The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 1405: Chapter 1405: Life Tips

The Protective Shield was already shut down. This kind of shield dismantled from an antique mech only kept the main parts; some components that weren’t very important to the shielding function—like the ones used to fix it inside the mech—couldn’t be removed and were therefore discarded by Ji You.

Right now, the energy inside the Protective Shield was almost used up. Ji You glanced at it, feeling a bit regretful, but still picked it up and put it into her own Space Button.

Seeing Shen Sheng looking at her, Ji You said, ”Tidy it up a bit and it can still be used.”

Shen Sheng’s eyes lit up. ”Is this what you call being frugal?”

Ji You: ”...”

Ji You definitely wouldn’t call herself stingy. ”Frugal” was a much nicer word. So she said with a straight face, ”That’s right, it’s called being frugal.”

As she spoke, Ji You also pulled out another Protective Shield that had been abused until it was nothing but a pile of wreckage and said, ”Don’t be fooled by how useless this looks. The parts on it are actually still fine. You can dismantle them and sell them as scrap. And this energy box—sure, there’s only a tiny bit of energy left. Looks like it’s basically useless, but you can hook up a small light bulb to use as a lamp. A small bulb doesn’t consume much power. With just one abandoned energy box, you can get a month of lighting.”

Shen Sheng’s eyes went round. ”You can do that?”

”Of course.” Ji You was getting more and more smug as she talked, and seeing that Shen Sheng was listening seriously, she enthusiastically shared her life hacks. ”We’re both boarders, you know that, right? I live in a single dorm for self-funded students, and stuff like water and electricity bills all have to be paid out of pocket. But thanks to the leftover energy in discarded energy boxes, I hook them up to small light bulbs and have never paid a single credit point in electricity for my everyday lighting.”

Shen Sheng: ”!!!”

With a face full of admiration, Shen Sheng said sincerely, ”Ji You, you’re amazing.”

Ji You lifted her chin, looking very proud. ”Naturally. When it comes to being frugal, if I rank second, no one dares to claim first.”

Shen Sheng immediately said, ”Then I’ll strive for third place. Starting today, I’m using small light bulbs too.”

At that, Ji You’s hand shook. She felt like she might have accidentally corrupted this kid.

Ahem ahem...

Ji You swept her conscience into a rough little pile and shoved it into a corner of her heart. Then she raised her hand, wanting to pat Shen Sheng on the shoulder, only to realize that without standing on tiptoe she couldn’t reach at all. So she calmly withdrew her hand and said to Shen Sheng, ”Do your best, I’ve got high hopes for you.”

Shen Sheng was very happy. She felt that following Ji You, she’d just learned a huge life Skill, so she said to Ji You with utter sincerity, ”Ji You, you’re my best friend and also my mentor in life.”

”Cough...” Ji You felt a little guilty. ”What mentor, that’s nonsense. We’re about the same age, we’re equals, let’s not bring in that messy stuff. If you have any questions about life in the future, just come to me.”

Hearing this, Shen Sheng was overjoyed and nodded solemnly. ”Okay.”

Since the arena match was over and there was no more excitement to watch, the audience below had all left. Ji You and Shen Sheng had to wait until they finished the handover with the old man from the arena management office before they could leave, so the two of them still stood on the ring. This also happened to give Ji You a bit of rest time so she could recover her Physical Strength.

By now, the cleaning robots’ work had reached the final stage.

Of the two antique mechs, the one Ji You had piloted still had a well-preserved exterior; only its control system and energy system had been stripped completely clean. Its recycling value was high, and Ji You had already stowed it away earlier.

The one Shen Sheng had piloted, however, had suffered the combined ravages of Ji You and Shen Sheng, and was even blown up by Ji You. At this point, only a pile of wreckage was left, without the slightest resemblance to a mech. There was no helping it; it could only be dumped into the garbage recycling station. On top of that, Shen Sheng and Ji You still had to pay a cleaning fee to the cleaning robots and the recycling station.

This made Ji You extremely torn.

She watched that pile of wreckage being carted off, heart aching, then turned to Shen Sheng and said, ”Shen Sheng, if we fight again in the future, let’s try our best not to destroy things, okay?”

Shen Sheng thought it over and said, ”Not breaking anything is a bit hard. But it’s okay, I’ll do my best to try.”

What a good kid.

Almost too obedient, really.

Ji You couldn’t help sighing. Then the two of them went to find the old man at the arena management office. When he saw Ji You and Shen Sheng, his eyes weren’t eyes and his nose wasn’t a nose—his whole expression twisted—and he even snorted at the air without bothering to respond to them.

Shen Sheng said, ”Teacher, we’re here to settle the arena usage fee.”

Ji You said, ”That’s right, please calculate how much it is. I’ll split it with Shen Sheng.”

When Shen Sheng heard the words ”split it,” she was very surprised. Based on Ji You’s frugal behavior just now, she thought Ji You definitely wouldn’t pay for this.

Besides, this match had been Shen Sheng’s idea in the first place, and she had planned to shoulder the cost herself.

Shen Sheng hurriedly said, ”Ji You, I’m the one who started the fight, I’ll pay. We’re not splitting it.”

Ji You put on a stern face. ”No. We’re splitting it.”

Mouth slightly open, Shen Sheng said very seriously, ”Aren’t you usually really frugal? Splitting means you have to spend money.”

Ji You: ”...”

Ji You straightened her face. ”Being frugal isn’t the same as being stingy. What needs spending still has to be spent.”

Shen Sheng was convinced.

Then.

The two of them reached an agreement and turned together to the old man at the arena management office. The old man looked at the two of them with a completely sour expression and said, ”Oh—you two sure are a pair, aren’t you? That’ll be 1000 points in total.”

Ji You’s heart jolted. ”Hah!!! That expensive?”

Shen Sheng asked solemnly, ”Wasn’t it 100 points per session before? And didn’t you give me a twelve percent discount?”

The old man lifted his eyelids. ”You lost that badly and you still have the nerve to ask me for a discount? Your discount is gone.”

Shen Sheng: ”...”

A sharp pain stabbed through Shen Sheng’s heart.

Then the old man didn’t even bother to look up as he pointed at the display on the Light Computer beside him. ”See for yourself. This is how much you two wrecked the arena. The usage fee is 100 points, but we haven’t even added the repair costs yet.”

After speaking, his gaze darkened. ”What? Planning to skip out on the bill?”

Shen Sheng blurted out, ”No.”

She used the arena often, and the old man had taken very good care of her. With how many times she’d used it, he’d even given her a discount. Now that the discount was gone, Shen Sheng’s heart hurt like crazy. Even for her, earning University Alliance Points wasn’t easy, so every time she opened the arena she had to think it over.

This teacher at the arena management office was someone she absolutely could not offend.

Ahem ahem...

Shen Sheng did some quick mental math, her expression deadly serious.

Ji You thought about it. Fighting in the arena must be really important to a battle maniac like Shen Sheng. So she didn’t haggle with the old man and hurriedly said, ”Teacher, I don’t have any objections either.”

The old man shot Ji You a glance and tapped the tabletop, signaling the two of them to hurry up and pay.

Once Shen Sheng and Ji You paid up, they immediately bolted.