Fang Xihua is an apprentice card maker. His teacher is Rong Haiqing, a member of the Rong family, a family of card makers.

Rong Haiqing is stingy and mean. He assigns them a lot of chores every day. If they make any mistakes, he will either beat them or scold them. That's not all. The most important thing is that he doesn't teach them new star patterns.

Fang Xihua has been an apprentice for three years, and Rong Haiqing has only taught him the star pattern of a treatment card.

Fang Xihua has to make twenty treatment cards every month and give them to Rong Haiqing. He has always been conscientious and careful in drawing each star pattern. There has never been a problem with any of them. Not only is the effect good, but it also saves energy.

Because of the good effect, many card masters would come to Rong Haiqing to buy treatment cards, so Rong Haiqing simply gave all the treatment cards to him.

Fang Xihua thought that Rong Haiqing would teach him new star patterns after he performed well, but he didn't expect that Rong Haiqing had never mentioned this matter in three years. He mustered up the courage to ask, but was scolded by Rong Haiqing, saying that his foundation was not solid and he was not sincere in learning.

Moreover, Rong Haiqing often deducted his wages. Fang Xihua made so many treatment cards every month, but the money he got was very little, and the majority of it was swallowed by Rong Haiqing.

Fang Xihua's family was poor. His parents and brother worked hard to get him into the Rong Family, and they owed a lot of debts. Two months ago, his brother broke his leg on the way home because he was too tired. Now he can only lie at home to recuperate, which made the already heavy burden on the family even worse.

Fang Xihua made so many treatment cards, but he couldn't even take out a card to treat his brother.

When he first entered the Rong Family, Fang Xihua was full of dreams. He wanted to learn a few more star patterns, so he applied to leave and become an independent card maker. Although he had to pay a large sum of money to the Rong Family every month, as long as he worked harder and made more supplementary cards, he could always make the whole family live a good life.

However, Fang Xihua didn't dare to think like that now.

"Xihua, what are you doing?" A voice interrupted Fang Xihua's distress.

He turned around and found that it was his senior brother Baoman.

Because learning the star pattern mainly depends on Rong Haiqing's intention, the apprentices under him are in competition with each other, and the relationship is not very good.

Fang Xihua has been here for so long, so he has a better relationship with his senior brother Baoman.

Baoman's situation is better than his. His brother-in-law is an independent card maker, and he got in through connections.

In the early years, card maker families were not allowed to pass on the star pattern to outsiders, and all card makers came from within the family. But later, because the number of card makers was too small and the supply could not meet the demand, some families began to accept apprentices.

However, apprentices at that time were lifelong and could not leave the family.

It was not until later when public resentment was boiling that they had to give in and allow apprentices to leave the card maker family and become independent card makers after they passed the test, but they had to pay a large sum of money to the teacher every year.

However, this rule was very difficult to manipulate, and many card makers found various excuses not to allow apprentices to leave, so the number of independent card makers was not large.

Although the card maker family allowed them to leave their apprenticeship status, they were still under the management of the card maker family, and they were strictly prohibited from teaching others star patterns. Once discovered, they would be stripped of their card maker status, punished, and even their families would be implicated.

So even if they wanted to teach their relatives, they could only send them to a family of card makers. However, everyone knew that this was just a formality, so Bowman's life in the Rong family was much easier than that of apprentices like Fang Xihua.

Bowman had been in the Rong family for five years. According to the regulations, after being an apprentice for five years, he could apply to become an independent card maker. Bowman's family had already made arrangements for him to leave the Rong family as soon as the time came.

Bowman had a good temper and sympathized with Fang Xihua, so he usually took care of him.

So when he asked, Fang Xihua told him about his troubles.

Bowman immediately covered his mouth: "You are crazy. If the teacher hears you, you will never learn new star patterns in your life!"

Fang Xihua retorted in his heart. Rong Haiqing could not be considered a teacher at all. Moreover, he had been in the Rong family for three years, and he had only learned a star pattern for treating cards. He did not believe that Rong Haiqing would be kind enough to teach him new star patterns in the next few years.

