CH 2

[RESIDENCE OF MONSTERS V4] CHAPTER 2 – WHERE DID THE HONGBAO YOU CLAIMED TO HAVE SAVED UP ALL THOSE YEARS AGO GO?

Note: Hongbao are the red envelopes containing money given by the married to the unmarried during Chinese New Year.

I’m done! Translating JXYT V1C10 next :)

Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.

Author: Lan Qi Zuo Ren ( 藍旗左衽 ).

Translated by: Yujuan

Afternoon. Administrative building, class advisor’s individual office.

The concentrated smell of medicinal herbs congested the entire space. Yin Su Shuang sat behind the desk with a hand propping up his head, looking at the seven students standing before him.

The seven students wore the sportswear they had borrowed from the division of general affairs, their hair still damp.

Yin Su Shuang released a sigh, unhurriedly speaking, “A few days ago a document arrived from the Association’s headquarters, stating that the frequency of abnormal cases has increased during this period of time. According to the investigation, the Opposers have assembled into an organization, established a school and started training new blood to oppose the Association.”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, not understanding why Yin Su Shuang was telling them this.

“The extremist cadre within some of the Association’s higher-ups proposed to mobilize the Summoners around the world in order to find that particular secret school, then have a fight to the death with them.” Yin Su Shuang paused for a second, “I think sending you all there would be enough.”

“Does Class Advisor mean that we’re very strong, so you’re giving such a significant mission to us, to atone for our crimes?” Feng Ping Lan’s eyes shone.

“What I mean is, those who’ve had contact with you for a long time will have world-weary intentions. All of you have the ability to make someone wish for self-destruction.” Yin Su Shuang said coldly.

“Oh.” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, “That’s also considered a type of strong, am I right?”

Liu Yi Chen elbowed Feng Ping Lan, hinting at him to shut up.

“The main cause of this was you and your Contracts.” Yin Su Shuang looked at Feng Ping Lan, taking out a letter from the folder on the table, “These are the damage estimation costs, the formal reparations document and bill will be delivered to you in a few days’ time. You will be paying us back for the costs.”

Feng Ping Lan took the letter, drawing out the estimation bill out from it. Conglong, Simo, and Morris revealed disregarding and uninvolved expressions, because losing money was a matter that was superficial to them. But Dongya anxiously stuck to Feng Ping Lan’s side, looking at him slowly unfolding the piece of paper.

“Wow!” Looking at the figure, Feng Ping Lan sighed in amazement, “There are six digits.”

But, the Contracts shouldn’t have any problems pertaining to money. He had even seen Conglong buy an imported limited edition sports car model without hesitation, spending about around a few ten thousand yuan.

A painful moan sounded out from the side.

“Dongya?” Feng Ping Lan noticed Dongya’s abnormal state, speaking out in concern.

Dongya’s face was pale, sweat dripping from his forehead, gaze fixed on the estimation bill. Suddenly the floor beneath his feet had disappeared, his entire body collapsing to the floor, head spinning.

Calm down, he had to calm down…

“Are you alright? What’s wrong?” The others realized something wrong with Dongya.

“I’m very good…” Dongya opened his mouth, his voice unexpectedly hoarse.

He had to calm down…

He wanted to eat ice cream. His tongue, his throat were craving for the moisture of that ice cold and smooth sweetness, his disturbed and anxious heart needed that rich and fine lusciousness to calm down…

But there was none left. There was none right now, none at home, the last box had been finished by him last night. Just like that empty vault in the storeroom.

“Do you feel ill?” Feng Ping Lan reached out a hand to pat Dongya’s back.

“I’m fine…” Dongya felt a bout of dizziness, he tried his best to stand, but stumbled, his entire body powerlessly toppling over.

Before he fell, Feng Ping Lan, in order to catch him, lost his hold on the estimation bill, and it floated down before Dongya, the six-figure debt entering his vision.

He let out a painful groan, then lost consciousness.

*

Dongya opened his eyes, and what entered his vision was not the office, not the classroom, but the ceiling of his own bedroom.

He stared at the white ceiling, realizing that there was a spider web covered in dust in the corner.

He subconsciously moved his fingers, summoning a little wind to place that dust wadding out the window.

“Are you awake?”

He turned his head to see Byriel in the position before the desk, legs crossed, looking at him calmly. On the other side, Quetzal stood by the closet, looking at him silently.

When his gaze met Quetzal’s, Dongya reflexively shrunk in, moving his gaze away and sitting up.

“When you suddenly fainted, everyone was frightened.” Byriel spoke. “The Summoners sent a doctor to give you a medical examination, that Seno guy. The results were as unreliable as his appearance, hehehe.” He didn’t ask, waiting for Dongya to explain.

