If you carefully examine the rules of human society, you'll find that there's never a path completely blocked from the outset when the rules are established. In other words, there are always loopholes in the rules set by humans.
But the funny thing is, if you haven't been deeply rooted in a field for many years, no matter how high your IQ is, you can't possibly know these little loopholes in the rules.
So, Qiao couldn't fully understand what kind of plan this dry old man had in mind.
Yes, he admitted that taking sick leave during class time to go online was definitely against school rules, but isn't this the business of a high school math teacher anyway? And didn't the head teacher get called in too?
Did he fancy his math skills?
But sorry, in just over fifty days, he'll be graduating and having completed the nine-year compulsory education requirement, he'll be completely free.
Indeed, without enough experience, Qiao Yu really couldn't figure out what Teacher Lan had in mind.
"Where's Teacher Yuan?"
"She has evening self-study, so she asked me to talk to your mom. Stop the nonsense, let's go."
Qiao Yu hesitated for a moment but eventually moved his feet.
Lan Jie noticed that the kid's expression was a bit strange, but he didn't think too much about it until they walked out of the office and reached the stairwell downstairs. Qiao Yu turned back to double-check, "Uh, Teacher Lan, are you sure you want to make this home visit now?"
"Why? Is it inconvenient? Or is your mom not at home?"
"It's no inconvenience on my part."
"Then we must go," Lan Jie insisted.
Qiao Yu shrugged, stopped talking, and just quietly followed behind Lan Jie.
"Is your home far? Should we drive?" Lan Jie asked as they walked out of the school building.
"The railway community next to the internet café in Guihua Lane," Qiao Yu replied casually.
Lan Jie nodded and said, "Then let's walk over."
The railway community is right next to the school. It used to be housing for railway employees and is about thirty years old. However, the house quality is pretty good, it's just that the interior is cramped and it's hard to install elevators, and parking is a challenge.
A common problem of the old neighborhoods of Star City.
To be honest, having a teacher with you is beneficial; when they exited the school gates, the security guard greeted Lan Jie and automatically opened the remote-controlled gate.
A few steps out of school and Qiao Yu pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. He glanced to the side and saw Lan Jie looking at him, so he thought for a moment and put it back honestly.
Lan Jie earnestly said, "Don't you know smoking is bad for your health?"
Qiao Yu nodded honestly and quipped casually, "It's not an addiction for me, really. In the internet café, if you don't smoke, you inhale secondhand smoke. I'd rather choose to do it myself."
"Then don't go to the internet café anymore! Minors are not allowed online either."
After saying this, there was a moment of silence between the two, so Lan Jie simply asked, "Does your mom work on the railway?"
"No, she's unemployed, the house was left to her by my grandparents," Qiao Yu explained.
"Oh, then you still hang around in internet cafes every day? Your mom saving some money for you isn't easy," Lan Jie subconsciously chastised.
"I go to the internet café to make money," Qiao Yu said.
Lan Jie was taken aback and then let out a silent laugh, "Helping classmates with questions?"
"That's a side hustle. What kind of money can students have? At most, it's just to earn some internet fees. My main job is to provide emotional value to rich people and help redistribute social wealth," Qiao Yu said sincerely.
Lan Jie paused and turned to look at the young man beside him. From that youthful face, it seemed he saw a hint of the struggle of life.
"Can you explain more?"
"Have you heard of CS?"
"Are you a game hustler? Grinding for equipment?"
"Boosting is too slow to make money, and opening loot crates is unstable, nine out of ten gambles fail. But I do often work with well-known power leveling companies in the industry."
"Then I really don't understand," Lan Jie shook his head.
"Simply put, in the game, I target people who obviously have money, preferably streamers, and keep killing them with technical skills while teasing them with trash talk. You definitely encounter some who break down critically. Then they might want a duel, or they might want to find someone to fix you, in short, it's impotent fury.
Stimulate them further, some will spend big money to vent. If they happen to find the studio I work with, I act a bit to make the rich guy happy. The studio takes the money and splits it fifty-fifty with me."
Qiao Yu described truthfully.
Lan Jie was stupefied again.
Is he really getting old? Are kids playing such elaborate games now?
"Wait, what if those rich brothers you mentioned don't find a studio you're working with?"
"Then just keep hitting the other side. My skills are good; the pros say I have the potential to go pro."
Qiao Yu grinned, not without a hint of pride, explaining, and then as if fearing Lan Jie might not understand, added, "Furthermore, most of the well-known studios in the industry cooperate with me; they really look after me.
Because this business often requires changing IDs, otherwise it's easy to get exposed. Many IDs they provide for free and often introduce business to me, today's client was introduced by a studio."
Oh, so it's technical skills.
Lan Jie got another lesson from this kid.
"So, did I end up costing you money today?"
"No worries, suddenly going offline shows my impatience. At this point, the client must feel very relieved, maybe even out celebrating."
"How much did you make today then?"
"Just when you were outside talking to Teacher Yuan, the studio transferred me three thousand."
Lan Jie was instantly shocked by this number.
Goodness, this kid on a day in an internet café made almost half his month's salary?
"Yesterday was five thousand, and this client introduced by the studio is quite capable, claimed they want to keep playing until I leave the server. I plan to earn for one more day and then abandon this account to fulfill the client's wish," Qiao Yu added.
"Cough, cough..." Lan Jie was choked by his own spit, coughed twice, and asked dully, "Why not earn more from such a capable client?"
He received a side-eye from Qiao Yu, but the kid patiently explained, "In our line of work, you can't be too greedy. The client is generous, but not stupid. At most, a few days and they'll catch on.
Besides, you can't just fleece one sheep! The client also has circles; if one day they talk and find out, this business is finished, and I'll have to figure out new ones, leading to downtime, and it's tough to make money these days."
"Is this the reason your mom got you three days of sick leave?" Lan Jie finally understood.
"Yeah, you can't stop earning because of school, can you? Life is hard."
The mature tone threw Lan Jie into silence again, unable to speak, just passively following Qiao Yu's footsteps.
"Wait, my mom probably hasn't eaten yet. I'll go grab some dishes to save on ordering takeout. By the way, Teacher Lan, have you eaten?"
Passing by a restaurant, Qiao Yu said.
Lan Jie glanced over, good lord, the best restaurant in the vicinity.
"Don't worry about me, I've eaten." Lan Jie initially intended to offer to treat the kid, but thinking about how he makes a few thousand a day, and even just made a hundred from him earlier, he held back.
...
Soon Lan Jie was convinced Qiao Yu wasn't boasting, he probably did make quite a lot in the last two days. At least today's 3150 had surely been pocketed.
After all, the kid casually picked three dishes and packed them up, costing five hundred and thirty... even he couldn't bear such extravagance.
Moreover, it was obvious that the restaurant staff were very familiar with Qiao Yu, warmly guiding him directly to a comfortable private room and asking, "The usual?"
A regular customer, no doubt.
"Can't help it, my mom and I just like this place's local spicy snake. It really is expensive though." Perhaps reading Lan Jie's thoughts, Qiao Yu explained.
Lan Jie felt a bit stifled and asked, "I say, Qiao Yu, since you're so good at making money, do you still care about getting those few pennies from classmates? You even take their fifty for living expenses."
The young man across gave a bashful smile and said, "Can't help it, only by earning aggressively can you afford to spend aggressively! Money that comes to you and isn't earned is disrespecting money and will bring bad karma."