"Haha, you're right. Say bye-bye and move on—the next one will be even sweeter," Wang Mo chuckled. He glanced sideways at He Jiyu, and seeing that he didn't say anything, let the subject drop.
The three went upstairs and entered a private dining room.
All three were martial artists in their Golden Age Bracket and still had aspirations for the martial path, so they naturally paid great attention to their diet. After ordering a high-energy nutritional set meal, they didn't order anything else.
For Fang Yu and Wang Mo, who they shared a meal with mattered far more than what they ate.
The three chatted on and on, reminiscing about their freshman and sophomore years. It was mainly Fang Yu and Wang Mo talking, while He Jiyu mostly listened... As time passed, he gradually relaxed as well and casually brought up Ye Zhiyin again.
"Actually, you both know the general gist of it."
"It happened right at the start of sophomore year, during a mixer with the freshmen," Fang Yu said with a smile. "She was the host, so we got to know each other. She was very lively with a nice personality, just liked to have fun... After a few more events, we became more familiar, and she often invited me out to hang out."
"Yeah." Wang Mo nodded. "There were plenty of activities during our freshman and sophomore years."
At a Martial Junior College, students focused primarily on martial arts cultivation.
However, through generations of practice and follow-up studies by schools and society as a whole, it had long been discovered that relying purely on militarized management and high-pressure supervision would easily cause widespread psychological issues and warp students' temperaments.
Martial artists in particular possessed astonishing destructive potential, and if their temperaments became warped, the devastation they could cause would be even greater... Consequently, many years ago, even martial universities and Martial Junior Colleges began organizing various social activities for their students.
Even the teaching structure granted students more time for independent cultivation.
From the perspective of martial arts, the so-called tempering of a martial heart also required experiencing and seeing enough of the world to make one's inner mind fuller and stronger.
"When a girl chases a guy, there's barely a veil between them. You weren't tempted at all back then?" Wang Mo teased.
"To say I wasn't tempted at all would naturally be a lie," Fang Yu said with a smile. "But our personal pursuits were different. After I turned her down a few times... she probably sensed how I felt, and we contacted each other less and less."
"Neither of us ever laid it bare. If we bumped into each other on campus, we'd just exchange greetings... Old Mo, you went a bit too far earlier," Fang Yu said, shaking his head.
If things were laid bare, the implications would be entirely different.
"Don't blame me, I thought she was the one who rejected you back then." Wang Mo threw up his hands. "After all, at our age, who could refuse a pretty girl throwing herself at you? Only a cultivation maniac like you."
"Take my dad, for instance."
"Back then, he was worried I was too young and might get trapped in a scam and lose money. To disillusion me about women, the moment I got into junior college, he took the initiative to take me to a business KTV," Wang Mo chuckled. "The result is, now I don't believe in love at all."
Fang Yu couldn't help but pause.
A business KTV? He had only heard of them; he had never been.
Still, Fang Yu still believed in love. He was simply firmly convinced of one thing: he had to hold his destiny in his own hands... Martial arts was his highest priority right now.
In this era, ordinary people lived past a hundred, and seventy-five was the statutory retirement age.
Powerful martial artists lived even longer.
Marriage? There was no need to consider it so early.
Yet in martial arts cultivation, progress before age thirty far outstripped progress after thirty... Especially during the Golden Age Bracket, a single year of bitter training was worth five or even ten years later on.
"Old Fang, Old Mo," He Jiyu suddenly spoke up, his voice somewhat muffled. "Do you think I made the wrong choice back then? Should I not have gotten married?"
Fang Yu and Wang Mo exchanged a glance.
They had talked for so long... mainly for He Jiyu's benefit.
As roommates for three years with compatible personalities, they were fairly familiar with He Jiyu's situation.
"There's no right or wrong to speak of," Fang Yu said. "Getting married and having kids early has its benefits too... Maybe by the time your kids go to college, neither of us will even be married yet. It'll save you trouble later on."
He Jiyu listened in silence.
"Old He."
"After this meal today, who knows when we'll see each other next," Wang Mo said quite solemnly. "Are you running into some difficulties?"
"If you are, just speak up. We'll help however we can," Wang Mo said.
