniforms, were meditating.
Following the address he was given, Zhang Yu found a small human resources company in the corner of the square.
The company was small, its storefront resembling a rundown real estate agency. The dirty glass windows were plastered with crude job postings.
Looking at the worn-out sign, Zhang Yu pushed the door open and was immediately hit by a strong smell of cigarette smoke, making him frown.
Behind a messy desk, a middle-aged man smoking a cigarette looked up and asked, "Are you the high school student who just called?"
When Zhang Yu nodded, the man introduced himself as Old Wang, the agent. He handed Zhang Yu a few sheets of paper and said, "Fill out this resume. I'll register you in a bit."
Zhang Yu took the papers and saw that, in addition to basic information, he needed to list the martial and Dao techniques he had learned, their levels, and his academic performance.
After filling out the forms, Zhang Yu asked, "How long does it usually take to find a job? And what's the pay like?"
Old Wang scratched his messy hair and said casually, "The lowest pay is a few hundred credits an hour... But how long it takes to find a job varies. If you're unlucky, you might not get anything for a week."
Zhang Yu thought, "The pay is that high? If that's the case, working two or three hours a day should be enough to cover my loan payments and living expenses."
The thought made him feel a bit hopeful.
But then Old Wang added that jobs were hard to come by, so Zhang Yu asked, "Why is that?"
He emphasized his background: "I'm in the top ten of my grade at a prestigious high school. Is it still that hard?"
Old Wang chuckled and pointed outside. "See those people in the square? Besides high school students like you, the rest are high school graduates."
Zhang Yu was shocked. "What? High school graduates who've started cultivating are here looking for odd jobs?"
Old Wang shrugged. "They didn't get into university. Not every high school graduate can make it to university."
"If you don't get into university, you'll be stuck at the Qi Refinement stage for life, never making it to the second level of Kunxu. You'll just keep drifting around the first level year after year..."
Zhang Yu still didn't understand. "But even then, couldn't they find a proper job on the first level? Why do odd jobs?"
Old Wang explained, "They don't need to sleep. After finishing their day jobs, if their companies don't require overtime, they come here to pick up odd jobs."
"Otherwise, how would they pay off their loans? Or afford the resources to maintain their cultivation?"
Old Wang's words sent ripples through Zhang Yu's mind. His previous memories hadn't included this level of hardship for high school graduates.
He had always imagined that after graduating high school, even if you didn't get into university, you'd be sitting in an office in a downtown skyscraper, enjoying air conditioning and sipping tea while earning a decent salary...
But reality was far harsher. Before graduation, it was 24 hours of studying. After graduation, it was 24 hours of work. The suffering only increased.
Old Wang looked at Zhang Yu's resume and smiled. "Oh, Songyang High? We're alumni! I went to Songyang High too, but I dropped out in my third year."
Zhang Yu: "Dropped out?"
Old Wang shrugged. "Couldn't get into university, so why waste more money? I only finished paying off my high school loans two years ago."
"Since we're alumni, I'll give you some advice."
"Don't push yourself too hard in high school. If you feel like you can't make it, quit early. Otherwise, you'll end up like some people, drowning in debt and ruining your life."
After filling out the forms, Old Wang told Zhang Yu to wait outside. He'd be notified as soon as a job came up.
Zhang Yu: "Competing with high school graduates for jobs... Will I even get anything?"
Old Wang: "Don't worry. Some jobs are specifically for current high school students."
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