Dongya sighed slightly, “I’m fine.”

Byriel raised his eyebrows, seemingly dissatisfied with this answer, but he didn’t say anything.

“Since there’s nothing wrong, I’ll go explain to everyone now.” Byriel walked out of the room, twisting the knob, stepping out the room without even looking back.

Quetzal was still fixing his eyes on him. Dongya knew, that Quetzal was also waiting for him to explain.

“I seem to have messed up on a few matters.” Dongya forced a smile.

“I only care about Prince Shuekan’s whereabouts, on this matter, you have not messed up yet,” Quetzal spoke indifferently, turning to exit the room.

Dongya breathed in deeply. Those that had to be faced still had to be faced…

He stabilized his emotions, calmly getting up to walk to the living room.

Everyone was sitting in the living room, waiting, everyone was worried about his condition.

“Dongya! Are you okay?” Feng Ping Lan anxiously pushed the sofa into Dongya’s direction, “Hurry and sit down, a sick person can’t stand for too long!”

“Thank you.” Dongya sat, expression completely serene.

The clock on the wall expressed that it was 8:05, time for Shadow Academy, but everyone was here. It was evident they had requested a leave of absence to stay behind for him. This caused the self-reproach in Dongya’s heart to rise a few more levels.

“So, what’s the matter?” Morris opened his mouth, “You’ve been acting strangely all day, what’s the problem?”

Dongya sighed, “Something very bad has happened…”

The expressions on everyone’s faces became severe.

“What happened?!”

“Is the situation critical?”

“Does it have to do with you fainting?” Morris questioned.

Dongya nodded his head, about to speak, but realized that declaring the truth was such a hard-pressed matter to do.

“We…” He had just spoken that word, and he couldn’t bear but to cover his mouth, expression pained, incapable of speaking.

“Is it the Third Prince’s men? Have they come to you, did they put a spell on you?” Conglong inferred uneasily. “How could the Twelfth Prince’s general collapse from stress? You must have been cursed!”

Dongya sorrowfully and embarrassedly shook his head.

“We…” He spoke, looking as if he was bearing a great burden.

Everyone worriedly leaned closer to listen.

Dongya inhaled, expression tranquil, as if he was about bid farewell to the world, and announced, “We’re already—”

Bang! The lights in the brightly lit room abruptly went out.

“Why did the lights go out?”

“Are we being attacked?!”

“Put out the protective shields! Prepare for battle!”

The room immediately entered a stern atmosphere of high alert. Even Feng Ping Lan summoned the shadow blade, anxiously glancing around him.

“There aren’t any enemies, no attacks…” Dongya’s sorrowful voice rang out in the gloomy darkness, “—We’re just out of money.”

Ah! What a humiliating fact to speak of…

The room was silent for a few seconds. Everyone was momentarily unable to understand, because their own concept of money was just too distant from them, too abstract.

“No money?” Everyone was at a loss.

Byriel shook his head, displaying a smile of absurdity. Quetzal’s expression was as apathetic as usual, but there was a trace of faintly discernable helplessness.

“Why are we out of money?”

“Isn’t there a lot in that steel cabinet with the numbered roulette?” Conglong was puzzled. “Could it be that you didn’t open it using the right way?”

“Let’s make this place a little brighter first.” Morris flicked his finger, and a ball of flame floated into the air, lighting up the living room.

Under the light of the fire, Dongya’s expression looked a little gloomy.

“Can you start from the beginning?”

“I told you, we’re out of money.” Dongya repeated, his tone a little impatient.

“What does this have to do with the electricity?” Conglong puzzled.

Dongya stood up violently, walking to the laundry room and taking out a pile of papers to put on the tea table. Those papers were all reminder letters, for water bills, electricity bills, gas bills, internet bills, and telephone bills.

“What’s this?”

“Bills.”

“Wow,” Feng Ping Lan flipped through the invoices, “Our water, electricity and gas has been cut at the same time!” He took up another paper, “Our internet and telephone lines too.”

“What!”

“How can they cut off our internet? The Emperor Fish is going to give out gems in an hour! The Egg Tree’s going to bear fruit soon too!”

“I have a show I have to watch a ten o’clock.”

“Me too…” Simo said quietly, “…Is there no way to let it resume quickly?”

Facing everyone every word, Dongya’s worried and vexed feelings turned into irritation.

“The reason why we have fallen into this state is that, with the exception of Quetzal, everyone loves spending too much money.” He couldn’t help but criticize, “We were already hard-pressed for money after paying our school fees, but Conglong kept on buying models, meaningless things like those numbers in those games! Morris ordered those exercising equipment, each one more than ten thousand yuan! Simo bought those novels, Blu-ray DVDs and media equipment without a limit, drinking a few bottles of famous wine every day! Byriel too, spending vast amounts of money on branded clothing, even frequenting high-ranking erotic places! The amount of money added up together isn’t a small amount!”

