Do Mentally Ill People Have to Find Jobs Too?

Language was a strange thing. Perhaps something lay behind it. Qi Yuan didn't dwell on this any longer, instead sitting down to ponder something else. "I can't cultivate the *Qi Yuan Scripture* here; I need to cultivate a simplified version." In this game world, Qi Yuan's goal was to increase his strength. Since he hadn't yet found a clear way to gain experience by killing monsters, cultivation was his only option. Cultivating the *Qi Yuan Scripture* was quite complex. Leaving aside the Stellar Golden Core, just the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment alone was difficult to replicate. Thus, Qi Yuan prepared to create a stripped-down version of the *Qi Yuan Scripture* to cultivate. To raise his own strength. In any case, this body had integrated with the Innate Seed, so the cultivation returned to his true body would no longer be the pitifully meager amount it used to be. Qi Yuan's current plan was to swiftly raise his realm and gain the ability to protect himself. Then, participate in the Martial Arts Tournament. After all, if his aptitude for martial arts turned out to be terrible and he couldn't win the Martial Arts Tournament that way, he still had Dao arts, didn't he? There didn't seem to be any rule prohibiting the use of immortal arts in a martial arts tournament. Outside Jun'an Community, two men and a woman carrying bags of fruit walked toward Qi Yuan's home, chatting and laughing. Wang Xu adjusted his glasses. Tall and well-built, he was naturally the center of attention among the three. During university, Wang Xu had been the class monitor. By leveraging his family connections along with his own efforts, he now worked at the Maritime Bureau. The Qinyuan Kingdom's maritime hegemony was unmatched across Arch Star, and with maritime trade booming, a position at the Maritime Bureau was a highly coveted prize. Such a respectable job naturally drew the envy of other classmates. "Li Yan, what, do you still have feelings for Qi Yuan?" Li Yan wore her hair in a high ponytail and flared trousers over her long, slender legs. She had a tall figure, though her looks could only be considered above average. Today, she wore light makeup, with a faint melancholy in her eyes. Hearing Wang Xu's words, a smile formed in her eyes. "I was young and naive back then. As for now..." She shook her head. In university, her heart had fluttered for Qi Yuan. After all, Qi Yuan's looks were unmatched in the class. She had constantly wanted to pursue Qi Yuan, but unfortunately she was rejected every time. Later, when she learned Qi Yuan suffered from mental illness, she immediately kept her distance from him. Qi Yuan had a handsome exterior, but she was unwilling to marry a lunatic. Otherwise, if her female friends found out, it would be far too humiliating. One of the girls in her dorm had gotten pregnant right after graduation and married a young man from a small town under a county. To her face or behind her back, her roommates had talked plenty of trash about her—saying she'd lost her mind, married beneath her, and ruined her life. With that roommate serving as a cautionary tale, how could Li Yan truly want to get involved with Qi Yuan? A one-night stand might be fine, but marriage was out of the question. Otherwise, she would be laughed to death. "Sigh, Qi Yuan's life really has been bitter. He was an orphan to begin with, managed with great effort to test into university, then developed a mental illness, and now... he's fallen gravely ill again. Who knows how he's doing," a man with a crew cut said, his eyes filled with sighing pity. Yet deep within his expression lingered a trace of greed, concealed so well that none of them noticed. "Sigh, misfortune loves to strike the wretched," Wang Xu lamented, projecting an air of compassion. Before long, the trio knocked on the door of Qi Yuan's home. The crew-cut man looked around, seemingly very pleased. Soon, the door opened. Qi Yuan stood in the doorway, looking at the three outside, his expression calm. "Old classmates, you're here. Come on in and sit." Surprise flickered across Wang Xu's face, quickly concealed. "Qi Yuan, your face... why are you so pale?" Qi Yuan currently looked just like an invalid, looking as if he might drop dead at any second. "Yeah, I'm sick," Qi Yuan answered truthfully. Looking at the three classmates before him, memories swept over him like a tide. Back when the Innate Seed was still separate, they had come to see Qi Yuan as well. However, Qi Yuan had been lying on a sickbed then, perpetually in a deep coma, unable to speak a single word, so there had naturally been no communication. "Have you... gone to the hospital to get checked? Is it serious?" Li Yan asked with a hint of concern. After all, seeing her former male god reduced to this state, perhaps on the verge of death, left her feeling a bit down. Was this the cost of growing up? "It's not serious. A minor issue." Qi Yuan waved his hand. Once he cultivated, would these still be issues? Of course, he couldn't resolve the curse-like condition in his body for the time being, but restoring himself to the level of a normal person and delaying the curse's relapse was entirely within his reach. "How is this a minor issue? Just look at your face!" Li Yan couldn't help saying, her eyes reddening as if she was deeply saddened for him. Although she looked