"It's not really a crisis," He Jiyu shook his head. "It's just that after getting married, things turned out far more complicated than I imagined. As you know, Liu Ying got pregnant and gave birth."
Fang Yu and Wang Mo nodded.
The three roommates had very different approaches to romance: Wang Mo went through girlfriend after girlfriend, while Fang Yu was devoted to martial arts cultivation.
He Jiyu had started dating in the second semester of his freshman year and fell deeply in love.
In their junior year, his girlfriend became pregnant with twins, so the two got married... The babies were born in the second semester of junior year. Since the one-month celebration was held right in Wuling City, Fang Yu and Wang Mo had made a special trip to attend.
"Originally, I didn't think getting married and having kids was that big a deal."
"In my plans, my parents and Liu Ying's parents weren't that old, so they could help out a bit," He Jiyu said. "And nowadays there are childcare robots to assist... but after the kids were born, things turned out completely different from what I thought."
"Two children... Although the government's initial subsidy is quite substantial, a hundred thousand Star Coins per child, Liu Ying has very high standards for the kids, and the various expenses are enormous."
"We also have to prepare to buy an apartment. If we take on a mortgage, the pressure from the loan will be huge."
"Neither set of parents is fully retired yet either. Besides, I have a younger brother, and she has an older brother and a younger sister. They all have to work. And childcare robots still can't completely replace human care... Liu Ying is currently taking care of the kids full-time." He Jiyu shook his head. "The financial pressure is huge. In short, right now it's an utter mess."
"Completely different from what I originally envisioned."
Fang Yu and Wang Mo exchanged another glance.
They had known roughly how He Jiyu was doing and that things weren't going smoothly, but they hadn't expected him to be bogged down in such trouble.
"The key issue is..."
"My Life Level isn't even at Level 15 yet, so it's hard to find a decent job," He Jiyu sighed. "There are too many Martial Junior College students these days. If your technical skill isn't high enough, you can't even get in as a teaching assistant at an ordinary martial club."
Fang Yu understood to some extent.
Compared to cultural junior college students or even cultural undergraduate students, Martial Junior College students were relatively few in number... But without notable achievements, finding a high-paying job was still not easy.
Level 15 was a hurdle for most Martial Junior College students.
Even if they had awakened a star aspect, the vast majority of Martial Junior College students only awakened Lower-Rank Star Aspects. Without purchasing supplementary cultivation medicine... reaching Level 15 by the end of their junior year was no easy task.
Fang Yu had been able to reach it.
On the one hand, his family had invested more into him than most could ever match; on the other, he had his innate divine ability and an extraordinary technical talent. The efficiency of tempering his body after Entering the Minute far surpassed what it was before.
And lastly, he was sufficiently devoted to martial arts.
It wasn't as if one's Life Level would simply shoot up after consuming potions and treasures... Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that required zero effort to elevate oneself were exceedingly rare, their prices counted in the hundreds of millions.
Normal potions and treasures, even those worth millions like the Ice Heart Marrow Cleansing Fruit, still required the user's diligent cultivation.
Martial arts cultivation brought great enjoyment with each step of progress.
It was also grueling.
Enjoyment and torment were not mutually exclusive... In this era, there were simply too many temptations.
Romance and physical pleasure, gourmet food, holographic games, the repeated exhaustion that came from pushing the body to its limits, mental inertia... Overcoming all of these was remarkably difficult.
It demanded absolute self-discipline and focus.
Focus itself was a kind of talent.
This was also why Fang Yu was convinced Wang Mo was not as simple as he seemed on the surface... Without a certain degree of determination and perseverance in cultivation, merely throwing money at it was not enough to reach Level 20 so quickly.
Most Martial Junior College students continued training after graduation to reach Level 15 before their Golden Age Bracket ended at age twenty-five... Even if they didn't spend extra money, it required a massive investment of time and energy.
In He Jiyu's situation, expecting him to dedicate more time to cultivation was clearly unrealistic.
"Old He."
"We've been roommates, so I won't beat around the bush," Wang Mo said. "A friend of mine recently opened a company and is short on people. In a bit, I'll send you their contact info and explain your situation to them... When you go, just work hard."
"Can I really do it?" He Jiyu hesitated.
His instinct was to decline... but at the thought of his wife's call earlier, he held back.
