Just as they were chatting, a voice suddenly came from the side. Xie Xie and the others turned to look and saw a chubby little boy emerging from the crowd, asking passersby something with a face full of longing.
"..."
Xie Xie looked at the little fatty for a moment, then looked at Tang Wulin, and his gaze lingered on Gu Yuena and Huo Yuhao for a moment. He was amused.
To nourish his blood and energy, Boss Yuhao's appetite was also increasing.
Adding it up, that made four of them. Quite a few foodies here.
Perhaps it was a resonance between foodies, but Tang Wulin took a liking to the little fatty, who was also a foodie. He stepped forward, took out his backup rations from his storage ring, and handed them to him.
"Here."
"Thank you, big brother."
The little fatty's eyes lit up. He took the dried fish and began eating.
Xie Xie, who had also walked forward: "..."
So — could they change this name?!
With the food as an icebreaker, the group quickly started chatting.
"Judging by your appearance, you're also here for the Tianhai Grand Competition, right? Which city in the Tianhai Alliance are you from?" Tang Wulin asked curiously.
The little fatty shook his head. "No — my name is Xu Lizhi. I'm from Shrek City."
"This is my first time at the seaside. The dried fish you gave me was so delicious — I've never had such good dried fish before."
"..."
Tang Wulin rolled his eyes.
That was his ration, and quite a senior ration at that — specially made for him by Teacher Luo to supplement his blood and energy. Of course, it was delicious.
But Tang Wulin quickly realized. "Eh, wait — you said you're from Shrek City? I recall there's only one spirit master academy there. You wouldn't happen to be..."
He looked Xu Lizhi up and down, and then realized his clothing looked very familiar —
A green tracksuit — wasn't that the Shrek uniform he had seen online?
The others who had gathered around were also somewhat surprised. Xu Xiaoyan muttered: "So not all Shrek students are like that."
Indeed — what Teacher Luo said was right. It was indeed wrong to judge based on a minority.
Xie Xie raised an eyebrow. Looking at Xu Lizhi, who seemed like a simple foodie, he put aside his prejudice.
Shrek was, after all, a premier power on the continent. It was impossible for everyone's character to be that bad — that would just make enemies of enemies, wouldn't it? That school motto probably had another part to it — people were just taking it out of context, weren't they?
Seeing Xu Lizhi eating happily, Tang Wulin felt hungry as well. He also took out some of his favorite snacks and started eating.
His mother had prepared these for him.
Beside them, Gu Yuena, seeing the two eating, pressed her lips together. Just then, a hand reached out from beside her, offering an exquisite food box.
"I prepared this earlier. Want to try some?" Huo Yuhao asked with a smile.
Gu Yuena was slightly startled. She looked up, her eyes meeting Huo Yuhao's, then smiled and reached out to take it. She gently opened the food box — inside were several lotus-shaped pastries, their faint fragrance wafting out.
She picked one up and took a small bite. The sweet, not-greasy taste made her eyes light up. Her hands unconsciously gripped the edges of the food box. Her cheeks puffed out and deflated as she chewed.
Huo Yuhao smiled. Looking at the others nearby, he produced a few more food boxes like a magician. "I made quite a bit earlier. Any of you want some?"
"I'm fine."
Xu Xiaoyan shook her head.
It felt like they were specially prepared for Na'er. She shouldn't take them.
The others glanced at Gu Yuena, who was quietly eating the pastries, and also shook their heads.
Don't suddenly give us a life-or-death choice, Student Yuhao.
You're not afraid of Gu Yuena, but we are...
"Boss — give me some."
Oh — so someone wasn't afraid of death?
Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi looked at the speaker — Xie Xie — and immediately understood.
No surprise there — he had always been fearless.
Xie Xie didn't notice their glances. He patted his stomach, feeling that after watching so many people eating, he was inexplicably hungry too.
Sigh — recently, his palate had been spoiled by Teacher Luo's cooking. He hadn't eaten much of the Union Alliance Canteen's breakfast breakfast. A miscalculation.
"Here." Huo Yuhao handed a box of pastries to Xie Xie. The latter took it without ceremony, opened it, and started eating.
"Hmm? Not bad!" Xie Xie took a bite, and his eyes lit up. "The sweetness is just right, and there's a faint floral fragrance... Boss Yuhao, you're really good at making desserts too. If you opened a shop on Snack Street, it would definitely be a hit. You wouldn't lose to Uncle Li."
Hearing this, Tang Wulin also looked over and swallowed. Huo Yuhao handed him a food box.