down on Qi Yuan now, she still couldn't bear to see him pass away at such a young age. "Li Yan, you're overthinking it. Qi Yuan can stand and talk to us right now, so it shouldn't be anything major," the crew-cut man said. Indeed, if someone were truly gravely ill, they would be bedridden. Someone who could stand and talk like this showed that the issue wasn't that big. "Right, I'm doing great. I can eat six steamed buns in one meal." After saying that, Qi Yuan sat down on a chair. Even though this pain was nothing to him, he had no masochistic tendencies, so he naturally chose whatever was most comfortable. "In a few more days, I'll be cured," Qi Yuan said with utter confidence. His words brought a sigh of relief to the people present. At this point, Wang Xu asked, "Qi Yuan, you haven't looked for a job yet, have you? Do you want me to introduce you to one? The salary isn't high, but it's very relaxed and stable." Wang Xu revealed his objective. Right now, he was in his probationary period at the Maritime Bureau. Providing assistance to a child of a martyr like Qi Yuan would earn him major points. Hearing this, Qi Yuan stared blankly. "Aren't I mentally ill? Do mentally ill people have to find jobs too?" If a psychiatric patient looked for work, would any company dare to hire him? Was Arch Star really so hyper-competitive that even psychiatric patients had to get jobs? Wang Xu couldn't help but freeze. It was the first time he had ever heard a mentally ill person say so matter-of-factly, *Do mentally ill people need to work too?* It sounded exceedingly bizarre. Li Yan was stunned as well. Then, on second thought, she understood. Mental illness didn't mean being an idiot; it just meant having some cognitive issues. "If you don't work, you can indeed get by on government subsidies. But..." Wang Xu pondered. "Qi Yuan, what I'm about to say might hurt a bit, so please don't take it the wrong way. If you keep staying at home without a proper job, it'll be very hard to take a wife and have children. Even with state-arranged blind dates, those women won't be interested in you." For children of martyrs, the Qinyuan Kingdom provided many protections. Not only were there various subsidies, but they would even arrange blind dates. However, because Qi Yuan had mental issues, he would likely sit at the very bottom of the marriage market. After all, what woman would want to bring home a burden? "That's right, Qi Yuan. Without a stable job, your success rate on blind dates will be far too low. It's not like Wang Xu—working at the Maritime Bureau, young, and on the verge of a promotion to cadre. If he went on blind dates, he'd be an absolute catch." Li Yan smoothed her hair, casting an ardent look at Wang Xu. "That's an exaggeration; mine is just an ordinary job." Wang Xu waved his hand, though the smugness in his eyes was impossible to hide. Looking back at Qi Yuan, he said slowly, "The job I found for you is very easy. It's just watching a warehouse for someone to make sure things don't get stolen. There's no technical skill involved—anyone can do it." Li Yan also urged hastily, "That's right, Qi Yuan, why don't you consider it? Your parents wouldn't want their family line to end with you, would they?" Seeing this, a smile rose in Qi Yuan's eyes. "Working a job? It's impossible for me to work a job." He shook his head outright. Returning to a modern society like Blue Star only to be told to work a job? Were they trying to kill him? "You don't need to worry about me. Even without a job, I'll still find a wife!" Qi Yuan declared without hesitation. If he wanted to, he could go straight to the Civil Affairs Bureau with Xiao Jia and get a marriage certificate. Furthermore, once his strength increased a bit and he brought the projection of his Stellar Golden Core into this universe, he could summon Ning Tao down as well and get a marriage certificate together. It was just that... it might count as bigamy. Yet Qi Yuan wasn't afraid. He had a psychiatric diagnosis certificate. That certificate was a divine artifact of self-protection. He wouldn't even fear breaking regular laws, so why fear bigamy? "This..." Wang Xu wanted to persuade him further. After all, Qi Yuan was ill and had no job; wanting to marry and have children would be hard beyond measure. "If you don't have a job..." Li Yan began to add, "you won't have money either, and you won't even be able to treat yourself to a good meal." Just then, the crew-cut man's eyes lit up. "Aiya, you two are too old-fashioned. With Qi Yuan's qualifications, how could he fail to find a wife? I know a girl who's quite pretty and virtuous, and she's been looking to go on blind dates recently. How about I introduce her to Qi Yuan?" Hearing this, Li Yan was taken aback and whispered into the crew-cut man's ear, "Don't ruin some poor girl's life." Wang Xu, on the other hand, looked at the crew-cut man with a thoughtful expression. "What kind of girl? What's her character like?" "Her character is great. She even received financial aid grants in university. Sigh, her family background isn't great—she comes from a remote place, but she works very hard. She's always wanted a Tianyue household registration... so, you know..." The crew-cut man explained the woman's background. A girl of impoverished background with great drive. Tianyue City was a provincial capital in the Qinyuan Kingdom. A household