Chapter 7: Wukong, It's Decided That It's You

"This monkey doesn't seem very smart..."

Looking at the red, round monkey butt, Chen Xuan couldn't help but grin.

He had originally expected to be spoiled for choice with so many monkeys on Monkey Mountain, but he didn't expect to eliminate a 'wrong answer' right away. Not bad luck at all.

"What about this one?"

Bai Chuan picked up a Stone Monkey that was laughing so hard it was going weak, and recommended, "It doesn't look big, but it's heavy when you hold it. The quality and quantity of its fur are obviously better than the other Stone Monkeys. Its defense should be quite good."

"Not bad."

Chen Xuan looked it up and down, nodding in approval, but then frowned and said, "Just that the hair on its head seems a bit sparse, like it's going bald?"

"Oh, No. 256 was adored by its mother since before it was weaned. Every time she fed it, she let it eat first, and she always groomed its hair," the staff member looked at the number on the monkey's collar and explained. "Over time, its body has naturally developed well, but the price is a bit of baldness on the top of its head."

Although getting bald is usually accompanied by getting stronger, the thought of having a monkey with a receding hairline standing next to him was still not very acceptable...

Chen Xuan silently vetoed No. 256 in his heart.

After observing a few more Stone Monkeys with Chen Xuan, Bai Chuan suddenly said, "You keep choosing, I'll go bargain for a bit, and be right back."

With that, he walked towards the staff not far away.

Feeling Bai Chuan approaching, a staff member who had wanted to light a cigarette immediately squatted down, stroking a Stone Monkey's back, and pretending to be a sharp-eyed critic, said, "This Stone Monkey is not bad either, thin skin and thick... Ah, no, rough outside, tender inside."

"It is good."

Bai Chuan solemnly nodded, "If the price were 70,000, I would have bought it without hesitation."

Upon hearing this, the staff member instinctively made a painful expression, "If we sell it for 70,000, we'll lose money directly. At most, we can give you one month's worth of premium food for free."

"Then how about 69,000?"

Bai Chuan smiled.

"Wow, who bargains like this? Let me calculate the cost of raising a Stone Monkey for you..."

"68,000."

"Our breeding base is the largest in the city..."

"67,000."

"...Bro, stop joking around, the lowest is 75,000, and I can't go any lower. Or else I'll have to pay out of my own pocket."

Faced with such a terrorist-style bargaining, the staff member was helpless.

"Don't you guys get a commission? Just earn a little less."

Bai Chuan shrugged.

"I have to support my family too, you know. Xiaona's purse, Xiaodan's lipstick, A-Wei's high-heeled shoes... All of these cost money."

The staff member complained, "How about this? With my personal authority, I'll give you an extra month of premium food. That's two months in total, which should last you until the winter break. If you bought this outside, it would cost at least 2,000 yuan."

Bai Chuan didn't say a word, just stared straight into the staff member's eyes.

Only until he made the other party feel a little uneasy did he shift his gaze.

After confirming that this was the lowest price they could offer, Bai Chuan nodded slightly, "Alright, 75,000 it is."

"How would you like to pay? Cash or bank transfer?"

The staff member hurriedly asked.

Showing a row of sharp white teeth, Bai Chuan grinned and said:

"Loan."

...

"...our records show that during your high school years, you took out a special loan agreement for the Police Academy. The Huaxia Police Academy Foundation provided a 'Faithful Hua Dog' as your spirit and a tiered fixed-amount allowance every month."

The staff member checked on a tablet, "However, these are not free; they need to be repaid monthly after you start working. So, while it's called an agreement, it's actually a loan. Are you clear on this?"

"I understand."

Bai Chuan nodded, "If I hadn't entered the Police Academy, I would need to repay the loan with interest after starting work, and I wouldn't be able to apply for a home or car loan until it's fully repaid. However, if I successfully enroll in the Police Academy, not only can I avoid interest, but the principal can be reduced by half, and still be able to apply for normal loans."

"Ok, it seems you've already done your homework before coming."

The staff member nodded, "But there's one thing I need to correct: a 'normal loan' only refers to the process and conditions, not that the interest rate is also calculated as normal."

"Will the interest rate be higher?"

"About 2 percentage points higher, since you're in debt and have no assets to use as collateral, the loan is entirely reliant on your police academy student status as a credit guarantee. The bank also needs to consider potential accidental risks, so raising the interest rate is reasonable."

