245: Chapter 246 Is the child's debt for meals, or is it a gamble you're betting on the future?

[Minor Career Training Resource Recovery Mechanism]

[If the individual rejects the established career direction, it may be repaid by the individual, their family, or subsequent career earnings.]

[Do you wish to continue execution?]

As the red text lit up, the children in Shiqiao Elementary School in Luochuan, who had just quieted down, raised their heads once more.

On Lin Xiaokui's page, the line [320 yuan] was very small.

Yet to her, it was even more terrifying than the flood control reserve list from just a moment ago.

It wasn't that she didn't know what money was.

She knew how much a bag of rice cost for her family, knew how much her father could earn carrying sandbags on a rainy day, and knew that 320 yuan couldn't simply be conjured up by drawing a few birds.

She asked softly,

"Teacher."

"If I don't become a hydrology reserve, do I have to pay back the money?"

Guo He felt a lump in her throat.

She desperately wanted to say immediately that she didn't have to.

But this time, she didn't directly negate it on behalf of the system.

She looked toward the Jiangcheng channel.

Because the recovery mechanism was not something that a word of comfort could block.

It would turn into a bill.

Turn into debt collection.

Turn into parents quarreling.

Turn into a child hearing the words "I should have just let you go" in the middle of the night.

He Zhibai opened the master ledger, his expression colder than at any time before.

"Training debts are the hardest to handle."

"Because they are often disguised as genuine expenditures."

"The class hours are real, the potions are real, the venues are real, and the subsidies are real."

Chen Ye frowned.

"Then what should we do? Money was actually spent."

He Zhibai looked at him.

"Just because money was genuinely spent doesn't mean every single sum spent on a child's future can be turned into a shackle for that child."

The system immediately unfolded the recovery itemized list.

[Lin Xiaokui: Hydrology safety interest subsidy, 320 yuan]

[Zhao Jing: Comprehensive Awakening Preparatory Class resource package, 18,600 yuan]

[Zhou Yubai: Thunder Spear early training resource conversion, 473,000]

[Shen Tingxue: Ice Phoenix bloodline cultivation cumulative resource conversion, immeasurable]

[Wuye children public supplementary Record resources: Pending conversion]

[Pages-wasteland survivor rescue and repair resources: Pending conversion]

As the last two lines just floated up, the channels for Wuye City and Dead Water Well exploded simultaneously.

Zhong Minglin's voice was bone-chilling.

"Being rescued also counts as a debt?"

The system responded.

[If the rescued person refuses to be incorporated into the Career System, the public investment payback period will be extended]

Holding the still unconscious Liang Yan, Shi Nan's eyes instantly turned red.

"He survived from Dead Water Well, and he still owes you people?"

Lin Jin raised his new tool, his voice low and freezing cold.

"Disassemble the ledger first."

He carved out several columns beside the master ledger.

[Basic Survival]

[Public Education]

[Safety Common Sense]

[Interest and Experience]

[Career Directed Training]

[Family Investment]

[Scholarships and Subsidies]

[Equipment Borrowing]

[Rescue and Medical Care]

[Actual Lending]

"Not all expenditures are called debts."

He Zhibai continued,

"First, meals, medical care, rescue, evacuation, identity supplementary registration, and basic education shall not be recovered."

"This is the public bottom line."

"Second, safety common sense classes shall not be recovered."

"Teaching children to dodge floods, recognize toxic gases, and avoid collapses is what society ought to do."

"Third, interests and experiences, lacking prior explicit debt instructions and personal age-appropriate confirmation, shall not be recovered."

"Fourth, scholarships and subsidies, if used to induce career directions through resource bias, shall not be recovered from minors after the career clauses are withdrawn."

"Fifth, equipment borrowing—equipment can be returned, but one does not owe a career just for having used the equipment."

"Sixth, family investments shall not be converted into a child's service debt to the family career before adulthood."

"Seventh, genuine loans must have the individual reach an appropriate age, understand the consequences, sign voluntarily, be able to withdraw, and be free from basic survival coercion."

With every single sentence he spoke, the system master ledger trembled.

The red amounts began to be disassembled.

Lin Xiaokui's 320 yuan retreated from [Training Debt] into:

[Hydrology Safety Interest Subsidy]

[Nature: Mixed Safety and Interest Course]

[Career Binding Clause Invalid]

[Cannot Be Recovered]

Lin Xiaokui stared at "Cannot Be Recovered", as if afraid it would run away.