Byriel never thought he would be shot down too even though he had kept quiet all this while, raising his eyebrows to defend himself, “I’m sorry, nightclubs are not erotic places, they are places for socializing. Erotic affairs usually happen after the socializing, in a location outside the area.”

“That is not the point!” Dongya said rashly. “If all of you knew how to exercise restraint, something like this wouldn’t happen…”

“Hey hey, it’s not just us, right?” Morris couldn’t help but protest, “You run to the marketplace every day, your part in this isn’t small either!”

“The things I buy are all necessities.”

“Oh, is that so?” Conglong walked to the cupboard, opening the drawers and cabinets, the metal spoons and exquisite bone china lying within, shining brightly under the flame. “Three-fourths of this is new!”

Dongya was a little guilty, “Everyone can use the cutlery, it won’t spoil either if it’s placed there.” He liked tea sets, especially tablespoons. Using these shiny little things to eat ice-cream would both satisfy his sight and taste.

“You know that we won’t use it at all! Even if we were to use it it wouldn’t be this much!” Morris rebuked.

Feng Ping Lan couldn’t help but rejoice upon the fact that the demons didn’t have their own credit cards, or the house would be used as mortgage by now.

Dongya gave a cold sideways glance at Morris, “Don’t forget, that six-digit bill today was something you invited, you added fuel to the fire…” A double entendre full of contempt.

Morris was struck speechless.

Dongya had seized back the leading position, continuing, “I was planning on taking some flour and sugar back home from Home Economics class to ease the predicament a little, but everything’s messed up now because of you.”

“Let me interrupt,” Byriel unhurriedly spoke out, “Apart from sugar, you also took salt. If you infused them together, I wouldn’t be able to drink it, hehehe.”

“That is not the point!” Dongya rebuked.

Cut off from water, electricity, and food, even incurring a debt. Everyone understood that the situation wasn’t very good at the moment. They had thought that the biggest threats living in the human world, were the Third Prince and the Summoners. They never expected to face a financial crisis.

The human world was much more comfortable and at peace than the netherworld, but there still existed a terrifying challenge within that peacefulness.

“Then, what are we going to do now?” Conglong broke the silence.

“Apart from Quetzal’s school doctor salary, we have to think of something to raise money…” Dongya propped his head up with his hand, muttering in distress, “We’ve gone through those harsh and difficult days in the past in times of war, it’s nothing serious if we have no electricity or the internet, what’s more troublesome is that maintenance fee…”

The moment those words were spoken, Conglong and Morris immediately protested.

“No internet is a very serious matter! How can it be regarded as nothing!” Morris refuted. Simo nodded continuously from the side.

“Hey, how do we gain a large amount of money in a short period of time in the human world?” Conglong asked Feng Ping Lan.

In the past in the netherworld, military force was the key to gaining wealth and authority, plundering was the most fundamental principle to conduct oneself in society. He knew that the human world had different game rules to the netherworld, but he didn’t know the workings of the game.

“Ah?” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, “If we’re considering the time, the only way would probably be to rob the bank, hahaha.”

Conglong and Morris both nodded their heads.

“I’ve seen it on the TV, there are a lot of valuable things in the bank, and there are even armed forces guarding that treasure.”

“That’s right, and our pictures will be pasted everywhere in the city, describing our glorious achievement, making the citizens revere us, and also to be mindful of our whereabouts.” Conglong paused for a moment, “More or less the same as the specialty of those idolator fans.”

“Who would do this kind of thing?” Morris frowned.

“Who knows, probably wandering bards.”

“Hey! I was just making a joke!” Feng Ping Lan hurriedly put a stop to them.

“Indeed, our current situation is not very suitable for acting too ostentatiously.” Conglong pondered for a moment, then dropping this proposal.

“Are there any more low-profile methods?”

Feng Ping Lan was about to speak, when Simo who stood by the side shyly raised her hand, unexpectedly taking the courage to speak up.

“Um…” Everyone’s gazes moved towards Simo, and she shrunk in a little, speaking softly, “It’ll be alright as long as we have a CEO…”

“Who’s that?”

“A person with a lot of money.” Simo explained, “W-we can find somewhere the CEO will appear, then lie in wait for him…”

“Then we fight him, the one who wins can take away his riches?” Morris shook his head, “That would be a one-sided battle.”

“Not a fight.” Simo hurriedly explained, “We have to trip in front of him, or coincidentally drop a handkerchief that will float before him, in short, we have to show him our clumsy side.”

“You mean we have to let him pity us, giving us money! Even if all my fish starved to death I wouldn’t go out to beg!” Conglong rebuked furiously.

