Wang Hai completely ignored Zhang Yu for the rest of the PE class, treating him as if he were invisible and ceasing all instruction. With Wang Hai leading the isolation, other students also instinctively avoided Zhang Yu, as if an invisible no-man’s land had opened up around him.

“Old Wang is really… so petty.”

But with things as they were, Zhang Yu had no choice, so he simply lay down quietly on the ground to rest. In the blink of an eye, class was over, and everyone gradually headed to the cafeteria.

After everyone left, Zhou Tianyi walked over to Zhang Yu. He gave him a thumbs-up and said, “Warrior, did you buy accident insurance?”

Zhang Yu slowly got up, patted his pants, and said, “What’s there to be afraid of? Once my cultivation vastly improves and my grades skyrocket in a while, plenty of teachers will protect me.” He confidently looked at the Feather Scroll in his palm; his physical strength had already increased from 0.83 to 0.84. This was achieved without injections, medication, or any dietary supplements, simply by practicing the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms. Presumably, as the level of the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms continues to increase, the rate of improvement in physical strength will also accelerate. Just thinking about this, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but marvel again at his terrifying potential.

Zhou Tianyi, standing nearby, looked at Zhang Yu, who had suddenly become full of confidence. He asked curiously, “Did you find a new source for drugs? Don’t forget your brother if you get good stuff.”

Zhang Yu clenched his fist and smiled, “Kid, your brother is a natural body refiner!”

Outside the training room door, Bai Zhenzhen, who had just undergone intense body refinement, had flushed cheeks, sweat constantly dripped from her forehead, and steam rose from her entire body.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

She knocked on the door and said flatly, “Zhang Yu, are you done showing off? I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”

The three of them quickly joined the ‘cafeteria army’. Having arrived late, they saw a large crowd queuing in front of the cafeteria entrance from a distance. However, as members of the demonstration class, Zhang Yu and his two companions had the privilege of priority entry to the cafeteria, able to use a VIP channel to dine directly. The three of them entered the cafeteria under the varied gazes of students from other classes.

How to describe that feeling? If Zhang Yu were to describe it, it was like an inner sect prodigy in a novel slowly entering the Immortal Gathering Restaurant to dine, under the envious, jealous, or self-proclaimed capable gazes of the outer sect disciples.

As soon as they entered the cafeteria, Bai Zhenzhen said, “I’m having dietary supplements today, so I’m eating on the second floor.” What is called ‘dietary supplementation’ involves cooking ingredients imbued with immortal elements, supplemented by various medicines. This can effectively enhance physical fitness, compensate for losses after intense training, and improve the efficiency of body refinement and breathing techniques. It can be said that dietary supplementation offers countless benefits for immortal cultivation. The only reason Zhang Yu wasn’t eating it at the moment was that it was too expensive, truly exorbitant. A single meal cost at least several hundred, and more precious ingredients could easily cost several thousand. Even Zhang Yu, who previously had a huge loan, couldn’t bear to eat it every day, let alone the current Zhang Yu.

Watching Bai Zhenzhen walk up to the second floor alone, Zhang Yu felt that the second floor of the cafeteria was yet another dividing line, much like the queue outside the cafeteria compared to the inside where he stood. But a hint of doubt arose in Zhang Yu’s heart: “Didn’t A-Zhen say she was out of money? How can she afford to eat on the second floor?”

Shortly after lunch, Zhang Yu, who was on his lunch break, was called to the teacher’s office.

A middle-aged man, sipping tea, glanced at Zhang Yu standing in front of the desk and said, “Teacher Wang Hai told me about your situation.” The man’s name was Su Haifeng. He was both the homeroom teacher of the demonstration class and the head of the first-year grade.

He now looked at Zhang Yu with a disappointed expression and said, “Do you remember what you told me during your interview?” When the original Zhang Yu participated in the Songyang High School interview, Su Haifeng was the interviewer sitting in the middle. Hearing Su Haifeng’s words now, Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. Although he had merged with the original body’s memories, many details couldn’t be recalled instantly.

