002: Only Money Can Make You Stronger

He left the campus with the flow of people.

Tang Jian dismissed Yang Mao, then felt the five yuan in his pocket. Standing at the entrance of Xicheng No. 1 High School, he looked at the shops, beverage stores, small restaurants, small supermarkets, and other establishments neatly lined up outside the campus, letting out a long sigh.

This feeling of being reborn, no matter where I go, everything feels different yet strangely familiar.

He had now figured out that it was March 23rd, Federal Calendar 203.

There were less than two and a half months until the college entrance exam.

Many senior students could be seen coming out to buy food during the after-school dinner break, then quickly returning to their classrooms to eat and study simultaneously.

With the college entrance exam approaching, everyone was racing against time.

Tang Jian remembered he was the same back then.

Inspired by his deskmate, Yang Mao, he was extremely dedicated to card making at the time. He learned various card-making techniques and knowledge from materials borrowed from the library or video resources lent by Yang Mao, hoping to break through in the college entrance exam with his card-making ability and get into a good university.

In the end, hard work did pay off. Although he didn't have Yang Mao's family background or card-making talent, his outstanding card-making ability still allowed him to barely scrape by the second-tier university admission line and get into a second-tier university.

As for Yang Mao, with his superior family background and exceptional talent, it was said that his family even prepared a very precious Card Energy Crystal for him during the college entrance exam, which allowed his Card Energy cultivation to reach over 100. He directly entered Jiangbei University, the top university in Jiangbei City, making it into the first-tier.

"There are still over 70 days until the college entrance exam. Well, I remember my Card Energy value at this time was 30 points, and my card-making ability was barely enough to produce a one-star Energy Card within three days, meaning I could only make one-third of a one-star Energy Card at a time.

Even though I was a three-star Card Master in my previous life, and I have many methods in my memory that could quickly enhance my current strength, they all require a significant amount of funds.

I'm just an ordinary person from an ordinary family; where would I get the funds?

Even if I were to sell some card-making blueprints or cultivation techniques from my mind, with my current weak strength, it would undoubtedly be like a lamb entering a tiger's den. I wouldn't earn money; I'd just invite trouble."

Tang Jian pondered for a long time, feeling a bit of a headache.

He had a deep memory of some events leading up to the college entrance exam.

In this world, ordinary people are the majority. Card Users are actually also classified as ordinary people, just with a bit of Card Energy in their bodies.

Tang Jian's current Card Energy reached 30 points, which actually put him in the category of a one-star Card User.

A one-star Card User's Card Energy generally ranges from 10 to 49 points. Breaking through 49 points makes one a two-star Card User.

And there are five stars of Card Users.

Above five-star Card Users is the realm of a Card Master, which is considered entering the privileged class.

However, most Card Users are unable to enter the Card Master realm, which is related to each person's natural talent.

Tang Jian pulled out the five yuan from his wallet and bought a bowl of stir-fried rice noodles from a nearby street stall, settling his dinner.

He looked at the vibrant, energetic high school students around him, contemplating how to quickly accumulate a foundation and become stronger after his rebirth.

Tang Jian was currently unsure if those people from the Apprehension Bureau had also been reborn.

If they had, his situation would be somewhat dangerous.

Once they figured out the abilities of the Red Card, they might start looking for him.

The Red Card was now lost, and Tang Jian could only rely on himself for the time being.

"My family's financial situation isn't great, and my younger sister is still in her second year of junior high. Tsk, trying to quickly improve my strength after being reborn is very difficult right now, mainly because I don't have money."

With money, you can become stronger. Without money, you're strong my ass!

Tang Jian knew very well that the problem before him now was how to get money.

"As for money, my card-making ability from my previous life is still there. Although my current Card Energy is a bit low, with my three-star Card Master's consciousness, I should be able to produce one one-star Energy Card per day, with about a ninety percent success rate."

"A one-star Energy Card, at the current prices of Federal Calendar 203, should sell for 110 Federal Currency. The cost is about 45 Federal Currency, but with my consciousness, I can save a bit of Energy Ink, reducing the cost by two or three Federal Currency."

"That means I can profit at least sixty Federal Currency from making one one-star Energy Card. And during the card-making process, my Card Energy will continuously deplete and then recover.

