บท 39: Reparations?
As for the bunk bed on the other side of the room; the top bunk had been destroyed while the bottom bunk was Zhou Zhangxi’s.
Tang Wulin tidied up his things, then put them on the bottom bunk. After setting down his things, he turned around and coldly looked at Zhou Zhangxi.
“You get up!” Zhou Zhangxi roared.
Tang Wulin coldly answered, “Get lost!”
“You…” Zhou Zhangxi wanted to get up in anger.
“Don’t be so impulsive. Have you already forgotten what Director Long said? Could it be that you don’t want to become a Mech Master in the future?” Yun Xiao said as he jumped down from the top bunk.
Zhou Zhangxi’s breathing was clearly a bit ragged as Tang Wulin picked up the crumbled top bunk, tore it apart, and then threw it out the window. The entire top bunk had been obliterated completely.
“It should be this one!” A middle-aged academy staff member said before he entered the room with a wooden bed.
He looked at the queer atmosphere between the four boys, and chuckled to himself, “That’s right! Fighting on the first day of school, you boys definitely have a bright future! If you all want to continue fighting, then come hit this bed with all your strength! It costs 10,000 federal coins! So go ahead and fight. My bonus will be even bigger that way.” As he said this, he lifted up the bed board and placed it on the top bunk. The bed board went in perfectly.
10,000 federal coins?
Tang Wulin went wide-eyed in shock. It was just a bed’s board!
“Teacher, do we have to buy that one, or can we go out and buy one?” Tang Wulin hurriedly asked.
The teacher snorted and said, “Do you think the academy is your house? Destruction of property is a serious crime here. I assume you’re Tang Wulin then? The costs to repair the window, bed board, and wall is a total of 34,000 federal coins. Hurry up and go pay for the repair costs at the administration office.
34,000 federal coins? Tang Wulin was stunned when he heard this number. All the money he had earned during his three years of forging had only totalled up to be 30,000 federal coins! This was simply too expensive.
When Zhou Zhangxi, who had been glaring at Tang Wulin, heard this, he immediately climbed up to the top bunk without uttering another word.
Tang Wulin sat on his bed and pondered over what to do. 34,000 federal coins. It was 34,000 federal coins!
“My name is Xie Xie!” The icily arrogant youth had walked up to Tang Wulin and boldly introduced himself.
“You’re welcome.” Tang Wulin subconsciously answered.
“You’re… You’re welcome?” The stern expression on Xie Xie’s face collapsed at that moment. ‘Who was he calling “You’re welcome?”’1
Xie Xie said as he gnashed his teeth, “I said, my name is Xie Xie.”
Tang Wulin woke up from his trance and raised his head to look at Xie Xie. Actually, he had noticed earlier that this youth was the one he had encountered at the soul train station.
“What are you doing?” Tang Wulin coldly asked.
Xie Xie’s eyes flickered with a cold light as he said, “Come and fight with me outside of the academy!”
At that moment, his heart was full of humiliation. He simply couldn’t understand how with his strength, he could lose to brat with a trash martial soullike Bluesilver Grass. This brat had such a powerful fist that even now, Xie Xie had some difficulty speaking. From childhood up til now, he had never been beaten up before.
He couldn’t accept Long Hengxu’s words or this stain on his record. He was simply feeling vexed.
“Get lost!” Tang Wulin furiously repeated the words he had previously said to Zhou Zhangxi to Xie Xie this time.
“What did you say?” A powerful and chilling aura exploded outwards from Xie Xie’s body.
Tang Wulin looked at him with a pair of fiery eyes, “You’re still not done bullying people? 34,000 federal coins. Do you know how much 34,000 federal coins is to me? Since you’re seeking death, I’ll beat you to death then. In the worst case, I won’t be able to attend this academy anymore.”
“You’re still bothered by that?” Xie Xie stared at him blankly. He had never had to worry about money, so 34,000 federal coins was nothing to him.
Tang Wulin answered, “Maybe 34,000 federal coins isn’t much to you city people, but as far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t be able to earn that much even after working for several years. Don’t provoke me any further, otherwise you’ll just be risking your life.”
As Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin’s red eyes, he wasn’t sure why, but his imposing manner diminished a bit.
“I’ll shell out the money, so come fight with me!” Xie Xie coldly exclaimed.
Tang Wulin asked in a daze, “You’ll pay for it?”
Xie Xie saw the redness fading away from Tang Wulin’s eyes and was pleasantly surprised. He wasn’t sure what he should say now to this brat.
“I’ll pay!” Xie Xie said with gritted teeth.
“Great!” Tang Wulin was afraid he would renege, so he instantly accepted. It was 34,000 federal coins after all! “When are we fighting?”
Just one battle and he would earn 34,000 federal coins? He would even let himself get beaten up for that much money.
In front of Tang Wulin’s eager appearance, Xie Xie couldn’t help but feel uneasy. “Tomorrow.” He said, before turning around and walking away.
He wanted to go treat his swollen face first, otherwise he would have to endure this kind of appearance even longer. After exiting the room, a towel appeared out of nowhere and covered his face.
As Tang Wulin watched him leave, he thought to himself, ‘These city people really are wealthy.’
Yun Xiao coughed. “It’s time for lunch now. Tang Wulin, do you want to go together?”
“Sounds good!” Tang Wulin nodded as he had gotten hungry long ago.
Zhou Zhangxi jumped down from the top bunk. The unwillingness and indignance had already disappeared from his face and he was clearly less hostile towards Tang Wulin than before. The cause for this change was very simple, it was because of the repair costs that totaled up to 34,000 federal coins.
Tang Wulin wasn’t the only one who wasn’t rich there. Zhou Zhangxi also came from an ordinary family. He had also been given a scare when he heard the outrageous cost for the repairs. This incident only started because of him. Tang Wulin, however, hadn’t asked him for any compensation at all. This action gave him a better impression of Tang Wulin.
☀
Yun Xiao lead the way with Tang Wulin and Zhou Zhangxi following behind.
The intermediate division’s dining hall was a small building located to the side of the main school building. The building had three floors, which accommodates all six grades of the intermediate academy. First and second graders ate on the first floor.
The dining hall only had tables with no chairs. This was one of the customs of Eastsea Academy. Students must eat while standing, in order to increase their sense of urgency.
There were three windows labelled one, two and three. Yun Xiao explained this to Tang Wulin, allowing him to understand that the third window had free food, the second window was subsidized, while the first window needed complete payment from the student.
Naturally, the first window provided the best food, followed by the second window, while the third window provided the most basic foods.
On the board next to the third window was written, “Steamed buns.”
Zhou Zhangxi glanced at Tang Wulin. “Tang Wulin, since the academy doesn’t let us fight, how about we have a contest to see who can eat the most steamed buns? Do you dare?”
Tang Wulin looked at him, “Are you sure there’ll be enough steamed buns?”
Zhou Zhangxi answered, “Of course. The third window is all you can eat. It can supply as much as you want. After all, us SoulMasters eat much more food than ordinary people.”
Tang Wulin asked, “What are the stakes in this eating contest?”
Zhou Zhangxi replied, “Whoever loses will be in charge of cleaning the dorm room. So if I lose, I’ll wash all of your dirty clothes. How about it?”
Tang Wulin released a gentle sigh. “I’m very hungry.”
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