Chapter 5
Gerard gazed at the thick and creamy substance before him . Four differently-colored oil slicks drifted above the soup surface, creating colorful reflections with its grease, changing colors without a moment’s pause, making the soup seem like a living, breathing thing .
He gracefully picked up his spoon without any hesitation, scooping up the stuff in the bowl as he thought otherwise, then delivering it into his mouth .
His taste buds suffered an instant blow .
Gerard’s body shook slightly, but he hid it well . He quickly ate his food, never displaying an expression of nauseousness or displeasure throughout the entire process .
However, when he placed down his spoon, there were several beads of sweat on his forehead .
In comparison, Chiharu and Cao Ji Xian reacted differently; the two of them shouted incessantly, grumbled repeatedly, and muttered three sentences for each bite they took .
Feng Ping Lan spent some time blowing off the food in his spoon . This was his strategy – cooling the food to a non-scalding temperature, then downing the food directly into his mouth and swallowing it, not letting it stay on his tongue for a second longer .
Kaido kept his long face, quietly mumbling inappropriate swear words to himself as he rapidly swallowed the food in gulps .
Igor was unperturbed, eating up the food in the bowl at a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow, looking completely unshakable .
All six of them finished the food in the bowl within three minutes . The serving students immediately stepped up to present them a new bowl filled to the brim with thick soup .
Each contestant’s speed slowed down considerably with the second bowl; Chiharu and Cao Ji Xian’s muttering as well as Kaido’s swearing died down, as they no longer had the strength to complain . Their tongues that had been subjected to abuse needed rest; they were incapable of any distractions .
The second round concluded, quickly followed by the third bowl . With the exception of Igor, all five of them at the table had their foreheads covered in sweat, not because of the heat, but cold sweat stemming from pain and dread .
Feng Ping Lan looked at the bowl of soup in front of him, feeling his head spin .
Not long ago, he had eaten a bunch of Ivan’s food which took up a considerable amount of space in his stomach . He was feeling a little bloated with the addition of these two large bowls of soup .
While the food did not linger on his tongue for long which reduced the shock to his taste buds, the things in his stomach had started a rebellion . Dongya’s cooking was bullying the food bought from the other vendor stalls, both sides starting a fight .
Feng Ping Lan inhaled deeply .
This wouldn’t do . He had to say something to distract himself, distract himself from the pain in his stomach to strive for more time .
“I didn’t think there would be a day where all of us gathered to eat at the same table . ” Feng Ping Lan forced a smile, feigning a light-hearted tone, but his voice was slightly hoarse, sounding like an old man saying his final words before he passed .
Feng Ping Lan cleared his throat and started again, “Fate is quite a wonderful thing!”
Kaido looked up to glance at Feng Ping Lan, “Are you alright?”
“Huh? Of course I am, hahahaha . ” Feng Ping Lan gave a few chuckles to prove his well-being, but in the eyes of his companions, he looked like a poisonous insect that was high on drugs, “Right, Chiharu, is this your first time eating with Kaido?”
Having her name unexpectedly called out, Chiharu stared blankly at him for a second . She was planning on ignoring him, but for the sake of temporarily avoiding the pain of eating, she answered honestly .
“When we were little… When he was still living with the Imawabe Family, we would frequently eat together . ” Chiharu glanced plaintively at Kaido, but Kaido was still ignoring her . “This is the first time after he moved to the Wei Clan that we’re dining together . ”
He didn’t think it would be this kind of situation…
“I see . ” Feng Ping Lan nodded his head, “Which means that you guys haven’t met in quite a while . Kaido, do you have any thoughts on meeting Chiharu after such a long time?”
“Her physical body has become much larger, but her personality and intellect have clearly grown backwards . ”
“I’m not large! I have a standard figure!” Chiharu refuted angrily .
Hm? That was what she was concerned about?
Chiharu, panting with rage, lowered her head to rashly gulp the food down her stomach, then boldly slammed her spoon onto the table . She repressed her urge to vomit, and spoke arrogantly to the three people seated before her, “Is that all you got? Admit defeat!”
