"I'm heading out."
"Gu nuo (Hui hui)~"
Su Hao closed the door, then paused before shutting it completely to ask again, "Really not coming?"
"Gu nuo~ (disdainful face)~"
"Fine."
Su Hao felt disappointed.
The Dream Moth had grown up and wasn't as adorable as when it was little.
He waved goodbye to the Flame Crow following him and left the villa.
Standing at the entrance of the neighborhood, Su Hao pondered how to get to the exam venue.
Should he call a car?
Or call a car?
Or call a car?
Originally, for the college entrance exam, his dad had mentioned over the phone a few days ago that he'd drive him.
Back then, Su Hao had said this:
"No need, it's just the college entrance exam."
"The difficulty isn't even as tough as when I took the初级 Spirit Tamer certification test."
"Easy peasy, you know my mock exam scores are pretty high."
"Pressure? Doesn't exist... so no need to trouble you."
His dad on the other end of the line immediately took it to heart.
"No need for pick-up and drop-off? Perfect timing then. Your mom and I will buy tickets to visit relatives out of town. We don't know much about the Spirit Discipline college entrance exam anyway. As long as you're fine on your own, it's okay."
Su Hao: "???"
Truth be told, he was just habitually being polite.
And now, here he was, all alone.
Even the Dream Moth had abandoned him.
All he had was a Flame Crow as a bodyguard to boost his presence.
"Ya?"
"None of your business."
"Ya."
The Flame Crow responded and went back to zoning out.
Su Hao ended up calling a car anyway.
After all, exams were coming, and he was already going to torture his brain—no need to torture his legs too.
The exam venue was at the First High School's Spirit Discipline campus.
A few spacious classrooms were lightly arranged to accommodate hundreds of examinees.
And those taking the written test were only the Spirit Tamer students—subjects like Chinese and math were different from those for regular academic track students.
According to past trends, it would be easier.
As Su Hao stepped out of the car, unsurprisingly, he saw many cars parked outside the school.
Parents looked even more nervous and anxious than their own kids.
Besides parents and examinees, there were plenty of fully armed patrol soldiers and Spirit Masters with their spirits.
Su Hao even spotted a few familiar faces.
—Uncle Pan from the Spirit Master Guild, and his partner, the Spirit Master with the Forest Wolf.
The area around the exam venue was heavily guarded.
And of course, there were reporters ready and waiting.
Su Hao quietly slipped through the crowd and entered the campus.
The noise and clamor faded away instantly.
He waved his hand, letting the Flame Crow find a tree to perch on, then walked toward the exam building like an ordinary student, backpack slung over his shoulder.
He walked slowly.
As if strolling through a park.
Occasionally, classmates who recognized him ran over to greet him, soaking up his学霸 aura.
Su Hao rubbed the tip of his nose.
Well, what could he do? He was the big shot here.
"But it seems like there are quite a few unfamiliar faces."
"Some are repeat students, others are examinees from other schools in An City."
Su Hao: "???"
Turning his head, he realized Fatty Ren had somehow appeared beside him again.
This ability...
Stealth maxed out.
"I knew you hadn't been paying attention to the other examinees," Liu Ren said. "I won't even mention the seniors from last year—you wouldn't know them anyway, and none of them were strong or good-looking."
"And the other schools?" Su Hao cooperatively asked.
"There are plenty of high schools in An City, you know. Even though only our First High has a Spirit Discipline program, that doesn't mean other schools don't have Spirit Tamer students.
"As long as you've contracted a spirit, you count as a Spirit Tamer student. But our First High's advancement rate is only 50% to 70%, and the chances of students from other schools getting into Spirit University are even lower.
"Most people just give it a shot."
"A shot?"
"Yeah," Liu, the commentator, said. "In previous years, the Spirit Discipline college entrance exam was earlier than the regular one. But this year, there's a third phase, which has extended the exam period quite a bit.
"But those who fail in the second phase either prepare to repeat a year or directly give up on the third phase and switch to studying for the regular college entrance exam.
"The time and money they spent on raising their spirits aren't completely wasted. If their spirit cultivation level is high enough, they can get an extra 10 or 20 points on the regular exam."
Got it, got it.
But...
Why had he never heard any of this before?
He thought failing the Spirit Discipline exam meant wasting a whole year!
Then he thought about it.
Hmm... it was probably because he didn't need to know, so he never had the chance to learn this kind of info.
That must be it.
...
A few dozen minutes earlier,
Inside the villa.
The Dream Moth flew to the second-floor balcony, hid behind a pillar, and looked down. After confirming Su Hao had truly left, it flew to the room on the left side of the second floor—its own room.
It flew in, closed the door, and locked it with a click.
Downstairs,
The Water Spirit Horse, hearing the sound, shook its head.
It gazed at the spacious living room, feeling a strong urge to bolt.
But suddenly recalling the terror of being dominated by [BEEP—], it shuddered violently and obediently walked to the underground training room, turned on the treadmill, and stepped on.
Beneath its practiced movements was a sorrowful horse face.
...
Second floor, Dream Moth's bedroom.
It turned on its computer.
Not the one nominally bought for it but actually always hogged by that stinky Su Hao.
Another one.
It had learned its lesson.
It wouldn't ask Su Hao for things anymore.
That only led to two outcomes.
One was rejection.
The other was, "What's mine is mine, and what I buy for you is still mine."
The Dream Moth wouldn't fall for that trick again.
It went around it.
First, it borrowed money from Su Hao, then bought the computer online itself—originally, it wanted to use the money it had earned on its own.
But that was too slow, gu nuo~!
Its money-making venture had been delayed for too long, gu nuo~!
It just needed some initial capital to make big money, right, gu nuo~!
So the Dream Moth borrowed two thousand from Su Hao, added the pocket money it had saved for over half a year, and bought a relatively cheap laptop.
Starting its own career.
It decided not to make videos anymore.
Between making money by playing games and writing novels, the Dream Moth chose the latter.
Once it earned enough startup capital, it could make games, gu nuo~!
It logged into its account and entered the author's backend.
In the "Works Management" column, five books appeared.
Yes.
In just over two months, the Dream Moth had started five books.
Among them...
Four had been dropped.
But persistence paid off for this moth.
With the experience from the first four, the fifth book finally yielded results.
A book titled "Quick Transmigration: I Became a Silkworm Baby" showed signs of becoming a hit.
It clicked on "Royalty Income."
And saw last month's earnings.
Its big eyes went wide.
Finally turning into the shape of "?￥?￥?"
"Gu~nuo~gu~nuo~"
It opened the calculator.
The loan from Su Hao, with interest, rolled over once, twice, three times...
Up to today.
In the end, it calculated how much it owed...?
Why did it seem like it couldn't pay it back, gu nuo!!
The Dream Moth flopped backward onto the desk, staring blankly at the ceiling.
It shouldn't have craved that two thousand.
Gu nuo o(╥﹏╥)o~