Oubei Middle School.
After classes in the afternoon, Fang Bai left the high school section and went to the adjacent junior high section to find his younger sister.
Without mobile phones for contact and no telephones installed in the dorms, finding someone was truly troublesome. Fortunately, he knew which class his sister was in, and the school wasn't that big. By asking a few students, he could still find her.
More than ten minutes later, Fang Bai finally saw his sister. In a less crowded part of the campus, he slipped her ten ten-yuan bills, which startled her.
"Brother, where did you get so much money again?"
"It couldn't be the compensation money from your boss, could it?"
Fang Tingting's mouth was slightly agape. Seeing her brother take money from his backpack, that small wad must have been a thousand yuan.
"I already gave the compensation money to Mom and Dad. I did some business in the city and earned some money. Keep this hundred yuan safe yourself so that no one with ill intentions targets you. Buy some clothes and study materials on the weekend, and eat better during the week."
Fang Bai reminded her. Too much money was too conspicuous. In those years, petty theft among students was not uncommon, and there were even open robberies with knives outside school.
A hundred yuan was a significant sum of money. Her parents would also give her some, which would be enough for her for a semester.
He didn't dare to give her large denomination bills; it would really attract attention.
Fang Tingting knew her brother had earned over a thousand yuan just days after being discharged from the hospital, which was somewhat unbelievable: "Brother, what kind of business can earn over a hundred yuan a day?"
"Selling popsicles? I have classmates who wholesaled popsicles to sell in the village during summer vacation, carrying a foam box on a bicycle."
"There's a lot you don't know; just focus on your studies."
Fang Bai tapped her head, "Don't worry, it's legitimate business, not illegal."
"Besides, how much does one popsicle cost? You might not even earn a hundred yuan selling them for an entire holiday."
He recalled the popsicles he couldn't eat in time before they melted. If they sold quickly, it was fine, but if they sold slowly, the melted popsicles wouldn't earn any money.
Fang Tingting cleverly recoiled her head. She still didn't quite believe her brother had gone into business and earned money: "Brother, won't doing business affect your studies? Do Mom and Dad know?"
"Just mind your own business. I'll tell Mom and Dad in a few days."
"Oh, okay."
"Let's go, eat outside school."
"Can't we eat at school? It's too expensive outside."
Fang Bai truly wasn't used to the school's food. The vegetables were oily and stir-fried to a pale yellow, and the meat dishes had no flavor at all. If it were thirty years later, even dogs would turn up their noses at it.
Eating out didn't cost much. Now that he finally had some savings, he couldn't torment himself anymore, and he could also supplement his sister's diet.
"Stop nagging, don't you want a big meal?"
"Of course I do, hehe. But it's not very convenient for me to leave school, as I don't live off-campus."
"Just follow along."
Fang Bai took his sister to the school gate and handed the exit slip to the gatekeeper: "Uncle Wang, this is my sister. We're eating dinner outside school, but she lives on campus."
The gatekeeper looked at it, unexpectedly seeing a direct approval from the principal, and waved his hand: "Little Fang, you and your sister can go out directly from now on. You don't need an off-campus pass."
His sister, trailing behind Fang Bai, couldn't figure out her brother's smooth move: "Brother, how did you do that? The gatekeeper was so easy to talk to."
"The gatekeeper let us through because he saw your brother's overwhelming aura."
"Ugh..." Fang Tingting didn't believe him, sticking out her tongue in disdain.
After leaving the school gate, they quickly arrived at the rented house. He gave his sister a key: "This is the house I rented. You can come over on weekends if you have nothing to do; I'm usually here."
"After school in the afternoon, just wait for me here, and we'll have dinner together."
"If I'm not here, it's likely I have something to do. I'll leave a note on the table, and you can sort out your own dinner."
Fang Tingting walked around the rented house and probably believed her brother's talk of doing business. There were also three bedrooms and three beds upstairs, but only one had bedding and a mat.
Fang Bai washed his hands and face, then took his sister to a nearby small restaurant for dinner.
Fang Bai ordered two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, along with two bowls of rice.