Now that their opponents were a bowl ahead of them, Feng Ping Lan and the others could only lower their heads to painfully stuff the food into their mouths .
After that, no one spoke a single word, and both sides successively finished their third and fourth bowls, equally matched, neither giving way to the other .
But as they started on their fifth bowls, Cao Ji Xian’s tolerance level came close to crumbling .
He scooped up some of that unidentifiable soup, placing it in his mouth, and chewed stiffly . The spherical food in his mouth exploded, modified stuffing spilling out of it . The stuffing’s flavor was slightly different from the soup, assaulting his tongue, which had just gotten slightly used to the soup’s taste, with a surge of stimulations .
This sudden texture and taste was comparable to the hidden soldiers of the Trojan horse, catching him off guard to deliver him a solid blow .
The flavor upset his throat, causing a wave of contractions to his stomach – the food in his belly that pressed down was erupting outwards .
“Ugh! Oughoughugh!” Cao Ji Xian couldn’t hold it in, throwing up most of the food he had just eaten into his bowl .
This caused everyone on the scene to feel nauseous .
“What are you doing— Ugh! …That’s, that’s nasty!” Chiharu denounced angrily .
“S-sorry…”
Cold sweat streamed down Cao Ji Xian’s forehead, and he tried his best to keep his calm . Turning his head, he said to the server beside him, “I-I’d like another bowl, please…”
“No . ” Liu Yi Chen ordered, “You’re not allowed to switch bowls . ”
“W-why?”
“So as to prevent any challengers from stealthily throwing up food to clear up the space in their stomachs,” Liu Yi Chen slammed a hand on the rule board, “The rules state that anything that appears in the bowl has to be eaten, so eat . it . all . up!”
Cao Ji Xian was struck dumb on the spot, and an uproar was raised among the surrounding students .
“Is he gonna eat it?!”
“How can it be? It’s too disgusting!”
“No! Seeing how he is, he might actually eat it!”
“Impossible!”
“There’s no meaning in debating like this . ” Ivan smilingly appeared amongst the arguing crowds, “Why don’t we bet on whether he eats it or not?”
“That’s a great idea!”
Each student stuck to their own opinions, hurriedly placing their bets before Cao Ji Xian could make another move . At present, the students betting on him not eating were in the majority, but the odds did not differ by much .
Cao Ji Xian hesitantly looked at the things in his bowl . He was at a loss, stuck between a rock and a hard place .
“It’s fine if you can’t do it . ” Liu Yi Chen spoke cynically by the side, “You’ll be relieved once you admit defeat . ”
“I won’t admit defeat!” Cao Ji Xian grabbed his spoon in vexation and vigorously scooped up the stuff in the bowl to shove into his mouth .
“Fuck! He ate it!”
“Yay! I guessed right!”
The cheer rose among the students who bet on him eating it .
But in the next moment, there was a change in circumstances .
“Oughh—”
A second wave of nausea hit Cao Ji Xian . Not just the mouthful he had swallowed earlier, everything stored in his stomach poured out once more and the bowl was too small to hold it, overflowing out of the container .
Within a mere few minutes, the sales volume of white flower oil and face masks among the spectators surged by 70% .
Cao Ji Xian had eaten the food, but he had thrown up everything he had eaten after that . Neither of the bets placed counted, no one had guessed correctly, the banker made a clean sweep!
Kaido quickly barraged Cao Ji Xian with a slew of curses, but Cao Ji Xian was too weak to respond .
Cao Ji Xian raised his hand in surrender, “I, I forfeit…” He turned his head to look at Chiharu and Gerard, “It’s all up to you now, my friends… I will by supervising by the side, my spirit will forever be with you . ”
“You useless piece of trash!” Chiharu lambasted indignantly .
“Your captain has given up, do you guys wish to continue?” Liu Yi Chen asked languidly .
“He’s not our captain! We’re not lackeys of that waste of space!”
She wouldn’t accept such a conclusion! Chiharu glanced aggravatedly at Gerard, who didn’t have the intention to leave either .
“We’ll continue! Unless every single one of us falls, we’ll keep going on!”
This match of three against three was competing for the number of plates eaten by each side; even if they were missing one member, the other two could still continue the match .
