"Seventy jade coins!"
Fatty Xin had used a string of enormous exclamation marks in his letter. Even through the thin paper, Zheng Qing could practically see that bluish, chubby face spitting with excitement:
"Do you know how much net profit that little shop of yours makes in an entire year? Less than thirty jade coins! And now you're watching seventy jade coins slip right through your fingers... You'd have to be a publicly funded student for seven straight years to earn that much back! Do you know that?"
"Does the school even have publicly funded students for seven consecutive years?!"
Zheng Qing did not know about the other academies, but Jiuyou Academy certainly had no publicly funded students for seven consecutive years—anyone who became a publicly funded student at Jiuyou Academy inevitably ranked near the top in exams. There was no risk of repeating a year, so naturally they would not remain at school for seven straight years.
He held his Quill Pen, dipped it in the ink bottle, hesitated for a moment, then wrote "Read" at the end of the letter. He crumpled it into a ball and tossed it away.
The paper ball traced a feeble arc through the air, twitching and writhing all the way. Just before it hit the ground, it finally struggled into a wrinkled paper crane. But its wings were too short, and the paper crane still fell to the floor, bouncing around like a rubber ball.
A long, slender Octopus Tentacle shot out from between the bookshelves and lashed the paper crane like lightning, knocking it back into the air. Borrowing that force, the crane broke free of the earth's hold again and flew crookedly toward the library exit.
The librarian's round head suddenly appeared before Zheng Qing.
"If you litter again, I'll