Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 205 Hanging out

"I feel like there's something odd about your smile... Never mind, I'm going to take a stroll around the Lotus Pond area. Do you want to come? It'll be good for getting familiar with the school beforehand."

Ye Qing ignored Ai Liang's malicious mockery.

Ai Liang waved the novel in her hand: "Does going to the library count as getting familiar with the school? Besides..."

"Don't tell me there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. With your personality, you will definitely go home as soon as you get out of school during these three years of high school. Unless it is necessary, you will never wander around the school."

As if guessing what Ai Liang was about to say, Ye Qing blocked all her escape routes.

Although Ai Liang was reluctant to admit it, he would actually do it.

Qianhua Experimental Middle School does not have evening self-study sessions, so the school will definitely be crowded with people after school in the afternoon.

Given the open social atmosphere in Chika City, places like the Lotus Pond and the Small Garden will likely be overcrowded.

It's not that only couples can go there, but if someone goes alone, it's really conspicuous.

Ai Liang doesn't like to attract attention, so over the course of three years, he probably won't have a proper chance to explore the school.

While Ai Liang was pondering, Ye Qing patiently guided her.

"Since there's hardly anyone wandering around the school right now, why don't we go check it out? We can't wait until graduation and not even know which scenic spots are on our campus, can we?"

"Makes sense."

Ai Liang stroked her chin and nodded: "But I refuse."

Ye Qing's face immediately fell: "Why?"

She felt that getting Ai Liang to go out was harder than getting a socially anxious shut-in to participate in a TV talent show.

"Because I want to finish reading this novel before school starts."

Ai Liang raised the novel in her hand again.

This novel is the middle volume I borrowed from the bookstore last time.

However, he had only borrowed it for a short time, and had read less than a fifth of it, when he encountered Jin Ping'an, the "Little Dong Zhuo of Qianhua City," whom everyone wanted to kill.

Ai Liang, caught up in a lot of trouble, only occasionally took a few pages to read at night, keeping her main focus on the case.

The kidnapping case was closed only recently after Hu Yingshao's death.

Only then did he have the time to calm down and slowly appreciate the plot.

Otherwise, it just feels a bit strange to investigate teenage girls being forced into prostitution while simultaneously watching a romance story set on a school campus...

"Novels can be read anytime, right?"

Ye Qing clearly could not accept the reasons given by Ai Liang.

"The borrowing period is almost over."

"...Sigh, okay, okay, I give up."

Ye Qing sighed and reluctantly accepted Ai Liang's reason: "Lead the way."

Ok?
Ai Liang looked at Ye Qing with some confusion.

"What kind of look is that? Can't I go to the library?"

Ye Qing poked Ai Liang's waist with her fist: "No matter what, I got into Experimental High School through my own efforts. Is it really that surprising that I'm going to the library to read books?"

“A little.” Ai Liang frankly expressed her thoughts: “I feel that you prefer to use your spare time to make money rather than read books.”

"Making money is a necessity for survival, okay? If I were as rich as you, I would... I would..."

Ye Qing hesitated for a long time, unsure of what example to give. After all, she had been struggling to make a living since childhood and rarely paid attention to the lives of wealthy people.

Moreover, her desires weren't strong; she was content as long as she was full.

So in the end, I had to give up on giving examples.

"I thought you would say, 'Eat ice cream with the heater on in winter, and eat hot pot with the air conditioner on in summer.'"

Ai Liang casually made a joke, only to find that Ye Qing had a look of 'Oh, so that's how it is'.

This left him speechless for a moment.

Fortunately, Ye Qing has an outgoing personality and doesn't need Ai Liang to bring up the topic.

"You don't often do this kind of thing at home, do you?" Ye Qing asked while kicking pebbles on the roadside.

"Do you think that's possible?" Ai Liang dismissed her guess.

In the past, Ai Liang was tormented by negative emotions every day, and she had no time to think about eating and drinking.

He's either killing someone or on his way to kill someone.

Moreover, unable to bear the erosion of negative emotions, he completely shut down all his senses.

Even when eating, I can't taste anything.

"So what do you rich people usually do?" Ye Qing asked with great curiosity.

"I don't know about others, but for myself, besides reading and cooking, I don't have any other hobbies."

Ai Liang looked ahead: "At least I feel that, apart from the relatively high prices of some daily necessities, my life is no different from that of an ordinary person."

Ye Qing couldn't help but complain, "That's the biggest difference, okay? I always have to hesitate for a long time when choosing skincare products."

