Moving House

After being certified as a Spirit Master by Spirit Hall, Jiang Jiu and Xiao Wu received a combined monthly subsidy of two gold spirit coins.

With the addition of the income Jiang Jiu earned working at the Blacksmith Shop, renting a house in Nuoding City was more than enough.

His requirements for the house were not high: it needed to have a place to bathe, space to install a forge for blacksmithing, and an area for strength training.

Well, when added together, that was not exactly a low bar.

However, if you found the right person, it was actually quite manageable.

It was simple: just ask someone from the Blacksmith Shop.

Not every blacksmith forged at home, but there were certainly those who practiced in their own space; having a workshop to teach their children a trade to put food on the table was a common practice.

Jiang Jiu asked Shi San for help, and he successfully found a place that perfectly met his needs.

In many cases, finding the right person saved an extraordinary amount of effort.

Just as when Jiang Jiu chose to seek out the Dean of Nuoding for his spirit hunt.

Of course, the reason he could progress so smoothly in every aspect was partly due to his own value, and partly because both the Dean of Nuoding and Boss Shi San were very easy to talk to.

"Xiao Jiu, is this our house from now on? A home that belongs to the two of us?"

"Mm."

Although it was rented, Jiang Jiu saw that Xiao Wu had fallen into an inexplicable mood, so he wisely refrained from pointing that out and ruining her excitement.

Xiao Wu suddenly threw herself into his arms.

If Xiao Wu were in her usual state, she would likely have leaped up, wrapped her legs around his waist, and accompanied the action with silver-bell-like laughter.

But at this moment, Xiao Wu's body was trembling slightly.

Jiang Jiu gently stroked Xiao Wu's back with his hand.

"Xiao Jiu, this is wonderful..." Xiao Wu looked up, tears mixed with a smile.

"Didn't I say we were going to look at the house? I mentioned it even earlier than that, didn't I?"

Jiang Jiu felt a bit helpless. He wiped away her tear stains with his hand; a laughing or annoyed Xiao Wu was easy to handle, but a tearful Xiao Wu had too great an emotional impact on him.

"Just talking about it is nothing compared to the reality." Xiao Wu sniffled.

"Xiao Jiu, let's go move everything from Dorm Seven over here!"

"Sure."

Shi San had basically taken care of the necessary paperwork for him, and his own status as a Spirit Master was a great convenience; if they were quick, they could move in completely today.

"Then let's hurry!" Xiao Wu grabbed Jiang Jiu's hand and pulled him toward the door.

"Wait for me to lock the door."

"Hurry, hurry!"

That high-spirited Xiao Wu was back.

It took some time to get back to Nuoding Academy from the house Jiang Jiu had rented.

There was no helping it; if one wanted to forge at home, the location was bound to be a bit remote.

Safety was not much of a concern, but the main issue was Tang Hao.

However, Jiang Jiu had a way to solve that.

He would just drag Tang San over to be their neighbor.

Although it was a desperate measure, generally speaking, as long as they didn't leave Tang Hao's line of sight, the risk remained controllable—and this so-called "line of sight" was basically centered on Tang San.

As for how to coax Tang San into renting a place in that area, it wasn't just Jiang Jiu who wanted a private space.

Tang San had to be extremely cautious when crafting hidden weapons at the Blacksmith Shop; he would be more than happy to have a private place to forge and refine.

As for why he hadn't done so in six years, Jiang Jiu could only assume that Tang San hadn't thought of it himself.

If he weren't trying to build the Flying God Claw, Tang San probably wouldn't have thought about renting a room at Shrek Academy to forge either.

In Dorm Seven, Xiao Wu was humming a tune while packing her things.

Her bed was already covered in all sorts of items, and she couldn't bear to throw away the ones she no longer used; they were all precious memories to her.

Jiang Jiu helped her organize them as well.

But the moment he thought about how he wouldn't be sleeping in the dormitory anymore, the only parts of Nuoding Academy he would use were the playground and the cafeteria.

After all, he skipped his morning classes, he didn't need to clean in the afternoon, and he wouldn't be sleeping in Dorm Seven at night.

"Xiao Jiu, should I pass the position of Dorm Seven boss to Tang San?" Xiao Wu had thought of this as well.

In any case, she was already the boss of the entire Nuoding Academy, so being the boss of Dorm Seven didn't mean much anymore.

"Just pass it to Wang Sheng."

It would be returning the position to its original owner.

"Huh? Why?"

"I think he's quite eager to move out, too."

Even though Tang San didn't actually feel that way, if Jiang Jiu said he did, then he did.

"Is that so? I suppose you're right."

When it came to time spent in the dormitory, Tang San spent far less than the rest of them. At the very least, Jiang Jiu was always in the dorm cultivating from evening until night without fail, whereas Tang San was attending lessons with his teacher during those hours.

Comparing the two, it seemed perfectly reasonable to outsiders that Tang San would be more inclined to move out of Dorm Seven than they were.

"Then, Xiao Jiu, shall we gather all the work-study students for a meal at noon? We can celebrate moving out while we're at it, hee hee."

"Sure, that works."

After a few back-and-forth trips, they had basically finished moving, and Jiang Jiu and Xiao Wu began to wander toward the teaching area.

There were twelve work-study students in total; besides Tang San in the first-grade classroom, the other nine were distributed across the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.

A few teachers spotted them, but they didn't say a word.

As for Jiang Jiu, Xiao Wu, and Tang San—three first-graders who were already Spirit Masters with a certain degree of combat capability—the teachers had reached a point where they simply didn't want to manage them, nor could they. Those three could do whatever they pleased.

When class ended, the group of work-study students gathered around them quite naturally.

After all, it was a rare sight to see these two during school hours.

"Boss, is something up?" Wang Sheng asked, acting as their representative as usual.

"Let's go, my treat!" Xiao Wu waved her small hand.

The work-study students exchanged glances, then looked at Jiang Jiu with a tacit understanding.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Xiao Wu felt like she had lost a great deal of face.

"Ahem, Xiao Wu and I have rented a place today and plan to move out, so we're celebrating."

The money was indeed managed by him; Xiao Wu didn't even have a private stash of her own.

"I see. Wait, what? Boss, you're moving out?" Wang Sheng nodded at first, then finally processed what Jiang Jiu had said.

"Yeah. Xiao Jiu has felt for a long time that bathing at the academy isn't very convenient, so he's wanted to move out for a while. Now that we both have our Spirit Master subsidies, we're moving out," Xiao Wu explained.

"Then congratulations to you both, Boss." Wang Sheng sounded very envious.

Of course, he was primarily envious of their status as Spirit Masters and the accompanying subsidies.

Tang San stood to the side, listening with a thoughtful expression.

Moving out, huh?

"Wishing you both a happy life for two!"

On the second floor of the cafeteria, people kept offering their congratulations.

To be honest, even though others helped with their work-study tasks, they had never once been to the second floor; they couldn't bear the cost, as a single meal wasn't cheap.

This time, they were only here because they were tagging along with their bosses.

"A life for two? Hehe." Xiao Wu looked at Jiang Jiu, her eyes shining.