Since it was the enrollment period, the new student building was especially bustling. Some of the freshmen who had already passed the entrance exam were registering there.
By the time Yang Jian and the others arrived at the new student building, a crowd had already gathered outside.
"The tuition at Shrek Academy's Outer Court is ten Gold Soul Coins a year, not including meals. If you fail the entrance exam and withdraw partway through, your tuition won't be refunded. Of course, if you're from a commoner family, the academy will also provide some jobs so you can work part-time to help cover your expenses."
As he spoke, Bei Bei led them toward the freshman registration desk.
Tuition payments, dormitory keys, uniforms, and freshman badges were all handled there.
Yang Jian glanced around casually, and Jiang Nannan's striking figure immediately caught his eye.
At that moment, Jiang Nannan stood at the registration desk, looking flustered. Her pale hand clutched her worn purse tightly, her teeth lightly biting her lip as she stood there, at a loss.
To get into Shrek Academy and gain access to better resources and education, she had pinched pennies for years. On top of that, she had worked odd jobs with her mother until they had saved up ten Gold Soul Coins. She had also secured a recommendation letter from the city's lord by repeatedly demonstrating her talent until he agreed to invest in her.
But only after arriving at Shrek Academy had she learned that the registration fee was ten Gold Soul Coins, and so was the annual tuition.
Forget ten Gold Soul Coins—she couldn't scrape together even one right now. She was already having to save on food. How was she supposed to pay the fee?
She had come this far already. Was she really going to give up now?
The thought that even if she chose to give up, the ten Gold Soul Coins she had paid to register would not be refunded only made Jiang Nannan feel worse.
"Qingyuan, go ahead."
Yang Jian pulled thirty Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Soul Tool and placed them in Ye Qingyuan's hand.
He didn't know how Jiang Nannan had enrolled in the original story, or who had helped her out of this predicament. But since he had seen what was happening, he was willing to lend a hand.
As for getting something in return... that hadn't even crossed his mind.
It was only ten Gold Soul Coins.
The bottle of Xuanqing Pills Ye Qingyuan had brought out earlier to feed Xiao Bai alone had been worth more than a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Ye Qingyuan glanced at Jiang Nannan's striking looks, then at Yang Jian. She blinked, as if mulling something over, before heading over to Jiang Nannan.
"Who'd have thought you were such a kind person? Handsome, too, and with such a good heart."
Tang Ya couldn't help patting Yang Jian on the shoulder in approval.
If someone else had taken ten Gold Soul Coins to help that girl out, Tang Ya might have suspected he had his eye on Jiang Nannan's looks and was trying to earn her gratitude for some ulterior motive.
But Yang Jian hadn't gone over with the ten Gold Soul Coins himself. He had asked the girl beside him to help instead.
That alone was enough to make Tang Ya feel favorably toward him.
A short distance away, Xu Sanshi saw what had happened and shook his head regretfully.
He had also noticed the girl who seemed unable to afford her tuition.
More accurately, she had caught his eye the moment he saw her.
She was strikingly beautiful, but came from a poor family.
He had planned to wait until the girl felt utterly desperate, then appear before her like a ray of light and pay her tuition.
It was an age-old tale of a hero rescuing a beauty. Even if she didn't offer herself to him in gratitude, it would at least give him the chance to get close to her and win her heart.
He hadn't expected someone else to beat him to it.
But...
Xu Sanshi's gaze fell on Yang Jian.
He had noticed this guy during registration: first because of his striking looks, and second because of the little dog in his arms.
When traveling away from home, he kept his sect elders' advice in mind: if a Soul Master seemed a little strange at first glance, don't rush to laugh at them. There was always a chance they were actually a formidable figure.
In Xu Sanshi's eyes, Yang Jian was unquestionably a Soul Master who seemed a little strange.
Especially since the guy had reached level thirty Soul Power during the test.
"Second Brother, it's all paid. I covered that girl's share, too."
Ye Qingyuan returned to Yang Jian's side with light steps, pointing at Jiang Nannan as she collected her uniform.
Yang Jian nodded, then turned and noticed Bei Bei frowning slightly at a notice on the bulletin board nearby.
"I didn't expect your homeroom teacher to be her."
Bei Bei's startled exclamation caught Yang Jian's attention. He stepped closer and took a look, only to find that the notice listed the homeroom teachers for all the freshman classes.
The name Zhou Yi was written beside Class One.
Zhou Yi?
Yang Jian searched his memories and recalled that before becoming Huo Yuhao's homeroom teacher, Zhou Yi had actually taught a third-year class.
She had been so strict in her teaching that only one-tenth of her students had advanced to the fourth year. After the students jointly reported her to the academy, she had been demoted to the freshman classes, where she became Huo Yuhao's homeroom teacher.
So...
He and Ye Qingyuan were in the unlucky class where only one-tenth of the students advanced to the fourth year?
"She's probably the strictest teacher in the entire Outer Court. The classes she teaches have consistently had the lowest advancement rates. But with your abilities, you two shouldn't have to worry about that."
Bei Bei had barely finished explaining when Tang Ya grabbed his sleeve and started shaking it. "What about us? What are our homeroom teachers like? Are they strict?"
Tang Ya knew her own situation. With a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, she wasn't especially talented. At Shrek Academy, where geniuses were everywhere, she was only a little below average. If her teacher was too strict, she might not be able to advance to the next year.
She was the dignified sect master of the Tang Sect. If she couldn't even graduate from the Outer Court, it would be a huge embarrassment.
Tang Ya was entirely focused on whether she could graduate successfully, and didn't notice that she was still tugging on Bei Bei's sleeve. That simple gesture made Bei Bei blush furiously.
"Ahem... Our teacher isn't that strict. At least, they're much more lenient than the homeroom teacher of Class One."
Watching Tang Ya, Yang Jian couldn't help feeling amused.
Her outgoing nature and all those unintentional little gestures had Bei Bei wrapped around her finger. If things kept going this way, Tang Ya would probably have him completely won over before long.
"Um... you're the one who helped me, right?"
Jiang Nannan's soft voice rang out behind them. She looked a little nervous, her gaze fixed firmly on Yang Jian.
When Yang Jian turned around, Jiang Nannan froze for a moment, her small mouth parting slightly.
She hadn't imagined that the person who had paid her tuition would be so handsome.
Next to him, the other boy was just as refined and good-looking, but seemed to lose some of his luster in comparison.
Jiang Nannan quickly recovered. She lowered her head slightly and said with heartfelt gratitude, "Thank you for helping me. I'll treat those ten Gold Soul Coins as a loan, and I... I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
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