"Just go and give it a try first," Wang Mo said with forced breeziness. "If you're not used to it at first, you can learn as you go... Alright, it's almost time. Fang Yu and I need to head over to the Martial Arts Building first. You'll still be in Wuling City, so we can catch up whenever there's a chance."
"Okay." He Jiyu saw Fang Yu and Wang Mo out of the private room.
He watched them head downstairs.
Taking a deep breath, He Jiyu took out his phone and dialed the pinned contact. Three seconds later, the call connected, and a smile broke across his face: "Wife, how are the babies? Are they doing alright? Eating and sleeping well? I'll be back this afternoon. As for the job hunt... don't worry, we're good brothers. Before I could even say a word, they offered to help on their own. Don't worry, the pay won't be low."
"Alright, go ahead and eat first..." He Jiyu hung up with a smile.
Putting away the phone, the smile faded from his face.
My wife has suffered right alongside me.
If only I hadn't dated back then... or at least hadn't married and had kids, things would probably be a lot better right now, countless thoughts surfaced in He Jiyu's mind. If I had poured more energy into martial arts cultivation, even if I couldn't be like Old Fang and Old Mo with a shot at being recommended to a Martial Undergraduate program...
At least I wouldn't have had trouble finding a decent job and needed Old Mo's help.
His martial arts talent was far inferior to Fang Yu's.
Still, among this year's junior college students, it wasn't bad... If he had worked hard enough and trained with all his might, reaching Life Level 15 shouldn't have been difficult.
Yet tangled in the trivialities of daily life, everything had changed.
"No wonder."
"Reading history in the past, whenever a strategist offered their lord upper, middle, and lower strategies, the master would often pick the middle or lower one," He Jiyu sighed to himself. "Back then, Old Fang and Old Mo both tried to advise me... and hadn't I chosen the lower strategy after all?"
As a friend, had life not backed him into a corner, how could he have been willing to vent his bitter grievances to his two brothers?
He hadn't wanted to ask them for help; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone around submitting resumes.
He Jiyu understood... Starting today, he and his two roommates walked two completely different life paths. They were still pursuing martial arts, chasing greater strength.
While he had to face the beast called "life."
...
Walking along the road.
"Fang Yu, I used to blame my dad for shattering all my illusions about love," Wang Mo said, shaking his head. "After seeing Old He today, suddenly I don't blame him anymore."
"Don't be so pessimistic," Fang Yu smiled. "Getting married and having kids brings a lot of pain, but there's happiness too... Just like my dad said, after my mom went missing on the Primordial Star, if not for the three of us siblings, he could never have walked out of that darkness."
"True," Wang Mo reminisced. "My mom also said that what she regrets least in life was giving birth to me."
"By the way."
"The job you introduced to Old He?" Fang Yu asked.
"Don't worry, it's not my dad's company," Wang Mo chuckled. "It's a company opened by a relative of mine. I'll make a special call to explain things properly... Old He is the kind of guy who never speaks up unless he's truly in a bind. I won't make him feel awkward."
"Besides."
"Over three years of junior college, I only made a handful of real friends... I don't want to lose one completely," Wang Mo said with feeling.
...
At two in the afternoon.
Not long after Fang Yu and Wang Mo returned to the ground floor hall of the Martial Arts Building, once most of the crowd had gathered, the ten spots for the second batch of the recommendation list and the names of the seventy students qualified to participate in the practical combat assessment appeared simultaneously on the giant screen.
"I made it!"
"Yes! Tenth place, I barely squeezed in!"
"As expected, I didn't get picked. I can only wait for the practical combat assessment in September... I've never been to the Primordial Star before."
"Damn it! I didn't even make the combat assessment list? Am I really that bad?"
Chatter immediately erupted across the hall, some celebrating while others despaired.
The most thrilled were naturally the ten students directly recommended.
The other seventy students taking the practical combat assessment still had hope at least... The most disappointed were those who hadn't even made the assessment list.
"Old Fang, I'm on the recommendation list!" Wang Mo was initially elated, but his brows quickly knitted together. "Wait, this isn't right! Old Fang, why aren't you on it?"
"Your name isn't even on the combat assessment list."
"What's going on?"
Chapter 20