“Not beg, let me finish…” Simo furrowed her brows, her voice raising a little higher, “If we do that, the CEO will fall in love with us, then he’ll give us a lot of money.”

“What?” Everyone was perplexed.

“How can there be such a mystical way of exploitation…” Dongya felt astonished, “Human society is as expected complicated and profound.”

“Uh, it’s not like that!” Feng Ping Lan wanted to explain, but momentarily did not know how to.

There was a smile hanging off Byriel’s face. As he ate the Star Candy a female student had given him, he calmly observed this crowd of netherworld bumpkins make a fool out of themselves.

“It’s true, I’ve read it in many books, they even act it out on television! All the CEO in the world like clumsy people.” Her specialized field mentioned, Simo became increasingly excited, “But, there are still a few challenges to overcome. When we have established a stable relationship of money and casual sex between us and the CEO, the CEO’s fiancee will appear not long after to give us trouble, using all sorts of methods to force us leave, then we’ll find out that we’re actually the CEO’s half-sibling of a different mother, the CEO’s parents will consider us to be of low status, obstructing us from being with the CEO, even sending out assassins—”

There’s no way someone would be your half-sibling, right? You’re already of a different variety!

“I get it now, we’ll directly overthrow those assassins and the CEO’s parents, thus obtaining those riches, right?” Morris said.

“No, we will fall off a cliff, then closely escape by being rescued by a boat, but we’ll lose our memories, running into the CEO’s formidable opponent or good friend, who will then fall in love with our amnesiac, clumsy and helpless selves…” Simo said in a kind of raving delirious manner, eyes shining in a reverie.

“Simo, that’s—” Feng Ping Lan wanted to tell Simo that all of that was just made up, but the moment he opened his mouth he was pulled towards the sofa by Byriel, a finger stopping before his lips, sealing off his words.

“Shh, don’t interrupt.” Byriel smiled to the point that his lips were almost pulled to the corners of his eyes, “Let her finish.”

“Then the CEO’s formidable opponent or good friend will usually be a CEO too, after falling in love with each other he’ll also give us a lot of money, then there’ll be another fiancee coming out to give us trouble, we’ll discover that we have actually also have a blood relation with the CEO’s good friend, and we’ll then be chased by assassins again, then fall off another cliff…”

“Then we’ll get picked up by another CEO?” Conglong frowned, “Also, why are there so many people with a blood relation to us?”

“…Because humans are very promiscuous. Also, CEO’s like to do things having to do with breeding the next generation but not wanting to breed the next generation in the name of love, so there are many traumatic scars on his heart…” Simo’s face reddened, then started to giggling by herself.

“That’s preposterous! I can’t make head or tail of it!” Morris shook his head, “I absolutely refuse to trip in front of someone! I don’t want to fall into the sea either!”

“Right, Morris can’t swim.”

Morris glared at Feng Ping Lan.

“I am very curious on how you came to know that, hehehe…” Byriel smiled, inquiring Feng Ping Lan.

“None of your business, smelly worm, shut your mouth!” Morris rebuked angrily.

Byriel did not mind, smiling, “Have you realized that there has been an increase in stray dogs in the neighborhood lately?”

“My canine teeth are enough to snap off your neck!” Morris thought Byriel was calling him a dog, responding maliciously.

“—Because I fed them.”

“I don—” Morris was about to reply, and suddenly came to a realization, “So it was you—”

A bunch of stray dogs stopping outside, it was no wonder no cats dared to approach!

Byriel smiled even more brilliantly, “Do you also want to be fed by me?” He extended a hand, scratching Morris’ chin, “Kneel, shake, I’ll have you neutered later tonight. Hehehe…”

Morris aggravatedly brandished his claw, but Byriel handily leaped back, avoiding that attack.

“Stop arguing…” Dongya spoke, lacking strength. There wasn’t a single reliable person before him. He turned his head towards the corner, where Quetzal stood silent all the while, asking helplessly, “Quetzal, what do you think?”

Quetzal hadn’t given much of a reaction. He never stayed in the house for too long, and had no materialistic desires. This question held insignificant weight to him.

The cold thin lips spat out these few words, “Solve your own problems…” With that, he turned to leave, showing his evident intention of not getting involved.

Dongya was in charge of domestic affairs, and out of respect, he had no intention of interfering.

Feng Ping Lan saw the discussion enter a tense atmosphere, so he planned on opening his mouth to offer a proposal, “Um, guys, I have a suggestion—”

“Why are the lights out? What are you guys up to this time?!” The sound of the door opening followed by a question sounded from the entrance hall. Kaido’s ugly face appeared from the dark behind the door, Tan Hua following suit behind him.

