Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Morning Me You Ignore, Afternoon Me Out of Your League

The huge wave of advertising drew a big crowd of onlookers. On the campus forum, comments piled up as people joked and guessed: “Who is this Dong Fang Qian Qi? Are they just a lackey hyping up big boss Qian Qi?” “Haha, I crown them King of Bootlickers.” “How does a normal person dare fight a D grade Contract Beast?” “Principal: I’m gonna cry, our student death rate is rising again this year.” “Dang, I have to see which punk is so crazy that they dare mock my ‘strongest skill combo’ suggestion!” “Calm down up there, bring me along!” “Am I the only one who thinks Dong Fang Qian Qi is Qian Qi herself?” “You a hater or what? Big boss Qian Qi would never do something so tacky.”

Qian Qi, who was doing something very tacky at that exact moment, paused and stared: “… Sorry, your big boss Qian Qi has zero! class! at! all!”

When she saw the hot topics simmering at just the right temperature, she happily left the forum. Then she remembered something and opened Su Xing Le’s chat.

She typed under the handle I Am Your Grandpa: “Senior Su? You there? If not, should I come to your dorm?”

In his dorm, Su Xing Le read the short, threatening message on his Light-Brain and twitched the corner of his mouth. He replied under the handle Su City Young Master: “Here here here, Junior, what’s up? Want to buy more Magibeast meat?”

She wrote back: “No, I want to ask you something. Do you know what the Three-headed Thunder Lion’s horn is used for?”

He answered: “Three-headed Thunder Lion? What’s that? Never heard of that Magibeast.”

She went silent: “…”

Qian Qi closed the Light-Brain, rubbed her hands like a fly, and called out: “System?”

The System Panel popped up with an icy face and said: “Heh.”

[So this morning you ignored me, and now this afternoon I’m out of your league.] She tried to act cute: “Tong Tong, so the Three-headed Thunder Lion isn’t public yet? I didn’t know that.” She pitched her voice sweet and thin: “It’s because I haven’t seen it, I was wrong wrong. Tell me what the little horn horn can do.”

“Tong Tong… please?”

The System snapped: “Enough. Be quiet, you cringey baby voice.”

Then it announced: “Price went up. Three hundred.”

She dug in her pockets and put on an innocent face: “No money money.”

The System snorted: “I may not have eyes, but I’m not blind. Where is the living allowance Xiang Wen Yun gave you?”

Grumbling, Qian Qi pulled out 33 cash: “Will 33 do?”

“Eighty-three,” the System said at once. It knew how stingy she could be and simply set the price to the highest loose cash it figured she had.

“Forget it.” She slammed the Panel under her blanket, plopped down on top of it, blew a fake smoke ring into the air, and said with a cold smile: “How useful can a horn from a measly E grade Magibeast be? I can punch an E grade Magibeast to bits with my bare fists.”

[Strength that doesn’t raise my Strength is just something I’ll sell for Little Qian money,] she thought.

The System let out a string of censored swears: “#%*@! Get off me!”

Qian Qi ignored it. She rifled through an inner pocket, pulled a 100 yuan bill from her allowance, and leaned over the bed rail to the top bunk.

Liang Yu Ting, who was lying on her stomach reading, jumped when a head suddenly popped up. She stammered: “Qian Qi?”

“Here,” said Qian Qi as she handed up the cash: “The money I borrowed before. I’m paying you back.”

Liang Yu Ting stared at the bill, rubbed her eyes hard to check she wasn’t dreaming, then looked at Qian Qi in surprise. Was the sun rising in the west? Qian Qi actually paid a debt?

She reached out to take it, her little heart pounding with nerves and caution. The moment the bill touched her fingers, she blurted: “Thanks.”

Qian Qi thought for two seconds and answered: “Mm, you’re welcome.”

Liang Yu Ting froze: [I only slipped up and said it. You didn’t have to reply!]

The next day, after a full day of prep, Qian Qi finally had everything ready. She slept like a log. Rested and fired up, she went to the Beast Taming Department.

At the Beast Taming Plaza gate, a lot of students were already crowded in, clutching the railing and craning their necks to peer inside.

One asked another: “Hey, which post brought you here?”

The other answered: “The skill combo thread. I want to see who’s so arrogant. You?”

A third student laughed: “I came from the Principal’s baldness thread.”

A fourth snickered: “I want to see whose feet stink the worst.”

They chatted by the gate, and even though the match hadn’t started, the buzz kept things lively.

Old Master Sun stood at the duty room door with a few elderly helpers he had called in. When he saw Qian Qi approaching with a tiny stool, he waved and smiled.

She hurried over, handed him a box, greeted the old fellows, then glanced toward the Beast Taming Plaza behind them.

At certain hours, the plaza staff needed to walk Magibeasts for exercise, so the place was semi-closed. If the main gate stayed shut, Beast Taming students could not enter.

That rule fit her plan perfectly.

The key piece was this: the plaza’s opening time depended on Old Master Li, who managed the Magibeast storage. Old Master Sun and Old Master Li were close. If Old Master Sun said the word, they could keep the whole plaza closed all day.

Old Master Sun chuckled as he opened the box and looked at the printed materials inside: “I brought Old Li a bag of oranges, and he delayed the plaza opening time to 5 p.m.”

The Beast Taming Department had an official notice for plaza hours. Thanks to Old Master Sun, Old Master Li even added a line to the notice: at 10 a.m. there would be a wonderful Human vs D grade Contract Beast match, and Beast Taming students were welcome to come watch.

Qian Qi was thrilled. She promised: “Grandpa, I’ll bring you two more bags of oranges tomorrow. And the other grandpas too, everyone gets some!”

The old fellows beamed: “Hey now, this girl knows how to do things right.” “Be careful in the match. A D grade Magibeast hits hard.” “Looks like you have a real trick up your sleeve. We geezers are excited to see it!”

“Don’t worry!” Qian Qi laughed. She took the items from the box, strode to the tightly shut gate, set her little stool down, stepped up, cleared her throat, and shouted with wild enthusiasm: “Tickets for sale! Hot and fresh tickets!”

She called out: “Want to see what a Defense Fruit that can block D grade damage looks like? Want to watch a beautiful girl in her prime fight a D grade Contract Beast in a battle of love and hate? Want to learn how a normal person can safely duel a D grade Contract Beast? Want to know the miracle everyone in the world wants? Want to find out whose feet stink the worst in our school?”

She lifted a ticket and waved it: “Buy one ticket and step through this magical gate, and all your questions will be answered!”

“Open your Light-Brain and pay just 50 bucks. For 50 bucks you’ll see a one-of-a-kind match. For 50 bucks you’ll stand in the river of history as the person who witnesses a world-changing moment!”

“You… what are you waiting for?!”

Her voice cut through the crowd. Heads snapped toward her.

“What? You’re charging? Isn’t it free?”

Right away someone asked. They had assumed the match would be free to watch.

Qian Qi tilted her mouth in a crooked smile. [Free? Not in this lifetime.]