Repaying the Villagers! Building the Academy!

"Even obscure books are still books," Ma Hongjun said.

Qin Mo glanced at him and said nothing more.

But after that, Ma Hongjun discovered that before he arrived, Qin Mo would set aside newly arrived obscure books on a separate shelf.

The old man never said anything, but Ma Hongjun understood.

He was helping him.

Oscar's progress was faster than Ma Hongjun had expected.

With twenty-fifth-level Soul Power, and without using his Soul Bone, he could already exchange more than twenty moves with Li Yusong without falling behind.

The wooden staff was no longer a clumsy tool in his hands, but an extension of his body.

Li Yusong's assessment was, "This brat has the greatest combat talent of any Food-Type Soul Master I've ever seen."

Bar none.

Flender neither agreed nor disagreed with that assessment, but Ma Hongjun noticed that whenever Oscar trained, Flender's gaze lingered a little longer.

He was watching closely.

Watching to see whether this child walking a new path could carve out one that no one before him had ever traveled.

Auctioning Candy Beans and Sausages became Shrek Academy's steady source of income.

Every month, Shao Xin made a fixed batch of Candy Beans, which Flender took to the Douhun Auction House in Suotuo City for auction.

Oscar also made Strength Sausages and Recovery Sausages every few days. Though they sold for far less than Candy Beans, they cost little to produce and brought in money quickly.

The academy's financial situation visibly improved.

The cafeteria's meals changed from coarse grain porridge with pickles to white rice with a meat dish, a vegetable dish, and soup.

Teacher Shao Xin's cooking skills finally had room to shine, and every meal was prepared properly.

The dormitory bed boards were replaced with new ones and covered with thick mattresses.

The leaks in the roof were fixed as well, so on rainy days they no longer had to search the entire room for basins to catch the water.

Zhao Wuji bought several new training implements from Suotuo City. They were not high-end goods, but they were still better than the old junk.

Flender even bought himself a new outfit.

It was a dark blue robe. The fabric was not particularly expensive, but at least it had no patches.

The day Oscar saw Flender wearing his new clothes, tears nearly fell from his eyes.

"The dean finally has new clothes..." Oscar's voice choked slightly.

"Shut up," Flender said expressionlessly.

Ma Hongjun stood in the courtyard, watching the afterglow of the setting sun spill across the shabby academy wall.

The wall was still the same wall, and the earth was still the same earth.

But he knew that many things had changed.

Now that they had money, how to spend it became a problem.

Flender gathered everyone in the office for a small meeting.

Calling it an office was generous. It was really just a dilapidated room with a table missing a corner and several creaking chairs.

But today, there were several cups of tea on the table—something they had not had before.

"First things first." Flender swept his gaze over those present. "Our academy has made it this far thanks in no small part to the villagers. They rented us the land cheaply, helped repair the houses, and always lent a hand whenever something came up. Now that we have money, we can't pretend we don't know that."

Zhao Wuji nodded. "We should do something. What exactly?"

"Give each household ten Gold Soul Coins," Flender said. "It's not much, but it's a token of appreciation. At the end of the year, we'll also send them rice, flour, grain, and oil so they can have a good New Year."

Ma Hongjun did the calculations in his head.

The village was small, with barely more than a dozen households. Ten Gold Soul Coins per family came to just over a hundred in total.

That amount was nothing to Shrek Academy now, but to those farming families, it was no small sum.

More importantly, it was an attitude.

Shrek Academy was not a place that forgot kindness.

Shao Xin volunteered to deliver the money.

He was the oldest person at the academy and had the kindest-looking face, making him the most suitable for dealing with the villagers.

That afternoon, Shao Xin set out with the money and supplies.

Ma Hongjun went with him, wanting to see how the villagers would react.

Their first stop was Old Li's home.

Uncle Li was chopping firewood in the yard. When he saw Shao Xin and Ma Hongjun enter, he froze for a moment.

"Teacher Shao? What brings you here?"

Shao Xin explained the matter.

After hearing him out, Uncle Li stood there for a long while, still gripping his axe.

"Ten Gold Soul Coins?" He looked down at the money pouch Shao Xin offered him, his voice trembling slightly. "This... this is too much..."

"Please don't stand on ceremony." Shao Xin pressed the money into his hand. "You've helped us plenty over the years. This is a small token from the academy."

Uncle Li held the pouch, his eyes reddening.

It was not as if he had never seen money before.

But these ten Gold Soul Coins were not merely a number. They meant that the people he had helped over the years remembered his kindness.

Standing nearby and watching Uncle Li's reddened eyes, Ma Hongjun felt an indescribable emotion rise within him.

When he had read the original novel in his previous life, Shrek Academy had left readers with the impression of being poor, rundown, and miserable.

But no one had considered that behind that poverty and ruin were ordinary people from this village quietly supporting it.

Without their tolerance and help, Shrek Academy might have shut down long ago.

Now that they had money, the first thing they did was not buy things for themselves, but repay this debt of gratitude.

That was Flender.

Hard-mouthed, soft-hearted.

By the time they had visited all the households, it was already dark.

On the road back to the academy, Shao Xin's steps were much lighter than usual.

Ma Hongjun followed behind him, moonlight stretching both their shadows long across the road.

"Hongjun, do you think giving out this money was worth it?" Shao Xin suddenly asked.

"It was." Ma Hongjun said, "It was worth more than buying anything else. It can earn Shrek Academy a good reputation for repaying kindness. The villagers will help spread the word for us, and naturally more people will come. It will also lay the groundwork for us to obtain proper official authorization in the future."

Shao Xin smiled and said nothing more.

The next day, Flender gathered everyone in the courtyard to discuss the second matter—rebuilding the academy.

"These houses are livable, but we can't keep living like this forever." Flender stood in the middle of the courtyard with his hands behind his back. "We'll need to recruit more students in the future. Who would want to come to this dump?"

Zhao Wuji brought over a wooden board covered in crooked charcoal lines. One could barely make out the academy walls, the entrance gate, and several rows of houses.

"This is what I had in mind." Zhao Wuji scratched his head. "The drawing might not be much, but roughly speaking—we need to rebuild the walls in stone. The gate needs to look respectable. The training ground needs to be leveled so we won't be eating dirt every time the wind blows."

Li Yusong added, "The classrooms need renovating too. The doors, windows, desks, and chairs should all be replaced, and we should buy a new blackboard."

"The dormitories too." Lu Qibin rarely spoke up. "The bed boards are too hard right now. It won't be good for the children if they sleep on them for too long. We also need a separate room for medicinal baths. We can't keep soaking in the kitchen."

Rubbing his hands together, Shao Xin said with a chuckle, "It would be best if we could expand the cafeteria. It's too small now. When there are many people, there's no room to move around. And I need a bigger kitchen too. The stove is too small for me to work properly, and the pots are small too..."

Everyone chimed in at once, filling Zhao Wuji's wooden board with more and more plans.

Flender turned to Ma Hongjun and Oscar.

"What ideas do you two have?"