“Good evening, Kaido! Did you miss me during our Shadow Academy classes tonight?” Feng Ping Lan smiled to greet him.

Kaido ignored Feng Ping Lan’s idiotic words, scrutinizing the living room in its entirety, looking at the fireball suspended in midair, then looked at the serious expressions on the five demons’ faces, frowning.

“Did more of your enemies turn up?” He spoke with his guard up, hand on the ornamental button on his waist. The moment the situation went wrong, he could take out his blade from the field within the button at any time.

“Oh, it’s nothing, we’ve just been cut off from our water electricity gas and internet, haha.”

Kaido was startled, “Why?”

“Because we have no money!” Morris took out his anger on Kaido, “Because of a certain freeloading idler who doesn’t give a single bit of contribution and yet still acts rash and headstrong, shouldn’t you be reflecting upon yourself!”

Morris finished roaring, and the demons behind him entered a state of awkwardness.

Dongya coughed lightly, “Morris, your words are describing a lot of people…”

Byriel burst into laughter again.

Kaido looked at Feng Ping Lan and the Contracts, thinking they were making a joke, only when a moment had passed did he realize this was all true.

“Just what did you guys do, to fall to this state…” Kaido muttered disbelievingly.

Kaido thought that Feng Ping Lan, who could manage six demons by himself, was just like him, who had come from a prestigious Summoner family, and had also been snubbed and punished by his clan, which was why he was living such a rough life.

No one answered Kaido. The relationship between the Contracts and Feng Ping Lan was a secret, and other than the few Summoners in Shadow Academy, no one knew.

The summer night was stiflingly hot, and Morris’ fireball had increased the heat by several levels within the room, Dongya who acted the part as the living air-con was in an unwell state, so he had no strength to summon a breeze to adjust the temperature, causing the entire living room to as hot as a steamer basket.

Kaido impatiently wiped away the sweat on his face, glancing at the demons present before him.

He had originally intended on ruthlessly mocking them, but this kind of situation was just too strange, and that caused him to become momentarily unsure on what to say.

He was used to insulting someone for their incompetence, but he had never laughed at someone’s poverty-stricken state.

Really… Just too perplexing…

Kaido raised his hand, and Tan Hua immediately understood, delivering Kaido’s bag into his hands. He flipped through it, taking out a deep brown genuine leather long wallet. Opening it, he took out a small stack of thousand-yuan bills, placing them on the tea table.

“Here’s my rent.” Kaido once again impatiently wiped away the sweat on his forehead, he hated this clammy sensation. “Tell me when the water, electricity and gas have come back.”

“Kaido, where are you going?” Feng Ping Lan questioned.

“To a hotel.”

“Didn’t your economic support get cut off?” Conglong asked doubtfully.

“I get regular living expenses every month.” Kaido looked at Feng Ping Lan, “The clan is sensitive about their reputation, they can’t possibly let one of their own fall into dire straits, let alone someone who’s most likely to become the next successor.” He was incredibly curious, just what sort of clan Feng Ping Lan had come from.

“Then how did you end up staying in the public park back then?”

“The punishment from my clan came to abruptly, I was caught unprepared.” With this mentioned being mentioned, Kaido humphed resentfully, “I could take directly from the clan’s treasury before this, but now I can’t I can only receive my living expenses every month. Yawn, them and their petty tricks…”

“How much does Kaido receive every month?” Feng Ping Lan was curious.

“Two thousand.”

“That little?” Jing Lan-ge would give him at least five thousand every month for his living expenses. “Are you sure you’re alright giving us that much rent?” That stack had at least seven or eight thousand.

Kaido frowned, “…US dollars.”

“What?!” Feng Ping Lan stood up in astonishment, “So Kaido was a rich young master? No wonder Tan Hua calls you Young Master Kaido, Kaido is really a young master!”

Seeing Feng Ping Lan stare at him as if he was looking at a rare animal, the confusion in Kaido’s heart deepened.

Wasn’t Feng Ping Lan a young master himself? Why else would he have the capability to live in this kind of residence? Even if he wasn’t originally, with the ability he had to summon six demons, he would naturally have some bigwigs knocking on his door to bring him into their clan.

The more he associated with Feng Ping Lan, the more doubts surfaced within him.

“Since you have the money, why are you living here?” Morris asked resentfully.

Kaido rolled his eyes, “How is this enough money? I don’t have enough to live in the hotel I like, I can only stay here.”

“What a real grievance to you!” Conglong mocked. But just as he said that, his head was whacked by Dongya.

“Do not be rude to Young Master Kaido.” Dongya corrected Conglong, then turned to look at Kaido, lifting his lips into a gentle smile, “We are absolutely thankful towards your investment. We will restore the house back to its normal operations as soon as possible. We wait respectfully for your return.”

