Chapter 37: A Trap

*Bang.*

As the door closed, only Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling remained in the office.

Lan Ling continued to work out with his barbell, saying, "Chairman, this Zhang Yu is a bit greedy."

Zhou Chechen lay on the sofa, chuckling, "Poor people are like that. Early success leads to youthful arrogance; it's all normal."

"If I improved by 70 points in a month like him, I'd be just as arrogant," Lan Ling replied. "I suppose we can give him another month to consider."

Lan Ling's gaze turned cold. "Chairman, are you really going to increase his contract benefits again?"

Zhou Chechen said calmly, "Lan Ling, you haven't seen enough poor people; you don't understand them. Limited by their upbringing, experience, and living standards, the horizons of the poor are often very narrow. In situations like the one just now, nine out of ten would sign the contract on the spot. But Zhang Yu was able to hold his breath and say he wanted to go back and think about it, which makes me look at him in a new light. If his grades can improve again in the monthly exam a month from now, what's the harm in giving him a higher level of benefits?"

Lan Ling frowned. "I'm just afraid this kind of person will be insatiable."

Zhou Chechen laughed heartily, "Alright, Big Lan, be more generous; don't compete with those below you. Zhang Yu isn't on the same path as us, and he won't be here to steal our positions. They're not our competition. On the contrary, the better he does, the more he progresses, the more we earn, and the more worthwhile he is to invest in..."

As he spoke, Zhou Chechen placed a spirit realm mask over his head. "I'll be in the spirit realm taking remedial lessons this afternoon, so don't bother looking for me if you don't have anything important."

...

In the cafeteria.

As soon as he left the student union office, Zhang Yu rushed to Bai Zhenzhen. Seeing her calmly eating, Zhang Yu said urgently, "Ah Zhen, you better give me a good reason. Do you know how much determination it took for me not to sign? You have no idea how much they admire my talent..."

Bai Zhenzhen calmly said, "When you went in, did he rush over and hold your hand, not even having time to put on his shoes?"

Zhang Yu was slightly stunned, stopping his speech.

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "It's the same for everyone. Zhou Chechen always greets people like that when signing contracts."

"Ah?" Zhang Yu exclaimed in surprise. "He welcomed me like an old friend?"

Zhang Yu then said, "But he also waived my debts."

Bai Zhenzhen snorted, asking, "Did he really waive them? Or did he become your creditor?"

"Did he also tell you not to worry about interest, and not to rush to repay the debt, but to slowly repay it after you graduate from university and find a job?"

Zhang Yu was surprised again, "Did he say the same to you?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "He probably says that to everyone he wants to sign. But don't think it's a good thing. He might say he doesn't need you to repay, but that's just talk. If you don't continue to repay the debt, and it becomes overdue, then the decision-making power is in their hands. If he really doesn't care, then nothing will happen. But once he applies for enforcement, the money in your account will immediately be used to repay the debt. If the money isn't enough, then you'll have to use assets to offset it. Think about what your most valuable asset is?"

Zhang Yu's eyes flickered slightly. He didn't really have any assets. Forced execution would probably just make him a deadbeat.

Bai Zhenzhen snorted coldly, saying, "The most valuable thing on you is your cultivation, your meticulously tempered flesh and blood, and your diligently cultivated dantian."

Zhang Yu's eyes narrowed, "Are you saying they would?"

Bai Zhenzhen nodded. "Forced execution means repaying with money if you have it, and auctioning off assets if you don't. Once your external possessions are sold, they'll naturally sell your organs, your flesh and blood, your dantian..."

Although he had long lost any expectations for Kunxu's bottom line, Zhang Yu's heart still sank upon hearing Bai Zhenzhen's words.

And Bai Zhenzhen's narrative continued, "Don't even think about escaping. This contract isn't just a piece of paper. Remember the Department of Law in the Eight Divine Departments? When this contract is signed, the student union will use spells to respectfully invite the Heavenly Covenant Deity of the Department of Law to witness it. The enforcement will also be carried out by the Eight Divine Departments."

"Good heavens, Zhou Chechen, the more Zhang Yu heard, the more shocked he became. I opened my heart to you, and you played tricks on me? Were you trying to send me to the mines?"

Across from Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen continued, "However, if you fully comply with the contract and your academic performance meets their expectations, then they may not necessarily do anything to you. But there is another key point, which lies in another part of the contract, regarding the choice of university and major when applying for college, and the compensation for violating relevant clauses. In other words, after signing the contract, which university and major you want to study in will be decided by them. And there are various other rules and regulations, violations of which will result in astronomical liquidated damages..."

Seeing Zhang Yu's blank expression, Bai Zhenzhen said angrily, "Didn't you read this part of the contract?"

Zhang Yu said with righteous indignation, "I was so overwhelmed by the benefits in front that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to resist signing if I kept reading, so I quickly rejected Zhou Chechen and ran to the cafeteria to find you!"

