Chapter 150: Zhang Yu’s Connections
Without waiting for Le Mulan’s reply, Zhang Yu sent the same message to Xiong Wenwu and Yu Xinghan.
The content was more or less the same: he wanted to contact someone with authority at their respective schools to negotiate a price for him and Bai Zhenzhen to sit out the upcoming competitions.
Meanwhile, at Purple Cloud High School.
Le Jingchen looked at the message from his sister and said with a smile, “He came to negotiate the price himself?”
“It seems Zhou Chechen can no longer control him.”
After some thought, Le Jingchen didn’t contact Zhang Yu immediately but instead asked Le Mulan, “What do you think of Zhang Yu?”
Le Mulan was slightly taken aback by her brother’s message and replied, “In what respect?”
Le Jingchen: After the athletics meet, how has his strength improved?
Le Jingchen: If he participates in the upcoming Dao heart competition, can he secure a ranking?
Le Jingchen: I know you’ve been hiring him as a sparring partner recently, so you should have a feel for his condition, right?
Reading Le Jingchen’s messages, Le Mulan recalled her training sessions with Zhang Yu.
A strong physique, powerful muscles, and skilled techniques… each session made Le Mulan feel her money was well spent.
But she knew that wasn’t what her brother was asking about.
After all, the next event was the Dao heart competition.
The Dao heart, huh…
Le Mulan immediately thought of how, after every training session, Zhang Yu would squat down and stare at the pools of alchemical enhancers on the floor.
She thought to herself, If it were any other high school student, they probably would have drunk their fill of the enhancers by now, right?
So, Le Mulan replied: Zhang Yu is someone who can steadfastly resist expensive temptations.
Le Jingchen asked: Do you have a specific example?
Le Mulan: He can resist the urge to lick up the sweat I drip on the floor…
After hearing what Le Mulan had to say about their training, Le Jingchen replied: How could you do something like that?!
Le Jingchen: You’ve taken many experimental drugs from the lab. What if Zhang Yu collects your sweat and sells it to another pharmaceutical company for analysis?
Le Mulan: That was my oversight. Next time, I’ll make him clean up all the sweat on the floor in front of me.
Le Jingchen: That’s more like it.
Le Mulan: Anyway, my point is that Zhang Yu’s willpower is indeed very strong, and Bai Zhenzhen’s can’t be much weaker, even if she’s a bit less formidable.
Le Mulan: If they participate in the Dao heart competition, they’ll likely get a good ranking. If we can pay a little money to have them sit out, it’s a worthwhile deal.
Putting her phone away, Le Mulan suddenly recalled how she had offered Zhang Yu 400,000 to withdraw from the martial arts competition, only to be rejected.
She thought to herself, So in the end, you were changed after all?
Inside Red Pagoda’s conservation area.
A massive demonic beast lay on the ground, a hole in its head as if bored out by some gigantic creature.
A burly, bare-chested man was sitting on the ground, tearing at the demonic beast’s flesh with his mouth.
He opened his blood-stained mouth and looked at Xiong Wenwu nearby, saying, “What do you want from me?”
Xiong Wenwu explained the matter Zhang Yu had raised.
The man gnawing on the demonic beast asked, “I remember this Zhang Yu… you competed against him, didn’t you? What do you think? Can he still place in the upcoming Dao heart competition?”
Xiong Wenwu thought about Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s situation. The first thing that came to mind was their recent incubation rooms rental transactions with him, and how Bai Zhenzhen had asked An’an to buy demonic beast meat for her dietary supplements, with An’an then giving the money back to him as a subsidy.
Before coming here, Xiong Wenwu had actually already considered this matter.
Selling their competition slots? Those two must be short on money too, huh?
But given their status, it’s indeed better for them to just take the money now rather than competing.
Another thought occurred to Xiong Wenwu… was their lack of money because they were spending so much at his place?
He had especially heard from An’an that those two had been spending more and more time cultivating in the incubation rooms recently.
If they had a bit more money, they’d probably give me more business, right?
Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but in reality, it was only an instant before Xiong Wenwu answered respectfully, “Although I haven’t interacted with them much, I could tell on the field that their wills are like iron and their Dao hearts are like steel.”
“After all, anyone who clawed their way out of poverty couldn’t possibly have a weak will.”
“Judging from the control they displayed in the martial arts and athletics meets, their Dao hearts can’t possibly be weak.”
“If those two were to participate in the Dao heart competition, they would indeed have a high chance of placing.”
“If we can spend seven or eight hundred thousand to keep them from competing, I think it’s very worthwhile.”
White Dragon High School.
Yu Xinghan knocked on a door and said, “Senior, why aren’t you replying to my messages?”
A voice came from within, “Stop bothering me!”
“I’ve had enough of this damn Student Council!”
“The most important tasks for us high schoolers are studying, grades, and competitions!”
“Damn it… how am I supposed to study properly when people keep bothering me with all this petty squabbling and sordid politics?!”
Yu Xinghan said, “But aren’t you supposed to be in charge of these things?”
The person inside retorted angrily, “That’s because the former president used to dump all sorts of miscellaneous crap on me.”