The servers cleared the mess, moving Cao Ji Xian to a different side and Chiharu’s and Gerard’s positions to the center . Then, the competition started again .
Everyone had stopped at the fifth bowl, being interrupted by Cao Ji Xian halfway through, and the food became much harder to swallow after that, much more tormenting .
Feng Ping Lan looked at his watch . It had been forty three minutes since they started the competition, but it felt as if an entire century had gone by .
He felt a wave of dizziness, as if he was having a bad cold and car sickness at the same time . His gaze started to waver, and his vision automatically went out of focus; his four limbs felt powerless, the hand holding his spoon fell into the soup several times, and he had to focus his attention onto his hand to steady himself .
Feng Ping Lan continued to eat, but his speed had reduced considerably . He suffered a few lapses in concentration whilst holding onto his spoon, only coming to his senses after being called out by someone, then robotically placed the food into his mouth .
Simo looked at Feng Ping Lan, her face filled with worry .
What should she do… She wanted to help Feng Ping Lan, but couldn’t think of an idea…
Suddenly, a notion flashed across her mind . But she hesitated, fearing this idea .
After struggling with indecisiveness for a few seconds, she finally made a firm resolution .
She silently retreated to the windows, her back facing it . With her hand gripped into a fist, she opened it, and a colorful feather appeared before her eyes . It drifted out the window along with the wind, and transformed into a petite multi-colored bird in the air, flapping its wings before flying off to the sick bay .
The competition had come to an impasse after the fifth bowl, the food reducing at an extremely slow pace, only Igor managing to eat at a steady speed .
Feng Ping Lan glanced out the window, looking at the fluttering snowflakes .
How pretty…
How did they manage to come to this? This was completely different from what he had imagined for the Shadow Academy’s school festival…
The food in his stomach continuously stabbed and swelled, making their presence clear .
He had been looking forward to the festivities, several versions of what should’ve happened passing his mind . The scene before his eyes had completely surpassed his imagination .
Feng Ping Lan rubbed his uncomfortable stomach .
However, such a development was quite interesting too! It was just so funny! Hahaha…
“Hey! What are you doing!” Chiharu’s shout pulled Feng Ping Lan back to his senses . “Why did you place your hand out the window?! You’d better not be secretly throwing the food away!”
“No one’s screaming bloody murder below, of course he isn’t… Ugh!” Kaido refuted, pressing down his nauseousness, and said to Chiharu sternly, “Are you done making a scene?”
“I’m not making a scene!”
“Wei Shouhou took everything I had from me, and everything that the Wei Clan represents disgusts me . But the more I think, the more I feel that staying with the Wei Clan has its own advantages . ” Kaido spoke coldly, “Because I don’t need to see you there . ”
“Why are you so mean to me?!” Dongya’s cooking had caused Chiharu to suffer a physical and mental blow so her emotions were quite unstable . At present, her eyes reddened slightly .
“That’s right, Kaido’s really mean, and the words he says are really nasty . ” Feng Ping Lan suddenly said in a long, drawn out voice, interrupting their conversation .
He placed his head against the back of his seat, gazing at the fluttering snow outside the window, a smile of transcendent realization surfacing on his face .
This time, he had truly lost consciousness .
“But Kaido is just bad at expressing himself, he’s extremely soft and kind-hearted, Kaido has never done anything to harm others . ”
All the students of Shadow 1A raised their eyebrows at that .
Brother, you were targeted by him on your second night here!
“Why are you mentioning this right now?” Kaido asked angrily in a low voice, but Feng Ping Lan turned a deaf ear to him .
“The snow is so pretty, hehehe . ” Feng Ping Lan laughed foolishly, then continued, “Kaido is just like a lone wolf, always going his own way, always putting up a vicious front in front of outsiders…”
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The spectating audience started to whisper among themselves .
Was it confession time? Was it possible that this match, under the sweet and heart-warming circumstances of interminable weeping, would end in great reconciliation?
The competition had too many variables, no one knew where this would develop into . Everyone held their breaths, waiting for the cat to jump .