According to the Three-Point-One-Line Technique I cultivate, consuming and recovering like this every day, I can probably increase my Card Energy by one point every three days."

Tang Jian thought as he ate, and when his bowl of rice noodles was empty, he felt a bit helpless.

Slow!

Too slow.

According to this plan, he could at most raise his Card Energy to around seventy or eighty points before the college entrance exam. This wouldn't be enough to completely change his fate; at best, he'd just do a little better than in his previous life.

His current advantages were: a three-star Card Master's card-making consciousness and techniques, a three-star Card Master's combat consciousness and techniques, and a precious cultivation technique he bought in his previous life, the Three-Point-One-Line Technique.

Consciousness techniques were the most valuable, able to help him overcome his current difficulties.

And the cultivation technique was also incredibly precious.

This Three-Point-One-Line Technique, rated at only two stars, was worth 1.8 million Federal Currency when he bought it. Converting it to current prices, it would still be over 1.5 million.

An ordinary family simply couldn't afford to support a child cultivating such a technique.

Unfortunately, Tang Jian could only meditate and cultivate this technique himself. He couldn't sketch out the profoundly spiritual visualization diagrams to sell the technique to others, unless he could cultivate the technique to a master level.

The advantages of being reborn were still very clear.

As for other things like which real estate areas would sell well later due to rising prices, or which goods would be popular in the future, these were not issues Tang Jian needed to consider at the moment. He couldn't even consider them without funds.

Make money!

"I have to make money!" Tang Jian thought, gritting his teeth as he tossed his paper bowl into the trash and entered the school.

He spent the entire evening self-study period planning for the future.

While everyone else in class was diligently reviewing, he was lost in thought.

Yang Mao was the first to notice something was off with him. He nudged him and said, "Hey, you haven't been playing too many games lately, have you? Why are you always spaced out? I'm telling you, the college entrance exam is coming up soon. If you don't start working hard, I'm going to leave you in the dust. I even have a copy of Card Making Energy Saving Details here, you can borrow it to read."

Yang Mao then handed him a book.

Tang Jian took the book and glanced at it when he heard him say that, nodding slightly. "I'll take it home to read. You should work hard yourself; I feel like my card-making skills have improved recently, and I'll surpass you soon."

Yang Mao came from a well-off family and had indeed helped him a lot back then. Tang Jian didn't want to reject his kindness, so even though the book was useless to him, he still accepted it.

"Tch!" Yang Mao shot Tang Jian a disdainful look, scoffing at his claim of surpassing him soon.

He considered himself Tang Jian's half-mentor; how could he be afraid of his apprentice surpassing him?

Evening self-study ended at 9:30 PM, signifying the end of the school day.

As Tang Jian walked to the school gate, he saw his father, Tang Lin, already waiting in their usual spot outside the school on his e-bike, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, taking intermittent puffs.

Seeing him approach, Tang Lin extinguished the cigarette. A smile spread across his dark face, the crow's feet around his eyes crinkling together.

On countless nights in the past, his father, Tang Lin, had picked him up like this.

Today was no exception.

Though Tang Jian's expression was calm, he felt very excited inside.

Having returned through rebirth, perhaps he could give his parents a better life. All of this still required effort to create.

On the way home, Tang Jian hesitated for a moment before saying, "Dad, I feel like my card-making ability has improved recently. I want to buy a batch of Blank Cards and Energy Ink for practice."

Tang Lin, who was riding the bike ahead, paused, then fell silent for a moment, a hint of hesitation. He glanced at Tang Jian through the left mirror, then grinned and said, "Alright, I'll have your mom give you the money tonight, you can go buy them yourself."

Blank Cards are generally not sold individually; a batch of Blank Cards consists of 50, which translates to 1500 Federal Currency. For every ten Blank Cards, one bottle of Energy Ink is usually consumed, and each bottle of Energy Ink is worth 150 yuan.

This meant that purchasing a batch of these materials would cost 2250 yuan.

For the Tang family, whose living conditions were not particularly good, this was a considerable expense.

Tang Jian breathed a sigh of relief, but more than that, he felt touched.

His old man was still so easy to talk to.