registration here was quite valuable. Especially for someone like Qi Yuan, who owned a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. If sold, this apartment was worth four to five million Qinyuan coins—something those from impoverished backgrounds could work their entire lives and still never afford. Wang Xu hesitated. "Qi Yuan is your old classmate, so don't trap him. What if that girl..." Wang Xu couldn't bring himself to say the rest. What if it was marriage fraud? After all, Qi Yuan had mental issues. With a few simple tricks, that girl could probably get her hands on all of Qi Yuan's real estate and wealth. "Don't worry, the girl I know is exceptionally honest," the crew-cut man said, a smile appearing in his eyes. "She's also very conservative and traditional. Once she sets her mind on someone, she probably won't let go for a lifetime. Last time, she even complained to me that after meeting a blind-date guy only three times, he got impatient and tried to hold her hand. She looked down on him for that, which shows just how conservative she is." The crew-cut man chuckled as he spoke. Of course, those words had been spoken by that woman in his bed. Back then, the crew-cut man had even asked, *Didn't I only meet you twice, even less than that blind-date guy? How come we...* In response, the woman had shaken her head and said, *You're different. He's a blind-date prospect.* Hearing this, Wang Xu remained silent. "What's the matter, Class Monitor? You don't trust me, Cui Fan?" the crew-cut man asked, a hint of interrogation in his voice. Wang Xu hesitated for a long time, unable to respond. Cui Fan continued with dissatisfaction, "Class Monitor, even though I made mistakes when I was young in university and took out some usurious loans, I turned over a new leaf after graduating and got a respectable job long ago. Don't look at me through tinted glasses!" Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, Li Yan spoke up. "Wang Xu, Cui Fan is different from before. Less than a year after graduating, he became a supervisor at a pharmaceutical company." Meanwhile, Qi Yuan's eyes lit up. Although he received subsidies now, it was only a little over two thousand a month. That was barely enough for his daily living. To purchase all kinds of materials for cultivating immortality and training martial arts, he couldn't manage without money. Hearing Cui Fan mention loan sharks, many ideas popped into his head. Should he follow the example of old acquaintances... and fleece the loan sharks? Qi Yuan had watched many TV shows and anime where the protagonists lacked money during their early entrepreneurial stages. What to do when short on cash? Take out loans from loan sharks! And simply never pay them back! In any case, most usurious lending in the Qinyuan Kingdom skirted the edges of the law. These loan sharks mostly had underworld backgrounds and did nothing decent. If Qi Yuan fleeced them for loans, it could even be counted as ridding the people of an evil. After all, he had no intention of paying the money back. "I won't meddle in this matter. As long as you can convince Qi Yuan," Wang Xu said. "Qi Yuan, if you have time, you should still report to that job I mentioned." Whether it was for his promotion or not, lending Qi Yuan a helping hand was no skin off his nose. "Alright." A bright smile appeared in the crew-cut man's eyes. Qi Yuan nodded as well, demonstrating great emotional intelligence as he said, "Thank you." During the time that followed, the group chatted in the apartment for a while. Perhaps concerned about Qi Yuan's physical condition, they didn't stay long. Now, Qi Yuan looked at the empty apartment, pulled out his phone, and found Cui Fan in his contacts. After pondering for a moment, he sent a text: "Cui Fan, can you lend me some money?" Rather than searching for connections himself, it was better to trouble someone else. In any case, this Cui Fan clearly harbored ill intentions toward him. "Huh? Borrow money? How much do you need, and what for?" Cui Fan's reply quickly came through. "Ten thousand. I'm a bit short on cash right now," Qi Yuan replied casually. "This..." Cui Fan hesitated. Had he not been scheming for Qi Yuan's family property, he certainly wouldn't have bothered responding to someone asking for a loan. But right now, he remained very considerate: "I don't have any money on me right now, sorry. Oh right, Qi Yuan, do you want to meet Xiao Mei in three days? If you go meet her, I'll let you in on a way to get some cash." "Sure." A smile appeared in Qi Yuan's eyes; he had been waiting for those exact words. Given Cui Fan's character, how could he ever bear to lend him ten thousand? "I have the contact info for a loan shark. How about in three days, after meeting Xiao Mei, you meet up with the loan shark guy?" Cui Fan suggested tentatively. "Mhm... do they lend large amounts? I'm quite short on cash," Qi Yuan asked. He wanted to borrow a large sum. "A lot. Don't worry, with your apartment in hand, taking out four or five million is no problem," Cui Fan replied honestly. Qi Yuan's apartment was valued at four to five million, but in reality, four to five million wouldn't even be enough to buy it. Meanwhile, both he and Xiao Mei owed loan sharks hundreds of thousands. It was precisely because they couldn't repay the debt that they had teamed up to set a trap and swindle Qi Yuan out of his apartment.