"Once the scholarship comes through, I shouldn't hesitate anymore," Ai Liang said casually.

The scholarships for the top classes at Qianhua City Experimental Middle School are quite substantial.

Or rather, regardless of the city, the top classes in experimental high schools all receive substantial scholarships.

Take Neihua City, where Ai Liang lives, for example. Students in the key classes of Neihua Experimental Middle School not only enjoy free tuition, but also receive a subsidy of 10,000 yuan per year.

As a school on par with Neihua Experimental Middle School, Qianhua Experimental Middle School's top-tier students don't necessarily receive significantly different treatment.

While others spend money to go to school, students in the top classes earn money by going to school.

Some students, despite having the ability to get into the experimental middle school, choose to attend regular schools.

It's all for those school scholarships.

The school naturally wouldn't be stingy with the offers of top students who voluntarily came to pledge their loyalty.

Therefore, in the past, there have even been news reports of a student in a top-tier class of a regular high school earning an annual salary of 100,000 yuan.

The differences between people become apparent at this point.

"It's not that bad."

Ye Qing shook her head and said, "I work at Sister Lan's place during winter and summer vacations. I earn nearly 10,000 yuan a month. After deducting rent and utilities, I still have more than half left over, which is enough to live on."

Nearly ten thousand?
Ai Liang made a simple comparison between this number and the normal income of cashiers that he learned from the messenger's memories.

The result was obvious: no one earned more than Ye Qing.

The Asian Union is quite different from the country I lived in in my previous life.

At least here, there aren't house prices that easily reach hundreds of millions or tens of millions.

The income of ordinary people has also increased significantly.

You can easily find a job in Asia Union and earn over four thousand.

For the average working class with stable employment, annual income is generally between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan.

If you get a junior management position, earning 300,000 to 400,000 a year shouldn't be a problem.

Even if you only do simple jobs like waiter or cleaner, you can still earn at least four thousand yuan a month.

While incomes have increased across all industries, Ye Qing's salary is still somewhat abnormal for a supermarket cashier or sales assistant.

Do you think my salary is too high?

Ye Qing lightly jumped from Ai Liang's side to in front of him and walked backwards.

This makes it easier to talk face-to-face.

“A little.” Ai Liang nodded.

"Hehe, besides my regular sales assistant job at the supermarket, I also work part-time as a deliveryman and porter. I do a lot of work, which is why my salary is so high."

As Ye Qing spoke, she casually made a gesture of carrying a box, her thin arms and legs making her look quite comical.

She made this gesture to show that she is very strong.

But to others, it's like a ragdoll cat trying hard to look fierce, but it's not intimidating at all.

It might even give you the urge to give her a good rub on the head.

Will those jobs still give you a raise?

"Of course... no, I just wanted to help out with something, but Sister Lan saw that I worked hard and didn't slack off, and since I live alone, she gave me a raise."

Ye Qing concealed her relationship with Zhu Lan, and she wasn't worried at all that Ai Liang would become suspicious.

Generally speaking, no one would care about such a small thing. Besides, it's normal to get this level of pay when you've done two extra jobs.

You should know that supermarket staff can earn several hundred yuan for each unloading operation.

Because it was truly exhausting...

Ai Liang didn't dwell on the matter too much. Whether Ye Qing's salary was high or low had little to do with her, so there was no need to pry.

The two strolled leisurely to the main building, took the elevator, and went to the library on the fourth floor.

It must be said that the library of Qianhua Experimental Middle School is quite large.

It can easily accommodate people from both grades.

After swiping her card through the gate, Ai Liang randomly chose the nearest reading room and went inside.

Ye Qing then ran to the bookshelf and started looking for the books she wanted to read.

Not long after, she ran to the front desk with a book in her arms to borrow it.

Biology books?
Ai Liang glanced at it, somewhat confused. He had assumed Ye Qing would also choose the novel.

However, Ai Liang quickly came to terms with it, because she herself was reading books that didn't suit her personality.

A cheerful and lively girl is reading biology books, while a cold-faced boy is reading a youth campus novel.

This combination looks rather strange.

The books they were holding were so good they could have swapped them.

………………

Time passed by, and soon the bell rang for the last class of the morning.

Ai Liang, who doesn't need to eat, is still immersed in the story.

But Ye Qing on the other side couldn't sit still any longer.

She first returned the books, then came to Ai Liang's side and patted him on the shoulder: "Dinner's ready, dinner's ready."

