After hearing what Taihua Tianji and Zhang Youde had said, Su Yuan, Chen Nuoyi, and many of the students present fell into deep thought.
As long as they made it into the city's top hundred and got into a prestigious school, they'd be Foundation Establishment powerhouses at the very least. They might even have a shot at the Golden Core stage!
It was actually a very worthwhile deal.
And if you really had enough talent, you might be able to keep up with the Special Class without spending much—or anything at all.
But put another way, if you could keep up without spending a dime, wouldn't buying all kinds of heavenly treasures to aid your cultivation send you soaring?
What's more, if you made it into the city's top ten, the school would reimburse every cent you'd spent on the Special Class.
If you had confidence in yourself, you'd turn a profit no matter how much you spent—not just ten million!
Su Yuan thought about all the abilities he'd gained since getting his cheat: the Abyss Dharma Vein, this demonic art, that demonic art.
Just those system rewards had already boosted his grades tremendously. Who knew how many more rewards he'd get in the two hundred-plus days before the college entrance exams?
A million a month, ten million in expenses over ten months—if he really had to, he could probably save that much.
But he'd hate to miss the school's offer to reimburse all his tuition if he made the city's top ten.
His dream was to get into one of the Ten Great Universities. Making the city's top ten in the college entrance exams had always been his goal.
If he was aiming for that, wouldn't it make sense to spend money on top of having a cheat?
And on top of that, becoming the top scorer in the exams would get him a tenfold rebate. Damn, it sounded just like one of those tenfold-rebate systems in a novel. It was downright addictive!
He couldn't just let that opportunity pass him by!
But here was the problem: how was he supposed to earn ten million?
Damn it, was earning a million a month really something a high school student should have to think about?
If you could make a million just by working, you wouldn't need to work at all. You could just give motivational speeches instead. Much easier, right?
Let's hear you clap!
After thinking it over for a long while, Su Yuan finally decided to set himself a goal.
He raised his head and looked solemnly at Taihua Tianji.
"Teacher Tai Bai, I'll work hard to save up my first million."
Ten million was too far off. First, he'd earn enough for the first month's tuition!
Hearing the firmness in his voice, Taihua Tianji paused in surprise.
He smiled.
"All right. Save up the money first. As for whether you want to spend it on cultivation resources, you can decide after classes officially begin and you've experienced my course."
Su Yuan hurriedly thanked him.
Taihua Tianji nodded and said no more. He stood up and, accompanied by his daughter and the school administrators, went to tour the school.
The students from all eight senior-year classes also returned to their classrooms to study, guided by their respective teachers.
Su Yuan quietly rejoined his class and followed the others back to the classroom.
The class adviser leading them, Yue Lin, came over to Su Yuan and said with some helplessness, "I'd planned to tell you all about this after the Martial Arts Competition."
"Su Yuan, some things just can't be forced. If the pressure gets to be too much, you can take a step back. You don't have to chase after a top-ten ranking in the city."
Su Yuan shook his head.
"Teacher Yue, no matter what, I'm going to get into the Special Class. I've made it this far as an orphan because I want to get into one of the Ten Great Universities."
"Did you know that working can actually pay pretty well?"
"I can make over a thousand a day selling roasted goose in the cafeteria, and six or seven hundred delivering takeout. I also found a well-paying part-time job at a milk tea shop. By my calculations, that's three or four thousand a day."
"Add in the savings I've built up over the years, and as long as I take on a few more jobs, it might be possible to scrape together a million... right?"
Su Yuan's voice was calm, but the whole class turned to look at him.
After listening, Yue Lin didn't say anything more. He simply patted Su Yuan lightly on the shoulder.
But conviction aside, Su Yuan couldn't help feeling troubled.
Making money was like learning math: if you didn't know how, you just didn't know how.
Since he'd started working, Su Yuan had saved up a little, but he still had only a hundred thousand yuan, give or take.
The Special Class would officially start after the monthly exam at the end of the month. Even if he earned money while spending it, he had only a month and a half left to save up a million.
Where could he find the other nine hundred thousand? He couldn't exactly take out a bunch of payday loans.
The story had suddenly gotten a lot heavier.
By noon, Su Yuan set aside his jumbled thoughts and hurried with Chen Nuoyi to the cafeteria to sell roasted goose.
Since he'd sold a full two hundred portions of Dragon Scale Roasted Goose the day before, Su Yuan had only prepared one goose last night, worried that he wouldn't sell out today.
By the time he was ready, quite a few students had already arrived in the cafeteria.
A familiar figure dashed over to the serving window where Su Yuan was working.
"Section Chief Su, give me one of your signature roasted geese."
It was Wu Xingqi. As lively as ever, she smiled brightly at Su Yuan.
"Coming right up."
Su Yuan smiled at her. He swung the Soul Summoning Bell, and the goose lifted its own knife and cut a plate of meat. The portion was clearly a bit larger than a regular serving.
Wu Xingqi swiped her meal card, took the roasted goose, and breathed in its aroma, a look of bliss spreading across her lovely face.
She gave a little cough.
"Section Chief Su, I want to preorder ten portions of Dragon Scale Roasted Goose to take home to my family. Make sure you set them aside for me."
Su Yuan nodded and was about to agree, but then an idea struck him.
He looked at the dark-skinned, spicy girl, who had already picked up a glistening piece of goose meat and popped it into her mouth, looking utterly carefree. A warmth stirred in his heart.
Su Yuan wasn't stupid. There was a good chance Wu Xingqi had suddenly ordered so much roasted goose because she knew he was short on money and wanted to help him earn more.
In the end, though, Su Yuan didn't call her out on it. He just smiled.
"Don't worry. I'll save you the ten fattiest portions."
After Wu Xingqi left with her roasted goose, a long line soon formed in front of the window.
Among those lining up to buy roasted goose, there were especially many students from Senior Class Two, and quite a few of them preordered their portions for the next several days.
Yue Lin, Li Ziquan, Zhuge Tie, and several other teachers from Class Two also preordered quite a bit from Su Yuan.
Su Yuan's anxious mood gradually settled.
His teachers and classmates were all doing what they could to help him. What did he have to feel down about?
He just had to do his utmost to work and earn money, and not let himself or those helping him down.
He still had his system to fall back on. Even without relying on those expensive cultivation resources, he might still make it into one of the Ten Great Universities.
When the rush was over, Su Yuan tallied up the day's sales. All one hundred roasted geese had sold.
On top of that, he'd received a full two hundred preorders. Tonight, he'd probably have to roast three or four Dragon Scale Roasted Geese in one go to meet demand.
"Class Monitor, we made over four thousand yuan today! What a haul!"
Su Yuan smiled at the girl beside him, then paused.
There was no smile on Chen Nuoyi's lovely face. Instead, she was furrowing her brows as if pondering something.
"Class Monitor, what are you thinking about?"
At Su Yuan's gaze, Chen Nuoyi came back to herself and spoke softly.
"Su Yuan, I have an idea."
"If I'm willing to return to the Chen Family, I'll have access to a lot of money. Then I can lend you ten million."
"That way, you won't have to worry about money at all before the college entrance exams."
Before you continue