[Wow, that's really accurate. It's almost two months' salary.]

Shangluo put down the bill and said, "Miss Phaethon, what did you buy?"

"I know. I'll pay the bill myself. I just want you to advance me the first month."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, your work status doesn't seem very good. You haven't even received your first month's salary yet, and you're asking for an advance. And if I'm not mistaken, although you bought a lot of things, you only need one month's supply?"

It was a long list of items, all with a quantity of 1. She bought almost every single one—so nearly 4000 wen was actually quite a small sum. If the entire product line were calculated based on daily consumption, it would probably cost several times more.

"15 days."

"15 days?? I thought it would take at least a month."

"Considering the effectiveness of the drug, don't you think this is super cheap?"

That made sense. This was spiritual energy, after all, spiritual fluid. The fact that this spiritual energy could be used in daily life and still be offered at such a reasonable price was in line with Lan Fang's usual pricing: useful, a little pricey, but definitely not unaffordable.

"Have you calculated the approximate monthly usage?"

"18000"

"18000? Do you need that much?"

"There are a lot of trial packs there, like face creams, all free. Otherwise, how could they be so cheap?"

"As far as the efficacy is concerned, it is indeed within an acceptable range." Although even Shangluo would find the price a bit expensive, it is almost half a month's salary for Lao Shang, and it is impossible for Lao Shang to spend money on shampoo here - but considering the effectiveness, it does seem to be worth the money.

"But it's worth it, isn't it? It's really useful. The fact that it has a price is impressive."

"Okay." Shang Luo held his forehead. "I won't interfere with your spending. After all, I'm not your father. I'm just your employer. How you spend your money is your business. But I only pay you 2000. How are you going to support your 18000 monthly expenses?"

"I'll figure it out myself, don't worry. Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble."

Phaethon's eyes were filled with determination—Shangluo had seen this look before, the first time he saw her, when she was looking forward to her "mission." Fighting spirit burned in her eyes.

"Why do you feel so eager to fight in such a strange place?"

"Because it's really important." Phaethon said as he wiped his hair carefully. After drying, it was even shinier than before.

"Okay." Shangluo sighed, "Then you can take care of yourself. I wish you all the best. Do you want to eat now? You don't have to worry about food and accommodation. Anyway, you can sleep on the sofa and eat with me, so it doesn't cost any money."

"Shall we have instant noodles tonight?"

"Oh, I finally remembered. Let's eat some instant noodles. Let's eat something good."

Shangluo didn't know whether he should continue to satisfy her cravings for creation. But after all, he still trusted Phaethon. Aside from their impulsive moments, this father and daughter were quite principled. And after all that, Shangluo was willing to believe Phaethon wouldn't act so foolishly again—after all, he still had his father.

"Yeah." Shangluo nodded. If there really was a bill he couldn't pay, he would send it to his guardian.

"Then let's eat." He took the booklet and turned to the page about takeout.

"Let's celebrate today. Do you want anything to eat?"

"I'm a little embarrassed to ask you for an advance on your wages. So you can choose it yourself."

"That's how 'embarrassed' you are, huh? I thought you weren't eating because you felt guilty."

"Hey, let me get you takeout."

"Okay, okay. How about some sashimi? Tuna sashimi."

The next morning, the air in the house was still thick. Shangluo could still smell the surging air, which kept wafting out of the bathroom.

Shangluo was even thinking about whether he should pay her some fee for using the fairy energy. After all, he could also smell some of the fairy energy.

"Good morning!" Phaethon was full of energy. She had already prepared breakfast. She took the leftover fish sashimi from last night out of the refrigerator, put it in a bowl of instant noodles, and boiled it in the Tom Yum Goong soup to make fish fillets.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face in the enchanting bathroom, Shangluo sat down at the dining table. Tuna is a bit fatty to begin with, and after boiling it, it was a bit greasy. However, the Tom Yum Goong soup helped to alleviate the greasiness, so it wasn't too bad.

