Chapter Seventy-Eight: Working Part-Time

Yan Luo pondered over it. The title "Kindhearted with a Grand Bust" wasn't as bold as "I'm a Legend," nor as flamboyant as "I'm the Most Dazzling," but it had its own unique charm. The first two words described appearance, while the latter two spoke to inner qualities.

However...

A title shouldn't dictate one's alignment, right?

But the young girl, Chen Beixue, as an LV5, must have been a Modulator for quite some time now. Hidden among the students, aside from her more striking looks, larger chest, and outstanding performance in sports and academics, she hadn't caused any notable incidents. She was also well-liked at school; at the very least, she couldn't be from the chaotic faction, and was unlikely to have an evil disposition either.

Based on his reasoning, Yan Luo estimated Chen Beixue to be lawful good.

In any case, Yan Luo had no intention of approaching her. She was a level 5, while he was only level 1—the gap was immense. Even with the Heroic Spirit Mask as a trump card, his strength was far from comparable. If she turned out to be evil, he'd be utterly outmatched.

Meanwhile, Old Man Ma Jianmin was standing in the parking lot. He was a retired school employee, now working as a patrolman. Usually, he wandered the campus; today, he'd heard from security that a student had ridden a horse to school, so he came to have a look.

"A heavy horse!"

Ma Jianmin was full of astonishment. In the early years after the founding of the country, he'd personally raised horses and driven carts during mass production campaigns. Ordinary packhorses weighed about 400 jin, and some improved Mongolian crossbreeds reached 500 to 700 jin as adults.

Yet the horse before him must weigh over a thousand jin!

It was definitely a European breed!

This old man knew horses well. To his experienced eyes, the animal's brown coat, white hooves, white mane and tail, along with its impressive height and weight, suggested it might even be a purebred—an imported European thoroughbred! Judging by age, it looked about seven or eight years old, with a starting price of at least a hundred thousand, possibly up to a million.

Based on appearance, this horse was surely worth over three hundred thousand, possibly five hundred.

"Which rich kid rides a horse worth hundreds of thousands to school?"

Ma Jianmin simply couldn't understand. If someone drove a car to school, that would be one thing. But this horse was worth as much as a sedan! Yet it was tied up casually in the bike shed, standing among a sea of bicycles? The rope was looped in a lazy slipknot...

Just how careless about money could someone be?

"Hmm?"

The old man noticed the horse craning its neck, as if trying to nibble the grass by the bike shed.

"Is it hungry?"

He saw the animal persevering, the rope even digging into its coat—a sure sign of hunger. With his experience, it hadn't eaten for at least twelve hours! Which wealthy student would ride a horse worth hundreds of thousands to school and not bother to feed it?

The old employee was at a loss for words. The extravagance was outrageous... Did they not know how delicate purebreds were?

"Damn!"

The sixty-something year old man blurted out in surprise.

He noticed the horse hadn't been shod. European thoroughbreds were usually bred for racing; if their hooves were damaged, the entire horse was ruined.

"Sigh..."

Ma Jianmin let out a tired breath and untied the reins. Being so familiar with horses, he gently patted its head to calm it down, intending to lead it to his own place—not to steal it, since he lived on campus, but simply to feed it.

He couldn't bear to see such a valuable animal mistreated.

Back in the classroom, Yan Luo suddenly noticed via the program that the horse icon on his minimap was moving—toward the campus residential area. He rushed to the window and saw an old man leading Creamy Chocolate across the playground.

"It's him?"

Yan Luo remembered this Old Chen, the campus patrolman, a warmhearted fellow.

"Not horse theft, but maybe he saw that horses aren't allowed on campus, so he's leading it away? But in that case, he should be heading to the security office or administration, not the residential area... Could he be planning to feed it?"

This was the conclusion he quickly reached.

Soon, the bell rang. On the minimap, the horse icon stopped moving in the residential zone. Yan Luo relaxed; the situation was now under control. The rest of the morning passed uneventfully, and by noon, Yan Luo had gained three more points of emotion, bringing the Unintentional Doll to ninety-three points. Only seven more to go before fusion.

