Purple Cloud High School. On Le Mulan’s phone screen, a photo was displayed. In the picture, Zhang Yu stood smiling in front of a convenience store, giving a thumbs up to the camera. The text below the photo read: “Peak Stationery Store, the best stationery store in front of Songyang High School. The owner is super nice, and the products are great value for money. Everyone, go!” Two slender fingers pinched and stretched the screen, enlarging the photo until Zhang Yu’s face filled the entire screen. After a long while, her fingers swiped, and a new set of photos appeared.

She opened the first photo. Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were posing for a selfie in front of White Dragon High School, arms slung around each other’s shoulders. The second photo showed Bai Zhenzhen holding a huge bottle filled with energy drinks. The third photo was of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen sitting back-to-back, surrounded by a circle of drink bottles, with Song Hailong looking speechless at the edge of the photo. The text below read: “Back at White Dragon High School again. Their energy drinks are really potent and delicious. Every time I come, I have to bring a few barrels. I’m a monthly subscriber of White Dragon. Contact me directly if you want to promote them.” Once again, the slender fingers zoomed in on Zhang Yu in each photo, and only after a long time did she swipe to the next set.

This set of photos captured the night view of Songyang City, apparently taken from a building in the suburbs. The towering Central Tower, seemingly reaching to the heavens, was in the center of the frame. Nearby was the Oasis Building under construction, surrounded by skyscrapers flashing with neon lights, and further out, the suburban areas… From bright to dark, it outlined the night view of Songyang City. The text below read: “Songyang at four in the morning. You can choose to slack off for three years, or you can choose to work hard for three years. If you slack off for three years, you might suffer for over a hundred years later. But if you choose to work hard for three years, and finally get into a university and successfully establish your foundation, then you can endure another two hundred years of hardship. ”

A soft chuckle sounded as her slender fingers continued to scroll down Zhang Yu’s Moments, but at that moment, a message popped up at the top of the screen.

“Refine the Heavens Extremis: The sacred first place, are you kidding me? You want me to buy what from Zhang Yu???”

Her slender fingers tapped quickly on the phone screen, and she began to reply.

“Le Mulan: I’m not kidding. Please, I can give you more money.”

Transfer of 2000.

Transfer of 2000 has been accepted.

“Refine the Heavens Extremis: It’s not about the money. Besides, you can ask him to buy it yourself. Why do you want me to go to him?”

“Le Mulan: If you don’t want to, I’ll step on your head every day in class.”

“Refine the Heavens Extremis: Do you need it delivered or should I bring it over in person?”

Looking at Refine the Heavens Extremis’s reply on the screen, Le Mulan nodded slightly. “As expected, it’s easier to be forceful when talking to these classmates with lower scores than me.” She returned to browsing Zhang Yu’s Moments and murmured, “Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, these two paupers are really inseparable.” However, she didn’t care about that; it was just a passing thought as she looked at Zhang Yu’s Moments. Under the reflection of the light from the phone screen, a satisfied smile gradually appeared on Le Mulan’s lips.

“My efforts these past few days haven’t been in vain. Looking at Zhang Yu’s photos now, I basically don’t feel anything anymore.”

“Next, I’ll just wait for Refine the Heavens Extremis to bring Zhang Yu’s clothes over.”

“Once I get used to the clothes too, I shouldn’t feel so uncomfortable when I meet Zhang Yu.”

Le Mulan thought to herself. When that time comes, she would be able to face the pauper Zhang Yu directly and completely overcome the weakness in her heart.

In the cafeteria, Bai Zhenzhen’s mind was still replaying the message that Refine the Heavens Extremis had just sent to Zhang Yu. Zhang Yu, on the other hand, brought the newly bought food to Bai Zhenzhen, pondering about talking to Zhen-er about the illegal tutoring business. He didn’t notice that Bai Zhenzhen was looking at him with a strange expression.

After eating, Zhang Yu said to Bai Zhenzhen, “Zhen-er, come with me to the rooftop. I have something to tell you.” So the two came to the rooftop. This was one of their secret training bases on campus. In the past few days, they had left countless drops of sweat here and witnessed each other’s growth.

Coming here again today, Zhang Yu said first, “Zhen-er, I have something to tell you. You can sense that I’ve been making a little money recently, right?”

I don’t just sense it, I even saw the message your client sent you! Listening to Zhang Yu’s words, Bai Zhenzhen’s face twitched slightly, and she was shocked. Could it be that Yu-zi wanted to tell her the secret of how he was making money? His secret with Refine the Heavens Extremis? Bai Zhenzhen knew that every year, high school students walked this path under the pressure of money. Some people looked down on these students who were willing to sell themselves in pursuit of immortality, thinking, “What’s a pauper doing cultivating immortality?” Others admired them, thinking that they had a strong Dao heart for pursuing immortality. But Bai Zhenzhen never expected that Zhang Yu would also walk this path, and even go to Refine the Heavens Extremis.

“Yu-zi, you’ve gone too far. I can’t catch up.”

“Besides, why did you have to find Refine the Heavens Extremis? He’s only strong in the martial arts competition. He’s not worthy of you.”

“Couldn’t you find some real academic experts? Even Song Hailong would be better… No, Song Hailong’s physical strength is too high. The medical bills might not be enough to cover it.”

“If Le Mulan was spending the money, I might even be more accepting of it!”

Although her mind was racing, Bai Zhenzhen quickly calmed down. She tried to control her expression and said slowly, “So what you want to say… is about things related to your recent earnings?”

