Chapter 9: Work
After school that day.
In the cafeteria.
Zhang Yu, Zhou Tianyi, and Bai Zhenzhen were sitting together having dinner.
Bai Zhenzhen was as usual, cold and silent, calmly devouring a large plate of food in front of her.
Zhou Tianyi glanced at Zhang Yu and said, "Your financial situation has been a bit tough recently."
"So obvious?"
Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. He wondered if the debt collectors had already called his classmates. Wouldn't his huge debt of seven hundred thousand be exposed in school?
Zhou Tianyi looked at Bai Zhenzhen's sumptuous dinner with a full array of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, then at Zhang Yu's shabby meal worth only five yuan.
He stroked his chin and said, "Based on my observation of the cafeteria over the past three months, what a person eats can effectively reflect their financial situation during that period, and even their cultivation level."
"For example, a person who eats ten catties at one meal won't sit at the same table with someone who eats three catties."
"Because they are completely in different classes, at the upper and lower ends of the campus hierarchy respectively."
"So it's because I eat less." Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He thought his identity as an extremely poor person wouldn't be exposed.
He turned to look at Bai Zhenzhen and, seeing the dozen or so chicken legs in her rice bucket, asked curiously, "Ah Zhen, these chicken legs look special. Can I have one?"
Bai Zhenzhen didn't even lift her head and said, "Get lost."
Beside them, Zhou Tianyi smiled and picked a duck leg from his own bowl for Zhang Yu. "Zhenzhen had a particularly high amount of exercise today. She must be starving. Try mine."
"Good brother!" Zhang Yu gave Zhou Tianyi a thumbs-up and grabbed the duck leg to gnaw on.
Looking at Zhang Yu devouring the food, Zhou Tianyi smiled slightly and said, "If you run into financial difficulties, I can lend you some money."
Zhang Yu waved his hand and said, "No need. I'll figure it out myself."
Although he owed a fortune, Zhang Yu didn't plan to borrow money from his classmates. Or rather, borrowing money from classmates couldn't possibly solve the problem of his huge debt of seven hundred thousand all at once. What he needed was a way to keep making money and continuously pay off the debt.
"I have to pay at least the monthly interest. I can't let the debt collectors escalate their methods anymore."
Zhang Yu knew that as the overdue time increased, the debt collection companies' methods would become more and more severe. From online humiliation to offline reality, each step was more serious than the last.
"And rent, utilities, meals..."
Thinking about this, Zhang Yu started to feel a headache.
After Zhou Tianyi left, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly spoke up, "Based on my observation of you and Zhou Tianyi over the past three months, he is especially nice to you."
Zhang Yu: "Really?"
Bai Zhenzhen chuckled and said, "When a man smiles and gives another man a duck leg from his own bowl, I've only seen two situations where this happens in my sixteen years of life."
"One is when the two are father and son."
"The other, hehehe..."
Zhang Yu raised his eyebrows and said, "Ah Zhen, you seem to know a lot of strange things."
Bai Zhenzhen: "Yuzi, actually, you don't have to be afraid. Anyway, in this school, you are the one with the initiative."
Saying this, Bai Zhenzhen pushed her plate towards Zhang Yu. "Alas, I can't finish this anymore. You can have these leftovers. Who calls you my dear son?"
"Get lost." Zhang Yu snatched the plate. With a glance, he could see that the small amount of uneaten food inside was neatly arranged and clearly untouched.
Just as Zhang Yu raised his head to thank her, he only saw Bai Zhenzhen's leaving figure.
Outside the cafeteria, Bai Zhenzhen's expression returned to its usual calm. In her heart, she thought, "Yuzi, actually, there is a third situation for this kind of behavior too."
Bai Zhenzhen turned her head to look at the steps at the cafeteria entrance, where a cafeteria auntie was pouring leftover food from the garbage bin into a cat's bowl.
...
After leaving school, Zhang Yu began to plan how to find ways to make money.
"My rent is one thousand five hundred yuan, utilities are about two hundred yuan per month, and the loan repayment is fifteen thousand yuan per month..."
"Ouch..."
Thinking about this, Zhang Yu started to have a headache again.
"I have to earn at least twenty thousand yuan per month. Ordinary jobs definitely won't do."
As Zhang Yu thought this, the Jade Book unfolded in front of him.
