So—
Roast chicken, one whole.
Braised pork, one serving.
Steamed abalone, a whole platter.
Pastries, two tiers.
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, one pot.
No, make it bottomless!
Anyway, he'd eat first and wait while he ate.
And before he knew it, he'd eaten all the way to now.
Yu Xiaogang struggled to swallow, then waved over the cafeteria lady.
"Um... the bill."
The cafeteria lady walked over with the bill and slapped it down in front of him, her face expressionless.
"That's 103 Silver Spirit Coins. I'll round it down for you: one Gold Soul Coin will do."
Yu Xiaogang froze.
"H-how much?"
"One Gold Soul Coin." The cafeteria lady repeated herself, her eyes carrying a hint of disdain that said, "If you can't afford it, why are you putting on airs?"
Yu Xiaogang's lips began to tremble.
One Gold Soul Coin.
That was equal to one hundred Silver Spirit Coins.
That was equal to ten thousand Copper Soul Coins.
His monthly allowance was only twenty Silver Spirit Coins.
This meal had eaten up five months of his allowance.
Trembling, Yu Xiaogang pulled out his money pouch and tipped out its contents—several dozen Silver Spirit Coins, a heap of Copper Soul Coins, and odds and ends that didn't even add up to half.
The cafeteria lady's eyes grew even more disdainful.
"No money?"
Yu Xiaogang forced a smile that looked worse than crying. "Um... could I put it on credit?"
The cafeteria lady let out a cold laugh. "Credit? Do you think this place belongs to your family?"
Yu Xiaogang's face turned bright red.
A few kitchen staff who were cleaning nearby stopped what they were doing and watched with interest.
Yu Xiaogang felt his face burning.
Gritting his teeth, he took out everything of value on him—a few dozen Silver Spirit Coins, a heap of Copper Soul Coins, a jade pendant passed down in his family, a pen he'd used for ten years, and a... handkerchief for wiping his nose?
The cafeteria lady counted everything without expression, kept the jade pendant and pen, then pushed the Copper Soul Coins and handkerchief back toward him.
"You're still short thirty Silver Spirit Coins. Pay up by tomorrow, or you can forget about getting your things back."
Yu Xiaogang's face went from red to white, then white to green, before settling on a deathly gray.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but all that came out was a hoarse "huh, huh."
At last, he stood and staggered out of the cafeteria.
Behind him, the cafeteria lady called out, "Remember to bring the money tomorrow! Otherwise, I'll toss your dorm room out with you!"
Yu Xiaogang's steps faltered.
Then he walked even faster.
Once again, he left in disgrace.
Outside, the autumn wind was bleak.
The temperature swung wildly on September nights. The day had been warm and pleasant, but now the cold cut to the bone.
Hunching his shoulders and hugging himself, Yu Xiaogang wandered aimlessly around the academy.
Cold.
Damn, it was cold.
He thought of his bedding.
That old set he'd used for over a decade had a huge hole in it, with the cotton poking out. He'd meant to buy a new one today, but...
He'd eaten it all away.
Yu Xiaogang sniffed, his eyes stinging a little.
He looked up at the night sky. The moon was big and round, its light spilling over the ground like a layer of frost.
It really was cold.
He kept walking.
As he went, he caught sight of a shadow out of the corner of his eye.
Yu Xiaogang stopped and looked more closely.
It was a person.
A student in the kind of shabby, secondhand uniform worn by work-study students, carrying a set of bedding and heading somewhere.
Yu Xiaogang's gaze fell on the bedding.
New.
It looked thick.
And warm.
His eyes lit up.
"Um... student!"
He hurried after him.
The student stopped and turned around. It was Er Gou from Dorm Seven.
Er Gou eyed the middle-aged man warily. "What do you want?"
Yu Xiaogang forced a smile and pointed at the bedding in his arms. "Um... are you selling that?"
Er Gou blinked.
He looked down at the bedding in his arms. It was the set the Grandmaster had brought over. He wasn't sure if there was anything wrong with it, but Boss Su had said it was just taking up space, so they might as well throw it away.
He'd been on his way to toss it when someone stopped him.
Er Gou eyed Yu Xiaogang suspiciously. "You want to buy it?"
Yu Xiaogang nodded eagerly. "That's right, that's right! How much?"
Er Gou thought for a moment.
The bedding had been brought over by the Grandmaster. And who was the Grandmaster? Wasn't he the very person standing in front of him?
Er Gou didn't know Yu Xiaogang, but he'd heard Wang Sheng mention some Grandmaster who'd been left speechless after Boss Su put him in his place, then brought them bedding in an attempt to harm them. From the description, this seemed to be the same guy.
And now this man wanted to buy the bedding he'd brought over himself?
Er Gou scratched his head, finding the logic a little strange.
But he couldn't be bothered to think too hard about it.
They were going to throw the bedding away anyway. Why not make a little money from it?
"Five Silver Spirit Coins," Er Gou said.
Yu Xiaogang's face fell.
He'd just spent a whole Gold Soul Coin on food. He had only a dozen Copper Soul Coins left on him. Where was he supposed to get five Silver Spirit Coins?
"That's too expensive..." he said with difficulty. "Could you lower the price?"
Er Gou sighed. "Forget it. You look pretty pitiful. Two Silver Spirit Coins. I can't go any lower."
Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth.
He could scrape together two Silver Spirit Coins if he really stretched.
He emptied his money pouch, poured all his Copper Soul Coins into his hands, then pulled a Silver Spirit Coin out of his pants and counted everything again and again. At last, he managed to scrape together the equivalent of two Silver Spirit Coins in coppers and handed them to Er Gou with both hands.
Er Gou took the heavy pile of coins and nodded in satisfaction.
He shoved the bedding into Yu Xiaogang's arms, then turned and ran.
He was afraid the man might change his mind.
Holding the bedding, Yu Xiaogang felt as if he'd seen it somewhere before. But all new bedding looked more or less the same, so he didn't think much of it—as long as it was warm.
Suddenly, his eyes grew a little hot.
Finally...
Finally, something good had happened to him.
He hugged the bedding tightly and strode toward his lodgings.
Tonight, at last, he wouldn't have to freeze.
As expected, he was a man of destiny. The moment he got sleepy, someone had brought him a pillow!
Er Gou ran all the way back to Dorm Seven.
He pushed open the door. It was still lively inside.
The hot pot stall had just closed, and a group of people were clearing away the bowls and chopsticks.
Tang San was in the corner, polishing the pot until it gleamed.
Su Mo sat on the edge of a bed, lost in thought.
Er Gou walked up to Tang San and slapped the pile of Copper Soul Coins into his hand.
"Here."
Tang San stared at the money in his hand, stunned.
"What's this?"
Er Gou told him what had happened.
Tang San's expression turned peculiar.
He looked at Su Mo. "Master, that Grandmaster... spent two Silver Spirit Coins to buy back the bedding he'd brought over himself."
Su Mo was silent for a second.
Then he smiled.
His smile was especially sincere.
"Gangzi's an interesting guy."
Tang San smiled too.
He set the coins on the table and asked, "Master, what should we do with this money?"
Su Mo glanced at the pile of Copper Soul Coins.
Two Silver Spirit Coins—not a lot, but not nothing, either.
Still, this brought a more important question to mind—
Money.
In Notting City, they needed money for food, money to buy cultivation resources, and even more money in the future to ask Dugu Bo to treat his mother.
One Silver Spirit Coin now had the purchasing power of one hundred yuan in his previous life.
The little savings he had, combined with the thirty Silver Spirit Coins Su Yuntao had given him, would barely last for a while.
But living off his savings was no solution.
He had to find a way to make money.