“Why are you so respectful to him?!”

“At the moment, Young Master Kaido is the one who has contributed the most to this house.” Dongya looked at Conglong and Morris, saying softly, “He is the minority that has not been like a freeloading idler and acting headstrong, his ranking is far higher than the two of you.”

“What?” A ranking system had actually appeared!

“What can a person with a high ranking do?” Kaido was curious.

“They can order those with a low ranking about.”

“Hey! How can you do that?” The two residents who had been pushed into the social stratum below ordinary people were dissatisfied, protesting.

“Oh, I see.” Kaido glanced at Conglong and Morris, hooking up a smile, “I am very satisfied with this system.”

The expressions on Morris and Conglong’s faces became very ugly.

Kaido intended on mocking the two of them, but he couldn’t stand the sultriness of the room any longer. “We’ll continue this when I come back.” He used his hand to wipe his sweat, impatiently leaving the residence.

After Kaido had left, the room entered a state of gloominess.

“I don’t like this…” Conglong muttered, “Even since the seal was broken we’ve been restricted, now that we’ve gained a bit of freedom, our hands are tied by something else instead…”

“A small matter like this isn’t enough to create a problem, no need to be so serious, we can return things to normal by using a little trick, hehehe…” Byriel smiled, saying.

“The human world has its own human rules. We will not do anything that will sully the Twelfth Prince’s name.” Dongya said firmly. What he meant, was that he was reminding the demons present, that anything like stealing and swindling was forbidden. “Besides, that crowd of Summoner teachers are still fixing their attention on us…”

“…So,” Simo said softly. “Do we want to go on the streets to find a CEO?” There was a hint of an eagerness in her tone.

The demons sunk into a bout of distress.

“Um, there something I’ve wanted to say for a long while.” Feng Ping Lan made use of this silence, raising a hand to speak up, “It’ll be alright once we get a part-time job! If all of you get jobs we’ll have six salaries, as long as we save up as much as possible, we’ll definitely be able to raise some money!”

“What is a part-time job?”

“It means working in exchange for money.” Feng Ping Lan explained excitedly, “But we need to attend Shadow Academy at night, so we can only go on the weekend. A lot of shops in the school’s vicinity have been hiring part-time students, we can try it too!” He was originally a scholarship student, but it was withdrawn after intruding the female dorms to destroy the sexual demons at the start of school, the money turning into compensation to repair the female dorms. Luckily, he would receive living expenses Jing Lan-ge sent in every month, so he had barely enough not worry about food and clothing.

He had always wanted to experience working a part-time job. Since life had already stabilized, it was just the right time to do so.

“What are we supposed to do there?”

“Students working part-time jobs will usually go to diners or shops to become servers, shop assistants, managing the counter, delivering goods, cleaning, stuff like that.” Feng Ping Lan tilted his head to think.

“You can earn money by cleaning?” Dongya was a little disbelieving, “How can someone spend money on someone to have fun?”

“It’s only fun to you, hehehe…”

“Anyways, it won’t be too hard, it shouldn’t spend too much of your strength, to you guys.” Feng Ping Lan said excitedly, “What do you guys think? There’s around an hour before Shadow Academy classes tomorrow for us to take a look around!”

The demons exchanged glances. “I guess that’s our only option.”

With a solution for the problem in mind, the demons released a sigh of relief, especially Dongya, whose face had been originally a little wan and ashen regained its vitality somewhat.

Feng Ping Lan smiled, opening his mouth, “It’s lucky we showered at school today, we can save our water too, hahaha!”

Dongya returned a smile. He was very glad and grateful of Feng Ping Lan’s optimism.

“Then what about the problem with the electricity?” Conglong questioned.

“We’ll hand it in tomorrow. But who knows when it’ll recover after we hand in the money.”

“My fish are going to birth gems in just half-an-hour, I need to be vigilant against those bad gem-coveting people who’ll take them before I do!”

Feng Ping Lan tilted his head to the side to think for a while, “How about this, Quetzal can generate electricity, ask him if he can help you charge your laptop.” He paused for a second, “I wonder where you’re supposed to plug in, hahahaha!”

Conglong’s face soured, “It isn’t funny at all.” His nerves weren’t thick enough to take Quetzal as a joke.

The demons returned to their rooms.

Just when Dongya was about to return to his room, a slender leg passed over from the side, blocking his way to the room. He turned his head, only to see Byriel with an expression that was a smile yet not a smile, leaning against the wall, smile facing at him.

“Is there something you need?”

“So, you stressed out and fainted from  such a small matter as this?” Byriel smiled shaking his head, “Isn’t that making too much a fuss over a minor issue? Hehehe…”

Dongya smiled in self-mocking, “It’s because I like it here, I like the life we have here.” He spoke seriously, “I care.”