Bai Zhenzhen nodded, "Alright, it seems you have a strong will."

Then she changed the subject, "Yu, have you ever noticed that the wealthy students in our school rarely have conflicts with us poor folks? Have they always been gentle, elegant, kind, and polite, rarely using their power to bully others?"

Zhang Yu recalled in his mind, nodding, "It seems so."

Bai Zhenzhen, "Because the rich and the poor are not competing on the same track. They never regarded us as competitors from beginning to end, so they seem like decent people."

Zhang Yu frowned slightly. Everyone was taking the same college entrance exam, so what did she mean by not competing on the same track? Could they get into university by doing aerobics?

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "Because the poor are taking the ordinary university route, while the goal of those wealthy students is the top ten universities. For them, with their financial resources, they have plenty of opportunities to get into ordinary universities, and they don't regard the poor as competitors. Only the top universities require them to do their best to compete with other wealthy people."

Zhang Yu couldn't help asking, "Can't the poor get into the top universities?"

Bai Zhenzhen, "The number of admissions places in the top ten universities is limited, and there are even fewer places allocated to each city. For example, in Songyang City, the total number of admissions places for the top ten universities is... only a few dozen. These places have long been monopolized by them in various ways. For example, the Class A contract is one of the means, signing contracts with poor people with talent and good grades, directly determining which university they will apply to."

"Of course... after signing this contract, although you can't get into the top ten, you are their investment project, and they will still be polite and friendly to you, and be your good classmates. But if you don't sign this contract, and even show a tendency to want to get into the top ten in the future, then you will truly become their competitor. What awaits you will be an extremely cruel competition, and you will see all kinds of inhumane means from them, as well as the pressure coming from all directions."

"The admissions places for the top ten famous schools are jointly maintained by their circle, and they will never allow any poor people to get their hands on them. On this point, even the student unions of all key high schools share the same glory and suffer the same losses. Don't expect the school to care too much. When the social energy of the students' parents is far greater than that of the school, the principal often can't control the student union."

Listening to Bai Zhenzhen's words, Zhang Yu immediately understood that the Songyang elites were joining forces to squeeze out the stinky poor. At that moment, he felt as if he saw an invisible net, covering the sky and the earth, shrouding the heads of all the students, making it difficult for people to breathe.

Zhang Yu couldn't help sighing, "Is the gap between the top ten universities and ordinary universities really that big? Why are they so afraid?"

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, saying, "What else could it be? The Ten Great Sects are something that people can never leave from birth to death, and are the force that determines the direction of Kunxu. And only by entering the top ten universities can you have the opportunity to enter the Ten Great Sects. As for the graduates of ordinary universities? The Ten Great Sects will not accept them as disciples, at most they will become employees of a group under the Ten Great Sects."

Zhang Yu sighed in his heart after hearing this. As expected, he couldn't escape academic discrimination after graduating from university. Graduating from an ordinary university meant he could only be an outsourced disciple for the rest of his life.

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "Of course, there is also a very important point, and that is that only the Ten Great Sects... can become immortals."

Her tone at this moment also revealed a trace of yearning. Becoming an immortal, the ultimate pursuit in the hearts of countless cultivators. It can be said that as long as cultivators embark on the path of immortality, which one of them has never thought about this?

Zhang Yu also remembered that immortals only existed in the Ten Great Sects.

Bai Zhenzhen, "In short, that's the situation. If you want to get into the top ten famous schools, you have to face an overwhelming slaughter. Yu, now that you know all this... what are your plans?"

Under Bai Zhenzhen's gaze, Zhang Yu looked extremely hesitant. "Should I sign? After signing, I can study and take exams safely. If I have Yu's writing, even if I get into an ordinary university and work in a sect group, I should be able to do very well, right? But... the Ten Great Sects..."

At this moment, Zhang Yu thought of the immortal spiritual roots that only disciples of great sects could insert, the immortal-level cultivation techniques that only disciples of great sects could use, and the fact that only disciples of great sects could become immortals...

Various, countless, there were countless known and unknown chasms in the future prospects of the top ten universities and ordinary universities.

Just as Zhang Yu was feeling hesitant, a chill surged from his heart, and with the appearance of the countdown, it also reminded him of one thing.

"Heh... study hard, work hard, get into university, join a great sect, and then earn money to buy all the antiques in the shopping cart."

"To join a great sect, you must get into the top ten..."

"Damn it... actually, I had no choice long ago."

Looking at Zhang Yu's constipated expression, Bai Zhenzhen patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Think about it slowly. This choice is not easy to make. They should have given you a month to consider it."

Seeing Bai Zhenzhen stand up and plan to leave, Zhang Yu suddenly asked, "What about you? Ah Zhen, what are your plans?"

Bai Zhenzhen paused slightly, then said with incomparable firmness, "I won't sign. I want to get into the top ten."

And Zhang Yu, feeling the coldness slowly dissipating in his body, seemed to directly see the choice in his heart. He smiled, "Then let's go together."