When Fang Xihua thought that he would have to live such a dark life in the Rong family in the future and had no way to repay his parents and brother, he felt so miserable that he wanted to die.

Bowman sighed: "There is no way. All card maker families are like this..."

But is it right for all of them to be like this? Fang Xihua could not help thinking.

After a busy day, Fang Xihua dragged his tired feet to lie on the bed. Although he was very tired, he couldn't fall asleep at all.

Because he lived in a dormitory, Fang Xihua was afraid that he would be disliked by other apprentices if he turned over, so he simply sat up and went to the garden outside with the communicator.

He skillfully logged into the Star Network, which was his favorite way of entertainment during his rest time.

There is a card maker forum on the Star Network, which is said to have been founded by a defected apprentice. Almost all the people who entered this forum are apprentices or independent card makers.

When Fang Xihua first came in, he thought that everyone would discuss card making skills on the forum, but in fact, everyone kept their skills very secret, and the forum was quieter than he imagined.

Although Fang Xihua was a little disappointed, he could understand it. After all, card making is what everyone relies on for survival. Everyone started out as an apprentice and worked hard to get to the top. Those skills were acquired with blood and tears. How could they be willing to give them away for nothing?

Although there are not many practical things on the forum, there are still some people who post gossip occasionally.

These are things that the card making family disdains, but Fang Xihua likes to read them.

Fang Xihua was browsing the posts on the forum as usual.

Suddenly, a new post jumped out and attracted his attention.

[Shock! The Fire Star Pattern is only 1 yuan! ! ]

Fang Xihua was stunned.

Of course, he had heard of the Fire Magic auxiliary card. This kind of auxiliary card has great damage and a wide range. It does not require too precise mental control. It is an auxiliary card that many card masters like. It is also one of the signature auxiliary cards of the Rong family.

However, only the people of the Rong family know how to make this auxiliary card, and it will never be passed on to others. Therefore, the Fire Magic auxiliary cards on the market are expensive and extremely popular.

Fang Xihua's heart was beating violently.

He quickly clicked on the post.

The first floor of the post was a simple purchase link, and the price marked on it was exactly 1 star coin.

Fang Xihua was about to click in to buy it, but suddenly saw the reply below.

[Where did the OP come from, you idiot? Do you know what the Fire Art Star Mark is? ]

[Hahahaha, click in to see the OP's jokes]

[One star coin to buy the Fire Art Star Mark, the OP ate a few dishes and drank so much that it became like this! ]

[The OP must have just become an apprentice, don't blame everyone for saying that, in a few years you will know how important and rare the Star Mark is to everyone, making such a joke is really too much. ]

[To be honest, I'm a little curious, anyway, it only costs one dollar...]

[Don't be impulsive, one dollar is still money! ]

...

Fang Xihua's originally fiery heart instantly cooled after reading it.

He shook his head with a wry smile, thinking that he was really out of his mind to actually believe that there was a star pattern worth one star coin, and it was also a Fire Magic auxiliary card. Let's not talk about whether anyone is selling the Fire Magic auxiliary card. Even if it is really sold, it will cost at least tens of millions.

He closed the post and went back to sleep.

But with his eyes wide open, staring at the dim ceiling, scenes of the past three years of life passed through his mind. The grievances, depression and patience made him unable to help but open the communicator again.

He opened the post again, stared at the link for a long time, and finally clicked it.

Anyway, it was only one dollar, even if he was cheated, the loss would not be big.

He silently comforted himself, but after his payment was successful, he actually received several pictures.

Fang Xihua clicked on it and found that it was actually a star pattern, but he didn't know whether this star pattern was real or fake.

As Fang Xihua thought so, his fingers unconsciously traced along the direction of these star patterns.

In the next few days, whenever Fang Xihua had free time, he would recall and review the star pattern in his mind, and then trace it with his fingers when no one was around.

Moreover, he also began to pay attention to this post unconsciously.

Most of the people who replied to the post were also mocking the original poster, but many of them bought it out of curiosity. After all, it was only one star coin, and they would not lose money if they bought it. Even the poorest apprentice card maker would not be unable to take out even one star coin.

The card maker who tried it first reported the progress in the post, saying that the drawing he got was very similar to the star pattern, but it was very complicated and he was still learning.