He also saved the school's coordinates in his program, so next time he was in a hurry, he could teleport from home to school via the Dream Space. Of course, that would cost twenty bio-energy points, and barring emergencies, he wouldn't waste them.

School was dismissed for lunch.

Yan Luo had no plans to go home. With the horse in the residential area, he skipped lunch and headed straight there, picking up two bags of mung bean cakes from the snack shop on the way—five pieces per bag, two yuan each, for a total of ten pieces as his midday meal.

"Money is an issue..."

He ate as he walked, brooding over his predicament. He could barely support himself, let alone a horse.

"Wait!"

He suddenly remembered the two items brought back from the Sports Competition World in ancient Greece: a statuette carved by Socrates' father, and a thick gold dog-collar chain given by Herodotus.

Lost in thought, Yan Luo soon reached the residential area and spotted a small courtyard. Chen Jianmin, one of the school's founding elders, had his own separate yard here. The old man was wiping down the horse with a towel.

"What brings you here, kid?" Chen Jianmin asked, then realized, "Is this your horse?"

"Yes," Yan Luo replied.

"I'll say! Riding a horse to school is one thing... As a patrolman, I don't know if that's allowed or not. But riding a horse worth hundreds of thousands to school and tying it up carelessly in the parking lot—you're not taking it seriously at all! And, how long has it been since you fed it?"

"It's been about sixteen hours," Yan Luo admitted.

"You know that? This is a European heavy purebred—extremely delicate! I can't understand it. Back when I was young, the production team treated their packhorse like a grandfather. And you treat yours like this!"

"I just fed it some grain and cleaned it off," Yan Luo said.

Then Chen Jianmin noticed the mung bean cakes in his hand. "Wait... Is that your lunch?"

"Yes," Yan Luo nodded.

"Mung bean cakes? That's got no nutrition. You're still growing, you know," Chen Jianmin said suspiciously.

Yan Luo replied, "I'm broke."

Chen Jianmin was speechless.

You have received a strong emotion:

Contempt +1

"Quit pretending!" The old man looked at him with utter disdain.

"I'm not pretending..."

After some effort, Yan Luo finally convinced the old man that he really was poor. As for the horse—he couldn't exactly say he'd gotten it by defeating the Macedonian mercenary band, so he simply claimed he'd made a foreign friend who'd given it to him as a gift.

In the end, Chen Jianmin said helplessly, "Kid, I don't know if the school allows you to ride a horse here. I expect the principal will hear about this soon. If you can't afford to keep it, you can leave the horse here when you're free, and I'll help feed it. Of course, this isn't for free! After all, you're not family or a friend. When you start working and earning money, you can pay me back then."

"A fine horse like this shouldn't be so badly treated in your hands! In ancient times, a horse like this would be worth lives!"

"Thank you, sir," Yan Luo said.

With the unexpected resolution of Creamy Chocolate's care, Yan Luo was much relieved. Chen Jianmin even treated him to two bowls of egg noodles before he returned to the classroom. Class was still a long way off, so with the room empty, he took out the palm-sized marble statue from his inventory.

Before long, his deskmate, who had also eaten at school, returned.

"What's that? Your likeness? It looks a lot like you. Did you carve it yourself?" Zheng Hong asked curiously.

"No, it's carved by Socrates' father," Yan Luo replied.

You have received a strong emotion:

Bafflement +1

After examining it, Yan Luo thought it probably wasn't worth much. In theory, a work by Socrates' father would cause a sensation at auction, but there was no way to prove its origin. It looked much like any new carving—who would believe it was an artifact?

He put the statue away and took out the thick gold dog-collar chain.

"A gold chain!" Zheng Hong exclaimed. "That's huge! Even bigger than the ones the local tough guys wear. What are you doing with that—planning to wear it?"

"I'm thinking about how to sell it."

"Why sell it?"

"Because I'm broke," Yan Luo replied.

Zheng Hong, recalling his deskmate's registered family situation, seemed to understand, but still advised, "Such a thick gold chain—did your parents leave it to you? It'd be a shame to sell it. Why not do some part-time work to earn money?"

Yan Luo was silent for several seconds before replying,

"Working part-time? That's impossible. I'll never work a part-time job in my life..."