Zhang Yu
Cultivation Heart Level 1
Mana 7.7
Physical Strength 0.84 Level
Martial Arts: Body Strengthening Thirty-Six Techniques Level 2 (17/20), Barehanded Combat Level 1, High School Basic Swordsmanship Level 0
Occult Arts: Health Breathing Level 1
Seeing the newly added "High School Basic Swordsmanship Level 0", Zhang Yu's mind flashed back to today's martial arts class.
The so-called martial arts class was a course to learn various combat techniques and fighting martial arts. Practical combat accounted for 80 points out of 100 in the martial arts class.
For example, first-year high school students were required to learn one unarmed combat martial art and one weapon-based combat martial art.
This High School Basic Swordsmanship was exactly what he learned in today's martial arts class. It seemed to still show Level 0 because he hadn't truly mastered it yet.
However, Zhang Yu tried it briefly and found that this "High School Basic Swordsmanship Level 0" could also be dragged.
He estimated that if he specialized in this martial art, relying on his potential, he could also master it quickly and upgrade it rapidly.
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Zhang Yu continued to stare at his panel, thinking about what job he could do.
"Although I've just started on the path of cultivation, after all, I'm a formal student of Songyang High School..."
Half an hour later, Zhang Yu started to contact his former tutoring agency.
The original Zhang Yu had attended this tutoring agency for a year after graduating from junior high school before entering Songyang High School.
"This tutoring agency should pay well, and I'm a formal student of Songyang High School. I should have an advantage."
However, after asking, the teacher at the tutoring agency said that they were already fully booked and told him to try other tutoring agencies.
students needed to earn money themselves to relieve their families' burdens or buy things they wanted.
Since high school students didn't have a high school diploma and most of their time was spent in class, they often could only take on temporary jobs.
Zhang Yu had also learned about this aspect in the past two days. Now, he immediately added a broker and asked if there were any jobs available.
"You came to inquire too late. All the jobs for today have been taken."
"Why don't you come here and wait? As soon as there are new jobs, you can grab them directly."
...
Half an hour later, Zhang Yu arrived at a small square.
From a distance, he saw many people lying or sitting around the square, old and young, men and women. Some simply lay down on the ground and dozed off, while others wearing school uniforms were still sitting cross-legged and breathing.
Following the address given by the broker, Zhang Yu found a small human resources company in a corner of the square.
The company wasn't big, and its storefront looked like a real estate agency. The dirty glass was covered with various simple recruitment posters.
Looking at the shabby signboard, as soon as Zhang Yu pushed the door open, a strong smell of smoke hit him, making him frown.
Behind a messy desk, a middle-aged man who was smoking looked up at Zhang Yu and said, "You're the high school student who inquired just now?"
After seeing Zhang Yu nod, the man introduced himself as Lao Wang, the broker. He took out several sheets of paper and said, "Fill out a resume. I'll register you later."
Zhang Yu took it and found that in addition to some basic information, he also had to fill in the martial arts and occult arts he learned and their levels, as well as his grades in school.
After handing in the completed form, Zhang Yu asked, "How long does it usually take to find a job? What's the income like?"
Lao Wang scratched his messy hair casually and said, "At least a few hundred yuan per hour... But it's hard to say how long it will take to find a job. It's normal not to have work for a week if you're unlucky."
Zhang Yu thought to himself, "The income from these jobs is so high? If I work two or three hours a day, won't it be enough to pay off the loan and living expenses?"
Thinking of this, Zhang Yu was happy in his heart.
But then he heard that it was hard to find a job and asked curiously, "Why?"
He emphasized his identity, "I'm in the top ten of the first year of high school at a key school. Is it still hard to find a job?"
Lao Wang laughed and pointed outside. "Do you see those people outside? Besides high school students like you, the rest are high school graduates."
Zhang Yu was shocked and then incredulous, "How is that possible? Even if they didn't get into college after graduating from high school, they're still cultivating immortality. Why come here to look for temporary jobs?"
Lao Wang shrugged. "They didn't get into college. Otherwise, why waste money? I didn't pay off my high school loans until the year before last."
"Seeing that you're an alumnus, I'll give you a piece of advice."
"As a high school student, do what you can. If you feel you won't get into college, it's better to drop out early. Don't end up like some people, drowning in debt and ruining your life."
After filling out the information, the broker asked Zhang Yu to wait outside. He would be notified immediately if there was work.
Zhang Yu: "Compete with those high school graduates. Will there be any jobs left for me?"
Lao Wang: "Don't worry. Some jobs are specifically looking for high school students."