Chapter 40: You Ignored Me in the Morning, Now You Can't Afford Me in the Afternoon

Such a massive scale of publicity naturally attracted quite a few onlookers.

[--Who on earth is this Eastern Thousand Riders? Is he a bootlicker for Big Shot Qian Qi? Hyping her up with such enthusiasm?]
[--Haha, I nominate him as the King of Bootlickers.]
[--A normal human fighting a D-rank bonded beast? Where does she get the guts?]
[--Headmaster: I am truly grateful; the student mortality rate is going up again this year.]
[--Damn it, I have to go see which little punk is so arrogant, daring to show such contempt for the strongest skill combination I proposed!]
[--Upperclassman, calm down, count me in!]
[--Haha, is it only me who thinks Eastern Thousand Riders is actually Big Shot Qian Qi herself?]
[--Is the person above a hater? How could Big Shot Qian Qi ever do something so devoid of class?]

Qian Qi, who was currently doing something completely devoid of class: ……
Sorry, your Big Shot Qian Qi is just this devoid! of! class!

Seeing that the various topics had generated enough heat, Qian Qi left the campus forum with a sense of satisfaction. Remembering something, she poked Su Xingle’s chat box.

[I Am Your Grandpa]: Senior Su? Are you there? Not there? Should I go to your dorm?

In his dormitory, Su Xingle looked at Qian Qi’s concise and threatening message on his optical brain and twitched the corner of his mouth slightly.

[Young Master of Su City]: Here, here, here, what does junior sister need? Want to buy some monster meat again?
[I Am Your Grandpa]: No, I want to consult you about something. Do you know what the single horn of a Three-Headed Electric Lion is used for?
[Young Master of Su City]: Three-Headed Electric Lion? What is that? I’ve never heard of such a monster?
[I Am Your Grandpa]: ……

Qian Qi closed her optical brain and began rubbing her hands together like a fly: "System?"
[Heh.] The system panel popped up, revealing an aloof expression.
You ignored me in the morning, and in the afternoon you are out of my league.

"System-tong~" Qian Qi put on a falsely sweet and dainty voice in her heart, "Turns out the Three-Headed Electric Lion hasn't even been released yet~ Your truly just didn't know~"
"It's just that your truly is ignorant~ Your truly was wrong~ Please tell your truly how to use the single horn~"
"System-tong~~~"

[...] Enough! Shut up! You annoying creature with your baby talk and redundant syllables!
[Prices have gone up! 300 bucks!]

"..." Qian Qi patted her cloth pocket with an innocent expression, "No money-mon."

[...] Although I don't have eyes, I am not blind. Where is the living allowance Xiang Wenyun gave you?

Muttering curses, Qian Qi fished out 33 yuan, "Will 33 yuan do?"
[83.] Knowing the stingy nature of this miser Qian Qi, the system directly raised the price to the maximum amount of loose change she held.

"Forget it." Who would have thought Qian Qi was even more incorrigible? She buried the system panel into her quilt, sat squarely on top of it, blew a phantom smoke ring, and sneered:
"How much use can the single horn of a mere E-rank monster possibly have? My bare fists alone can smash an E-rank monster to pieces!"

A horn that couldn't bring her power could only end up being sold by her for pocket money!

[...#￥%…*@#￥%…] Will you fucking get off me?!

Turning a deaf ear, Qian Qi rummaged through her clothes bag, pulled out a 100-yuan cash note from her living allowance, stepped on the edge of her bed, and poked her head into the upper bunk.

Liang Yuting, who was lying on her bed reading a book, was startled by the head that suddenly popped up. She stammered, "Qian, Qian Qi?"
"Here," Qian Qi handed the money to Liang Yuting, "The money I borrowed from you before, paying it back."

Liang Yuting stared blankly at the 100 yuan in front of her, rubbed her eyes fiercely to confirm she wasn't dreaming, and then looked at Qian Qi in astonishment.
Did the sun rise from the west? Qian Qi actually paid back her money?