“But the previous year’s council has all graduated now, and I’m the top dog in this school!”
“I’m not staying in this Student Council for one more day.”
“From now until the university interviews, I will be completely focused on my own cultivation.”
“If you need anything, go find Song Hailong of the Song family.”
“He has already taken over as the Student Council vice president.”
So, Yu Xinghan then called Song Hailong over and explained the situation to him.
Yu Xinghan: “Little Song, that’s the situation.”
After hearing this, Song Hailong said calmly, “It’s not just for the upcoming Dao heart competition, is it? Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen will probably do this for all future competitions.”
“They’re different from us, after all. Since they have no chance of getting into the Ten Greats, what’s the use of getting more competition rankings or having a prettier resume? It’s better to exchange it for some money.”
As the ace son of the Song family, Song Hailong was not unaware of the dissatisfaction some wealthy people had with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen taking up competition spots.
Song Hailong merely said calmly, “I just find it a pity that there will be no more opportunities to defeat them in a competition.”
Yu Xinghan: “Cut the chatter. Just tell me how much you plan to approve for them.”
“You know the strength of those two. If they participate in the Dao heart competition, they’ll definitely get a ranking.”
“I think paying 1 million to keep them both out of the competition is a very good price.”
Song Hailong gave Yu Xinghan a strange look, feeling that the latter was a bit too enthusiastic about this matter.
Yu Xinghan coughed and said, “I’m also doing this for the sake of our White Dragon High School’s results. Among the three great high schools, we are the strongest. If Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen withdraw, it’s highly probable that our people will snatch the rankings.”
Song Hailong frowned. As the new vice president of the Student Council, this was his first time handling such a matter.
“Isn’t 1 million a bit too much?”
Yu Xinghan quickly said, “Too much? How is it too much? After they’re gone, your competition ranking will go up by at least one or two spots, won’t it? Do you think spending 1 million to move up that much is too much?”
“Besides, it’s not our money; it’s all from the school committee’s fund.”
Yu Xinghan placed a hand on Song Hailong’s shoulder and said with a pressuring tone, “We’ve fought against Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen for so long. Who in the school understands them better than we do?”
“This is my opinion as the number one student of the first year. I hope you’ll consider it carefully.”
Seeing Yu Xinghan’s demeanor, Song Hailong thought to himself, With Zhang Yu out of the competition, Yu Xinghan will probably secure first place, won’t he? He really cares about his competition ranking.
But on second thought, this was related to university interviews, so it was normal for Yu Xinghan to be so invested.
And after seeing Song Hailong nod, Yu Xinghan finally smiled faintly and departed gracefully.
Once around the corner, Yu Xinghan took out his phone and replied to Zhang Yu: 1 million. It’s a deal.
Zhang Yu: [Thumbs Up] Don’t worry, I’ll make it worth your while.
Songyang High School.
Fu Ji looked at Yu Xinghan’s reply and laughed. “Didn’t I tell you this kid would take a kickback? With my years of experience roaming Kunxu, how could I be wrong about people?”
Zhang Yu looked at the replies from the others. “Purple Cloud agreed to pay 600,000 after taxes, Red Pagoda is 700,000 after taxes, and White Dragon is 1 million after taxes. As expected of the three great high schools, so generous, they even paid my taxes for me in advance.”
“That’s 2.3 million in total. After deducting Yu Xinghan’s 100,000 kickback, that’s 2.2 million.”
“If Zhen and I split it evenly, that’s 1.1 million each, after taxes.”
Thinking of this number, Zhang Yu felt a sense of relief.
He had been throwing money at the Immortal Dao all this time, and his bank balance had been dwindling, leaving him with just over 300,000.
With this supplement of 1.1 million, he would be set for a while longer.
“At least until the first round of Foundation Establishment exams next month, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
Then, Zhang Yu sighed with some regret, “Unfortunately, we definitely won’t be able to sell our spots in the upcoming Daoist art competition.”
“And after that, the new competitions won’t be until next year.”
Although Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen wanted to sell off all their high school competition spots at once, the three great high schools were unwilling to buy.
On one hand, the total amount was too large and the process too long; on the other, many people did not believe that the Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen of the next year or the year after would still be as competitive as they were now.
Zhang Yu then opened a contact on his phone.
Bai Zhenzhen said from the side, “Yu-boy, are you going to use the talisman our godmother left you?”
Zhang Yu nodded. “Those two, Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling, took a hit this time. They definitely won’t let it go.”
Bai Zhenzhen nodded. “In terms of true strength, we are indeed still a bit weaker than them.”
“Even if they come to fight us for combat practice every day, it would be very troublesome and would disrupt our studies.”
Zhang Yu said, “That’s why I was thinking we could try to bluff them again.”
Recalling what Zhou Chechen had said that day, Zhang Yu continued, “That guy seems to suspect we have someone else backing us, and he’s very cautious.”
“Scaring him a little might buy us some more time.”
The next moment, Zhang Yu had already pulled up the screenshot of the Freezing Talisman on his phone.
The Freezing Talisman was one of the talismans Zhang Pianpian had left for Zhang Yu. It could freeze someone’s bank account; the higher the target’s faith level, the shorter the duration of the freeze.