CHAPTER 246: CHAPTER 246: PAUPER

The next day.

All the students selected for the special training group gathered early at the meeting point. When Ji You arrived empty-handed, she found that most of her classmates were carrying big and small bags. Ji You was puzzled: "Are you guys going on a picnic?"

But after a glance at her, someone couldn’t help but ask: "Ji You, are you really coming empty-handed?"

Ji You nodded: "Yes."

Didn’t the teacher say that everything would be prepared for the students? Just bring yourself and your head, isn’t that enough?

The person who spoke looked at Ji You with sympathy, then silently increased the distance from her, the disdain obvious without words.

Ji You: "???"

What’s going on?

Ji You looked around and noticed that about sixty students had big bulging bags on their backs, obviously carrying a lot of stuff.

Another forty or so, like Ji You, came empty-handed, including Shen Changqing, Chu Jiaojiao, Sheng Qingyan, Yue Qiguang, Yue Qiyuan... Ji You hurried over, squeezed out a smile, and said to Chu Jiaojiao: "Jiaojiao, it seems like you guys are really in sync with me, why do those others all carry bags?"

Chu Jiaojiao first blankly stared at Ji You’s smiling face, then turned towards Ji You’s empty hands, puzzled, she asked: "Ji You, did you really not bring anything?"

Ji You was even more puzzled: "Yeah. Didn’t they say there’s no need to bring anything? Aren’t you guys also empty-handed?"

Beside them, Sheng Qingyan glanced at Ji You and disdainfully said: "Poor dead... you don’t even know what a Space Button is, do you? We don’t have things in our hands because everything is in our Space Buttons..."

Ji You: "..."

Heart sinking, Ji You looked towards Chu Jiaojiao, who nodded vigorously: "Yes, Ji You, I’ve put my things in the Space Button."

Ji You then turned to Shen Changqing; he did not speak but just nodded.

Not convinced, Ji You looked at Yue Qiguang and Yue Qiyuan. Yue Qiguang said jokingly: "Poor guy! Call me daddy, and I’ll give you everything in daddy’s Space Button!"

Ji You: "..."

Ji You almost slapped him: "Get lost! Grandpa doesn’t have a grandson like you, I hereby expel you from grandsonship!"

Yue Qiyuan rolled his eyes at Yue Qiguang then at Ji You, and said: "Use your brains when you speak, I’m tired of seeing and hearing it."

Staying with these tycoons, Ji You was on the verge of depression, she turned around and ran to her bushy-browed, big-eyed "son" Xuzhou, who had a big bag on his back, not knowing what it contained.

Ji You curiously ran up and asked: "Little Zhouzhou, what did you bring?"

Upon seeing Ji You, Xuzhou’s mouth twitched involuntarily, but knowing he couldn’t escape, he braced himself and replied: "Nothing much, just some food."

Ji You widened her eyes: "Food?"

Bringing so much food?

Xuzhou’s face slightly reddened, he replied: "I heard from others that during special training outings like this, the conditions are limited, and the food is usually nutrient meals from the Legion, which tastes quite bad. If you don’t want to struggle to swallow your food every day, you bring some snacks."

Ji You: "..."

That’s possible.

Ji You asked: "So what snacks did you bring?"

Xuzhou was quite straightforward, not hiding anything, he directly replied: "Peanuts, sunflower seeds, almonds and other nuts, various kinds of cookies, bread, dry provisions that fill you up, and various flavors of Natural Nutrient..."

Ji You: "!!!"

These items, with a rough estimate, are worth at least several thousand or even tens of thousands of credit points.

I didn’t expect Little Zhouzhou to be such an undercover tycoon.

After Xuzhou finished speaking, he looked at Ji You and asked, "You... really didn’t bring anything?"

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Ji You’s face. Even knowing that the food at the training site would be hard to swallow, she would never be willing to spend money on snacks! That is the stubbornness of a poor dead!

Humph!

Ji You said, "I didn’t bring anything. I don’t think it’s necessary! If the Legion’s warriors can stomach it, I certainly can too."

Upon hearing this, a hint of barely noticeable admiration flashed across Xuzhou’s face, and he said, "Oh—hope you can hold out."

Why does this sound so ominously uncertain?

At that moment, an unassuming, plain black spaceship quietly approached. Mu Jianling leisurely walked down from the ship, glanced at the students, and without any superfluous talk, simply said, "Are you all ready? Get on the spaceship."

The students quickly lined up and orderly boarded the spaceship.

Walking ahead were Chu Jiaojiao, Shen Changqing, Sheng Qingyan... these students who had brought nothing, all boarded the spaceship successfully, but when it came to the students carrying backpacks, Mu Jianling suddenly stopped them, saying, "Hold on."

Backpack students: "???"

At the same time, everyone had a bad feeling rising within them: Could it be that their snacks were going to be confiscated?

With arms crossed, Mu Jianling said, "500 credit points per person for transportation fees."

Students: "..."

Robbery.

Mu Jianling said, "I’m not stopping you from bringing snacks, but! I’m not a philanthropist, and I have no obligation to help you transport them for free. If you were using a Space Button like those students earlier, I could turn a blind eye. But you didn’t do that. Your items are taking up space, so there must be a charge."

Students: "..."

Alright then.

What else could we do, apart from leaving the snacks behind or paying up?

Thus, the students, one after another with grim faces, paid the money.

Xuzhou as well.

Ji You, following behind, murmured, "Hey! This is actually outright disdain for the poor."

A Space Button, with just a single cubic’s worth of space, starts at a minimum of 100,000 and those five to six cubic ones cost at least around 500,000 credit points. Those without a Space Button are the poor students.

However, Ji You’s comment seemed to be overheard by Mu Jianling. When Ji You was boarding, Mu Jianling gave her a sidelong glance and said ominously, "The instructor does not disdain the poor."

Ji You was startled, instantly changed her tune, and said, "Oh! Sir, you misunderstood me, how could the instructor disdain the poor? The instructor has always been beautifully generous, kind, and treats all students equally like children, a truly outstanding teacher!"

Mu Jianling: "Hurry up and get on board."

That was hard to listen to.

Ji You hurriedly ran into the spaceship, found her designated seat, and sat down obediently.

Then, after Mu Jianling boarded the spaceship, the spaceship broadcasted a round of safety knowledge to the students and then slowly, slowly, began to speed towards the sky of Lanyue Star, quickly disappearing into the horizon.