Chapter 9: Work

After school that day.

In the cafeteria.

Zhang Yu, Zhou Tianyi, and Bai Zhenzhen were sitting together eating dinner.

Bai Zhenzhen remained as cold and silent as usual, calmly and silently making short work of the large plate of food in front of her.

Zhou Tianyi glanced at Zhang Yu and said, "Your financial situation has been a bit rough lately, hasn't it?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Zhang Yu was slightly stunned, thinking to himself, *Could the collection calls have already reached my classmates? If so, won't the fact that I owe 700,000 be exposed at school?*

Zhou Tianyi looked at Bai Zhenzhen’s sumptuous dinner, complete with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, then looked at Zhang Yu’s five-yuan "poor man’s combo."

He stroked his chin and said, "Based on my three months of observation in the cafeteria, what a person eats here is an effective reflection of their financial status during that period, and even their cultivation strength."

"For example, someone who eats ten pounds of food in one sitting won't sit at the same table as someone who eats three pounds."

"Because the two parties are not in the same class at all; they occupy the upper and lower ends of the school's hierarchy of contempt."

*So it’s just because I’m eating so little,* Zhang Yu thought, feeling relieved. He had been worried his identity as a super-debtor was about to be exposed.

He turned to look at Bai Zhenzhen, staring at the dozen chicken legs in her food bucket, and asked with curiosity, "Zhen-zhen, those chicken legs look really special. Can I have one?"

Bai Zhenzhen didn't even look up as she said, "Get lost."

Zhou Tianyi, sitting nearby, smiled and picked a duck leg from his own bowl for Zhang Yu: "Zhen-zhen has been exercising a lot today; you can tell she’s starving. Try mine instead."

"Good brother!" Zhang Yu gave Zhou Tianyi a thumbs-up, grabbed the duck leg, and started gnawing on it.

Watching Zhang Yu wolf down the food, Zhou Tianyi smiled slightly and said, "If you run into financial difficulties, I can lend you some."

Zhang Yu waved his hand and said, "No need, I’ll solve it myself."

Although he was buried in debt, Zhang Yu didn't intend to borrow money from his classmates. Or rather, borrowing from classmates wouldn't solve a 700,000-yuan debt in one go anyway. What he needed was a way to earn money continuously and pay off the debt steadily.

*At the very least, I have to pay the monthly interest. I can't let the collectors escalate their methods.*

Zhang Yu knew that as his delinquency period grew, the collection company's tactics would become increasingly severe. From online insults to real-life confrontations, each step was worse than the last.

*And then there’s rent, utilities, food expenses...*

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu felt a headache coming on.

Just after Zhou Tianyi left, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly spoke up: "Based on my three months of observing you and Zhou Tianyi, he is exceptionally good to you."

Zhang Yu: "Is he?"

Bai Zhenzhen chuckled and said, "In the eighteen years I've been alive, I've only seen this happen—a man smiling as he gives the duck leg from his own bowl to another man—in two situations."

"One, the two parties are father and son."

"The other, hehehehe..."

Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow: "Zhen-zhen, you read some pretty strange stuff."

Bai Zhenzhen: "Yu-zi, you don't actually have to be afraid. Anyway, in this school, you're the one who holds the initiative."

As she spoke, Bai Zhenzhen pushed her tray toward Zhang Yu: "Sigh, I can't finish it. I'll bestow these leftovers upon you, since you're my good big son."

"Get lost." Zhang Yu snatched the tray. A quick glance showed that it contained a good portion of food, neatly arranged and clearly untouched.

Just as Zhang Yu looked up to thank her, he only saw Bai Zhenzhen’s back as she left the cafeteria.

Once outside, Bai Zhenzhen’s expression turned indifferent again. She thought to herself, *Yu-zi, actually, there is a third situation where this happens.*

Bai Zhenzhen turned to look at the steps outside the cafeteria entrance, where a cafeteria worker was pouring leftover food from a slop bucket into a cat's bowl.

...

After leaving school, Zhang Yu began planning ways to make money.

"My rent is 1,500, utilities are around 200 a month, and the loan repayment is 15,000 a month..."

"Hiss..."

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu’s head started aching again.

"I need to earn at least 20,000 a month. Ordinary jobs definitely won't cut it."

With a thought, the *Yu Shu* (Jade Book) unfolded before him.

Zhang Yu Dao Heart: Level 1 Mana: 7.7 Physical Strength: Level 0.84 Martial Arts: Body Strengthening 36 Forms Level 2 (17/20), Sanshou Level 1, High School Basic Swordsmanship Level 0 Dao Techniques: Basic Breathing Method Level 1, Basic Heart-Refining Method Level 1

Seeing the newly appeared "High School Basic Swordsmanship Level 0," Zhang Yu recalled today's martial arts class.

So-called martial arts classes were courses for learning various combat and fighting techniques, and 80 out of the 100 points in the class were based on practical combat.

For instance, first-year high school students were required to master one unarmed combat style and one armed combat style.

This High School Basic Swordsmanship was exactly what he had learned in class today, but it seemed that because he hadn't truly mastered it, it was still displayed as Level 0.

However, Zhang Yu tried it slightly and found that this "High School Basic Swordsmanship Level 0" could also be dragged and dropped.

He estimated that if he specialized in this martial art, given his potential, he could master it quickly and then level it up rapidly.

With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Zhang Yu continued to stare at his panel, pondering what kind of work he could do.

*Although I’ve only just stepped onto the path of immortality, I am, after all, an official student of Songyang High School...*

A moment later, Zhang Yu began using his phone to contact his old tutoring center.

The original Zhang Yu had only gotten into Songyang High School after tutoring at this center.

