"Hearing you speak, the era your world belongs to isn't too different from things here decades ago. That's going to be troublesome!
Given your age and connections.
Finding a normal job will be very difficult.
As I see it, you should give up on the idea of finding a job for now. Twelve years old is child labor in any era, I recall. Even as an apprentice, you need to be at least fourteen or sixteen.
" Speaking of which, Ding Yun paused before continuing:
"I do have a rather good suggestion for you, so listen carefully. At your current age, you can focus on studying. Through learning, you can find a way to bring some more advanced technology from our era back to yours. Then, you can present yourself as a child prodigy and transport inventions and creations that are beneficial to the country and its people.
These could be mechanical inventions, or perhaps fertilizers and pesticides, or even hybrid breeding.
With fame and contributions, in two or three years, finding a job will be a breeze. Even changing your residency status will be easy. Moreover, if you don't want to get married for the time being, you'll have sufficient reasons to fend off inquiries. You can use 'conducting research for the nation and its people' as an excuse, which should deflect a lot of gossip.
What do you think of this proposal?
This should be the safest path forward!"
"This... I'm this old and still have to study? Can't I just bring the technology over directly?"
Zhu Yunying's academic performance wasn't great when she was younger, and she didn't particularly enjoy studying. After all, if she had been academically brilliant, schools would have approached her after she finished middle school, and teachers would have found benefactors to help her continue her studies.
So, hearing Ding Yun say she still had to study, she felt a natural resistance.
Ding Yun rolled her eyes and said helplessly:
"If you just bring over the technology without learning, the loopholes will be too big. If you take the technology and tell others, or if you manufacture something and someone asks about the principles behind it, you won't be able to explain anything. Anyone would know something is off. What would you do then? Tell them you can time travel?"
"That's true. Ugh, what a headache.
I have to study at this age. No, how should I study? If I take books over there to study, I won't be able to learn. If I could learn by reading, my grades wouldn't have been so bad back then. Watching online tutorials here, less than two hours a day, how long would it take me to learn? That doesn't seem reliable either!"
Alright, Zhu Yunying finally pinpointed the issue: insufficient study time. Ding Yun, however, once again showed a very considerate and understanding smile:
"That's easy. I'll teach you a cultivation technique called 'Refinement of Spirit' which specifically enhances mental power and wisdom. Then, I'll allocate some of my mental energy to provide one-on-one tutoring, accompanying you into your new body for personalized instruction.
This way, you won't have to worry about not having enough time."
"One-on-one, constantly accompanying me..."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunying's first reaction wasn't happiness, but panic and fear. She remembered the terror of being dominated by studies. Back then, her teacher was only teaching a class, and wasn't particularly attentive to her, yet the daily pursuit of assignments had already made her dislike studying. Now, to have a teacher following her twenty-four hours a day, monitoring and urging her to study, was frankly chilling.
Under the pressure of her aversion to studying, her mind seemed to become slightly more agile. She quickly asked with concern:
"You, you're not planning to possess me, are you?"
Of course, Zhu Yunying didn't genuinely worry about this. She simply wanted to escape studying. Compared to being constantly pushed to study twenty-four hours a day, she preferred her current life.
After all, she still had over six million yuan, and there was no rush to prove herself or make money.
"Why would I possess you? To suffer!
However, I truly didn't expect you to dislike studying so much. Uh, I do want to earn some merit and fortune. How about we cooperate? I'll split some of my mental energy to accompany you, but you won't need to study. My mental energy will generally remain dormant, only awakening when you summon it.
This way, you can pretend to study without actually doing so. If you encounter any problems, summon my mental energy and repeat what it says, and you can bluff your way through.
This should be a win-win for you, right? But, we'll split the merit and fortune fifty-fifty!"
About half a year ago, when explaining her identity, Ding Yun had told Zhu Yunying that she was merely using her body to gain merit and fortune for cultivation and ascension.
So, saying this now was quite reasonable.
As for Zhu Yunying, she had never thought Ding Yun wanted to possess her. Hearing Ding Yun say, "Why would I possess you? To suffer!" further broke her down.
Indeed, let alone a cultivator, even she herself wouldn't want to live such a hard life; she dreamed of returning.
However, after just a few seconds of dejection, she finished listening to Ding Yun's words and quickly nodded in agreement:
"Yes, yes, absolutely yes.
This is truly a win-win solution! I don't have to study, and you can earn merit and fortune. Oh my, it's brilliant, simply like a Bulbasaur entering Mickey's Clubhouse to eat Cheez-Its, it's incredibly wonderful! Let's do it!"
"Alright, let's make a contract. Afterwards, we'll each take a Heavenly Dao oath. Although we can be considered to trust each other now, even close brothers settle accounts clearly. So, taking a Heavenly Dao oath is safer.
I will also impart the Refinement of Spirit technique to you.
Whether you practice it or not is up to you!"
Ding Yun did this, of course, to further gain Zhu Yunying's trust. As for the Heavenly Dao oath, it was meaningless to her because Ding Yun had no intention of harming Zhu Yunying. What she valued was control over Zhu Yunying's current world, not Zhu Yunying herself.
Signing a contract now would allow her soul to connect with Zhu Yunying's soul through the power of the contract, merging their influences. This way, as soon as Zhu Yunying was cultivated to a point where her influence was sufficient to imprint a mark on the origin of her world, Ding Yun could use their connection to imprint her own mark there.
One had to admit, in order to scheme against the opposing world, Ding Yun was truly laying her plans meticulously.
As for Zhu Yunying, she believed that for a cultivator, a Heavenly Dao oath was something they would never dare to violate, otherwise, wouldn't they be struck down by lightning tribulations?
Therefore, she readily agreed.
And signed a contract with Ding Yun, establishing a deeper cooperative relationship.
Quick-Transmigration Maniac reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.