"Don't be nervous. With grades like yours, you'll definitely make it."
"Don't worry about the surgery fees. Mom found a new part-time job—I promise I'll help you gather the money. You just focus on the interview."
Staring at the message from his mother on the screen, Zhang Yu silently put away his phone, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and quietly waited.
After a long while, a voice called out from the front.
"Candidate 989, Zhang Yu."
Zhang Yu stood up and walked into the interview room.
Facing the three interviewers, he put on the polite smile he had practiced countless times. "Hello, everyone. I’m Zhang Yu from Dongyang Junior High School."
The interviewer in the center looked at him and asked calmly, "Why are you applying to our school?"
The interviewer frowned and cut him off. "Spare us the clichés."
Zhang Yu responded honestly, "I want to get into a prestigious university. Among the schools I can apply to, Songyang High has the highest university admission rate."
The interviewer smiled faintly as he glanced at the file in his hands. "Hmm, perfect scores across all subjects. Ranked first in your entire school? No wonder you were recommended."
"Your grades aren’t a problem, but to get into Songyang High, academic performance alone isn't nearly enough."
He thought for a moment and then casually asked, "How many hours do you sleep each day?"
Zhang Yu answered, "Five hours."
The interviewer raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Five hours?"
"Students at our school, starting from elementary level, average less than two hours of sleep per day. As for our outstanding graduates over the years, most of them don’t sleep at all."
"You sleep five hours a day? That means you study three hours less than others every day. Over nine years, that’s nearly ten thousand hours of difference..."
Zhang Yu was momentarily stunned. He had thought he was already working hard, but now realized just how far behind he was in terms of sheer effort. He knew that in Songyang City, students started elementary school at age nine and entered high school at eighteen, but he hadn’t expected that within the same nine years, the gap between people could be so vast.
He quickly said, "I’ll work hard to catch up with them."
The interviewer on the left asked, "How much of the high school curriculum have you covered?"
Zhang Yu steadied himself and replied with confidence, "I’ve already self-studied the first-year curriculum."
The other interviewer frowned. "Only first year? Don’t you know that here, we assume all students have already completed the entire high school curriculum before classes even start?"
Zhang Yu froze. Yet another critical piece of information he hadn’t known. What he thought was an advantage had instantly become a disadvantage.
Just as he was at a loss, the central interviewer threw out the next question.
"In order to maximize learning efficiency and prevent early romantic entanglements, our school requires all incoming students to undergo sterilization surgery before enrollment, so they can focus entirely on cultivation."
"Are you aware of this?"
Finally hearing something he did know, he quickly responded, "My family is already preparing for it. I’ll definitely complete the sterilization surgery before school starts, to maintain hormone levels optimized for learning."
The interviewer nodded ambiguously. "Alright, that’s all for today’s interview. You can leave now."
Zhang Yu walked out of the classroom, uneasy. He felt like his interview had ended sooner than those of other candidates.
After he left, the central interviewer shook his head. "He hasn’t even been sterilized yet in junior high—clearly, his resolve toward the Dao isn’t strong enough."
The female interviewer beside him chuckled. "He came here knowing nothing. No test reports, no extracurricular exam scores—nothing. These recommendation students from ordinary junior highs are getting worse every year. If it weren’t for the support policies, he wouldn’t even qualify to see us."
The central interviewer nodded. "Sigh. I thought poor kids would be more driven. Maybe I was expecting too much."
"Put him on the reserve list for now."
With that, he tossed Zhang Yu’s resume into the nearby wastebasket, where it joined hundreds of other backup resumes, crammed together.
Although Zhang Yu felt the interview hadn’t gone well, he didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on it. He had already begun preparing for one interview after another, visiting high school after high school.
"Zhang Yu, we understand your family might not be able to afford tuition here. But we offer discounted loans for students in financial need. You just need to mortgage some non-essential organs..."
"Don’t worry, you came to the right place. We know you’re male, but although our school is an all-girls academy, we don’t discriminate. As long as you complete the gender reassignment surgery, you won’t just be admitted—you’ll be recognized as a resolute seed-level student with the potential to study the Yuan Yin Qi Refining Art in our honors class..."
"What a pity, you're just a little short of meeting our admission standards. But this year, we’ve introduced a special talent admission policy for underprivileged students. If you’re willing to give up your physical body, you can enroll as a Soul Cultivator Talent and study inside the principal’s Banner of Ten Thousand Souls..."
"Student, you’ve come to the perfect place. This high school is tailor-made for civilian prodigies like you.
Let me tell you about our benefits. We add Intellect Enhancers to the drinking water to keep students in a constant Level-5 focus state.
Every day, your homeroom teacher will provide over 900 grams of supplements made specifically for Ox Demon physiques, ensuring your cultivation efficiency is over ten times higher than before.
Even the air circulation system is filled with Neural Excitation Agents, so you’ll never need sleep again—and all of it is free.
Of course, to withstand these enhancement supplements, you’ll need to undergo modification at our designated hospital.
Don’t worry. You’ll just need a few minor Artifact implants to boost your metabolism. Here’s the detailed price list..."
Interview after interview. One question after another.
Some were impossibly demanding, placing success completely out of reach.
Others were riddled with traps, contracts that felt like they’d devour him whole.
All of it weighed down on Zhang Yu, suffocating him.
Only now did he realize that being top of his class in a suburban junior high meant nothing compared to students from the city center.
Even now, he had only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg when it came to the actual gap between them.
All the hard work he had put in over the years now seemed like a joke.
In the end, he was no different from those classmates who never studied—none of them could get into high school.
Back home, Zhang Yu sat motionless, like a statue.
The phone on the table buzzed repeatedly.
Mom: How was the interview?
Mom: I have to work late today. Don’t forget to heat up the food in the fridge.
A moment later, the phone buzzed again.
Mom: Son, don’t worry. Whether you choose sterilization or gender reassignment, I’ll find a way to cover the surgery costs.
But Zhang Yu didn’t check the buzzing phone. He simply stared blankly at the ceiling, trying to think about his future—only to find his mind completely empty.
Just then, the phone vibrated violently again.
Zhang Yu had no intention of answering, but after it buzzed continuously for over a minute, he finally picked it up. The caller had already hung up.
Your 5,000 reserve funds are ready. Just ten seconds to receive...
Zhang Yu figured one of the schools had probably sold his interview information.
But a few seconds later, he picked up the phone again and reopened the message.