"I've prepared your schoolbag. I've made you some sour plum soup in a kettle."

“You’re very thoughtful.”

"After all, I have to do a job worthy of the salary."

"So, have you figured out what to do with the extra money? If you can't think of anything else, you can wait and use it after this period of time... Um... But you still want to recover immediately, right?"

"Hmm...so I'll figure it out myself - where should we meet this afternoon?"

"You go wait for me at the school gate, and then wait for Wen Yuan and the others to come together. You don't have to eat lunch, let's eat outside. I still have some meal coupons left. Well, I'm done eating." He put the bowl in the sink, put on his hat straight, and walked to the door with his handbag.

"Be careful on the road." After sending Shangluo out, she hummed the nursery rhyme of Rudolph the Red Nose while turning on the faucet to wash the dishes, as happy as a sunflower at eight o'clock in the morning.

"How much is the hourly wage for washing dishes? If one job isn't enough, take on a few more."

Chapter 289 Magazine

After washing the dishes, Phaethon picked up the mail-order catalog he had looked at yesterday.

"Speaking of which, this thing is really a treasure." Rome didn't have this custom. The reason was the same as before, because the several metropolitan areas of Rome were too far apart, and it would take several months to arrive by mail.

Rome's situation is more like a giant Lanfang. If the Mediterranean is considered the South China Sea, then major cities like Constantinople, Alexandria, and Rome are giant versions of Pontianak and Singapore. While maritime transport between cities allows for smooth industrial cooperation, it lacks timeliness for personal consumption.

Therefore, the Romans preferred information exchange to material exchange. For example, Phaethon played the "postal game," and there were many magazines of this type in Rome.

"Ah, I found it." Phaethon had found the same game in the mail-order catalog: chess. All kinds of chess were available, including traditional chess and go, as well as more complex games like Heroes' Pilgrimage. The catalog also had instructions for that.

It's easy to play: players mail their "actions" to a publisher, who then publishes them. They're usually printed like magazines, but with a daily issue, sales are quite good. Besides the players themselves, the magazines occasionally feature classic matches, attracting a large following.

Compared to offline face-to-face games, postal games can provide more professional services, such as accompanying battle scene graphics, more professional and in-depth scripts, etc. With the assistance of professional hosts, players can also create more interesting stories.

If Shangluo were here, he would also feel very familiar. Because this is no different from the forum running group, using posts to take action and running one round a day.

Although the price of participating in the game is relatively expensive, and playing "Hero Tour" is especially expensive, it is a very interesting experience to be able to complete a game with friends from all over the world through telegraph lines.

There are also many games that are hard to find on a tabletop—like synchronized Gomoku. Both players move simultaneously, and the game requires considering the opponent's placement points and the attackers' attempts to seize the pieces. This game is incredibly exciting, and because it's shorter, the overall cost is lower.

"Sure enough, it's expensive here. It costs 20 wen to make a move. Eh? What is synchronized Go? Two people playing Go at the same time? Won't that burn my brain?" This kind of "synchronized Go" has rules about the "attack and defense" when both sides make moves at the same time. For example, in Gobang, if the side with 4 pieces makes the 5th piece, it is an "attack", and the defending side has the advantage of making the first move.

"But Go is much more complicated than Gomoku. It's really amazing that you can play it."

Compared to brain-burning chess games, she still preferred the simple and direct joy of "Heroes Tour." She turned the page to the Heroes Tour page, which introduced the group tour prices.

"It's surprisingly a lot cheaper. Maybe it's because the distance is shorter and the communication lines here are more dense. Eh??" Her eyes lit up. "So it can be transferred here?"

The fun part about Heroes of the Past is that, because the rules are universal and every step in the mail game is publicly verified, character stats are trustworthy. Just like a puzzle, even if you remove the center piece, its shape can still be determined by the edges of the surrounding pieces. This "trusted" character data allows you to continue playing one game after the other. Equipment, skills, and experience points are all carried over to the next game.