Feng Ping Lan continued to speak deliriously, “But, even as a wolf, he possesses a loving heart; even as a wolf, he grew up nurtured by milk . Although he does not know how to suckle like the lambs, he doesn’t need to drink several liters of whale milk every half-an-hour like the cachalot does… But, imagine a pup curled up beside his mother sipping his mother’s milk, not a trace of wickedness to be seen…”
No one could comprehend what Feng Ping Lan was rambling about; they just felt that it was all very moving .
Only Liu Yi Chen, Su Li Wan and a few others could tell that Feng Ping Lan lost consciousness, his speech incoherent .
“What are you—”
“But! Where has that meek, adorable little pup gone?!” Feng Ping Lan suddenly raised his voice, “Has he vanished? No . Definitely not! That fierce and arrogant attitude is just a type of defense, a type of protection, like the bottle stopper of a thermos bottle . It seals off the entrance for the safety of the innocents, sparing them from the danger of being burnt by scalding tea…”
A few people at the seats thought it felt a little off, but there were also quite a few whose sympathies were aroused, secretly brushing a tear away .
“The fiercer and nastier Kaido treats someone, the more it stands for his show of concern towards them, the more he hopes for them to not be hurt by his actions . After all, he is a wolf, and the life of a wolf cannot do without the presence of bloodshed and battle . ”
Feng Ping Lan slowly turned his head to look at Chiharu, “So, is it possible for gentle concern to be concealed behind those strict and barbed words? Like the secret garden of blooming flowers hidden deep within a forest completely filled with thorns and poisonous weeds…”
Morris, who was standing by the side, muttered, “Fuck, now it’s my turn to feel like throwing up . ”
Feng Ping Lan’s words struck Chiharu like a bolt of lightning .
She blinked, glancing at Kaido .
So it was like this? So Kaido wasn’t truly being mean to her, it was actually out of concern for her!
A joyous expression gradually rose on Chiharu’s face .
Chiharu wasn’t the only one affected by Feng Ping Lan’s words— Where she stood in the corner, a complicated expression flashed across Tan Hua’s face .
“Oh, how pitiful, how tragic it is…” Feng Ping Lan gave a long sigh, “That such a good and honest and heartbreaking pup would teach us how to turn a blind eye, how hard it is to trouble another with one’s problems…”
“You shut up!” Kaido bellowed .
In the next moment, a miracle occurred .
Chiharu placed down her spoon, and slowly raised her hand .
“I-I forfeit…” She glanced at Kaido, “Don’t you dare be full of yourself! I’m not giving up for you!”
“You’re giving up purely because you’re incompetent . ”
“Humph! I just knew you would say that!” Chiharu grumbled, but she didn’t sound that angered by it .
The servers cleared away Chiharu’s bowls, and moved her position to Cao Ji Xian’s spot to let both of them observe the match .
Taking advantage of this time interval, Kaido lowered his voice to ask Feng Ping Lan, “Did you plan this?”
However, Feng Ping Lan did not answer .
Kaido turned his head to realize Feng Ping Lan had his eyes closed, a face of serenity .
“Hey!” He shook Feng Ping Lan with all his might, “Feng Ping Lan!”
Everyone looked anxiously at Feng Ping Lan, thinking the first casualty of this brutal competition had finally emerged .
Suddenly shaken and called out, Feng Ping Lan jumped in fright, opening his eyes, “Oh oh! Sorry sorry, I fell asleep! I’m a little tired! I can still continue!”
Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief .
Byriel, who stood outside the encirclement, spoke to Conglong with a light smile, “And here I thought we’d have to find a new contractor…”
The competition proceeded, with Gerard alone going up against three .
Liu Yi Chen gave the order to give each contestant a cup of water .
Feng Ping Lan drank a big gulp of water, blinking . His mind was clearer, but there was still an intense discomfort coming from his stomach .
He looked at Gerard seated before him, who was also staring back at him .
Feng Ping Lan couldn’t help but admire Gerard . Although his face was ashen, body covered in sweat, there wasn’t a change to his expression, that contemptuous expression hung on his face from the start to end .