Xu Lizhi saw this and instinctively came over, scratching his head.
"Um... could I have a piece?"
Huo Yuhao nodded. "Sure."
Gu Yuena suddenly looked up from her pastries, her eyes flickering as she looked at Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao understood. He chuckled and gently rubbed the top of her head, his fingertips lightly brushing through her soft hair. "Don't worry — there's plenty."
Feeling the warmth on her head, Gu Yuena blinked and looked away. She lowered her head and continued to savor the pastries in small bites, her movements elegant but faster than usual. Even the aura around her softened. Those who had sensed the uneasy atmosphere secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Xiaoyan and the others also accepted the food from Huo Yuhao.
If they didn't eat now, they would instead be the odd ones out.
The group gathered together. The sweet aroma of the food permeated in the air. Xie Xie was animatedly telling some amusing story. Tang Wulin occasionally chimed in with a few words.
Xu Lizhi, meanwhile, was focused on the pastries in his hand. The atmosphere was very harmonious.
Seeing this, Xie Xie said: "Xu Lizhi — because of you, my opinion of Shrek has slightly improved..."
Just then, a pleasant but rather cold voice sounded: "Little foodie — always eating. We're up soon!"
The group looked toward the voice. A flicker of admiration passed through Xie Xie's eyes.
A girl was walking toward them. She was wearing the same green tracksuit as Xu Lizhi, which fit her exceptionally well. Her blonde ponytail swayed gently behind her. Her bright blue eyes and long lashes were particularly striking. Her fair skin glowed with a translucent luster under the sunlight.
"Xinglan — I'm sorry, I forgot." Xu Lizhi saw her, quickly lowered his head, and obediently went to stand beside her.
Ye Xinglan ignored him. She coldly swept her gaze over Huo Yuhao and the others, her eyes filled with disgust. "They're cozying up to you — can't you see?"
She had heard the words "Shrek" in Xie Xie's last sentence. In her view, they knowing Xu Lizhi was from Shrek Academy, they were deliberately cozying up to him.
With the internet as developed as it was now, and Xu Lizhi still wearing his uniform, she wasn't at all surprised that he had been recognized as a Shrek student.
And in a place like Eastsea, Shrek Academy was practically a legend. Who knew what intentions those who approached them harbored.
"Xinglan — that's not it. They only gave me something to eat. I was hungry and looking for food. They were kind enough to give it to me..."
"Don't just eat anything anyone gives you. Don't you know there are a lot of bad people in this world?"
Ye Xinglan interrupted sharply. She glanced at the food box in Huo Yuhao's hand and the snacks in Tang Wulin's, her voice like ice.
"..."
Tang Wulin, caught in the crossfire.
Me — a bad person?
My father and mother say I'm a good child — definitely not a bad person!
Huo Yuhao also glanced at Ye Xinglan and ate a piece of pastry.
This child — did she have persecution paranoia or something?
It seemed even worse than his...
Neither Tang Wulin nor Huo Yuhao took offense, but Xie Xie couldn't hold back. His initial admiration for the girl quickly turned to disgust. He bared his teeth in a cold sneer.
"Well, it seems Xu Lizhi is the exception. If you've got something to say, just say it—what's with all the insinuations? Are most people from your academy this arrogant and self-righteous? If that's really the case, you might as well shut the place down before it does any more harm."
"What did you say?"
Ye Xinglan's steps, which had been about to leave, paused. She immediately turned back to look at Xie Xie, her eyes like a cold current.
She still remembered that when she was six years old, the day her martial soul first awakened, the elders of her clan had gathered around her, chattering about how she was the hope of the family's future, that she must cultivate diligently to become a powerful individual and bring glory to the family.
The Spirit Soul ancestor had also designated her as its successor, leaning various resources her way.
But Ye Xinglan had no interest.
She loved the sword, but hated the power struggles and scheming of spirit master families.
It wasn't until she happened to enter Shrek Academy one day that Ye Xinglan felt she had found a home. It was quiet, peaceful, full of a special kind of atmosphere. At Shrek, she truly felt what she had been looking for.
Later, she simply rooted herself at the academy, studying with concentration. With the academy protecting her, her family had no choice but to leave her be after repeated unsuccessful attempts to persuade her.
So Ye Xinglan had a very, very strong sense of belonging to the academy. Hearing Xie Xie's words now, the disgust in her eyes deepened. The fact that she didn't just strike him with her sword was a sign of her restraint.
***
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