There were also sporadic replies from other people, and they didn't feel like they were fake. Even if it wasn't the Fire Technique, but just an ordinary Fireball Technique, one star coin was a good deal!

Fang Xihua felt a little hope in his heart again.

He had almost learned this star pattern, but he was still a little hesitant about whether to really make a card. To make a card, he would need blood crystals, and the cost would be more than one dollar.

But Fang Xihua thought about it again and again and decided to do it.

Because the blood crystals that Rong Haiqing gave them every day were recorded, he could only sneak to the black market to buy one when he went out to buy things, and then hide it close to his body and bring it back.

After everyone fell asleep, he brought this piece of blood crystal and sneaked into the apprentices' card-making room. It

was the first time he did this kind of thing, and he was panicked, but also had a strange sense of excitement.

He tried to calm down, put on the card-making equipment, and then picked up the blood crystal. At first, he was still a little nervous, and it was the first time for him to make such a complicated star pattern. The more he made it, the harder it was to control. Later, Fang Xihua's hands were shaking.

But he finally persevered.

When the last stroke was completed, an extremely beautiful auxiliary card appeared in his palm. On the front of the auxiliary card, countless white stars were connected by bright red energy lines, converging into an extremely exquisite pattern.

Fang Xihua stared blankly at the auxiliary card in his palm.

It... succeeded?

Although he hasn't found a card maker to try it yet, he is not sure whether it is a real fire magic auxiliary card, but the fact that it can be made at least proves that this is a genuine star pattern.

Fang Xihua pinched himself hard.

It hurts!

It's true!

He quickly opened the communicator and clicked on the post.

Unexpectedly, the replies below exploded.

[Fuck, I'm the idiot, please don't bother with me, OP!]

[One dollar for the Fire Star Pattern, I'm dizzy, I want to kneel down to the OP]

[My greatest luck that day was to click on this post and buy this one dollar Fire Star Pattern!]

...

Fang Xihua was startled and quickly flipped forward.

The post exploded because the layer master who had been replying to the progress had also produced the auxiliary card. Fang Xihua looked at the auxiliary card that was exactly the same as the one in his hand, and seemed to realize something.

Sure enough, the layer owner immediately replied on the next layer: [It is a real Fire Star Pattern. I specifically found a card master to test it. The other party wanted to buy this Fire Card in my hand for 100,000, but I refused.]

Many people below were asking why.

The layer owner replied: [Has no one ever thought about why the OP wants to sell this Star Pattern for one dollar? To be honest, even if this Star Pattern is priced at tens of millions, there will be many people who will buy it, just like me, I will buy it even if I spend all my money. Of course, the Fire Cards I make in the future will also be sold for 100,000 or even 200,000 each. Everyone should do the same, right? So I totally couldn't understand why the OP wanted to sell such a precious star pattern at such a cheap price. 】

【Until I talked to the card maker, he said that even if I sold it, he couldn't come up with so much money in a short time, and he had to borrow from someone. He was a soldier and had been stationed on the defense line for many years. It was because of their protection that I could still stay safely in the card making room. 】

【So I sold the auxiliary card to him at the cost price. I am not a saint. If I had bought this star pattern at a high price, I would not have sold it so cheaply even if I sympathized with him. But this star pattern only cost one dollar, which was almost given to me by the OP for free. At that moment, I suddenly understood that this might be the OP's intention. He wanted to break the current situation where the star pattern was monopolized by the card makers! 】

【I believe that everyone does not want to be treated like a dog by the teacher all the time. The OP is a spark of fire that appeared in the darkness. I hope everyone can keep it secret and not let this post be discovered by the card maker family. Protect our spark. 】

The reactions of the people below are different.

Some agree with the OP. Some people

also mocked him, thinking that the OP was just trying to curry favor with the crowd. If there were new star patterns, he would definitely sell them at a high price. Then he was told to sell one if he had the guts, even if it was just a basic auxiliary card.

Then he ran away in shame.

There are also pessimistic people who think that although the OP has good intentions, the card maker family is too powerful. What if the OP is caught?

