The next day, Ye Mo didn't go to Qingdu Lake Park to train. Instead, he woke up early and practiced a set of kongfu in the courtyard before heading out to buy supplies.
He purchased a small medical kit, a set of silver needles, and a bunch of medicinal herbs. He planned to concoct some simple pills and decoctions. Although these weren't considered proper pills, for Ye Mo they were enough to set up his stall.
With these purchases, his remaining money was again dangerously low. By the time he was ready, Ninghai University had already started the new semester, and Ye Mo was now a senior.
As expected by everyone, Ye Mo failed all his courses and had to retake them all. But he didn't care, and neither did the school. Normally, students who fail more than three courses face severe penalties or even expulsion. But Ye Mo belonged to a different category.
Although he had been expelled from the Ye family, the university wouldn't risk offending them. No one knew the depth of power these big families wielded. He was only here to finish four years and leave — so the school had nothing to lose. Besides, Ye Mo hadn't even passed the entrance exam; he wasn't a regular student to begin with.
Failing all his courses didn't bother Ye Mo. He focused on preparing for his night market stall. Going to the library by day and selling at night caused no conflict.
Ye Mo ran to Ninghai University every day, mainly to train his Cloud Shadow Step technique. His cultivation hadn't progressed yet, and if he couldn't even improve his mundane martial arts, he felt a sense of crisis. Luckily, here he didn't face the life-or-death dangers from Luoyue Continent, so he felt somewhat at ease.
By the second week of the semester, Ye Mo hadn't yet set up his night market medical stall, but he had noticed huge progress in his Cloud Shadow Step. Walking nearly seventy kilometers daily was clearly helping.
One morning, Ye Mo woke up a little later than usual, sleeping an extra hour. By the time he ran to the university, it was already after 7 a.m. He stopped by a nearby snack shop and bought a bowl of soy milk and some steamed buns, finishing just before 8.
"Big brother, do you want to buy a flower?" Outside the shop, a small girl nervously held a bouquet of fresh roses and timidly approached Ye Mo.
Ye Mo noticed the girl was thin and fragile. It was late September, and mornings were still chilly. The girl was out selling roses so early; her family must be in some hardship. He thought of his own childhood — a homeless child until age nine, when an old Taoist brought him to his master's sect. The old Taoist died less than a year later, and life improved only after he started following his master Luo Ying.
"Why aren't you in school?" Ye Mo wondered. With compulsory nine-year education, the girl shouldn't be skipping classes.
"It's Saturday. I'm helping my sister sell flowers," the girl replied softly, her voice showing some nervousness. Ye Mo couldn't pry further, so he said, "Alright, I'll buy some. How much per flower?"
He was surprised it was already Saturday; running around every day made him lose track of time.
"Five yuan per flower, three yuan if you buy a lot," the girl brightened when she heard Ye Mo wanted to buy, regaining confidence.
"Okay, I'll take all the flowers you have," Ye Mo said, noting she had about twenty roses. He handed her a hundred yuan, took the flowers, and started walking away.
"Big brother, you didn't give me change!" The girl called after him. With a hundred-yuan note, she could only charge three yuan each, or maybe five yuan with bargaining.
"No need. You can't give discounts on flowers for your girlfriend. Goodbye!" Ye Mo said as he disappeared into the university gate.
If it were after class, he might have given the flowers to Xu Wei, but since he was on campus, he figured he'd just throw them away.
"Hey, wasn't that Ye Mo buying flowers? He has a girlfriend?" Two girls at the gate watched Ye Mo enter the school. One, who knew Ye Mo, asked curiously, "His words were pretty profound — no discount on flowers for girlfriends. Who's brave enough to be his girlfriend?"
"That's Ye Mo," the other girl asked, clearly more beautiful than the first. She'd heard of Ye Mo but didn't know him personally.
"Su Mei, you're the campus belle of Ninghai University. You wouldn't know about his tragic life, but I do. He's a total mess. Let's follow him and see who his girlfriend is," the first girl giggled.
"Xiao Mei, I think he bought the flowers for that little girl, not a girlfriend," Su Mei frowned.
"Xiao Mei! I was just looking for you and didn't expect to see you here. Looks like you're free today. Let me treat you to a meal, no excuses," a voice interrupted.
A BMW 7 Series smoothly pulled up at the gate. Out stepped a good-looking but pale young man. Seeing Su Mei, his face lit up.
"It's Zheng Wenqiao, Ninghai's top rich kid. Mei Mei, you're so lucky — campus belle and the top rich kid! I envy you so much," the first girl said admiringly, wishing she were Su Mei.
Su Mei's face darkened. She glanced at Zheng Wenqiao with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, my boyfriend is here."
She quickly hurried over to Ye Mo, took his arm, and in a very gentle voice said, "Mozi, why are you late? I've been waiting for you. Are these flowers for me? They're so pretty."
Ye Mo was dumbfounded. A beautiful stranger was holding his arm and saying the flowers were for her. When did he have such a girlfriend? He had no idea.
But seeing Zheng Wenqiao's dark and forbidding face not far off, Ye Mo realized he was once again being used as a shield.
Looking at the smiling beauty holding onto him, Ye Mo snorted coldly inside. He hated this woman's arrogance — just because she was pretty, she looked down on others. To her, using him as a human shield was nothing but a simple game. Afterward, she'd brush it off, leaving the mess for him. As if it were an honor for Ye Mo to be her pawn — she was ridiculously self-important.