Revenue, Living Off a Woman?

The shadow of that slap still hung over his head, so when Xiao Yan forced himself forward through his fear, his calves were still a little weak. But the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear merely glanced at him indifferently, steadily hooked the milk tea on the tip of its sharp claw, and only after letting Xiao Yan take it away with trembling hands did it look toward the next customer.

"Is this some Inner Courtyard senior's pet?"

Xiao Yan was stunned by the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's steady mood.

"Or perhaps... Beast Taming?"

A bold guess surfaced in his mind.

No wonder the academy had arranged such a "Fierce Beast" in the Assessment area. So it was a Pet Beast—or perhaps an existence like a separated Martial Soul that could be firmly controlled by someone.

"Shrek really is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. To think the Inner Courtyard has a senior capable of controlling such an existence." A trace of yearning rose in Xiao Yan's eyes.

He took a sip through the straw.

His eyes instantly lit up. "Huh???"

"Three more cups!"

Hearing him, Little Gold looked over, flipped around the sign hanging from its neck, and expressionlessly pointed at the words on it with its razor-sharp bear claw.

"One cup per person?!!" Xiao Yan was left a mess in the wind.

They closed up in the early hours of the morning.

It was not because Shrek City had a curfew. Outside, the lights were still bright, and all kinds of bustling tall buildings on this commercial street had brilliant signboards hanging from them, shining even at night.

Rather, Su Wen's stock had sold out...

After apologetically persuading away a crowd of customers who had queued all day only to curse as they left empty-handed, everyone finally collapsed onto the ground.

After a simple farewell, several Inner Courtyard seniors returned fully loaded with dozens of cups of milk tea.

Ma Xiaotao handed the account book to Su Wen and, looking exhausted as well, asked him for another kiss before finally recovering some energy and leaving in satisfaction.

"Clack, clack, clack~"

Hurricane worked the abacus at incredible speed, like an accountant, its nimble ten fingers flying up and down. In its hands, the accounts were sorted out in just a few dozen minutes.

"Roar~"

It turned and growled softly at Su Wen.

"A total income of five million nine thousand two hundred seventy-three Gold Soul Coins?" Su Wen was stunned. How could there be so much?

He knew exactly how many cups of milk tea the kitchen ingredients could make, as well as the number of cups. Calculated at one Gold Soul Coin per cup, the absolute limit was just over nine thousand Gold Soul Coins. Then where had this five million come from?

"Roar~" Hurricane shrugged.

No idea.

Wait, Ma Xiaotao?

Su Wen paused, and then his tightly furrowed brows relaxed. Only Ma Xiaotao had handled this money. There was no way she would not know about the extra five million...

"Roar~"

Suddenly, Hurricane gave a low growl and handed a slip of paper to Su Wen.

It was Ma Xiaotao's handwriting. Like the person herself, the writing was bold and carefree, with a single line written on it: Zhang Yi and the others chipped in with me. We know you're short on money, so use this for now. Zhang Yi complained that even his wife fund is in there haha...

The corner of his mouth twitched.

It seemed the fact that he was short on money was already common knowledge.

Five million Gold Soul Coins was no small amount. Even for several Inner Courtyard seniors and Ma Xiaotao, it would not be an exaggeration to say they had emptied their private savings.

The corners of Su Wen's mouth lifted.

Being cared about really felt nice. He had been on this continent for more than four years now, and he had built a circle of friends that belonged to him.

"Transfer this money into the Black Gold Card." Su Wen handed Hurricane the Storage Ring containing the Gold Soul Coins and a Black Gold Card. "There's a soul coin bank on the next street over. Just go there."

"Roar~" Hurricane nodded, took the items, opened the third-floor window, and leaped out.

That place belonged to Old Lin's people. They knew what to do.

Hurricane had already been registered among the Treasure Pavilion's forces.

"More than nine thousand Gold Soul Coins a day. That's over two hundred thousand a month..." Su Wen murmured.

Two hundred thousand was not an enormous amount, but it was not small either.

It was enough to let the three Soul Beasts live a relatively "comfortable" life. Added to the five million Gold Soul Coins pooled together by Sister Tao and the others, the early-stage expenses for the Soul Beasts were basically all covered.

But this was only the beginning. The first day was the peak of revenue, and with the herd effect, it had brought him a considerable flow of customers. But as time passed, this income would slowly shrink. Once the novelty wore off, this momentum would also weaken.

Still, opening branch shops was also a good choice.

Su Wen nodded slightly.

In his previous life, the reason a certain Snow King had dominated, aside from its flavor being genuinely novel, was also thanks to its affordable prices.

In the early stage, he could rely on the unique innovative advantage. In the later stage, the price could be lowered—one Silver Soul Coin, or even one Copper Soul Coin, would not matter. After all, the cost of this thing was less than one-tenth of a Copper Soul Coin. How much could eggs and sugar cost?

Once things stabilized, he could hand this whole business over to the Treasure Pavilion to operate. He would only need to sit back and wait for the harvest. He believed Old Lin would not treat him unfairly.

Still, the most urgent matter was labor!

Su Wen glanced at Little Gold, who had collapsed on the floor like a mountain of flesh, and the Ice Sovereign, lying on her back with her pincers waving, foaming at the mouth and playing dead. These two little fellows had practically worked themselves insane.

"Put up a notice. Start recruiting."

Just as Su Wen was planning for the future, a black shadow flashed in through the third-floor window. With the click of high heels, a figure in black robes appeared before him. The curtains rippled in the wind, and Su Wen looked startled. "Sister Le Xuan?"

From the look of her, travel-worn and dusty, she must have just finished some mission and returned to the academy.

"Mm-hm."

A gentle female voice came from beneath the black robe.

A slender, fair hand lifted the hood, revealing a pale, beautiful face. She smiled warmly at Su Wen. "You've grown taller, and even more handsome."

"Ding~"

A communication Soul Tool wrapped around her waist lit up with a red light.

The beauty lingered as she stroked Su Wen's cheek. "Sorry, Xiao Wen. Graduation is close, and there are still a pile of missions waiting for me." As she spoke, she handed over a Soul Tool Storage Ring. "There are four million Gold Soul Coins inside. It's a birthday gift from your sister. I'm sorry I couldn't come for your birthday this year. It won't happen next year."

After saying that, she leaned close to Su Wen's ear. He thought she was going to remind him of something and even moved a little closer, but very quickly, a warm touch brushed across his cheek and vanished. Fragrant air washed over his face, and her soft lips touched him lightly like a dragonfly skimming the water, leaving Su Wen frozen in a daze.

"How old are you now? How are you still blushing..."

Zhang Lexuan's bell-like laughter rang beside his ear.

"I'm off~"

The black shadow vanished.

A fresh breeze followed in her wake.

Su Wen came back to himself. The corner of his mouth twitched. She really was freaking... coming and going without a trace.

Sister Le Xuan had disappeared from the Inner Courtyard for more than a year. From the looks of it now, she had probably been running missions all across the continent. There were still quite a few Inner Courtyard assessments, after all. Unless they cheated their way through graduation, even all kinds of geniuses had to go all out.

"Phew..."

But the ring in his hand still felt heavy.

It wasn't easy for Sister Le Xuan to earn this money...

Although a fixed amount of Gold Soul Coins was issued every month, unless it was for something important—for example, if there was something urgently needed at an auction house, such as suitable medicinal herbs or Soul Tools—the academy would reimburse Inner Courtyard Disciples. But when it came to actual Gold Soul Coins, these Inner Courtyard Disciples really did not have that much in their pockets...