“Um, Gerard, you’re the only one left in the team . ” Feng Ping Lan spoke .
Gerard did not reply, all he did was continue staring at Feng Ping Lan .
“It’s no good for either team to continue on like this, why won’t you give up?”
“Out of revenge, and out of fun . ”
“Fun?” How was this fun? He couldn’t understand what was fun about doing this, nor could he understand the point of both sides suffering for the sake of retaliation .
“Your performance is extremely intriguing . ”
“Performance?”
“You seem to enjoy your role as the self-sacrificing savior protagonist who gets to reverse a situation . I’ve met many other hypocrites – every one of them was backed by some other motive, an ugly nature hidden beneath their smiles . ” Gerard stirred the soup in his bowl, “Just like this bowl of soup, disgusting . ”
“You’re disgusting!” Kaido yelled back at him .
Feng Ping Lan was unconcerned, scratching his head in embarrassment, “Gerard, I’m not as amazing as you say . ”
“…I wasn’t praising you . ” A cruel yet ruminating smile rose on Gerard’s face, like a wicked child about to crush a bug, “I’m very curious . What sort of expression will you reveal, when I rip off that mask of yours? For you to be so desperate in keeping up that facade, what sort of deep conspiracies are hidden behind it?”
“Gerard . ” Feng Ping Lan shook his head, giving a wry smile . “You truly think too highly of me . ”
Gerard had overestimated him, he couldn’t possibly delude himself into thinking he was some sort of savior .
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But there was one thing right about what Gerard had said . The reason he was willing to invest his time and energy, to the point of sacrificing himself, truly wasn’t purely out of the goodness of his heart – there was a motive behind it .
But his reasons were exceedingly simple, as well as exceedingly senseless .
The life he was currently living was the happiest, most content he had been in his entire life . That was why, no matter what he faced, he would always take pleasure in it . He knew that these days wouldn’t last for long, but he also did not know till when it would last . So, before the day arrived, he did not want anyone else to feel distressed or sad, he just hoped that this memory would be filled with joyous laughter .
So it was fine if he sacrificed himself a little .
“I’ll wait and see what sort of excuse you’ll give when you fail, what you’ll do to maintain your position . ” Gerard inhaled deeply, gulping everything in the bowl in one breath . “Will you still be able to laugh then?”
“Shut up, the one who’ll cry first is you . ” Kaido rebuked, turning his head to look at Feng Ping Lan, “You don’t need to go along with him, focus on eating your food!”
A gorgeous, exquisite form flew towards the classroom, transforming into a colored feather just before it reached the window .
Simo leaned against the window without batting an eyelid, retrieving the feather .
The colored feather’s shadow swayed a little, and a watery cooling touch slid from her palm to the floor .
Simo was startled . Lowering her head, she discovered that, among the motley and numerous shadows, there was one which appeared particularly deep . Where the source of light did not sway, a shadow was quietly slinking through the floors .
“Ah!” Simo gave a soft cry of pleasant surprise .
The audience glanced at her blankly . “What’s wrong?”
“I, I…” Simo gulped, trying her best to think of something to get through this . “I feel unwell…” She placed a hand on her forehead, her eyes unfocused, shrinking in pitifully as she mumbled, “I want to rest… But there aren’t any seats…”
The moment she spoke these words, the people at the seats started to stir, the male students enthusiastically leaping up to offer their seats, even more enthusiastically shoving the companions next to them out of their chairs .
“Over here! There’s an empty seat here!”
“Sit here, sit here!”
“Be quiet! Keep quiet!”
Simo’s actions created a small disturbance among those in the audience .
However, Feng Ping Lan was too distracted to notice, his head lowered at his own bowl . He was the only one who had yet to finish his fifth bowl . He had to put in extra effort, in order to quickly end this competition .
There was still one-third of the soup left in his bowl . He pulled the bowl towards himself, tilting slightly to make it easier for him to scoop up the broth, but his palm, too weak to hold it steady, caused the bowl to shake violently . He hurried to support it, but that did not stop the liquid from spilling out .
“He knocked over his soup!” Cao Ji Xian, ever sharp-eyed, discovered Feng Ping Lan’s situation, and immediately shouted, “Get him a new bowl!”