Fang Xihua was also a little discouraged. In the past three years, he had also seen brothers and sisters who defected because they could not stand the apprentice system, but they were all caught without exception.

This is just Rong Haiqing and the Rong family. What they have to do now is to stand against the entire card maker family!

But some people also refuted that the card maker family still relies on the card makers to catch people? But they have set the price of auxiliary cards so high in recent years, and the card makers are also full of resentment towards them. If they knew what the OP did, many people would definitely not be willing to catch him.

Some people also said that too few people know about this now. If all apprentices and independent card makers can learn these star patterns, how many people are there in the card maker family, and how many apprentices are there? When there are so many of us, will we still be afraid of them?

Everyone discussed it very intensely, but the host did not say a word.

After posting this post, the host has never appeared again.

In fact, everyone discussed so much, and they knew in their hearts that the final outcome of this matter depends on how many star patterns the host has in his hands and whether he will continue to sell star patterns.

For the next week, Fang Xihua was a little absent-minded. Fortunately, Rong Haiqing returned to the Rong family this week, otherwise Fang Xihua would probably have been beaten again.

But Fang Xihua no longer cares about these things. Whenever he has free time, he starts to post on the card maker forum.

The previous post has always been topped by someone, and everyone is waiting to see if the original poster will post the next one.

At this moment, the original poster is reading the content of the post with great interest.

He and Xiao Qiong sneaked out of the college at night and ran to Grove.

Grove said, "This week's sales are 100,000, but many people secretly transferred money to that account, so this account actually received 1.1 million."

Gu Xingmian was stunned: "Are you sure?"

Grove was proud and sour: "That's right! Our sales are only a fraction of the total revenue."

In fact, when he first saw this income, Grove was also unbelievable, but gradually, he understood the intention of these card makers to transfer money, and they were also looking forward to change.

Gu Xingmian scrolled to the end of the post and saw the words of the layer master.

He actually didn't have such a noble idea. If there were other ways to make money, he would not choose such a dangerous way.

The auxiliary cards were too expensive, and he happened to have the most critical star pattern. After discussing with Xiao Qiong, he decided to lower the price of the auxiliary cards from the source.

Anyway, selling star patterns is risky, whether you sell it to one or two people at a high price or to more people at a low price, so it’s better to go all out.

At first, he chose to sell it for one dollar, just to arouse everyone’s curiosity. One dollar is so cheap, who can resist buying it to see it? And the more people buy it, whether they are voluntarily or forced to step on this boat, the safer he will be.

But after seeing what the layer master said, he felt a little ashamed, but couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

Since he was young, he learned that "the power of the masses is great and unlimited." Sure enough, the masses of the people on the mainland of Saint Robert also gave him new surprises!

Grove asked, "Then... are we still selling?"

"Sell!" Gu Xingmian nodded vigorously.

Grove asked excitedly, "Which star pattern are you selling this time?"

The criteria for selecting star patterns are practical and exclusive to the card maker family. On the one hand, many apprentices know the star patterns of basic auxiliary cards, so there is no need to give them out. On the other hand, which card maker would not be tempted by such exclusive star patterns? It is also easier to pull them on board to ensure their own safety.

Gu Xingmian still has a few star patterns like the Fire Art, so he picked one at random.

Grove asked hesitantly, "Is it still one dollar?"

Gu Xingmian: "Let's raise the price a bit."

Grove's heart was lifted again. Last time, he felt that the price Gu Xingmian said was too low. This time, he was worried that the price would be too high, which would have the opposite effect.

Then he heard Gu Xingmian say, "Then let's sell it at 9.9. It can't be sold too cheaply."

Grove: "!!!"

His heart was half relieved, but then it was lifted again. He wanted to grab Gu Xingmian's shoulders and yell: Is 9.9 not cheap? ! ! !

In the evening, Fang Xihua couldn't help but open the card maker forum again. As a result, he accidentally glanced at it and saw the familiar post name again.

[Shock! 99% of card makers don’t know about the star pattern, which is actually...】

Fang Xihua clicked on it subconsciously.

The first floor was another simple shopping link, and the star pattern sold was the water dragon technique, which was tightly controlled by the card maker family, just like the fire technique.