The taste was quite good, and the siblings ate with relish, though the price made his sister's heart ache. It cost her two weeks' worth of meal expenses.
"Brother, eating like this every day, isn't it too extravagant?" Fang Tingting asked after dinner, licking her lips.
"It's fine. We're both skinny and scrawny. You need to supplement your nutrition for studying, and your brother earns money very quickly."
Fang Bai waved his hand dismissively. This was just eating at a small restaurant; it wasn't like they were going to hotels and big restaurants every day.
If he couldn't even satisfy this much, his rebirth would be too much of a failure.
Seeing his sister's happy expression while eating, Fang Bai felt a sense of accomplishment.
After dinner, Fang Bai took his sister to buy some daily necessities, including bedding and a mat for another bed. On weekends, his sister could also sleep here, as there were three bedrooms on the second floor of the rented house.
As night fell, his sister returned to school, and Fang Bai returned to his residence to shower and start reading.
When he had time, he planned to buy more test papers at the bookstore to practice. The materials given by the teacher were still somewhat outdated.
According to the study methods of top students in later generations, for subjects like mathematics and physics, doing practice problems was one of the best ways to improve grades.
The next morning, Fang Bai did not go to school for classes.
Li Hui saw that Fang Bai hadn't come to class for two periods. After the second period ended, he went to the head teacher's office to find the head teacher.
"Li Hui, what is it?"
"Head teacher, Fang Bai didn't come to class today."
"Hmm, I know. Go back to class." Zhan Feng heard this and waved her hand, telling Li Hui to go back.
Sometimes, she quite liked students who liked to report things.
But Fang Bai's situation was different. Yesterday, Fang Bai had already told her that he might not come today, and she had agreed.
Fang Bai had obtained the principal's consent and did not need the teacher's approval.
Fang Bai actively asking for leave from her showed that he still respected her as his head teacher.
The next class was English for Class One.
Upon hearing the bell ring, Zhan Feng came to the podium, scanned the students below, and began: "First, I want to say something about Fang Bai not coming to class this morning."
Li Hui, hearing the head teacher say this, felt a moment of triumph: Fang Bai, prepare to face the head teacher's wrath!
"Not just this time, but it might happen frequently. Fang Bai's situation is different. His off-campus attendance has my approval and also the principal's approval."
"So, students, don't be surprised if you see Fang Bai not coming to class."
After Zhan Feng finished speaking, she began the lesson.
Li Hui was slightly surprised to hear the head teacher say this and felt a little disappointed. Seeing the head teacher glance at him, he couldn't help but lower his head, thinking that the head teacher was not very satisfied with him. At the same time, he felt a bit jealous of Fang Bai. Why did the school allow him to attend as an off-campus student? He was the only one in the whole school!
Why him?!
Fang Bai didn't know that he had been reported by a classmate. Today, he needed to discuss finding equipment with Master Chen.
Acquiring equipment was not that easy; it was a matter of finding overlooked items. Fang Bai didn't have high hopes for this path.
Finding Master Chen, Fang Bai communicated with him. If there was any news, and if he saw that Fang Bai wasn't home, he could just slip a note into the door crack.
For any equipment successfully acquired, Fang Bai would give him a commission, and even if unsuccessful, there would be a small compensation for his efforts.
Last night, he checked his Golden Finger and found that the number of connections had increased by one. The second one was the principal of Oubei Middle School.
Of the three Golden Fingers, currently the index finger was the hardest to upgrade, followed by the ring finger for connections, which required 20 connections to reach level 2, and finally the middle finger, which required a net worth of 100,000.
Fang Bai currently had over 10,000 in wealth, and he felt that he wasn't far from upgrading.
For the next step in earning money, finding overlooked equipment was a matter of luck, and he didn't count on it.
Therefore, his next step was to deal in foreign waste, and second, to find his father-in-law and use his past life experience to become a second-hand valve dealer.
These three paths were his money-making strategies before the college entrance examination. What about after the college entrance examination?
Or what about other paths besides these three?
He had also considered this matter and had a few possibly immature ideas.