Qin Qi went to the cafeteria and headed straight up to the second floor, where he enjoyed a proper, filling meal—the kind with meat.
"Ah, you really do need to eat well. This is the time when your body's growing. If you're short on nutrition, you'll never develop properly for the rest of your life."
After finishing his meal, Qin Qi sighed. The difference between noble children and poor children was plain to see in what they ate.
Ordinary people couldn't even get enough to eat, while those noble kids were already taking medicines to improve their physiques.
After eating, Qin Qi left the cafeteria. He had no classes that afternoon, but he still had work assigned by the school to do.
"Wang Sheng."
Qin Qi walked over to Wang Sheng and smiled as he patted him on the shoulder.
"Yes!"
At the sound of Qin Qi's voice, Wang Sheng immediately squeezed his legs together and snapped to attention!
"Don't be nervous. It's not like I had no food before and borrowed some money from you guys. Now I have money, so I should pay you back."
Qin Qi pulled out some money, the same amount he had taken from Wang Sheng and the others.
"N-no need. Just consider it a tribute from us!"
Wang Sheng's voice trembled as he spoke.
You call that borrowing? You just robbed us! If we didn't agree, you'd beat us up!
"Don't be nervous. I'm not a reasonable person, but there are some things I can still tell apart."
"Take the money without worry. You can do my afternoon work for me, too."
"We're all on the same side, so you don't need to stand on ceremony."
Qin Qi walked up to Wang Sheng and stuffed the money in his hand. A poor man had little dignity, but once he had money, his pride didn't have to be quite so meager.
"Huh?"
Wang Sheng looked at the money in his hand, then at Qin Qi. So they were supposed to handle Qin Qi's share of the work for him.
"Um, what about the pay for the work?"
Wang Sheng ventured to ask.
"Of course that's still mine. My wages are obviously mine."
"I gave you the opportunity to work. You want the wages, too? You're far too greedy."
Qin Qi spoke with righteous conviction.
"Yes, you're right."
Wang Sheng's mind short-circuited. He couldn't make sense of what Qin Qi had said, so he simply gave up thinking.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
After saying that, Qin Qi left. He was going to use the rest of his money to buy some medicinal herbs in Nuoding City.
At the same time, he wanted to see if anyone in Nuoding City was looking for temporary workers. He could go work for them.
Qin Qi first went to buy some medicinal herbs. Some were for strengthening the body, while others were for Poison Refining.
But he only gathered some of the ingredients for Poison Refining. He hadn't mastered the Five Treasures Body Protection Method yet.
Hastily increasing the poison's potency might harm him, and the power of his Qi Poison hadn't been fully developed either.
So there was no need to rush the poison training.
As for the recipe for strengthening the body, it was nothing to Tang Jiaren.
Medicine and poison went hand in hand, not to mention that the Tang Sect had people who specialized in studying this sort of thing.
They had long since developed medicinal formulas to help the body recover, and they weren't very expensive.
After Qin Qi robbed a few people, he could afford them.
Qin Qi temporarily put the herbs into his Study Space, then continued wandering around Nuoding City.
He searched for a place to work for about an hour before stopping.
"I've got it wrong. My thinking's wrong. The pay for part-time work is too low!"
Qin Qi had checked several places. The highest-paying one offered just one Silver Spirit Coin a month.
Meanwhile, by sweeping at the school for a single day—or rather, just half an afternoon—he could earn ten Copper Soul Coins.
Ten Copper Soul Coins equaled one Silver Spirit Coin.
"No wonder everyone wants to become a Spirit Master. Spirit Masters really do make money."
Qin Qi sighed, then shifted his goal. He stopped looking for part-time jobs that paid well.
Instead, he looked for work that could both earn him money and help with his training.
Qin Qi spent three or four hours wandering around outside and finally found a job as a butcher's apprentice.
The base pay wasn't high—just five Copper Soul Coins a month—but he'd get a bonus for every pig he managed to butcher on his own.
"Boss, I'd like to apply for the pig-butchering job."
With an honest, simple smile on his face, Qin Qi spoke to the burly, fleshy-faced boss.
"You want to butcher pigs? Don't kid around, kid. With a body like yours, you couldn't butcher a pig."
"You can't even hold a Pig-Slaughtering Knife, can you? Hahaha!"
Looking at Qin Qi's small frame, the butcher burst out laughing. Butchering pigs took strength, and a little kid like this couldn't do it.
"What would you say if I could hold a Pig-Slaughtering Knife?"
Qin Qi wasn't angry at being mocked. He just asked with a cheerful smile.
"What could I say? 'Well done, young master!' Hahaha!"
The butcher kept laughing at him. "Kid, butchering pigs isn't that simple. Don't think it's easy just because I move my hand and the meat comes right off."
"If you tried, you wouldn't be able to cut off a piece of meat in half a day. And you need to catch the pig before you can butcher it."
"With a body like yours, if a pig knocked into you, it might kill you."
The butcher reached into his pocket, grabbed a little dried meat, and shoved it into Qin Qi's hand. "Here, take this snack and go on."
"Ah."
Qin Qi accepted the dried meat and put it in his pocket, but he didn't leave. He walked right past the boss and up to the chopping block.
He picked up a thick-backed Pig-Slaughtering Knife from it, then picked up a stone from beside him.
"Boss, do you believe I can cut that stone in half with one swing?"
Qin Qi asked.
"Quit messing around. A Pig-Slaughtering Knife isn't a toy for children. Don't break it."
Watching Qin Qi, the butcher frowned in displeasure. How could you chop a stone with a knife?
It would chip the blade and ruin it.
Qin Qi said nothing. A pale purple toxic haze spread over the Pig-Slaughtering Knife, and he swung his arm hard.
The instant the Pig-Slaughtering Knife touched the stone, it cut it cleanly in two.
"Boss, what do you think of that swing? Was it fast enough? Sharp enough?"
"When butchering a pig, could it slice through the meat? Could it chop through the bones?"
Qin Qi looked up at the butcher. At six years old, he was far shorter than the man.
But in that instant, the butcher couldn't help taking two steps back as he looked at the tiny Qin Qi.
Qin Qi's presence had overwhelmed him. The murderous aura the butcher had built up over years of slaughtering animals had actually been suppressed by a little kid!
"That child's clothes and badge... He's a student at Notting Academy!"
"He's a Spirit Master!"
"No wonder he's so strong at such a young age. He's a Spirit Master!"
The onlookers around them all wore astonished expressions. The sight of a Pig-Slaughtering Knife slicing through a stone had truly shocked them.
"Good kid. Fine, I'll hire you. But don't think being a student at Notting Academy means you can get out of doing the work."
"If you're no good at butchering pigs, I'll still fire you!"
The butcher looked at Qin Qi. He felt there was something unusual about the boy—a stubborn backbone and a fierce streak.
Besides, his shop happened to need someone, and he thought Qin Qi might be a good fit.
"Then thank you, boss."
Qin Qi smiled and handed the Pig-Slaughtering Knife to the butcher.
"Keep it. This knife's yours. Use it while you work in the shop."
The butcher generously declared that he was giving the knife to Qin Qi.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll take it."
Qin Qi said. The Pig-Slaughtering Knife wasn't some divine weapon, but at least it was a knife.
He finally had a weapon of his own. Life was getting more and more like a criminal's dream!