Chapter Ten: Zhu Qing's Little Schemes

“He’s so strong,” Zhu You said in a small voice.

Although she attended a martial arts academy and was occasionally taken out by her teachers for combat training, she had rarely witnessed battles of such scale. Especially this kind of scene—one person charging into a horde of monsters to clear them out—was mostly something she’d only seen discussed on forums.

“His level must be quite high,” her elder sister, Zhu Qing, remarked with a flicker of emotion on her face. “Skills with that kind of range are usually at least D-rank or higher. And he’s definitely a combat professional, probably already advanced to a mage or something similar.”

Career advancement certificates were hardly a common commodity. Even now, most young people remained without a specialized class. For one thing, the drop rate for those certificates was abysmally low; one needed real luck just to obtain one, and it might not even be for the class they wanted. For another, plenty of merchants speculated on these hard-currency items, causing even the most basic certificates to fetch upwards of 5,000 contribution points. For a young person with no connections, it could take half a year or even a whole year to scrape together that much.

No wonder that young man had been so curt with her earlier. She realized that, just like herself, he must have spotted the opportunity and returned at a high level to earn contribution points, which made her earlier excuse—claiming a school assignment as her reason for being here—seem a bit ridiculous in hindsight.

“Huh? He’s leaving already?” Zhu You watched as Yi Shen finished cleaning up the battlefield, but after only a brief sweep, he simply turned and walked away. There was still plenty left on the field; to her, each remnant was a fallen coin jar! Yet he didn’t seem to care at all.

Zhu Qing’s eyebrows lifted; she noticed as well. The idea of leaving immediately with her sister was instantly abandoned. If they could clear out the leftovers Yi Shen had left behind, the two of them could definitely make a tidy profit.

“Let’s go take a look,” Zhu Qing said, quickly sliding down the sandy slope. Her dark red outfit picked up some dust, and her high ponytail fluttered in the wind.

Zhu You circled around from the side and soon caught up, the two sisters once again closing in on Yi Shen.

Yi Shen was currently observing the number of monsters remaining in the cave, planning to find a chance to process the materials he’d collected. But with the two girls approaching clearly wanting something, he paused for the moment.

“Hello…” Zhu Qing stepped forward politely, ignoring his earlier attitude. A girl like her, if she cared too much about saving face, would never have managed to support her sisters, let alone send them all to the martial arts academy. Back in her high school days, she’d spent months selling fish outside the gates of Qiqiang Martial Academy just to pay tuition, long since learning to set pride aside.

Yi Shen glanced at Zhu Qing, then at Zhu You hurrying up behind her, but said nothing.

“We were rude before, so let us apologize first…” Zhu Qing smiled pleasantly. “I saw you’d finished off those monsters, and since it’d be hard for you to haul all these bodies away, would you mind if we took the snow serpents and dune worms you left? We really do need to collect these materials.”

Zhu You bit her lip and didn’t dare speak, letting her braver sister take the lead. After being rebuffed earlier, she was too embarrassed to address Yi Shen herself.

Yi Shen looked back at the field. “Help yourself.”

His main concern right now was experience points. He had no need for these things anymore, and gathering them would only be a hassle. Since the two sisters were being polite, he saw no reason to make things difficult and decided to let them have this small windfall.

“Thank you so much!” Zhu Qing said, truly grateful despite her polite tone. She’d been prepared to offer money for the corpses or to clean up after Yi Shen left, but his generosity saved them both time and money.

“Could I add your contact info?” she asked, pressing her luck a little. “We’re both students at Qiqiang Martial Academy, and you don’t look much older than us. Maybe we’ll have a chance to be friends in the future?”

Zhu You, the more timid one, quivered behind her. She knew her sister had guts—she’d seen it during the fish-selling days—but she still blushed furiously, hiding behind her sibling.

“Are you twins?” Yi Shen gave the two girls another look, finding them oddly familiar. Something about them reminded him of that girl in his class who had confessed to him recently. He wasn’t sure if it was just that all the girls looked alike or if it was simply the curse of common features.

“We’re not twins, just sisters,” Zhu Qing replied honestly.

“All right, then.” Yi Shen, moved by her enthusiasm, relented. After all, it wasn’t every day that a pair of sisters came to ask for his contact information; it would be impolite to refuse.

Zhu Qing, always courteous, quickly stepped back after receiving his info, and the two sisters set about cleaning up the battlefield.

...

“Sis, you’re so bold—you actually asked for his contact!” Zhu You finally dared to speak once they were a safe distance away. She’d never had many friends at school and could never be as outgoing as her sister.

“What else could I do?” Zhu Qing replied. “He’s a handsome guy, you know. If you don’t get his contact, someone else will. He’s clearly from a wealthy family, and look at you, blushing like that—I bet you like him.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got his info for you now. If you get lucky, maybe you’ll really get to know him. These days, ordinary folks like us have it harder and harder. If you can find a man like that for support, I won’t have to worry about your future anymore,” Zhu Qing sighed, giving her sister some sisterly advice.

She, too, had once been a shy girl, but life had worn down her edges. She knew that the three Zhu sisters weren’t lacking in looks; when she sold fish, she’d suffered her share of harassment. Still, she hoped her sisters could lead better lives than she had. If either of them could marry into wealth, that would be one of the best outcomes possible.

Over the years, the class divisions in the Jingmen safe zone had only grown more rigid. Yi Shen was young, a professional, and had all the manners and bearing to make him the target of many women’s affections. If her sister hadn’t shown an interest in him, Zhu Qing might have considered winning his favor herself.