He left the campus with the crowd.
Tang Jian sent Yang Mao away, then felt the five dollars in his pocket. Standing at the gates of Xicheng No. 1 High School, he looked at the neatly lined shops outside—drink stores, small eateries, convenience stores, and more—and let out a long breath.
Being reborn really made everything feel both unfamiliar and strangely familiar, wherever he went.
He had now figured out that it was March 23rd, Federal Calendar Year 203.
There were less than two and a half months left until the college entrance examination.
He could see many senior students taking advantage of the time after school and before dinner to buy food, then quickly return to their classrooms to eat while studying.
With the college entrance examination approaching, everyone was racing against time.
Tang Jian remembered that he had been the same back then.
Encouraged by having Yang Mao as his deskmate, he had also been deeply invested in card making. He studied all kinds of card-making techniques and knowledge through materials borrowed from the library or video lessons borrowed from Yang Mao, hoping to break through with his card-making ability during the college entrance examination and get into a good school.
In the end, heaven did not disappoint those who worked hard. Though he lacked Yang Mao's family background and card-making talent, his outstanding card-making ability had barely allowed him to reach the second-tier university cutoff and enter a second-tier university.
As for Yang Mao, his family was well-off and his talent was exceptional. During the college entrance examination, he had heard that Yang Mao's family had even prepared extremely precious Card Energy Crystals for him, raising his Card Energy to over 100. He had directly entered Jiangbei University, one of Jiangbei City's best first-tier universities.
"There are more than seventy days left until the college entrance examination. Fine. I remember that at this time, my Card Energy was 30 points, and my card-making ability only barely let me produce one white One-Star Energy Card every three days. In other words, I could only make one-third of a white One-Star Energy Card at a time.
Even though I was a Three-Star Card Master in my previous life and remembered many methods that could quickly improve my current strength, all of them required a great deal of money.
I'm just an ordinary person from an ordinary family. Where would I get that kind of money?
Even if I sold some card blueprints or cultivation techniques from my memories, with how weak I am now, I'd be delivering myself straight into a wolf's den. Not only would I fail to make money, I'd bring trouble upon myself."
Tang Jian pondered for a long time and felt a headache coming on.
He remembered some things from the period before the college entrance examination quite clearly.
This world was mostly inhabited by ordinary people. Card Apprentices were also considered ordinary people, except they possessed a little Card Energy within their bodies.
Tang Jian currently had thirty points of Card Energy, which placed him within the ranks of a One-Star Card Apprentice.
A One-Star Card Apprentice generally possessed between 10 and 49 points of Card Energy. Breaking past 49 points meant becoming a Two-Star Card Apprentice.
There were five stars among Card Apprentices.
Beyond Five-Star Card Apprentices was the realm of Card Masters, which meant truly entering the privileged class.
However, the overwhelming majority of Card Apprentices were basically unable to step into the realm of Card Masters. It depended on each person's talent.
Tang Jian took the five dollars from his pocket and bought a bowl of fried rice noodles from a roadside stall, making do with it for dinner.
He looked at the energetic, youthful high school students around him and considered how, after being reborn, he could quickly build up his foundation and grow stronger.
Tang Jian still did not know whether those people from the Apprehension Bureau had been reborn as well.
If they had also been reborn, then his situation would be rather dangerous.
Once those people figured out the Red Card's abilities, they might begin searching for him.
And the Red Card had already been lost. For now, Tang Jian could only rely on himself.
"My family isn't well-off, and my little sister is still in her second year of middle school. Damn it, now that I've been reborn, it'll be hard to raise my strength quickly. Mainly because I don't have money."
With money, he could grow stronger.
Without money, get strong my ass!
Tang Jian knew very well that the problem before him now was how to get money.
"As for money, I still have my card-making ability from my previous life. Although I'm limited by my current low Card Energy, with the awareness of a Three-Star Card Crafter, I should be able to make one One-Star Energy Card a day, with around a ninety percent success rate."
"A One-Star Energy Card should sell for 110 Federal Currency at current Year 203 prices. The cost would be around 45 Federal Currency. With my awareness, I can save a little more Energy Ink and reduce the cost by another two or three dollars."
