"Anyone who wants to challenge me, don't forget to message me!"
At the base entrance, Xu Yuan called out at the top of his lungs, sounding so friendly that it was as though everyone had gone to the same high school as him.
"Brother Yuan, why give them a chance? Pick me to challenge you, and then I can pretend to lose, right?"
Fatty stood beside Xu Yuan and spoke up in a flash of inspiration.
Everyone could only be challenged once a week. Once he challenged Brother Yuan, wouldn't the others lose their chance?
Xu Yuan gave Fatty a surprised look. "Not bad. You actually thought that far."
"But..."
Xu Yuan shifted gears. "You're oversimplifying it. The teachers aren't idiots. If we rig the match, they'll definitely see through it. Who knows what they'll do to us then? Besides, you've probably noticed that cultivation rooms don't actually give people with low-tier talents like ours much of a boost. It wouldn't matter if I really lost. And I might not lose anyway."
"I guess that's true..." Fatty scratched his head.
"Come on, let's head home. In a bit, I'll show you your Brother Yuan's slick moves."
Xu Yuan grinned and was about to lead Fatty toward the bus stop when he caught a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
The figure had just emerged from the base. As Xu Yuan looked toward her, she spotted him too.
Then she walked over to him.
"I heard you passed the assessment, and that you're a martial arts prodigy too. Congratulations!"
The girl, whose beauty was beyond reproach, pressed a small red envelope into Xu Yuan's hand.
It was Luo Yaoxi, whom he hadn't seen for several days!
Xu Yuan was a little stunned. Across both his lives, if he didn't count WeChat red envelopes, this should have been the first red envelope he had ever received.
"Thank you."
For a moment, Xu Yuan actually couldn't think of anything to say beyond those two words.
Fatty, on the other hand, blurted out beside him, "Aren't your congratulations coming a little late?"
Luo Yaoxi looked a little embarrassed. "My phone broke. I only found out when I heard other people discussing it over lunch today."
Her phone broke?
A flash of insight crossed Xu Yuan's mind.
Supposedly, the base had several special cultivation rooms where the concentration of Divine Substance was far higher than even in grade-A cultivation rooms. Ordinary electronics would suffer irreversible damage after being left inside for a while.
Could this girl be cultivating in those rooms?
Probably.
The training given to a one-in-ten-thousand awakened genius certainly couldn't compare to what ordinary students received.
Without delving further into the matter, Xu Yuan asked instead, "Are you heading home now? Where's Director Niu? Isn't he taking you?"
At that, the girl hesitated, then told Xu Yuan in an extremely, extremely quiet voice, "Teacher Niu is hiding. Don't tell anyone!"
Hiding?
What did that mean?
Protecting her in secret?
But was that necessary? Wouldn't it be better to protect her openly?
Unless...
Xu Yuan's heart jolted. Unless someone wanted to harm Luo Yaoxi, and Niu the Brute had picked up on signs of it, so he had gone into hiding to fish them out!
But this girl never contended with anyone. Who would think of targeting her?
Could it be because of her talent?
Thoughts surged through Xu Yuan's mind, but his expression remained calm. "I see. Then head home soon."
"Mm-hmm. Bye!"
Watching Luo Yaoxi head toward the bus stop across the road, Xu Yuan suddenly felt a hint of chill behind him.
He quickly turned his head and saw two familiar faces.
Zhou Ling, and Zhou Tai, who had come to pick him up.
Both father and son were looking at him.
Seeing him turn, Zhou Tai smiled and nodded, while Zhou Ling continued to stare at him coldly, just as he had during the martial skills assessment.
"This dumbass just won't quit."
Xu Yuan was speechless. He ignored them and headed toward the bus stop with Fatty.
As he walked, he opened the red envelope the girl had given him.
He was very curious how much his first red envelope contained.
Soon, however, Xu Yuan fell silent.
Inside the red envelope wasn't one or two hundred, nor was it six hundred and sixty or eight hundred and eighty, but the oddly precise sum of two hundred and thirty-seven.
Meanwhile, at Xu Yuan's home in Prosperous Age Grand View.
"Yaying, just how many sets of leather armor did that boy Xu Yuan manage to sell? I'm telling you, if you've called me over this late at night for fewer than thirty sets, I won't be happy."
Sister Wang sat on the old sofa with its peeling upholstery and spoke half-jokingly.
Half an hour earlier, Zhang Yaying had messaged her, asking her to come over because Xu Yuan wanted to finalize the leather armor purchase with her that evening. So she had come.
One reason she was so eager was that she already knew Xu Yuan was a martial arts prodigy the likes of whom Yang City only saw once a decade, and she wanted to give him face.
The other was that, if this worked out, she could pocket a little something herself.
Of course, that was on the condition that Xu Yuan wanted more than thirty sets of leather armor.
For over thirty sets, the company offered a twenty-percent discount, while she had offered Xu Yuan fifteen percent off. The difference of around two thousand would be hers.
Thirty jin added together would mean fifty to sixty thousand in earnings, nearly half a year's salary for her.
"Yuanzi didn't say exactly how many he wanted, but I suspect there really might not be that many. I hope you'll be understanding, Sister Wang."
Zhang Yaying spoke honestly.
She would have liked to brag on her son's behalf, but a martial arts class only had thirty students. Unless her son persuaded every last one, plus himself, there was no way to reach thirty.
And Zhang Yaying didn't think persuading the entire class to buy was very likely.
"Oh, never mind."
Sister Wang sighed too. "I'll just consider this working for nothing."
Of course, that was only talk.
Even if she sold just a dozen or so sets, the company would still give her credit.
As they spoke, the sound of a key unlocking the front door came.
All three people inside looked over at once and saw Xu Yuan push the door open and walk in.
"Oh, Auntie Wang, you're here!"
Xu Yuan was all smiles.
"Hmph. You had your mother call me over in such a hurry. Let's see just how big a deal you've landed!"
"Not much, not much. Barely eighty-three sets. It didn't even reach a hundred. It really is a little embarrassing to show anyone," Xu Yuan said with a chuckle.
Sister Wang had just raised her cup and taken a sip of hot water. At his words, she sprayed it all out with a splutter.
"How many did you say?!"
"Eighty-three sets. Don't turn your nose up at the number, Auntie Wang. I've already done my best."
Turn my nose up at it?
Turn my nose up, my ass!
Sister Wang lost all composure.
Zhang Yaying couldn't help asking either, "Yuanzi, you're not joking, are you? Eighty-three sets? Aren't there only thirty people in your class?"
"Yeah, but aren't there other schools too?"
"You know students from other schools too?"
"No, but I know how to foo... reason with people!"
Xu Yuan took out his phone and pulled up his Heavenly Messenger payment history. "These are everyone's deposits, eighty-three thousand in total. But I spent twenty thousand, so there's sixty-three thousand left. Take a look, Auntie Wang."
Sister Wang hurriedly took the phone. Looking at that long string of incoming payments, she went numb.
This kid had actually landed a huge order!
Eighty-three sets would cost over three million at market price.
Even at twenty-five percent off, that would still be close to two and a half million!
Of course, the most important thing was that she had struck it rich!
Over eighty sets, with around two thousand in profit per set, would add up to a hundred and fifty or sixty thousand!
Just as excitement filled her heart, she heard Xu Yuan say, "Auntie Wang, let's not beat around the bush. You should be making quite a bit from this order, right? I worked my fingers to the bone talking business with my classmates. After a whole day, I've practically worn my lips raw. By all rights, shouldn't you give me a share?"
Yes, that was right. Xu Yuan wanted to take a cut from both sides...