“But we’ll leave, sooner or later.” Byriel pointed out the truth softly.

Dongya was silent for a while, then muttered lightly, “All I know, is that our objective is to find Prince Shuekan…” The developments after finding the prince, had many variables to it…

Byriel raised his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

Dongya didn’t answer, just smiling his usual gentle smile, intending to going around Byriel’s leg to enter the room.

“You don’t plan on saying?” Byriel straightened himself up, about to pull Dongya back for him to answer his question, but just as his back left the wall, a snow-white hand abruptly pressed him back to the wall’s surface.

“I’ll tell you.” Dongya smiled lightly, reaching out a hand at Byiel’s tie, tearing it downwards, placing his lips near the other’s ear, speaking softly, “…I’ll tell you, when I plan on pulling you down with me as my accomplice.”

*

The next day Feng Ping Lan left the house early. One of the reasons was that breakfast was canceled, and another being that in order to switch to cycling to school, saving the fees of riding a bus. In the past Conglong had always paid for him whenever they rode the bus, because Conglong loved to swipe the card, insisting on it beeping a few more times only did he become satisfied. Incidentally, Conglong also loved to pressed the bus bell, and he would snatch the right to press it before anyone else did right before their stop, as if he was in a buzzer quiz competition.

He had already received his living expenses for this month, and although he wanted to give out a portion as rent, since he had been freeloading off them for quite some time now, Dongya had refused.

“You are the reason we can have a place to live peacefully today.”  Dongya had said gently and firmly, “You don’t owe us anything.”

“Oh, but I still want to give you guys a little mental and physical effort, hahaha.” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head foolishly.

“You have already done a lot for us.” Dongya smiled, patted his shoulder, “Without you, we wouldn’t even have the chance to be worried about the lack of money.”

When Feng Ping Lan arrived, Dongya and Conglong were already present in the classroom. He was a little astonished, because before this, the bus should only reach the bus stand outside the school right now.

“Good morning! Did the bus come early today?” Feng Ping Lan asked offhandedly.

“How would I know! I ‘walked’ to school!” Conglong said with a gloomy expression, twitchily pressing the mechanical pencil in his hand. “My prepaid card’s been detained by Dongya, he says before the danger is solved, it can only be used on important occasions…”

“I see.” Feng Ping Lan nodded, “Why do you look so anxious then? Did you step on dog poo on the way here?”

“My gems have been stolen!” Conglong raged in answer, “This isn’t the first time that dirty-limbed woman has crossed the line!”

“How do you know that?”

“I used the school’s computer to log in this morning, and as I expected! My gems were stolen not one minute after it was produced last night! That damn ‘My Tears Have Dried I Dare Not Love’!” Conglong hammered the desk with all his might.

“Aiya, there’ll be more after you wait another few days. Or you can come to my aquarium to take mine. I don’t mind.”

“There’s only trash to pick up in your aquarium, your fish can only produce cheap shells, it’s worth nothing at all!” Conglong glared at Feng Ping Lan, saying sincerely in a condemning tone, “You’re running your aquarium without a single bit of attentiveness, this is not good.”

“Yes yes yes, I’ll find the time to tidy it up.” Feng Ping Lan turned his head around, saying, “Where are Simo and Morris?”

“Morris ran off somewhere with a bag of cat feed. Simo went to the library this morning to use the computer like I did, but she went to a different website, and not long after she was called by the librarian to the office.” Conglong frowned, answering, “We need to find a way to earn money, I’m already starting to hate this sort of life…”

“Hey!” Bai Li Rui suddenly cut in with a call, he spun one round, natural and unrestrainedly sitting into Feng Ping Lan’s seat, crossing his legs and extending his hand, “Lend me your Chinese homework, thanks!” His posture was fluent and brought a bit of magnificence, too bad not a single female classmate would give him an adoring cry of praise.

“Oh, okay.” Feng Ping Lan bent his waist, taking out a thin book from his bag. Just as he was about to pass it to Bai Li Rui, an idea flashed through Conglong’s mind, who was sitting by the side.

“Hold it!” Conglong stopped the action from midair, blocking the thin book.

“Hey, please queue if you want to borrow it!” Bai Li Rui complained.

“I’m not trying to borrow it.” Conglong said, proud of himself, “There is a fee if you want to borrow it!”

“What?” Feng Ping Lan and Bai Li Rui were both shocked.

“So there is also a move like this…” Dongya nodded his head by the side, revealing an understanding expression of praise.

“Why is there a fee?”

“The homework that Feng Ping Lan shed his blood, sweat and tears for, why should it be copied by you without anything in exchange?”

“Uh, I think it doesn’t matter—” Feng Ping Lan was cut off just as he spoke.