"In other words, every One-Star Energy Card I make can bring me at least sixty dollars in profit. During card making, my Card Energy will constantly be depleted and then recover.
"According to the Three-Point-One-Line Technique I cultivate, if I deplete and recover my Card Energy like this every day, I can probably increase it by one point every three days."
Tang Jian ate as he thought. When he finished the bowl of rice noodles, he felt somewhat helpless.
Slow!
Far too slow.
According to this plan, he could at most raise his Card Energy to around seventy or eighty points before the college entrance examination. He simply could not turn his fate around. At best, he would do slightly better than in his previous life.
His current advantages were clear: the card-making awareness and techniques of a Three-Star Card Crafter, the combat awareness and techniques of a Three-Star Card Master, and the precious cultivation technique he had purchased in his previous life, the Three-Point-One-Line Technique.
Awareness and technique were the most precious things. They could help him resolve his current predicament.
Cultivation techniques were also immensely valuable.
The Three-Point-One-Line Technique, which was rated at only two stars, had cost 1.8 million Federal Currency when he bought it. Converted to current prices, it would still cost over 1.5 million.
An ordinary family simply could not afford to let their child cultivate such a technique.
Unfortunately, Tang Jian could only visualize and cultivate this technique himself. He could not draw a visualization diagram possessing profound spiritual charm and sell the technique to others, unless he could train it to the pinnacle.
The advantages of being reborn were still obvious.
As for where prices would rise, which housing developments would become valuable later, or what goods would become popular in the future, those were not things Tang Jian needed to consider right now. Even if he wanted to, he had no capital.
Make money!
He had to make money!
Gritting his teeth, Tang Jian threw the paper bowl into a trash can and walked into the school.
Throughout the entire evening self-study session, he was planning for the future.
While everyone else reviewed with fiery enthusiasm in class, his mind wandered elsewhere.
Yang Mao was the first to notice that something was off. He nudged Tang Jian and said, "Hey, you haven't been playing too many games lately, have you? Why do you keep zoning out? I'm telling you, the college entrance examination is coming soon. If you don't work hard, I'll leave you behind. I've got a copy of Card Making Energy Saving Details here. Take it home and read it."
Yang Mao then handed him a book.
Hearing that, Tang Jian accepted the book and glanced at it. He nodded slightly. "I'll take it home and read it. You should work harder yourself. I feel like my card-making level has improved recently. I'll be leaving you behind soon."
Yang Mao's family was well-off, and he really had helped Tang Jian a great deal back then. Tang Jian did not want to reject his goodwill. Although the book was useless to him, he still accepted it.
"Cut it out!" Yang Mao gave Tang Jian a contemptuous look, dismissing his claim that he would soon surpass him.
He considered himself half of Tang Jian's teacher. Why would he fear being surpassed by his student?
Evening self-study did not end until nine thirty, when school was finally over.
When Tang Jian reached the school gates, he saw his father, Tang Lin, waiting in a familiar corner outside on an electric scooter. A cigarette hung from his mouth as he took occasional puffs.
When he saw Tang Jian approach, Tang Lin stubbed out the cigarette. A smile appeared on his dark face, the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes wrinkling together.
For countless nights back then, his father Tang Lin had picked him up and dropped him off like this.
Today was naturally no exception.
Tang Jian looked calm, but his heart was still filled with excitement.
Having returned through rebirth, perhaps he could give his parents a better life. But he would still need to work hard to make it happen.
On the way home, Tang Jian hesitated for a while before saying, "Dad, I feel like my card-making ability has improved a little recently. I want to buy a batch of white cards and ink for practice."
Tang Lin, who was riding in front, froze. After a moment of silence and slight hesitation, he glanced at Tang Jian through the left mirror, then grinned. "All right. I'll have your mother give you the money tonight. Go buy them yourself."
White cards were generally not sold individually. One batch contained fifty white cards, costing 1,500 Federal Currency. And every ten white cards generally used up one bottle of Energy Ink, with each bottle costing 150 Federal Currency.
In other words, buying a batch of materials like that would cost 2,250 Federal Currency.
For the Tang family, whose living conditions were not particularly good, that was already no small expense.
Tang Jian let out a breath of relief, but what filled his heart even more was gratitude.
Dad was still as easygoing as ever.
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