Some deep storylines are designed for such high-level characters, and there are also regularly open popular battles specifically for "treasure hunting", such as the "Jack and London" expansion pack that can obtain space storage props. Phaethon naturally has them all, and she has fought them all.

But she had just learned that data could be shared between Rome and Aurora, as long as the files needed were transferred. The method was simple: simply send a letter to the publisher of "Heroes' Parade" in Athens, the Areopagus Company, known as the "Aleopage Company." After paying the fee, the archive could be transferred to Yujing, and the fee was only...

"Ah, what should I do? I'm addicted to team fights. I really want to transfer my character to play, a level 12 Titan Warrior!"

Unable to resist, she covered the fee with her finger. But it looked like it was only three digits. For that, she could transfer her save file and continue playing.

"No, no! Calm down, Miss Phaethon," she slapped her face, "Wake up! Don't spend a single cent unnecessarily! Calm down! Calm down!"

In the end, she resisted the urge to look at the price. The burden of reality forced Phaethon to stop at the edge of desire.

Turning back to the catalog page, she found the column that published job information.

Job postings filled the entire page like instant noodles on a shelf, but the format was relatively similar. She first confirmed the crucial salary part:

"So the hourly wages are pretty much the same. This is truly a highly industrialized paradise. It must have reached saturation."

She flipped through a few pages and then turned back. She confirmed that the hourly wages for all the part-time jobs were similar, ranging from 50 to 60 wen per hour, and rarely exceeding 70.

Most jobs have no requirements other than being 16 or older—because, based on the standard of "Aurora citizens," most people are already qualified for these jobs. For example, a clerk at a Golden Arch store providing standard service doesn't have any requirements; anyone over 16 can work there.

However, if you have the necessary professional qualities and some experience as a kitchen helper, you can apply for a job as a waiter in the kitchen, with an average hourly wage of around 60. If you apply for a job in a drugstore, where your image is strictly limited, the hourly wage can exceed 70.

Closing the booklet, she thought for a moment. "If I calculate based on 50, I work 16 hours a day, making 800 a day, which is 24000 a month. That's enough to meet my requirements, and I'll have some left over. I'll also send a set of face cream to Shangluo. But it's a drugstore."

She rubbed her temples. "I'm not very good at talking. Let's just go to McDonald's."

I looked at the requirements - the interview requirements for McDonald's are black pants and black shoes, so you can go straight to the job with the uniform.

"Then I'll have to wear this one."

Wearing the same school uniform as before, Phaethon walked out of the gate.

It's 8 a.m. now, and she's at the nearest McDonald's applying for a job and internship, just in time to finish the morning shift. But one store can't possibly schedule her 16 hours a day, seven days a week, or 7 days a month. She calculated that she'd need to work at at least five McDonald's simultaneously to fill her schedule.

Chapter 290 Work

The nearest store was right next to the subway station. She locked the door of Shangluo's house, put on her hat, tucked her hair in, and walked out of the alley.

As soon as I went out, the scorching sun shone directly down from above my head, along with a scorching gaze.

Beneath a parasol at the intersection, a policeman in a stiff hat stared at him. He was dressed entirely in black, even the police dog he held on a leash was wearing a black dog coat. The Yujing police dogs were a specialized breed derived from hunting dogs: the Danyang Greyhound, capable of running at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour. With long, flowing hair behind their ears and along their legs, they ran with the ferocity of the Roaring Sky Dog that hunted Sun Wukong.

"Hey! Student over there, stop!" After staring at Phaethon for 3 seconds, the policeman at the intersection called him.

"Ah? What's the matter?"

"Which school are you from? Are you from Mount Wutai? Why aren't you going to class? What are you doing wandering around outside in your school uniform? Are you trying to skip class? Which class are you in? Who's your teacher? What are you doing! Stand still! (*Jinling elegant language*) Why are you running! Stop! Ah Huang, shout!"

The black police dog named Ah Huang began to growl and became excited.

"Why don't you stop? Ah Huang, stay still!" He asked Ah Huang to stay where he was, put the dog leash in Ah Huang's mouth, threw the baton to the ground, rolled up his sleeves and chased after him.