The staff member explained, "Furthermore, you're only in your second year now, and your post-graduation job placement is still uncertain. If you want to apply for a Spirit loan, we can only calculate the interest rate based on the highest casualty rate among 'investigators'.

During school, it's also unlikely that you can repay the loan, as the income from part-time work is not only limited, but also unstable. The best solution is to apply for deferred repayment.

However, if you want to defer repayment, the interest rate would have to be even higher, reaching nearly 18 percentage points in the end.

Please note that this is not the total interest rate, but the annual interest rate. So when calculating the total interest, you still need to multiply it by the loan term in years.

With your current credit limit, you can only apply for a 5-year loan at most. In this case, if you borrow 75,000, the total principal and interest would amount to 112,198.22 yuan.

That is to say, after graduating from college, you will need to repay 1,893.24 yuan per month.

In addition to the financial assistance agreement you made in high school, you will also need to repay 2,123 yuan per month for the first five years after graduation, making your total monthly payment 4,016.24 yuan."

At this point, the staff member couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the young man in front of him.

Even as a police academy student, not everyone could earn a high salary.

Some lesser positions only offer a monthly salary of four or five thousand yuan when starting out.

And facing a monthly repayment of four thousand yuan would make it extremely difficult to survive for the first five years after graduation.

Moreover, the first few years are also the most critical when trying to advance one's position.

Without sufficient funds to invest in one's own growth and showcase one's potential to superiors, it would be almost impossible to move up in the future.

The young man in front of him choosing to take out such a loan would essentially cut off his future prospects unless he could rely on his handsome face to attract a wealthy woman...

"Understood."

Bai Chuan nodded in comprehension, "Can I borrow more? Preferably enough to cover the subsequent training costs of the Stone Monkey."

He had his own Spirit to train, and money was already tight on his end. Now, he also had to support Chen Xuan in attending the Spirit Manipulation Arts, which only made things even more difficult.

If he could borrow more, at least it would help to address the immediate pressing issues. As for whether he could successfully repay the loan in the future, that was a matter for later.

"Um... yes, you can."

The staff member was somewhat surprised, "But you can't borrow much more. Even if we bundle a few things, we can only raise your loan limit to 100,000 yuan at most."

"Then let's take out a loan for 100,000 yuan."

Bai Chuan made arrangements methodically: "With the extra 25,000, first purchase premium food that can be consumed until the end of the college entrance exam. Then, use the remaining funds to buy a training gym membership card that lasts until the end of the summer vacation after the college entrance exam. The rest can be exchanged for supplements such as Qinggang Jade."

"Alright, please sign here..."

...

Chen Xuan, who had been hiding behind a rockery and listening to the entire conversation, lowered his eyes and silently returned to the spot where the Stone Monkey was selected earlier.

Instead of seeing the monkey's rear end amid the waterfall like before, he now saw an angry monkey face through his detour on another path to prevent running into Bai Chuan.

"So, you're number 500, huh?"

Chen Xuan squatted in front of the Stone Monkey and glanced at the collar on its neck.

However, his close proximity made the Stone Monkey somewhat uneasy, baring its teeth and hissing a low growl in warning.

Chen Xuan didn't fear it, but instead started to rub the monkey's head vigorously.

This also caused the Stone Monkey to struggle and shake its head constantly.

But after a while, realizing that resistance was futile, it begrudgingly lowered its head.

Yet, the anger in its eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest.

"All troubles stem from a lack of power."

Chen Xuan gently scratched the Stone Monkey's chin, mumbling to himself, "If you were powerful enough, this mountain couldn't confine you, those monkeys wouldn't dare laugh at you, and the world would be at your disposal, with somersaults taking you anywhere."

Naturally, the Stone Monkey couldn't understand what he was saying. However, seeing Chen Xuan lost in thought, the monkey quickly seized the opportunity to bite down on his thenar part.

Feeling the electric-shock-like pain, Chen Xuan didn't seem to care. He looked down at the droplets of blood falling from his palm and smiled in satisfaction, "Very good, keep this anger in the future. The heavenly palace is waiting for you to cause trouble."

With that, he conjured a spiritual talisman with his other hand and gently pressed it against the Stone Monkey's forehead:

"Wukong, it's decided. It shall be you."