CHAPTER 435: CHAPTER 435: GIFT

Shi Ya finished writing her resignation letter and without a second’s delay, she sent it directly to Professor McKin.

Professor McKin replied promptly, attempting to retain her with a gesture of persuasion; however, when Shi Ya decisively indicated her intention to leave, he could only regretfully approve her resignation.

Of course, the compensation due to Shi Ya was not withheld. Out of the 20 million credit points, 10 million were immediately paid to Shi Ya. The remaining amount was to be transferred to her as soon as Shi Ya handed over the current research data to Dina without reservation and its accuracy was confirmed.

Shi Ya didn’t entangle with the matter too much. She had a clear understanding of her current situation; since the matter was irrevocable, she might as well minimize her losses by demanding a sum of compensation.

Actually, the 20 million exceeded Shi Ya’s expectations. She had initially asked for 50 million just as an ambitious start. If she hadn’t brought it up proactively, the maximum compensation Professor McKin would have agreed to provide her was probably only 5 million credit points.

As for her concept of ’Biological’ Mecha, selling it for a flat rate of 20 million credit points was a decision made without determining whether it was worth it or not. Shi Ya did not consider it and had no spare time to ponder the question.

Because— she had personally experimented and though there were slight results, they were merely scratching the surface. Shi Ya was very aware that from concept to implementation, the financial, spiritual, human, and temporal resources required were tremendously and indefinitely vast. Even if she were to conduct the experiment herself, Shi Ya could not guarantee its success. Therefore, she decided to sell the concept outright.

million credit points were indeed a substantial figure—a figure that some individuals or families could never hope to encounter in their lifetimes, much like her and her father in the past...

...

Even without selling the concept, relying solely on her meager monthly salary, it would take Shi Ya decades to earn 20 million credit points, and even then, if her work did not make any significant breakthroughs, she might not be able to earn that many credit points in several decades...

That’s the harsh reality.

After receiving the approval for her resignation, Shi Ya remained utterly calm, both on her face and in her heart. In fact, nearly nothing and no one could provoke any emotional fluctuation in her anymore, except—

That girl, she wants to give me a gift?

What could it be?

A sense of anticipation inexplicably rose in Shi Ya’s cold eyes.

***

On the other side, as soon as Ji You received the address sent over by Senior Shi Ya, she immediately beamed with joy, pondering what to gift Senior Shi Ya.

After much thought, Ji You decided to give a Soul Device. This was the most valuable thing she could offer, both in terms of cost and worth, and moreover, it was something she had crafted by hand, which Ji You found very meaningful.

And so, she made up her mind to do it.

Ji You decided to put everything else aside and concentrate on crafting the gift for Senior Shi Ya.

When it came to the choice of materials, Ji You had already had plans in mind. She knew Senior Shi Ya certainly wouldn’t fancy flashy items, such as shiny pink jade, earrings, or ear drops; these were likely not Senior Shi Ya’s style.

Therefore, Ji You intended to use a rather expensive metal for the creation. This metal, known interstellarly by the scientific name ’Mithril’, needed to be extracted and then synthesized from various ores. After synthesis, its attributes and appearance were somewhat similar to platinum from Ji You’s previous world, but it was more durable and lighter than platinum.

Coincidentally, her recent materials class involved the use of Mithril, and Ji You, though it was a pinch, had purchased some extra for class assignments.

After cleaning up the workstation and keeping only the necessary materials and tools, Ji You was ready to start crafting. However—just as she conveyed her plan to the Six Strands in her Spirit Space, in a blink, her Spirit Space turned upside down—

Before her eyes, crowded together, were the plump bodies of the Spiritual Silk, all of them lying down haphazardly.

Boss: [Master, my body is stuck, I can’t move.]

Second: [Master, I can’t move my body either, yingyingying.]

Third: [Master! Quick, help us, we can’t move at all.]

Fourth: [Can’t move the body, can’t talk either! Ah! What to do? What to do?]

Old Five: [Master, no Candy Beans, don’t wanna work anymore.]

Hearing this, Ji You’s eyelids twitched, finally, Old Five blurted out the truth.

Sixth, as a tail-following thread, was listlessly flapping its tail, occasionally imitating Boss, Second, Third, Fourth, and at times mimicking Old Five...

Ji You thought about it and felt that it was not a long-term strategy to always trick these Spiritual Threads into working for her. To exploit them enduringly, she realized she needed to give them some benefits after all.

So, she didn’t hesitate and immediately took out 3 Candy Beans she had bought on credit from Teacher Mu Jianling, saying, "When have I ever asked you to work without compensating you? Have I ever treated you unfairly? Look, what’s this?"

[Candy Beans!!!] Inside the Spirit Space, the originally listless Six Spiritual Threads, like dead threads, suddenly boiled with excitement.

Ji You, with a smirk on her lips, said: "I prepared these for you early, what we’re doing today is very important, so you must give it your all. I won’t skimp on the 3 Candy Beans, I’ll give them all to you."

[Wow!!!] Hearing Ji You say this, the Six Spiritual Threads became even more thrilled, each starting to circle around in the Spirit Space...

Watching this scene, Ji You secretly snickered, thinking to herself: No matter how clever or smart you threads are... what of it? As long as you can’t kick this gluttonous habit, you’ll always be exploited by me.

After that, Ji You gobbled up the 3 Candy Beans, watching the Iron Plate within the Spirit Space immediately emerge, contesting with the Spiritual Silk for the Candy Beans, and felt a wave of speechlessness...

The Six doltish threads were exploited by her, yet they still helped count the money.

But—

Looking at it from another angle, Ji You herself was actually the pitiful wretch repeatedly exploited by the Iron Plate, also counting money for it.

Look—

Any good stuff, whether it’s Candy Beans, Butterfly Honey, Cloud Mist Tea... anything beneficial for spiritual power, the Iron Plate always wanted the lion’s share.

To this day, not only can Ji You not exploit the Iron Plate, but she also has no way to deal with this Gold Swallowing Beast. Moreover, she still has to grit her teeth and support this glutton.

Ying~

How can the two words ’miserably pathetic’ be sufficient to describe this?

After the Iron Plate and Spiritual Threads finished snatching away the 3 Candy Beans, Ji You watched the Iron Plate disappear with a dark expression, turned her head, and said to the Six Spiritual Threads: "Get to work! Get to work! If you don’t start working, it’ll be daylight soon!"

Reluctantly, the Six Threads understood that today they wouldn’t get any more Candy Beans from their stingy Master, so they settled down and began working for Ji You.

Having said that, Ji You rolled up her sleeves, took out her tools, and determined to craft the best Soul Device for Senior Shi Ya that she possibly could.