I started by submitting to the Douluo Continent, and the nation helped me become a god.

Chapter 33 Yes, brothers have.

There's only one pill left.

Just then, Li Fulan noticed a part-time worker standing by the stall, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

He was a thin, small boy, barely reaching Li Fulan's chest, and looked to be no more than ten years old. He was wearing a faded school uniform, which looked like a secondhand item he had taken from some graduate. There were patches on the shoulders, frayed cuffs, and two stains on his knees that he couldn't get rid of no matter how much he washed them.

The boy's face was tanned dark, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes; he looked like a poor child who had worked hard all year round and never had enough to eat. But his eyes were bright, like two black grapes, and they shone with a cleverness.

Right now, his eyes were fixed intently on the last porcelain bottle in Li Fulan's hand, his pupils practically glued to it. His right hand was in his pocket, fidgeting back and forth, sometimes taking a half step forward, sometimes retreating, looking like a stray dog ​​guarding a bone at the door, wanting to go forward but afraid of getting beaten.

Li Fulan glanced at him a couple more times, feeling that the kid looked somewhat familiar.

Oh right, I remember now.

This is the guy who works in the cafeteria. He gets up before dawn every day to chop wood and boil water, helps wash dishes in the kitchen during breakfast and dinner, and has to clean the teaching building area at noon.

Several times, when Li Fulan went to the logistics area early in the morning to collect supplies, he saw him squatting by the well, scrubbing those greasy pots. The water in winter was freezing cold, and the boy's hands were frozen like red radishes, but he didn't say a word and just kept working.

"Want to buy?"

Li Fulan asked, her voice not loud, but the boy was still startled.

He looked up and met Li Fulan's gaze, his face instantly turning bright red, like a boiled shrimp.

"I...I..."

He opened his mouth, stammering, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time. His tongue seemed tied in knots; the more anxious he became, the more incoherent he became.

Li Fulan didn't urge him, but just smiled and watched him, gently fanning herself with a palm leaf fan, waiting for him to speak slowly.

The boy stood there, awkwardly twisting the hem of his clothes, the already faded fabric crumpled under his hands. He took several deep breaths, as if to encourage himself, the blush on his face slowly fading, and finally spoke.

"Brother Li, your pills are really good; I saw the effect just now."

As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the porcelain vase, his voice filled with undisguised envy.

"That young master Zhang ate one, and the fluctuations in his soul power were visible to the naked eye; his bottleneck even loosened. A 20% increase in cultivation speed—that saves him from so many detours..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually lowered, like a balloon deflating.

"but……"

He lowered his head, staring at his tattered cloth shoes covered in mud, his voice muffled.

"Too expensive. Ten gold soul coins? I couldn't save up that much even in half a year."

Li Fulan nodded but didn't reply.

The boy seemed to take this as a tacit agreement, and mustered up his courage to raise his head, his eyes filled with a glimmer of hope, like a drowning person grasping at the last straw.

"This method is too expensive. Is there... is there a simpler, cheaper way?"

As he spoke, his pace quickened, as if he were afraid that Li Fulan would interrupt him.

"Even if the effect is less than ideal, I'm not greedy. Even a ten percent improvement, a half percent, or even just a tiny bit, is acceptable. I just want to cultivate faster, otherwise I'm afraid... afraid I won't be able to keep up."

As he spoke the last few words, his voice grew softer and softer, as if he were talking about something very shameful.

"Everyone else in the class is already in level 11 or 12, but I'm still stuck at level 9. Teacher Zhou said that if I can't get to level 10 by the end of the semester, I'll have to repeat the year... If I repeat the year, I might lose my spot as a work-study student..."

The boy's voice trembled slightly, and his eyes reddened.

"My mother is still waiting for me at home. She'll be so sad if I'm sent back..."

Li Fulan looked at him and remained silent for a few seconds.

The tattered palm-leaf fan stopped waving, and only the noise from the distant cafeteria remained in the air.

Then he smiled.

It wasn't the fake smile you give when doing business, nor was it the playful smile you gave Tang San earlier. It was a genuine smile, as if you were remembering something from a long time ago.

"What's your name?"

"ah?"

The boy was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding.

"I'm asking for your name. What name did your mother give you?"

"I...I'm Zhou Tiezhu."

