The Gathering Place for Suckers

"Okay. Goodbye, teacher."

After Qian Chaoguang and Huo Yutong left, Zhou Yi shed her disguise and sat down in her chair in a huff, smacking her desk until it slapped loudly.

No matter how low Zhou Yi's emotional intelligence was, she still knew she could not steal someone else's disciple. This was an unwritten rule that had stood on the Douluo Continent for ten thousand years.

"I'm so mad!"

On the way to the cafeteria, Huo Yutong asked, "Brother, are we going to find that really amazing teacher tonight?"

Qian Chaoguang fondly rubbed her head and replied, "No, there's no rush today. For the first three months, it'll be very hard for us to find time to study Soul Tool knowledge."

Huo Yutong pouted. "Oh. Then after school, I'll just cultivate by myself. What a pity. The Purple Demon Eye that Teacher Tang Ya taught me can only be practiced in the morning, and that technique is especially effective at improving my Martial Soul."

"Put cultivation off for a bit. Did you forget what I told you yesterday? After school today, we're going to make big money."

"Huh? Brother, are you talking about Grilled Fish? But... are we short on money right now?"

Huo Yutong suddenly remembered what Qian Chaoguang had told her during dinner last night and stared at him with a pair of large, puzzled eyes.

Although Old Butler had passed away when the two of them were young, in truth, their lives before coming to Shrek had not been all that poor.

With Qian Chaoguang, this beast of a human-shaped self-propelled forging machine, around, the two of them had even lived a rather well-off life.

Of course, that was among the commoner class.

Ever since Huo Yutong had also started learning forging three years ago, the two of them had already had enough money to buy some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that could assist cultivation, though they were the relatively ordinary kind.

"Even if we sell one Grilled Fish for one Silver Soul Coin and sell a hundred in one night, that's only ten Gold Soul Coins. We might as well go forge together. I feel like I'm almost able to complete Thousand Refinement. Didn't you say that teacher was very interested in our forging?"

Qian Chaoguang smiled faintly.

"One Silver Soul Coin? Too small. Your vision's too small. Xiaotong, broaden your horizons a little. We need to save up one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins before next year. Right now, we're still short by more than ninety thousand."

"Huhhh? One Silver Soul Coin is still too little? Then, Brother, how much are you planning to sell them for?"

"One hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"Whoa! Brother, are you serious!? That's enough to cover half a year of food expenses for the two of us back then!" Huo Yutong could not help exclaiming.

If the person saying this had not been her brother, she definitely would have thrown a Confusion at them to make them calm down and stop daydreaming.

"Of course. Aside from the two of us and a few special exceptions, anyone who can enter Shrek is either rich or noble. A brat selling his grandfather's land feels no pain. To them, one hundred Gold Soul Coins isn't some astronomical number, nor could it count as a huge sum. Did you think a recommendation letter from someone at city lord level or above was that easy to get?"

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Qian Chaoguang's mouth.

In the original work, plenty of freshmen casually opened betting pools themselves and put down dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of Gold Soul Coins. That was nothing more than the average level. Even losing over twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins only resulted in their pocket money being a little tight for a while.

That was all.

To the mine-owning brats of Shrek, this amount was not even worth mentioning.

Besides, at the best eighth window in Shrek Academy's cafeteria, the starting price for a single dish was over thirty Gold Soul Coins, and people lined up there every day without end. That was more than enough to prove just how deep their pockets were.

"If we erased the names on the two letters Grandpa left us and put them in a black-market auction, they'd be worth at least five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, maybe even enough to exchange for an average-quality soul bone. And there'd be demand but no supply."

Huo Yutong shrank her neck and carefully glanced around.

Seeing that there was no one nearby, she finally whispered, "Brother, will there really be some big fool... some sucker who comes to buy them?"

"Just listen to me. One hundred Gold Soul Coins is only the lowest number. When the time comes, we'll do it like this..."

After they finished eating and returned to the dorm, Wang Dong was lying corpse-like on the bed as usual.

Seeing Qian Chaoguang return, she scrambled up from the bed in one roll.

"Qian Chaoguang, I have something to say to you."

Qian Chaoguang let out a deep sigh.

After mentally preparing himself as much as possible, he helplessly sat down on his own bed, facing Wang Dong, and casually froze a cup of ice water, gulping it down to stabilize his possibly rising blood pressure.

"My Little Princess, what new idea do you have now?"

"Don't call me Little Princess!"

Wang Dong's face instantly flushed bright red, and she slammed the bed hard.

"Before, you said I hadn't paid you, so you wouldn't agree to my rules. I've thought it over carefully these past few days."

"Oh, and then?"

"Twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins per rule. What do you think?"

"Pfft!"

Fortunately, Qian Chaoguang reacted quickly and turned his head in time before that mouthful of water sprayed onto Wang Dong's face. Otherwise, this proud, mysophobic Little Princess would never let him hear the end of it.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!"

Wang Dong looked solemn. She even took out two handwritten contracts from her Storage Soul Tool.

"Here. I even wrote the contracts. Take a look."

Qian Chaoguang looked down at the paper with an indescribably strange feeling.

First, no casually bringing people back to the dorm.

Second, you're not allowed to come in while I'm changing.

Third, you're not allowed to snore at night.

Fourth, don't disturb me whenever you feel like it.

Fifth, clean the dorm.

Qian Chaoguang: "..."

Wasn't this exactly the reason she had clashed with Huo Gua at the beginning in the original work?

Wang Dong'er still hadn't given up?

He had thought she would insist on some clause that wouldn't let him talk back to her.

Wait, not allowed to come in while she was changing?

Had this guy finally given up on making him change out in the hallway?

And there was also this "don't disturb her" one.

You're clearly the one who's been disturbing me all along, okay?

I don't even want to deal with you at all!

Qian Chaoguang felt as if there were countless things to roast in his heart, yet he had no idea where to even begin.

"Hey! Do you agree or not? Say something already!"

Seeing Qian Chaoguang stare at the contract without speaking for a long time, Wang Dong slapped the bed hard, making dull bang after dull bang.

Judging from that force and the creak, creak of the bed, if this dragged on a little longer, this Little Princess would soon have to go pay another fine.

Shrek's iron-frame beds weren't exactly cheap.

Qian Chaoguang narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the anxious Wang Dong, but did not speak at once.

Theoretically speaking, exchanging one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for him obeying these five rules meant he was making an absolute killing.

Aside from cleaning, the first four clauses could be completely ignored.

In fact, he already cleaned often himself.

But.

If he left the biggest loaded household in all of Douluo Continent alone without taking a bigger bite, that seemed at least somewhat unfair to his conscience, and even more unfair to his wallet.

Right now, in his mind, Wang Dong was practically the same as Ah San.

Dumb, rich, come quick.

"...What exactly are you trying to do?"

Seeing that Qian Chaoguang still had not spoken, Wang Dong began to feel a little creeped out.

By now, she had already realized it: if this guy was pushed into a corner, there was nothing he wouldn't do.

Thanks to the boss 82 Year Mineral Water for the tip.