The Family That's "Poor Except for Money"

Seven Luminaries Academy, as a renowned higher learning institution in the Star System, far surpasses the schools in Trade District 10 in terms of geographical layout and resource and equipment allocation.

Here, there is a heavily guarded scientific research and technology zone, a spacious outdoor training area, the City That Never Sleeps for leisure and entertainment, and numerous categorized trade areas... it has everything, like a complete system.

Closest to the spaceport is the teaching area, adjacent to which is a large residential area, with clusters of high-rise buildings and villa complexes. According to the Qiyao Handbook, student dormitories are assigned by the academy, not chosen freely by students. Of course, there are also many high-end residential or office building complexes available for rent on the planet. Whether one can rent those buildings depends on personal ability. Money is a minor issue; the key lies in the permission restrictions of the Qiyao Card. Without upgrading the Qiyao Card to a certain level, don't even think about targeting those buildings.

The planet is centered around the teaching area, with the entertainment, training, and trade areas distributed around it. Xilin did not go to the teaching area to look; he would report there directly after touring the planet. Therefore, according to the map, the first major stop for the orbital train was in the trade district.

Perhaps because it wasn't peak travel time, there were only a few people scattered on the train, some with their eyes closed, sleeping in their seats. Judging by the badges on their chests, they were all third or fourth-year students.

At Seven Luminaries, education is divided into seven levels. The first to fourth years are mandatory. After the fourth year, one can apply for graduation. Of course, if one is interested and has good enough grades, they can choose to pursue further studies. At Seven Luminaries, the benefits for continuing studies are very generous. The reason there were no fifth to seventh-year students on the train is that Seven Luminaries provides them with dedicated transport, which is much more convenient than taking the train or a taxi.

When Xilin was chatting with Kangman on the transport, he learned that Kangman had chosen the "4+3" model, which is an integrated advanced study program. This model is only for special admissions students, and the benefits they enjoy are different from others. Xilin and the others' Qiyao Cards were initially at the lowest Crimson Level, but Kangman's was one level higher, Orange Level, and it was easier for him to upgrade.

Hearing the train announce the station, Xilin, with his backpack, got off the train. The moment he stepped off, Xilin had a sense of déjà vu. Although he had seen the introduction to the trade district in the Qiyao Handbook, seeing it in person was much more impactful.

This place was like a vast commercial empire.

The trade district before him seemed to be formed by a crisscrossing network of prosperous and complex commercial streets. Flying vehicles zipped through the air, and crowds of people were talking. Was this really just an academy? It was almost the same as the bustling commercial street he saw when he went to D Star Zone to find Aifulan.

Flashing road signs and billboards guided people here. Large light screens that appeared intermittently in the air were showing advertisements: a person with a fifth-year badge was holding an instrument and explaining its functions... Such advertising screens were everywhere, covering a wide variety of items, from basic daily necessities to flying vehicles, all sorts of things. The dazzling visuals made it hard to look away.

Xilin glanced casually into the shops on either side and knew that these items were not ordinary goods. Otherwise, no one would dare to display them in this commercial street filled with high-end merchandise. Although Xilin had some savings on his card now, looking at this, he couldn't buy much. Fortunately, there were some things he didn't need right now.

Xilin went into a department store and bought the essential daily necessities, then wandered to a miscellaneous goods street. Although they were all miscellaneous goods without proper storefronts, the vendors here were all second to fourth-year students. They were selling some of the spoils they obtained during their internships outside the planet or during certain course assessments.

Some were small trinkets, purely for decoration in the dormitory. Though the items were varied, they were bought for novelty. But there were also good things, even some precious metal blocks, energy blocks, and so on. If these items were taken to a large store to be sold, a handling fee would be charged, so many people handled them directly themselves.

"Hey, look, this conch shell was caught when we went to Hailan Star last month. You can still hear the sound of the waves when the wind blows. Look at its luster..."