The boy answered honestly, his voice still a little nervous.

"My mother said that Tiezhu is as hard as iron and can endure any hardship."

Upon hearing the name, Li Fulan almost couldn't help but laugh.

Tie Zhu is really down-to-earth.

"Brother Tiezhu."

Li Fulan stood up and patted the boy's shoulder, which was so thin it was like a stick, and it hurt to touch.

"You just asked me if I had an easier way, right?"

Zhou Tiezhu nodded vigorously, his eyes full of anticipation.

"Yes, brother."

Li Fulan picked up the last porcelain bottle and twirled it in her hand.

"some."

Zhou Tiezhu was stunned, his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.

"Really...really? Brother Li, you're not lying to me?"

Why would I lie to you? What benefit would I get from it?

Li Fulan held the porcelain bottle up in front of Zhou Tiezhu and waved it.

"This last one, I'll pay in installments."

"installment?"

Zhou Tiezhu blinked, looking completely bewildered. He didn't recognize any of the four characters, and he couldn't understand them at all when put together.

"That's right, installment payments."

Li Fulan held up one finger, smiling like a shrewd businessman.

"What this means is that if you can't pay the full amount right now, that's okay, we'll pay in installments. It's ten gold soul coins; you pay one gold soul coin as a deposit, and the remaining nine gold soul coins will be paid back in nine monthly installments of one gold soul coin each month."

As he spoke, he even counted on his fingers to calculate the accounts for Zhou Tiezhu.

"Pay back one gold coin this month, another one gold coin next month, and another one gold coin the month after that... If you calculate it this way, you'll have paid back the entire cost of this pill in nine months. Simple, right?"

Zhou Tiezhu's eyes widened, shining like lanterns.

But then the light dimmed again.

Although he was poor, he wasn't stupid. Back in the village, he had witnessed too many people driven to ruin and death by loan sharks. Those loan sharks would lend money with a smile, but when the interest compounded, they wouldn't smile anymore, forcing people to sell their houses, land, children, and everything else—they were ruthless.

"But... what about the interest?"

Zhou Tiezhu asked cautiously, his voice clearly wary.

"Brother Li, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just... there's no such thing as lending money for nothing in this world, right? If you do this, won't you lose a fortune?"

"Wow, you're quite clever."

Li Fulan chuckled and glanced at Zhou Tiezhu a couple more times.

This kid may be dirt poor, but he's not stupid. He knows there's no such thing as a free lunch. He's much better than those suckers who get fooled on impulse.

"Interest, well..."

Li Fulan deliberately dragged out her words, keeping everyone in suspense, while glancing at Zhou Tiezhu's expression out of the corner of her eye.

Sure enough, the boy was extremely nervous, his hands trembling as he gripped the hem of his clothes, his eyes fixed on Li Fulan as if waiting for a verdict.

Li Fulan suppressed a laugh, held up a finger, and waved it in front of Zhou Tiezhu.

"The interest is only..."

Zhou Tiezhu held his breath.

"zero."

"……What?"

Zhou Tiezhu suspected there was something wrong with his ears, so he picked at his ear canal with his little finger.

"What did you say? I didn't hear you!"

"Zero interest."

Li Fulan repeated it slowly, emphasizing each word, as if afraid he wouldn't understand.

"Nine months, one gold soul coin per month, a total of nine gold soul coins. Not a single copper coin more."

Zhou Tiezhu was completely dumbfounded.

He stood there, mouth agape, eyes wide open, looking like a stone statue. It took him a long time to find his tongue.

"This...this won't do."

His voice was split, high-pitched and thin.

"Zero interest? Aren't you losing money? Brother Li, are you crazy?"

"What does it matter to you whether I'm crazy or not?"

Li Fulan shoved the porcelain bottle into Zhou Tiezhu's hands, and the boy quickly caught it with both hands, holding it as if it were a gold nugget, afraid that it would fall to the ground and break.

"I'll just consider this making friends."

Li Fulan plopped back down on the stool, crossed her legs, and started waving the tattered palm-leaf fan again.

"Besides, if your cultivation speed increases after taking my pills, and you become successful in the future, will you still be afraid of not being able to repay these nine gold soul coins?"

He glanced at Zhou Tiezhu sideways, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"So? Shall we do this deal?"

