Hearing the girl's calm, earnest words, Su Yuan was slightly taken aback.
Just then, Chen Nuoyi turned her head and met Su Yuan's gaze.
Their eyes met and quickly parted. The girl lowered her head and spoke in a voice soft as a mosquito's hum:
"Come to think of it, going back to the Chen Family isn't all bad. I wouldn't have to worry about food or clothes, and I could focus on cultivating and making the top ten."
"Although my dad has already been kicked out of the family, he's got two hands and two feet, so he shouldn't starve. There's really no need to worry too much about him."
As she spoke, Chen Nuoyi slowly raised her head and met Su Yuan's gaze again. Apologetically, she said:
"The only thing I regret is that I won't be able to work with you anymore."
"Maybe after we get into college, we can keep working together..."
"Hold on, hold on!"
Before Chen Nuoyi could finish, Su Yuan interrupted her.
"W-what is it?"
Seeing Su Yuan's expression grow increasingly serious, Chen Nuoyi couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
Su Yuan took a deep breath and asked solemnly:
"Class Monitor, whether you go back to the Chen Family is your family business, so I shouldn't interfere. But I still want to ask you something. Please answer honestly."
"Do you really want to go back to the Chen Family?"
Chen Nuoyi: "..."
The girl's delicate hands unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes. After hesitating for a long while, she finally nodded slightly.
"I do..."
"Tell me the truth!"
Su Yuan's expression remained blank, but his voice suddenly rose.
Chen Nuoyi: "..."
When the girl lifted her head again, a faint sheen of tears had clouded her bright, sparkling eyes.
This time, she shook her head firmly.
"I don't want to go back to the Chen Family."
"After my mother passed away, all the Chen Family meant to me was suffocation and coldness... Every time I spent a single cent of the Chen Family's money, I felt I owed them another cent."
"If I spend too much of the Chen Family's money, when Grandpa brings up marrying me off to another family again, will I still have the right to refuse?"
"What would I have to accomplish in the future before I could finally be even with the Chen Family?"
"After I left the Chen Family, I couldn't even eat my fill, and I had to work every day just to earn my living expenses. But earning enough to support myself with my own sweat has been truly satisfying."
"Only then can I hold my head high and say no when the Chen Family gives me orders."
After hearing Chen Nuoyi's heartfelt words, Su Yuan fell silent.
He hadn't known that the Class Monitor's mother had passed away. No wonder her father, who had married into the family, had been driven out by the Chen Family.
Without a close relative to support her, the Class Monitor's life in the Chen Family must have been difficult.
On the surface, she might still have been the glamorous young lady of the Chen Family, able to command a fortune of tens of millions, but she had lost the chance to choose her own fate forever.
To put it bluntly, after returning to the Chen Family, Chen Nuoyi would be more like a piece of merchandise than a person.
"In that case, then we won't go back."
After a long silence, Su Yuan suddenly smiled.
The girl froze.
Then Su Yuan said earnestly:
"Once we enter the Special Class, the maximum monthly expense for cultivation resources is only one million. For two people, that's just two million."
"Starting today, we'll put our hearts into working. I'll come up with a plan as soon as possible to let us earn over ten thousand a day—or even twenty or thirty thousand!"
Coming up with a plan like that and carrying it out might be almost impossible, but he would do his best to try and take on the challenge.
"The more we earn, the better our chances of getting into one of the top ten universities!"
As he spoke, Su Yuan smiled at Chen Nuoyi and asked:
"Class Monitor, would you be willing to join my work plan?"
Chen Nuoyi: "..."
At that moment, in the girl's eyes, Su Yuan's figure had become incomparably grand, as if he were glowing from head to toe!
Try and take on the challenge of earning a million a month?
Even an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator might not be able to earn that much.
Perhaps they would fail in the end, but this might also be her chance to break free from the Chen Family and stand on her own!
"I'm willing."
Chen Nuoyi nodded firmly, and the two exchanged a smile.
The worries and gloom that had weighed on them before finally vanished.
Before afternoon classes, Su Yuan made a request to their homeroom teacher, Yue Lin.
"You want to go to school from nine to five?"
Yue Lin frowned.
"More precisely, the Class Monitor and I both want to go from nine to five."
Su Yuan pointed to Chen Nuoyi, who stood beside him, silently putting on an aloof air.
He pleaded earnestly:
"Teacher Yue, you know our situation. We have to hurry up and work to earn tuition, but school takes up far too much time."
"If we could go from nine to five, or even leave during lunch, we'd have a lot more time each day to work!"
"Of course, don't worry. We absolutely won't let work interfere with our studies. Besides, working is part of cultivation too."
Yue Lin fell into thought.
Only after quite a while did he say:
"I'm not worried about Chen Nuoyi's grades, but your scores, Su Yuan..."
"Teacher Yue, I can tutor Su Yuan in my spare time."
Yue Lin: "..."
His gaze traveled strangely between Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi. Only after the two of them started feeling uncomfortable under his scrutiny did he say:
"All right, I'll approve it for now. But if your grades drop on the monthly exam at the end of the month, you'll both come right back to class."
"Thank you, Teacher Yue."
Their faces immediately brightened.
But for today, they still had to leave school on time.
The afternoon's classes flew by.
By the time Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi had quickly prepared four Dragon Scale Roasted Geese and left campus, it was already nine in the evening.
As soon as they exited the school gate, the two hurried toward the Peach Oolong Sect as fast as they could.
However, just as they were about to scan a Shared Flying Sword by the roadside, a tall figure blocked their way.
"Su Yuan, you really did hook up with the school belle."
Looking up, they saw Huang Sheng, the very person Su Yuan had punched flying during the Martial Arts Competition.
Huang Sheng had plenty of scrapes on his face, and one of his arms was in a brace. He looked absolutely miserable.
But his face was filled with undisguised malice.
Because he hadn't come alone. Standing behind him was a young man nearly two meters tall, with an inverted-triangle build.
The young man was bald, with a face full of bulging flesh and sharply defined muscles all over his body.
His appearance perfectly embodied the saying, "I went bald, and I got stronger!"
Seeing this scene, how could Su Yuan not understand? He'd run into a classic plotline.
He'd beaten the younger one, and now the older one had come looking for him. What a timeless cliché!
"Su Yuan, you didn't leave me any face at all in the Martial Arts Competition! Now I'm going to make you taste humiliation too!"
Huang Sheng snarled, delivering the standard lines of a brainless villain:
"My cousin is a college Physical Education Department student at Qi Cultivation Peak. In front of him, you're no better than a chicken."
"I'm giving you two choices!"
"First, get down on your knees and apologize in front of me and the Chen school belle."
"Second, my cousin will beat you until you're on your knees! Then you can taste what it's like to have your bones broken!"
Before you continue