"Junior, you have a good eye. This is an alloy ore we dug up during our internship. Our supervising instructor said that the proportions of the several important metals that make up this alloy ore are almost perfect. It has important uses for weapon crafting and repair, and for modifying parts of armored aircraft..."

"..."

Looking around, the vendors had diverse appearances. Some might be setting up a stall for the first time and were a bit shy, but some were clearly old hands. Their calls and smooth talk were just like those of seasoned merchants.

The dexterous girls had done simple processing on the materials they had, and they looked quite good. At least, there were three times more people gathered around the beautiful girls' stalls than around others. The beauty effect was undeniable.

As Xilin was looking at something at a stall, a person suddenly darted over to the stall next to him. He looked about the same age as Xilin, with messy hair, wearing a tank top, baggy floral shorts, and a pair of slippers woven from rattan. In his hand, he held a fan woven from leaves, fanning himself. Xilin had seen this fan earlier at a stall specializing in leaf products.

This person squatted in front of the stall, fanning himself with one hand and fiddling with the small items on the stall with the other, as if examining their raw materials or checking if they were intact.

However, Xilin noticed that the stall owner behind the stall where he was stopping had a shifting expression several times upon seeing this person. He opened his mouth but remained silent.

At that moment, Xilin felt that the stall owner had an urge to pack up and run immediately. This piqued Xilin's curiosity. He quietly stood by and watched.

The stall owner next to him showed no change and enthusiastically explained the raw materials and origins of the items to the person.

Then... came a heart-wrenching bargaining session. Xilin witnessed the arc of the poor stall owner's eyes gradually change from a festive upward curve to a mournful downward curve. He was so exasperated that he couldn't even get angry and said, "Forget it, junior. Seeing that you're a freshman, I'll give this to you as a welcome gift from a senior."

"Don't do that, I don't even know you, why would I accept a meeting gift? Besides, if you don't take some money, I won't be able to sleep at night."

Conscience... do you even have that?

From 500 star coins, the stall owner was haggled down to 50 star coins. He was practically brought to tears. He wanted to give the guy something for free just to make him leave and get out of his sight, but the guy refused.

The person raised his hand and rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a stack of star coins with a denomination of 1000. He frowned. He rummaged in another pocket, pulling out a Seven Radiance savings card and several VIP cards from luxury stores in the central district of the trade area. After searching for a long time in both pockets, he finally fished out a fifty-denomination bill from some corner.

"Here, fifty. I didn't take advantage of you." The person smiled innocently.

The stall owner's expression was like he had been constipated for a long time. Xilin felt his struggle.

That stack of 1000-denomination star coins alone was definitely no less than twenty thousand? And those cards, you couldn't spend less than a few million to get them. Yet he squatted here haggling like a commoner, managing to bring the price down to fifty, and acting like "See, I'm a good person." Xilin felt that if he were the stall owner, he would have kicked this guy hard.

Watching the person's retreating back, the pitiful stall owner raised a finger and trembled, pointing at the detestable figure. He couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

Xilin heard the stall owner at his own booth pat the still trembling person who was pointing his finger, and comfort him, "Don't mind it, that person just has that kind of twisted sense of humor. You're not the only one who suffered."

"Who the hell... is that guy?"

"Sigh, I only found out by chance yesterday from a teacher. After knowing the truth, I felt like smashing my head against a wall."

"Tell me the truth!"

"His name is Andrelara Long."

"...That surname is very familiar..." The pitiful stall owner frowned again and again, then his eyes suddenly widened, "Andrelara... you mean... that family that claims to be 'so poor they only have money left'?!!!"

"Yes."

"..."

The sound of hitting the ground.

Xilin smiled and shook his head as he left.

The Andrelara Family's reputation in the Star System was even greater than the Daongs Family. In terms of wealth, the Daongs Family was not much weaker, but the Andrelara Family's fame originated from an incident where the head of the Andrelara Family, at a banquet for an old general in the Star System, complained about being poor. The old general then jokingly said, "Yes, you are poor, so poor that you only have money left."

Thus, this family, "so poor they only have money left," became famous throughout the Star System.