"It seems like it's only eleven o'clock now."

Ye Qing pouted: "Do you really want to squeeze into the cafeteria with that bunch of high school seniors?"

Besides the unpalatable food, the most criticized aspect of school cafeterias is the long queues.

Most people can probably relate to this.

Being forced to eat pig feed is painful enough.

What could be more painful than this?

Even eating pig swill requires queuing.

If you want something even more painful, you have to queue for half a year and spend a lot of money to buy a serving of pig feed.

To make it even more painful: you spend a fortune to buy pig feed, only to have someone cut in line, and by the time it's your turn, there's no feed left...

However, the food at the Experimental Middle School is generally not bad; at least you don't have to worry about it being pig feed.

Are you planning to eat lunch at school?

Ai Liang tilted her head, somewhat incredulous.

Ye Qing's most important requirement for meals is that they be filling.

No matter how affordable the school cafeteria is, it's impossible to feed this big eater.

"Let's go visit the cafeteria first, so that when school starts, we'll at least know which windows have our favorite dishes."

Ye Qing clearly did not understand Ai Liang's implied meaning.

Ai Liang stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point: "Are you full?"

Upon hearing this question, Ye Qing immediately deflated: "Going to school is not like working in a supermarket, where you have time to go home and cook for yourself."

If you want to eat your fill, it will probably cost tens of dollars. At this rate, you'll go bankrupt sooner or later.

I'll just get some more free rice, enough to fill me up, and then I'll get something else to eat when I get home from school.

After pouring out her grievances, Ye Qing pulled Ai Liang up from his seat by the arm: "Anyway, you're not planning to wander around, so let's hurry up and finish our meal and go back. If we wait until we finish eating, the seniors will be able to leave school right away."

Why do we have to do things together? You go to explore the school, and I'll read books in the library. Wouldn't it be better if we just went our separate ways?

Ai Liang followed Ye Qing with a sense of helplessness. After thinking for a while, she did not say these words.

………………

Qianhua Experimental Middle School has two canteens, one near the student dormitory building and the other near the senior high school classrooms.

Ai Liang and Ye Qing arrived at the cafeteria near the teaching building.

Neither of them lives on campus, so they probably won't eat at the dormitory cafeteria much in the future.

Zhiweixuan.

This is the name of the cafeteria.

The cafeteria is very large and can easily accommodate more than a thousand people at the same time.

After all, Qianhua Experimental Middle School has twenty classes per grade, with around sixty students per class.

The cafeteria is too small to accommodate everyone.

Ye Qing looked at the dozens of food serving windows and hesitated: "With so many windows, what do you want to eat, A Liang? It's on me!"

Ye Qing was very aware of her cooking skills; apart from fried rice and egg noodles, her other dishes were merely cooked to the point of being edible.

She couldn't tell which dishes were culinary disasters at all, so it was time for Chef Ai Liang to take a quick look and avoid any pitfalls.

"casual."

"Anyone who's easygoing is the hardest to please, okay?" Ye Qing muttered.

She pulled Ai Liang along and showed her around all the windows.

"These dishes are all normal, it doesn't matter which one you eat."

After looking around, Ai Liang finally came to a conclusion.

His guess turned out to be correct: schools that don't have curfews during mealtimes generally have decent cafeterias.

The prices are quite reasonable, although some meat dishes are a little more expensive, but still within the normal price range.

With the chef's affirmation, Ye Qing was completely relieved. Seeing how afraid she was of the cafeteria, she wondered if she was still terrified of the school cafeteria when she was in junior high school.

"Is this all you're having for lunch? I'm not short of money, you don't need to save money for me."

When Ye Qing saw that Ai Liang only ordered a serving of handmade dumplings, she thought he was just being modest about spending more of his own money: "I often eat at your place when I'm at home, so don't be shy with me."

Ai Liang put down the tray and said, "I just haven't had dumplings in a long time, so I wanted to try some."

Since his sense of taste was restored, he has tasted many foods, but he has never eaten dumplings.

Just as I was passing by the window of the handmade dumpling stall, Ai Liang had the idea to try some.

"That's it."

Ye Qing thought about it and chose to believe Ai Liang's statement, because he had never been very polite to her before.

Please refresh the page later...

My body is giving out, I'm vomiting so much my stomach hurts...

That doctor prescribed amoxicillin for me, since I'm allergic to penicillin, and it almost killed me...

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(End of this chapter)