"Hmm... Haha." A few minutes later, he came back from the other direction. Holding onto the electric pole, he gasped for breath. "How come you ran faster than Ah Huang? So fast, you disappeared in the blink of an eye."

"Woo?" Ah Huang tilted his head, looking at his colleague, who was as tired as a dog. He was still standing there with the rope in his mouth, his furry ears drooping. He stared straight ahead, waiting for the next order.

"Forget it, I won't chase him anymore. Next time I'll bring my bike. I don't believe I can't catch him. Right, I'll make a phone call. How can the school manage this? Why are they letting students run around in broad daylight?"

"It ridicules the arrogance of Jie and Zhou, and laments the fall of Yi and Jiao; the purpose is to criticize and satirize; the dragon is a metaphor for the gentleman, and the cloud snake is a metaphor for slander." Shangluo recited the text to the rhythm. This is a passage from "The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons." It is not tested on the scholar examination, but it will be on the subsequent entrance examination.

"Mr. Shangluo."

"Yes." Shangluo stood up.

"Start with the dragon, and recite this passage once."

"The dragon is used to represent a gentleman, and the cloud snake is used to represent slanderers."

"No." The teacher shook his head. "I asked you to recite, not read."

"Um" these are the last few things that Shangluo has not yet finished, and they belong to the "academic" part.

Chanting, an ancient technique, involves rhythmically "singing" words in tune. While it's not tested in written exams, learning it is essential. Everyone memorizes by chanting, and younger students can even incorporate body movements, swaying their heads as they chant. By the time older students reach this stage, they're expected to sing with the same steady rhythm as a chorus.

"You still don't, do you?"

"Yeah." Shangluo nodded.

There's nothing we can do about it. Chanting rhythms are learned in first grade. First-grade Chinese language classes are no different from music classes—it's all about swaying your head and chanting. Now, the time for learning "chanting" is long gone; it's a basic skill. Each text has a note in the upper right corner indicating the tune to be used.

For example, the Song of Everlasting Regret must use the standard "Han Emperor Tune". This tune is named after the Song of Everlasting Regret. The first two words of the Song of Everlasting Regret are "The Han Emperor loves beauty and wants to conquer the country", and it must be pronounced as "Yu Huang", not "Han Emperor".

This passage in Wenxin Diaolong should be performed in the "dead tree tune".

But Shangluo didn't learn any of the tunes.

"Well, if you haven't learned it yet, it's not a big problem. Did you relearn the symbols you mentioned last time?"

"Yeah, yeah." Shangluo nodded, "I've finished learning it all."

Those symbols had indeed shocked him last time. But after discussing it with the teacher, it wasn't a big deal. He took out the lower grade math homework and worked on it for a few days, and he had almost finished correcting it.

But chanting was indeed a difficult task for him. It was not something that could be learned in a few days.

"Fine, if you can't learn it, then so be it." The teacher pushed up his glasses. "I'll give you a make-up lesson after the exam. Anyway, I'll make sure you graduate with all your knowledge. If you go to college and can't recite, you'll be laughed at."

"Ah, thank you, Mr. Yuwen~~" Fortunately, this class is called Chinese language class, not Chinese language class. Otherwise, he would have laughed at this joke for two years.

[Hahahaha, Mr. Yuwen who teaches Chinese. Hahahaha.] Apollonia, whose sense of humour was even lower than his, had already started laughing.

"Hmm?" Teacher Yu Wen looked around, "Why do I feel like someone is mumbling something?"

【? ? ? 】

"Just shut up! Being a teacher often cultivates inspiration."

[Scared. Scared.]

"Forget it. Shangluo, you sit down first." Teacher Yu Wen looked down at his watch. The get out of class was about to end.

"Just now, we were talking about the Scholar Examination. I have a piece of news that has nothing to do with you, but it might be relevant. Starting next year, all Scholar Examinations will be open-book."

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