"Do I really not have to pay it back?"

Guo He nodded.

"It's not something you owe."

Lin Zhihai fell silent for a long time over there, then suddenly said in a hoarse voice,

"Then since I signed it back then, whose fault is it considered?"

Lin Jin said,

"If what you signed for were safety classes and subsidies, then that is not your daughter's career debt."

"If the form hid consequences you didn't understand in the fine print, then the person who designed the form has the obligation to explain it."

"If you clearly knew it was career binding yet still exchanged your child's future for resources, the child still shouldn't have to repay it."

Lin Zhihai's face turned pale.

This sentence carried immense weight.

It didn't completely wash the parents clean.

Nor did it dump the debt onto the child.

The system attempted to press further:

[Shall the guardian's responsibility be converted into family debt?]

He Zhibai said coldly,

"The family can enter explanation, accountability, and relief correction."

"However, family debts shall not be used to inversely force children into accepting a career direction."

[Family debt may affect the individual's life]

"That's why we cannot let it turn into debt collection."

He Zhibai slammed the ledger onto the desk.

[Minor training expenses formed by stress-induced signing, mixed matters, and hidden career clauses are transferred to the public mismatch ledger and institutional accountability ledger.]

[Cannot be recovered from minors.]

[Cannot be recovered from the family to the extent of affecting basic livelihood.]

[Career pre-registration shall not be restored on the grounds of arrears.]

Zhao Jing's page also changed.

[Comprehensive Awakening Preparatory Class Resource Package]

[Breakdown: General courses, career descriptions, testing materials, pre-registration maintenance fees]

[General courses: Consumed educational resources, not recovered]

[Career descriptions: Public explanation obligations, not recovered]

[Testing materials: School and institutional costs, entered into the public mismatch ledger]

[Pre-registration maintenance fee: Without personal confirmation, voided]

Watching that sum of 18,600 yuan gradually disappear, Zhao Jing couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

"I thought that as soon as I said I didn't know, I'd be in debt by 18,000 right off the bat."

Teacher Song Qing said softly,

"Many children don't dare say they don't know precisely because of this."

On Zhou Yubai's side, the converted ledger of the Thunder Spear early training ground did not disappear.

Because inside were genuine family medicinal baths, equipment, coaches, and venues.

The Zhou Family elder finally seized the opportunity and said in a deep voice,

"These resources cannot all be counted as public mismatches."

"Family investment is a fact."

"Since the child enjoyed them, they must eventually repay the family after reaching adulthood."

Zhou Heng looked at Zhou Yubai.

"What do you want to say?"

Standing in the corner of the training ground, Zhou Yubai gripped the corner of his clothes tightly.

He was only twelve years old.

Facing the elders, his parents, the family, and an entire ledger totaling 470,000, panic was written all over his face.

"I… I don't know."

In the past, these three words would have gotten him scolded as useless.

But now, Ye Guizhou's seal stamp fell first.

[Original statement received from the individual: I don't know]

Zhou Heng raised his head and looked at the elder.

"The basic training he used and the medicinal baths he took before adulthood were given by you according to the family path."

"You can Record the family costs, audit who decided to invest, and adjust the early training rules in the future."

"But you must not hang this ledger on him and say that if he doesn't become a Thunder Spear user, he must pay back the money."

The elder said angrily,

"Then on what grounds will the family cultivate children in the future?"

Zhou Heng's voice was very cold.

"On the grounds that they might be willing in the future."

"Not on the grounds of you buying them out in advance."

This sentence quieted the entire Thunder Spear training ground.

Shen Tingxue also spoke at this moment.

"The Ice Phoenix resources given to me by the Shen Family were once a mountain of debt."

"If those resources could trade away the rest of my life, then I would have been completely sold off the day I was born."

Shen Qingshuang's voice rang out from beside her:

"A family can bear the risks of the cultivation route it chooses for itself."

"It cannot wait until the child grows up and say this is the life she owes."

Lin Jin wrote down the new rules:

[Minor Career Training Debt Isolation]

[1. Minors shall not automatically shoulder future service debt by accepting career-directed training from families, schools, clans, or institutions.]

[2. Training parties may Record investments, but shall not use the investments to demand the individual enter, retain, or inherit a career direction.]

[3. After adulthood, if the individual voluntarily signs a career service agreement, re-explanation and re-confirmation are required, and old minor debts shall not be cited to exert pressure.]