Su Haifeng sighed, “I still remember you saying you wanted to get into a prestigious university. In PE class, you neither bought medicine nor got injections. You lay on the ground being lazy and talked back to your teacher. Is this the attitude you have towards getting into a prestigious university?”

Listening to the criticism, Zhang Yu momentarily didn’t know how to explain himself. He couldn’t very well say that he was too poor and useless to buy medicine or get injections, nor that because his potential had been activated, he didn’t need to take PE class seriously.

Sensing Zhang Yu’s silence, Su Haifeng sighed again and said, “Zhang Yu, your performance over the past three months has been consistently good. I know you’re a good kid. Has something happened at home recently?”

Zhang Yu looked on with some surprise, feeling the other’s concerned gaze, and found it somewhat unbelievable: “Are there really teachers who care about students in this crazy school?” He thought for a moment and said softly, “Yes, I had a bit of a disagreement with my family. I’ll try my best to resolve it and get back on track quickly.”

Although he felt the other’s concern, Zhang Yu could only dismiss it quickly for now. In a while, when his grades improved, he naturally wouldn’t need to explain these difficult matters to his teachers.

Su Haifeng frowned as if displeased and said irritably, “What is there you can’t tell your teacher? Are there financial problems at home recently? The debt collection calls from loan platforms have already reached the school.”

“Huh?” Zhang Yu suddenly looked up. “They called you, teacher?”

Su Haifeng nodded solemnly, “If they hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have known you owed so much money. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Zhang Yu: “I…” He truly hadn’t considered what good it would do to tell the school about this. Especially given the atmosphere at Songyang High School, he figured knowing would only make his situation worse.

But Su Haifeng let out a long sigh, looked at Zhang Yu kindly and said, “I know the school can be quite strict sometimes. You’re afraid to tell us when something goes wrong. But you must know that we are your teachers after all. How could we not help our own students?”

As he spoke, he pulled a document from a drawer and handed it to Zhang Yu. “This is a poor student assistance plan that I specifically applied for on your behalf. Sign it quickly.”

Reaching out to take the document, Zhang Yu looked at Su Haifeng with some emotion, saying, “Teacher, thank you.” He realized his perception of the teachers at this school was wrong again. Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Though there are unreliable people like Wang Hai, there are also earnest elders like Teacher Su.”

Su Haifeng smiled and waved his hand, then handed him a pen. “Sign it quickly.”

Zhang Yu lowered his head, his eyes quickly scanning the document, then he froze.

Su Haifeng chuckled, “What’s wrong? Sign it quickly. I’ll try to submit it for you before work ends.”

Zhang Yu’s voice was low: “Teacher, isn’t this a debt restructuring contract? Did you grab the wrong one?”

Su Haifeng chuckled, “The reason poor students are poor is because they owe money, isn’t it? After restructuring the debt, aren’t we helping the poor students? This is the poor student assistance plan.”

Zhang Yu looked at the contents of the contract. Specifically, after packaging and calculating all his debts, the school would lend him a sum of money to repay them. From then on, the school would become his creditor. Zhang Yu then estimated the debt after restructuring. After various messy procedures, including interest, principal, handling fees, and upfront deductions, the total seemed to have swelled to over 1 million.

“What debt restructuring! This is just borrowing to pay off old debts!” He roared internally, “So even the homeroom teacher is involved in lending, huh? So this is how they play? Are there no normal teachers left in this rotten school?”

Suppressing the anger in his heart, Zhang Yu let out a breath and said, “Teacher, I think I’ll pass. I can repay this money myself.”

Su Haifeng earnestly advised, “How can a child like you repay such a large sum? Sign it quickly. The school will bear this burden for you. Don’t worry, the school’s installment plan is very lenient.”

Zhang Yu: “No, thank you, teacher. Really, it’s not necessary.”

After Zhang Yu repeatedly refused, he simply tossed the contract aside and ran out of the office.

Watching his retreating back, Su Haifeng raised his teacup and lightly blew on it. A moment later, he picked up his vibrating phone and said, “He refused. Hm, I’ll try again in a while. Don’t worry. Poor people… eventually they won’t be able to withstand the debt collection tactics. They’ll always come to borrow in the end.”