*The income from this kind of tutoring center should be decent, and since I’m an official student at Songyang High, I should have an advantage.*

But after his inquiry, the teacher at the center said they were already fully staffed and told him to try other centers.

So, Zhang Yu contacted other tutoring centers.

"Hello, I’d like to be a part-time tutor. I’m a first-year student at Songyang High School..."

"May I ask where you graduated from for elementary and middle school?"

"No, I’m already an official student at Songyang High School!"

"Sorry, because there are many tutors with degrees from key high schools, if a first-year student like you who hasn't graduated yet wants to work part-time, parents place a lot of importance on your primary and secondary education credentials."

After learning about Zhang Yu’s elementary and middle schools, the other party stopped replying.

After repeating this conversation five or six times, Zhang Yu gradually understood.

"Damn it!"

"They have such high requirements for primary and secondary education?"

"Has the competition for tutors become this cutthroat?"

Zhang Yu felt as if his elementary and middle school diplomas were like two ugly labels branded onto his face, causing the difficulty of finding even a part-time tutoring job to skyrocket.

Thus, Zhang Yu had to temporarily abandon the tutoring path and turn to his backup plan.

"I’ll have to try odd jobs first."

Regarding odd jobs, the original Zhang Yu had learned a bit about them over the three months since school started.

Of course, the temporary work mentioned here wasn't the kind ordinary people looked for, but rather temporary work for those who had already stepped onto the path of immortality.

High school students made up a significant portion of this group. After all, not every high schooler was a rich kid; a considerable number of them needed to earn money to lighten the burden on their families or to buy things they wanted.

And because high school students didn't have a high school diploma and needed to attend classes most of the time, they could usually only take on part-time temporary work.

Zhang Yu had looked into this path over the past two days, so he immediately added an agent and asked if there was any work available.

"You’re asking too late; today’s jobs have all been taken for now."

"Why don't you come wait here? You can grab new jobs as soon as they come in."

...

Half an hour later, Zhang Yu arrived at a small plaza.

From far away, he could see many people scattered across the plaza, some sitting, some lying down. There were old and young, men and women; some were taking a nap right on the ground, while others were in school uniforms, sitting cross-legged and practicing breathing exercises.

Following the address provided, Zhang Yu found a human resources company in the corner of the plaza.

The company wasn't large; the storefront looked like a real estate agency, with various crude recruitment flyers plastered over the dirty glass.

Glancing at the old sign, Zhang Yu pushed the door open, and a thick smell of smoke rushed out, making him frown.

Behind a messy desk, a middle-aged man smoking looked up, glanced at Zhang Yu, and said, "Are you the high schooler who just inquired?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, the man introduced himself as Old Wang, the agent here. He took out a few sheets of paper and said, "Fill out your resume; I’ll register you in a moment."

Zhang Yu took it and saw that, in addition to some basic information, he had to fill in the martial arts and Dao techniques he had learned, their levels, and his school grades.

After handing the completed form to the man, Zhang Yu asked, "How long does it usually take to find work? What’s the pay like?"

Old Wang scratched his messy hair and said casually, "The minimum is a few hundred an hour... but it’s hard to say how long it takes to find work. If your luck is bad, it’s normal to go a week without a job."

*The pay for work here is this high?* Zhang Yu thought. *If that’s the case, if I work two or three hours a day, wouldn't that be enough for loan repayments and living expenses?*

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu felt a surge of joy.

But then, hearing the man say that work was hard to find, he asked curiously, "Why?"

He emphasized his status: "I’m in the top ten of the first-year class at a key high school. Is it still hard to find work?"

Old Wang smiled at this and pointed outside: "See those people in the plaza? Aside from high schoolers like you, the rest are high school graduates."

Zhang Yu was shocked and disbelieving: "How is that possible? They’ve graduated high school and are already cultivating immortals, yet they come here to find odd jobs?"

Old Wang shrugged: "They didn't get into college. Not every high school student can get into college."

"If you don't get into college, you’ll be at the Qi Refining stage for the rest of your life, and you can't even reach the second level of Kunxu. You can only spend year after year struggling here on the first level..."

Zhang Yu was still confused: "But they could find a formal job on the first level, why come here to do odd jobs?"

Old Wang explained: "They don't need to sleep. They finish their daytime jobs, and if the company isn't doing overtime, they come here to find some odd jobs to do."

"Otherwise, how would they pay off their loans? And how would they have enough money to maintain their cultivation?"

These words caused a stir in Zhang Yu’s heart. His previous memories hadn't told him that high school graduates had it so tough.

He had only thought that once you graduated high school, even if you didn't get into college, you would sit in an office in a skyscraper in the city center, blowing air conditioning and drinking tea, earning a decent salary...

Turns out, good grief, it’s 24 hours of studying before graduation and 24 hours of working after graduation. The bitterness just keeps piling up, doesn't it?

Old Wang looked at Zhang Yu’s resume and laughed: "Oh, Songyang High School? Then we’re alumni. I’m also from Songyang High, but I dropped out in my third year."

Zhang Yu: "Dropped out?"

Old Wang shrugged: "Couldn't get into college, so I figured I shouldn't waste the money. I only just finished paying off the loans I took out for high school the year before last."

"For the sake of being alumni, I’ll give you a piece of advice."

"In high school, know your limits. If you feel like you can't get into college, pull out early, so you don't end up like some people—drowning in so much debt that your whole life is ruined."

After filling out the information, the man told Zhang Yu to wait outside, and he would notify him immediately if there was work.

Zhang Yu: "Competing with those high school graduates, will there be any work left for me?"

Old Wang: "Don't worry, some jobs are specifically looking for high school students."

(End of chapter)