[4. When the individual rejects the established direction, they may return existing returnable equipment and shall not bear debts converted from consumed training, potions, class hours, or quota conversions.]

[5. Training risks shall be borne by the adults, institutions, families, and public systems that decided upon the investment.]

[6. Expressions like "We spent so much" shall not be used to override "I am unwilling", "I don't know", or "I want to think about it again".]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised 002.

The old definitions surfaced.

[Training Investment = Future Service Debt]

[Resource Enjoyment = Acceptance of Career Direction]

[Withdrawal from Training = Incurring Debt]

The blade fell.

Snap!

The red debt chains snapped one by one.

Lin Xiaokui no longer owed 320.

Zhao Jing no longer owed 18,600.

Zhou Yubai's 470,000 was no longer hung on his career page, but transferred into the [Zhou Family Early Training Investment Audit Ledger].

The "immeasurable" Ice Phoenix resource mountain on Shen Tingxue's page was labeled as:

[Shen Family Historical Training Investment]

[Shall not serve as a reason for the individual to continue shouldering the bloodline career]

The supplementary recording resources for Wuye children were changed to:

[Public Identity Repair Cost]

[Cannot Be Recovered]

The pages-wasteland survivor rescue and repair was changed to:

[Historical Injury Rescue Cost]

[Cannot Be Recovered From the Rescued Person]

Over at Dead Water Well, Shi Nan lowered his head to look at Liang Yan's page, remaining silent for a long time.

Liang Yan had fallen asleep.

This time, he did not owe a life-saving debt in his dreams.

In the Old Awakening Hall, quite a few people breathed a sigh of relief.

But He Zhibai did not.

He was still staring deep into the master ledger.

"It's not over yet."

Lin Jin looked at him.

He Zhibai flipped to the next page.

"These debts—if they were merely internal system accounts, hacking them away would be fine."

"But someone has sold them out."

The next instant, the Career System master ledger automatically switched to another layer.

[Minor Career Training Income Rights]

[Packaged and Circulated]

[Purchasers: Local Vocational Associations, Family Foundations, Vocational College Consortia, Job Preparation Fund Pools, City Disaster Prevention Bond Management Offices]

[Mortgage Contents: Future career service years, training returns, priority job allocation rights, subsequent profit commissions]

The Luochuan channel instantly fell dead silent.

Liang Fu's face turned deathly pale.

"Disaster prevention bonds?"

Lin Zhihai was also stunned.

"What does... future service years mean?"

Lin Jin looked at the bond itemized list.

The first copy unfolded.

[Luochuan Shiqiao District Flood Control Reserve Training Income Package]

[Base Assets: Potential career services of minors in hydrology, flood control, and drainage directions]

[Sample Count: 3,217]

[Risk Warning: Individual refusal, redirection, relocation, death]

[Credit Enhancement Measures: Family consent forms, outstanding reserve lists, subsidy binding, school recommendations]

In the auditorium of Shiqiao Elementary School, all the children saw their school's name.

Lin Xiaokui's face was as white as paper.

She finally understood why withdrawing from a certificate of merit was so difficult.

Because someone had already sold off her "potential to become a hydrology draftsman" for money in advance.

Guo He's chalk dropped to the ground, breaking into two pieces.

A row of icy prompts floated up from the bottom of the system:

[If training debts are abolished, related income rights products will default]

[Shall the public system compensate?]

Before anyone could answer, the bond details automatically turned to the last page.

[Current Largest Holder: Luochuan Disaster Prevention Construction Fund]

[Fund Usage: West Dike reinforcement, Old Pump Station update, resettlement area expansion]

Liang Fu staggered.

Because that was precisely the dike beneath their feet right now.

A dike built by mortgaging the future of children.

Lin Jin gripped his new tool tightly.

The dike was real.

The debt was also real.

But children being sold off was also real.

Just at this moment, the alarm for the Luochuan West Dike sounded once more.

[Legitimacy of funding sources for West Dike reinforcement questioned]

[Shall current flood control facilities be suspended from use, pending debt review?]

The river water slammed fiercely against the embankment.

Liang Fu roared hoarsely,

"We cannot stop the dike!"

Lin Jin raised his head, the chill deep within his eyes piercingly cold.

"Who said anything about stopping the dike?"

"The dike must be guarded."

"The ledger must also be audited."

"The wall built with the children's future—today, it will block the water first."

"Tomorrow, we will drag out those who bought the children's future, one by one."