Zhang Yu nodded and said, “Yes, I have a way to make money that I want to bring you along to. The place is in the outer suburbs. I’ve been there many times and feel like there’s no problem…”

Bai Zhenzhen’s face changed drastically, and she looked at Zhang Yu with a wrinkled face, thinking, “Yu-zi wants to pull me into this race too?” At this moment, Bai Zhenzhen realized that she was completely unprepared for this. Her first reaction was to refuse. Thinking of this, a trace of admiration flashed in her eyes as she looked at Zhang Yu.

“Yu-zi is already better than me in academics, and he’s still making money in other races after school, going to Refine the Heavens Extremis to ‘tutoring,’ working hard to save up cultivation resources. I admit that my Dao heart is not as strong as yours. You win this time.”

She took a deep breath, patted Zhang Yu on the shoulder, and said, “Thanks, my good brother, but really, it’s okay. You can enjoy such a good way to make money by yourself. I haven’t reached that point yet.”

“Refine the Heavens Extremis’s physical strength is not low either. Be careful not to get hurt and have to go to the clinic.”

Zhang Yu asked, puzzled, “What does this have to do with Refine the Heavens Extremis?”

Bai Zhenzhen sighed softly and looked away with a helpless expression. “I accidentally saw the message Refine the Heavens Extremis sent you this afternoon.”

“But don’t worry, I closed the phone screen for you. Only I saw it. Qian Shen, Zhao Tianxing, and the others don’t know.”

“I’ll keep this secret for you.”

Zhang Yu frowned and took out his phone. The moment he saw Refine the Heavens Extremis’s message, he wanted to smash his phone.

“Bastard! This bastard! I treated Refine the Heavens Extremis as a friend! And he’s trying to take advantage of me?”

Then, Zhang Yu thought of Bai Zhenzhen’s reaction and quickly explained, “Nothing happened between us!”

He held up the phone screen and showed Bai Zhenzhen their chat history. “Look, it’s all clear. Nothing happened.”

Bai Zhenzhen subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, then asked curiously, “Then why does Refine the Heavens Extremis want to buy your worn clothes?”

“Who the hell knows what he’s thinking?” Zhang Yu picked up his phone fiercely and began to reply, “I’ll ask him what price he’s offering first, and then decide on my next reply based on the price.” Unconsciously, Zhang Yu had become more and more accustomed to the Kunxu lifestyle, and had a habit of reacting differently to different numbers. Bai Zhenzhen also watched curiously from the side.

On the phone screen, Zhang Yu typed: “What price?”

Refine the Heavens Extremis: “Any piece of clothing you’ve worn will do. 2000 yuan.”

Bai Zhenzhen said from the side, “Reply with 5000 and see.”

After waiting for a while, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen discovered that Refine the Heavens Extremis had sent an agreement reply.

Bai Zhenzhen laughed from the side, “Haha, you can earn 5000 so easily?”

But Zhang Yu still felt awkward. “What is he buying my clothes for?”

Bai Zhenzhen patted Zhang Yu on the shoulder and said, “That’s 5000 yuan for one piece of your clothing. Why do you care what he’s buying it for?”

Zhang Yu’s eyes flickered. “That’s right. I forgot what I was going to tell you just now. I wanted to introduce you to a way to make money today.”

Just then, the doll, who had been quietly staying on Zhang Yu’s chest, disguising itself as a black prayer bead, spoke up.

The doll’s voice entered Zhang Yu’s mind, reminding him, “Zhang Yu, I’ve warned you that the most important thing in this business is that you can’t trust anyone. Even your own son can sell out his father. Are you sure you want to tell this woman in front of you?”

But Zhang Yu said to Bai Zhenzhen without hesitation, “Zhen-er, do you know about the Dark Tutoring World?”

After Zhang Yu’s explanation, Bai Zhenzhen realized that the money Zhang Yu had been earning recently came from tutoring. Bai Zhenzhen’s expression became complicated. Good news, my son didn’t sell his…body. Bad news, my son joined a gang and was doing a more dangerous job than robbing.

Bai Zhenzhen was, after all, a top student and proper poor kid from a key high school. She not only respected copyrights but also had a deep-rooted fear of corporations since she was a child. Hearing that Zhang Yu wanted to take her to join a gang, she became a little nervous. “Is this really not dangerous? If the company finds out, I’m afraid I’ll be caught and forced to be a work slave for the rest of my life.”

Zhang Yu explained, “I was worried like you at first, but after going there, I found out that the Dark Learning Gang is a legitimate gang that pays taxes and worships gods. If you’re a part-timer, you only need to consider teaching. You don’t need to worry about fighting, killing, or anything like that.”

“Besides, it pays a lot. I can earn 6500 per hour there.”

Speaking of this, Zhang Yu paused and said helplessly, “Besides, in this Kunxu… it’s too difficult for us poor people to earn money in legitimate industries. Only places like the Dark Tutoring World can give us a relatively decent income, giving us a better chance of getting into the top ten universities.”

When Bai Zhenzhen heard about the hourly wage of 6500, she felt her heart beat faster and immediately understood why some people joined gangs. When she finally heard Zhang Yu’s sigh, she nodded in agreement and thought to herself, “That’s right. How can a poor devil like us climb up without doing some life-risking work?”

So Bai Zhenzhen also nodded firmly and said, “Yeah, I trust you. Just tell me what you want me to do.”