By the time Su Xiaoqi and Zhu Zhuqing arrived at the registration area of Shrek Academy, a long queue had already formed.
There were already over a hundred applicants lined up in front of them. Because of the crowd, they couldn't see Tang San, Xiao Wu, or Ning Rongrong anywhere.
"These people were probably tricked by Shrek Academy's so-called 'advertisement.' They came here to register, only to be harvested like leeks," Su Xiaoqi muttered.
"Ten gold soul coins per person. They're making a killing off this."
Su Xiaoqi held deep contempt for Shrek Academy's exploitative practices. If they had made the registration requirements clear from the start, that would've been one thing—people would know what they were getting into.
But they deliberately hid the enrollment conditions, only revealing them after people paid—and then refused to issue refunds. That was crossing the line.
Just one gold soul coin could support a regular household for quite some time—ten was a massive sum.
Zhu Zhuqing nodded silently in agreement. She had learned about the shady side of things as well.
Looking over at Su Xiaoqi, Zhu Zhuqing asked, "Do you have a plan?"
Su Xiaoqi grinned, "I came here to cause a scene today. Just watch me."
He tapped the shoulder of the person in front of him—a middle-aged man with a teenage boy around 14 or 15 standing next to him. Of course, the boy could be one of those early-maturing types like Zhu Zhuqing, but that didn't matter.
When the man turned around, Su Xiaoqi put on a friendly expression. "Hey, big brother, did you bring your child here to register too?"
The man nodded. "Yeah. What's up?"
Putting on a look of respectful flattery, Su Xiaoqi said, "Brother, here's the thing. I heard that Shrek Academy is famous—graduates even have the chance to become elders in the Spirit Hall. That's the Spirit Hall, you know?"
"So, my sister and I traveled all the way from the countryside hoping to enroll. But who would've thought… sigh."
At this point, Su Xiaoqi let out a long sigh, his face full of grievance.
The middle-aged man frowned. "What happened? Just say it."
"I did some asking around in Soto City earlier. Turns out this Shrek Academy doesn't even have proper authorization to operate. And more than that, I heard they lure us in just to cheat us out of the registration fee. Their admission requirements are practically impossible to meet!"
"At first, I figured I'd come see for myself since we were already here. But then I found out the registration fee is ten gold soul coins. And if you fail to get accepted, you don't get a refund. How is that not a scam?"
"People like us from the countryside don't have that kind of money. I've been scrimping and saving, giving the best of everything to my sister, just so she could have a shot at a better future. And now we run into something like this—what am I supposed to do?"
"Going back feels pointless, and staying doesn't seem right either. I came today to see if this Shrek Academy is really as deceptive as the rumors say. Are they really out here swindling poor people like us?"
Zhu Zhuqing, standing beside him, was completely stunned. Especially when he started wiping fake tears—was the performance really necessary? If she didn't know better, she might've actually believed him.
If even Zhu Zhuqing was taken aback, then the man in front of them didn't stand a chance. Seeing Su Xiaoqi's tattered clothes, the man already believed most of the story. After all, who would dress like that if they weren't dirt poor?
At that moment, there was a commotion at the registration desk ahead. From the back, they could vaguely make out someone shouting about refunds.
Su Xiaoqi's eyes lit up. This was exactly the scene from the original story.
"Brother, looks like everything I heard was true. This Shrek Academy really is using enrollment to scam people out of their hard-earned money."
"I may be poor, but I'm not spineless. I'm going to expose them today so no more hardworking folks like me get duped."
With that, Su Xiaoqi pulled Zhu Zhuqing along and moved forward, starting the same act with the person standing in front of the middle-aged man.
What he didn't expect was that this particular man also had a fiery temper. As the noise from the front grew louder and they could hear more clearly what was happening, the man exploded in anger.
"Damn it! What kind of bullshit academy is this?! Today I'm making a scene—let's see what they'll do about it!"
"Everyone! Let's head up there and help those who got cheated get their money back. Then we go report them and shut this place down!"
Word of what was happening spread fast. As more people learned the truth, their collective outrage boiled over. One by one, the angry applicants surged toward the registration area.
Meanwhile, Su Xiaoqi and Zhu Zhuqing slowly withdrew from the growing crowd. Watching the escalating scene, Su Xiaoqi chuckled.
"Looks like Shrek Academy is in for it now. This is what you call reaping what you sow. I'm going to make them cough up every coin they stole."
Zhu Zhuqing stared at Su Xiaoqi for a long moment before finally asking, "Did you used to scam girls like this too?"
Su Xiaoqi sighed helplessly. "Zhuqing, don't slander me. I've never even had a girlfriend."
"You're such a good actor, only a fool would believe that. All men are liars."
Though she said this, her arm remained firmly hooked around his.
Just as Su Xiaoqi was about to respond, he noticed a familiar figure approaching from ahead, wearing a strange smile.
"What's she coming over for? Don't tell me she's looking for me..." he muttered under his breath.
Then Zhu Zhuqing's icy voice rang in his ear. "You think Ning Rongrong's pretty?"
"She's alright. Not as pretty as you," Su Xiaoqi replied instinctively.
The Ning Rongrong walking toward them matched the character design from the Soul Land anime, not the novel description. This confirmed that Zhu Zhuqing's world was indeed based on the original source.
"Then stop looking. You're not allowed to look."
Zhu Zhuqing's cold voice sounded again as she deliberately stepped in front of him, blocking his view.
Ning Rongrong walked straight up to them, completely ignoring Zhu Zhuqing. She looked up at Su Xiaoqi and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Ning Rongrong. That little performance of yours just now—well done. But unfortunately, you can't fool my eyes."
Su Xiaoqi frowned. "Sorry, I don't understand what you're talking about."
Zhu Zhuqing snapped coldly, "Leave. You're not welcome here."
"If I told everyone about your little scam just now, what do you think they'd do to you and your sister?"
Ning Rongrong still had a smile on her face, but she clearly emphasized the word "sister" with sarcasm.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, Ning Rongrong suddenly extended a hand and laughed.
"Relax, I'm just messing with you. I'm not going to expose you. I just thought what you did was pretty entertaining, so I wanted to get to know you."
Su Xiaoqi replied calmly, "Sorry, I don't want to get to know you. If you feel like telling others what happened, go ahead. If not, please don't bother us."
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