However, there was an extra line of words on it this time, which roughly said that the first time was a benefit, and the price would be increased this time.

Fang Xihua breathed a sigh of relief. It was normal for such a precious star pattern to increase in price. In fact, the fact that the host could sell the star pattern was enough for all of them to be grateful, and they shouldn’t be greedy. Fang Xihua prepared

himself mentally, looked at the price column, and then was stunned.

9.9? ! ! !

He rubbed his eyes and looked over again. It was indeed 9.9. There were no other numbers or quantifiers after it. It was just 9.9 Star Coins!

Is this a price increase? !

[Ahem, how can this not be called a price increase...]

[Only 9.9. Such a precious star pattern is not sold for tens of thousands! OP, do you look down on us? !]

[Wuwuwuwuwu, the kid hasn't even learned the star pattern of the fire technique yet, and he has a new star pattern. How painful and happy! 】

【I have summarized a few key points for the production of Fire Magic auxiliary cards, here is the link to the post——】

【A few friends and I are going to study the Water Dragon Magic Star Pattern together, and try to make a tutorial as soon as possible, and post it on the forum, hoping that everyone can learn Water Dragon Magic as soon as possible】

...

Fang Xihua was stunned.

He felt that the atmosphere of the forum seemed to be different.

Seeing those shared posts, he felt a little ashamed.

After confirming that the Fire Magic Star Pattern was real, he thought about whether to share it with Bowman, but finally gave up.

He saw someone post the key points of making Fire Art, and although he had some tricks of his own, he gave up in the end.

He had decided to learn from the group leader just a second ago.

Fang Xihua made up his mind to change from the Water Dragon Art Star Pattern!

Then he found that in just a few minutes, the purchase volume increased from one thousand to ten thousand and then to one hundred thousand, and now it is even about to break through one million.

Fang Xihua: "!"

He quickly clicked in to buy, but because there were too many people buying at the same time, he was stuck.

"!!"

Is this still the deserted card maker forum with only a few cats? !

Fang Xihua spent most of the night trying to buy the Water Dragon Technique Star Pattern. It was almost morning.

He hadn't slept all night, but he was extremely excited.

This morning, he and Bowman were cleaning the garden together. He hesitated for a moment and pulled Bowman to a corner: "Brother, I have something to tell you."

Bowman asked curiously: "What is it?"

Fang Xihua: "Do you know the Card Maker Forum?"

Bowman: "I've heard of it, but I've never been there."

Fang Xihua said seriously: "Brother, what I'm going to say next may be very strange, but you have to swear to God that you will never tell the Rong family or other card maker families!"

Bowman was stunned, but seeing Fang Xihua's rare strong and serious look, he nodded and swore as he said.

Then Fang Xihua pulled him into the forum.

Bowman muttered in his heart that he was mysterious, and then he saw the two posts pinned to the top.

He wiped his eyes, and wiped them again.

Fang Xihua: "Don't wipe it, it's true."

Bowman turned his head stiffly, and then: "Ah-"

Fang Xihua quickly covered Bowman's mouth: "Brother, calm down!"

Bowman: "!!!"

This is a card maker who can't calm down! !

But after the initial shock, Bowman slowly calmed down.

Fang Xihua looked at his complicated expression, even though he knew he was not that kind of person, he still became nervous and couldn't help saying: "Brother, you can't tell, you swore to God!"

Bowman patted him: "Tell shit!"

After that, he quickly placed an order.

Then Bowman saw those posts about helping each other. He was silent for a long time and said, "To be honest, this is the atmosphere of a card maker that I desire most."

He thought for a while and said, "When I was a child, I picked up a card maker's manual. The things in it are very profound. Next time, you and I will post the contents on the forum together."

Fang Xihua: "!!!"

And such things are not only happening to the two of them, but also happening in every corner of St. Robert's mainland.

The author has something to say:

Grove: Isn't 9.9 cheap? ! ! !

Forum people: Only 9.9! OP, do you look down on us? !

Gu Xingmian: This is the opinion of the comment section.

Hahaha, I saw everyone's obsession with 9.9 free shipping in the comments section, so I put on a little drama.