She tentatively reached out. Feeling timid and vigilant, Liang Yuting’s little heart beat wildly. After taking the money, she subconsciously blurted out, "Thank you."
Qian Qi pondered for two seconds, "Mm, you're welcome."
Liang Yuting: ???
I just misspoke! You really didn't have to reply, hey!

---

The next day, Qian Qi spent a busy day finally getting everything ready.
After a sound sleep, she arrived at the Beast Taming Department full of energy.

At this moment, quite a few students were lingering and gathering at the main entrance of the Beast Taming Plaza, craning their necks and peering through the gate bars into the interior.

"Hey, classmate, which post brought you here?"
"I came from the skill combination post. I want to see who is so arrogant. What about you?"
"I came because of the headmaster's bald head, hahaha~"
"Heh heh, I'm here to see whose feet smell the worst~"

Students gathered around the plaza entrance discussing animatedly. Even though the competition hadn't started yet, they chatted enthusiastically and didn't seem bored at all.

Grandpa Sun was standing at the entrance of the duty room, accompanied by a few elderly men he had specifically asked to help out. Seeing Qian Qi arrive, Grandpa Sun waved with a beaming smile.

Carrying a small stool, Qian Qi trotted over eagerly, handed a box to Grandpa Sun, greeted the old men, and then glanced back at the Beast Taming Plaza behind them.

During certain periods, the Beast Taming Plaza required special staff to lead the monsters out for walks and exercise, so the plaza was semi-enclosed. Without opening the gates, students from the Beast Taming Department could not enter.
This rule played right into Qian Qi's plan.

And the most crucial link was—
The opening time of the Beast Taming Plaza depended on Grandpa Li, who managed the monster storage warehouse. Grandpa Sun had an exceptionally good relationship with Grandpa Li; as long as Grandpa Sun said a word, it wouldn't be a problem even if the plaza stayed closed for a whole day.

"I brought old Li a bag of tangerines, so he postponed the plaza's opening time to 5:00 PM." Grandpa Sun opened the box, looked at the printed items inside, and smiled warmly.

The Beast Taming Department had a dedicated plaza opening notification. Thanks to Grandpa Sun, Grandpa Li even stated in the notification that there would be an exciting human-versus-bonded-beast duel match at 10:00 AM, and welcomed students from the Beast Taming Department to come watch.

Qian Qi was thoroughly satisfied. She promised, "Grandpa, tomorrow I'll come and bring you another two bags of tangerines! Oh right, and for all the other grandpas too, everyone gets a share!"
The old men immediately beamed with joy, "Heh, you girl, you really know how to play the game!"
"Be careful when you compete with the bonded beast later. It's a D-rank monster, you know, very powerful!"
"The little girl seems to have some unique tricks up her sleeve. We old folks who haven't seen much of the world are really looking forward to it!"
"Hahaha, you can rest easy!" Qian Qi laughed heartily. She took the items out of the box and strode toward the tightly shut gates of the Beast Taming Plaza.

Stepping onto her small stool, she cleared her throat and shouted in an utterly enthusiastic tone:
"Selling tickets! Selling tickets! Selling fresh and hot tickets~"
"Want to know what a defense fruit capable of blocking D-rank damage looks like? Want to know how a breathtakingly beautiful teenage girl and a D-rank bonded beast will tear each other apart in passionate love-hate? Want to know how a normal human can safely duel a D-rank bonded beast? Want to know what magical item people all over the world desire? Want to know whose feet in our school smell the worst!"
"Buy a ticket, step through the gates of this magical plaza, and the answers will be revealed!"
"Come on! Follow me and open your optical brains. For just 50 yuan, you can unlock the doubts buried deep in your hearts for ages! For just 50 yuan, you can watch an unprecedented, magnificent duel! For just 50 yuan, you will stand in the long river of history and witness with your own eyes the person who changes the destiny of the world!"
"What are you—still hesitating for?!"

Standing atop her small stool, Qian Qi shouted at the top of her lungs with heartbreaking passion.
Her voice instantly captured everyone's attention.

"What? There's actually an admission fee? Wasn't it free?"
Students immediately raised questions. Clearly, they had all assumed this competition was free to watch.

Qian Qi crooked her mouth into a smile.
Free?