“Be quiet!” Conglong stopped Feng Ping Lan’s words, “Don’t let someone use something of value without paying for it! From today onwards I am your middleman!”

“Hey! I have never once thought of using Feng Ping Lan!” Bai Li Rui frowned in protest, looking at Feng Ping Lan, “Are you short of money?”

“Uh, yeah…” Feng Ping Lan smiled a little embarrassedly.

“Alright then.” Bai Li Rui sighed, compromising, glancing at the middleman, “How much?”

“Ask him.” Conglong didn’t understand the prices of the human world, efficiently throwing the troublesome problem to Feng Ping Lan.

“Ask me? Didn’t you say you were going to become my middleman?” Feng Ping Lan asked with a laugh.

“You’re smarter than me, you explain to him.” Conglong warned Feng Ping Lan once again. “Don’t make it too cheap! You can’t sell your intellectual property at a low price!”

“Understood.” Feng Ping Lan tilted his head to think for a moment, mind speedily operating, and a moment later he smiled, speaking, “Do you want a single charge or a package deal?”

“Ah?”

“A single charge charges by the minute, the first minute being free of charge, there will be an increase of fifteen yuan per minute after the second minute, and a ten percent discount after the tenth minute.” Feng Ping Lan introduced smoothly, “The time package is a hundred and fifty yuan fee to enjoy a thirty-minute period; for an effortless copying, you can choose the subject package, where you can choose three subjects for eight-hundred yuan, and during a one-month period all homework tasks can be borrowed for limited usage. Consuming a hundred can earn bonus points, where you can become a member after receiving twenty bonus points. Bonus points can be redeemed for a complimentary gift, or compensation in time. That is all.”

Feng Ping Lan said all this in one breath, regular and thorough, without a single pause. Bai Li Rui and Conglong were struck dumb.

“Are you a commissioner from a telecommunications company?” Bai Li Rui clicked his tongue in wonder.

“Sorry for inconveniencing you, we’re a little short of money right now, we can only think of something to increase our money, haha.”

“How did you guys get so poor?”

“We wrecked the Home Economics classroom yesterday, so we need to pay quite a lot for the damages.” Feng Ping Lan explained, “We want to solve the problem ourselves, we don’t want to ask our families for help.”

“Mm, indeed. If you rely completely on your parents, there’ll always be someone latching on to every opportunity to meddle with everything relating to you in the future…” Bai Li Rui seemed to understand this mentality of being independent, “Then are you going to get a part-time job at night?”

“We can’t at night. We can only use the free time on weekends.”

“Why?”

“Uh, Conglong has irritable bowel syndrome, he needs to go to the toilet regularly from seven till eight.”

“Why are you pulling me into this!” His name mentioned, Conglong spoke discontentedly.

“Who told him to drink so much milk.” Bai Li Rui gave Conglong a glance, “Then let him go to his toilet, why don’t all of you get jobs? You don’t really need to stay behind to wash his backside, right?”

“The one who needs someone to wash his backside is you! Everyone knows that you’re thirsting for the opposite gender to willingly touch your lower half!”

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

“It’s tiring after sitting through a whole day of classes, so we want to rest at home at night.” Seeing the two of them about to start an argument, Feng Ping Lan hurriedly pulled them back to the main subject, vaguely coming up with a reason. They were indeed tired after Shadow Academy classes, this wasn’t a complete lie.

“Alright then, hope you guys break away from your predicament soon.” Bai Li Rui fetched a wallet from the pocket of his jacket, directly taking out two thousand yuan to place before Feng Ping Lan, “One month for every subject. You can take the balance as payment in advance.”

“Oh oh! Thank you!” Feng Ping Lan took the money, respectfully giving his homework to Bai Li Rui. “Please enjoy!”

“Tell me if there’s anything else you need help with, no need to be a stranger.” Bai Li Rui took the book, hastily returning to his seat.

“That guy’s actually not that bad.” Looking at Bai Li Rui’s back, Conglong gave rare praise to an outsider.

“Really.” Feng Ping Lan shared the same feeling. “A straightforward attitude, he’s super cool!”

“We can invite him to our house as a guest one day, to express our gratitude.” Dongya paused for a second, “After we pay our debt.”

Not even a few seconds after he’d left, Bai Li Rui suddenly stopped his footsteps, walking back.

“Oh, I forgot to remind you.” Bai Li Rui pushed his glasses up, “Please divulge my good actions of willing lending a helping hand to my friends to single ladies in the area. Also, I want to reserve Simo’s English homework next.”

“Why?”

“I want to circle every love and you on every page, using the mischievousness of a childish heart to reveal my deep love for her.”

Conglong, Dongya and Feng Ping Lan exchanged glances, breaking into laughter.

Retract that last statement.