Zhou Tiezhu stood there, holding the porcelain bottle, head bowed, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Li Fulan thought he was too excited and was about to say something to tell him not to cry so badly, but she found that when the boy raised his head, although his eyes were red, he didn't shed a single tear.

"Do it! Why wouldn't we do it!"

Zhou Tiezhu nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice.

He hurriedly and carefully tucked the porcelain bottle into his bosom, placing it close to his chest, and then pulled a dusty little cloth bag from his pocket.

The cloth bag was patched in several places, and the rope at the top was worn frayed. Zhou Tiezhu shakily untied the bag and poured all the contents into his palm.

A few copper coins jingled once.

There was also a Silver Soul Coin, lying all alone in the pile of copper coins.

That's all.

"Brother Li, that's all I have right now..."

Zhou Tiezhu's voice trembled slightly, and his face was full of embarrassment.

"One silver soul coin isn't even enough for one gold soul coin. I know it's not enough as a deposit, but I swear, once I get my wages next month, I'll make up the difference and pay you back one gold soul coin..."

"Alright, alright."

Li Fulan waved her hand, interrupting his rambling.

He reached out and took the silver coin, weighed it in his hand, and put it in his pocket.

"Let's take this as a deposit, and pay the difference next month."

"Really...really?"

Zhou Tiezhu was stunned again.

"Too verbose."

Li Fulan rolled her eyes at him, annoyed.

"Quickly put the pills away, don't let anyone steal them. Also, find a secluded place to take them, so no one can see you, to avoid trouble."

"Hey! Hey!"

Zhou Tiezhu responded vigorously, stuffing the porcelain bottle in his arms even deeper, pressing it tightly as if afraid it would fall out.

He stood there, opening and closing his mouth, wanting to say something to express his gratitude, but found that his vocabulary was completely insufficient. After struggling for a long time, he finally managed to utter a single sentence.

"Brother Li! I, Zhou Tiezhu, admire you the most in my life! I will remember your great kindness!"

After saying that, he suddenly bent over and bowed deeply to Li Fulan at a ninety-degree angle, his head almost touching his knees.

"Alright, alright, get up now."

Li Fulan felt quite embarrassed by his posture and quickly waved her hand.

"Get out of here, don't just stand there. If someone sees you, they'll think I'm bullying you."

Zhou Tiezhu straightened up and nodded vigorously.

"Brother Li, I'm leaving! I'll come back to pay you back on the first of next month!"

"Okay, okay, now get out of here."

Zhou Tiezhu turned and ran, but stopped after a few steps, bowed to Li Fulan again, and then ran again, turned back again, and bowed again. He repeated this three or four times, almost crashing into a tree, before finally disappearing from sight.

Li Fulan looked at his rabbit-like back and couldn't help but shake her head.

This kid, I don't know if he's honest or just a bit slow.

However, to be fair, it's not a bad thing to make friends with this kind of person.

At least we don't have to worry about him turning his back on us.

Several students who hadn't managed to grab the pills and were still wandering around saw this scene and immediately started discussing it amongst themselves.

"Holy crap, this kid's got incredible luck!"

"Installment payments? Zero interest? Is Li Fulan out of her mind?"

"Come on, that's called having a long-term vision, you know? It's about winning people over."

"Win him over? What good is that poor kid?"

"Hey, you know what, maybe they'll become successful someday?"

"Prosperous? Him? Don't be ridiculous. He's so poor, he'll be lucky to even graduate."

The chatter was noisy and chaotic, but Li Fulan couldn't be bothered to pay attention.

He slowly packed up the small table, folded the white cloth and stuffed it into his storage soul tool, then tucked the wooden plaque under his arm and stood up.

That concludes today's trading.

Eleven pills and one hundred and ten gold soul coins were put into the bag.

In addition, there was a part-time student who owed a favor.

Money is a minor matter; the key is to make a name for yourself.

From this day forward, the "Li Family Elixir" brand will be firmly established at Notting College.

Li Fulan strolled slowly towards the dormitory, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, a faint smile playing on her lips.

He knew that if word got out about what happened today, it could cause a lot of trouble.

Those students who didn't manage to buy the pills will be envious, those who were humiliated will be resentful, and Tang San, that kid, will certainly not let it go.

But so what?

He can quote whatever interest rate he wants; buy if you want, or get lost!