“Did he?” The audience glanced doubtfully at Feng Ping Lan .
Everyone’s gazes had been pulled away by Simo earlier, and due to the angling, no one had noticed if Feng Ping Lan had knocked over his bowl or not .
“He did!” Cao Ji Xian rose triumphantly, walking over to Feng Ping Lan, “Look here!”
He dramatically lifted the tablecloth obstructing their view, displaying the evidence to the audience .
But the floor was spotlessly clean, with only two drops of soup on the carpet .
Both Feng Ping Lan and Cao Ji Xian bore simultaneous looks of surprise .
“They’re just two drops, ugh, please!” Liu Yi Chen furrowed her eyebrows, “Besides, they could have been something left behind by the previous teams . ”
Cao Ji Xian was shocked, but he persisted on, “I just saw him flip his bowl over!”
“Fine . ” Liu Yi Chen marched over to dip a pair of chopsticks into the big wok, then moved it to Feng Ping Lan’s bowl to flick two drops of soup into it . “Are you satisfied now?”
Cao Ji Xian wanted to look into it some more, but there was distinct jeering coming from the audience, so he could only drop it .
The competition proceeded on .
Feng Ping Lan looked puzzledly at his own bowl . He had spilled quite a lot of soup earlier, so why had it disappeared?
The oil slick on the bowl’s surface reflected the lights in the room .
The spoon’s shadow, Feng Ping Lan abruptly discovered, was swaying slightly .
He blinked in astonishment, spooning a bit of the soup then pouring it back into the bowl . The soup seemed to flow normally into the container, but it surged in the direction of the spoon’s shadow . The water level was reducing at a slow, undetectable rate .
It took all Feng Ping Lan had to suppress his impulse to jump and cheer, but the corners of his mouth were unable to keep from quirking into a knowing smile .
He lifted his cup, drowning it in one go, aggressively slamming the cup down .
“Let’s finish this!”
After that, Feng Ping Lan quickened his eating speed, finishing the entire bowl in practically five minutes . His movements were extremely exaggerated, a hand used to hold up his bowl as he used the other to shove big mouthfuls of food into his mouth .
The crowds were in an uproar, feeling nothing but respect and fear for his suicidal offensive tactics .
Only Feng Ping Lan knew that the amount he had consumed was no more than a fourth of the food, and most of the broth had automatically vanished in wake of his movements .
Conglong looked uneasily at Feng Ping Lan’s actions, “Is this a sudden spurt of activity before he collapses? Is he gonna die the moment he finishes eating?”
“Don’t worry . ” A ruminating smile lifted on Byriel’s lips, “Someone has stepped in . ”
Gerard hadn’t expected for Feng Ping Lan to suddenly start eating madly, momentarily caught unprepared .
“…Is this really necessary?” Gerard questioned, “Is there a need to go to such lengths to keep up this meaningless pretense?”
“Aren’t you the same? Jumping into the fire just to personally give me a hard time . Is this really necessary?” Feng Ping Lan smiled exasperatedly in turn, then lowered his head to look at his bowl, muttering, “Besides, there is someone willing to accompany me, aid me – my tiny little investment has long since paid off…”
Gerard gritted his teeth, also increasing his speed, lowering his head as he did everything he could to shove all the food into his stomach .
After that, Feng Ping Lan ate three bowls in a row, Igor and Kaido finishing off a bowl each .
Feng Ping Lan placed down his spoon, saying to Gerard, “Gerard, we’re four bowls ahead of you . You’ll have to eat at least five bowls to beat us . ”
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Gerard’s head was lowered, ignoring him .
“Do you want to continue?”
His head was still lowered, no reply was given .
“Gerard?”
A server walked over to Gerard, shaking him and bending down to observe for a moment, “He passed out . ”
Liu Yi Chen turned to Cao Ji Xian, displaying a satisfied smile, “Looks like we win, Esteemed Supervisor . ”
Cao Ji Xian clenched his teeth, got up angrily, and was about to leave with a fling of his head .
“Stop right there . ” Liu Yi Chen called out to Cao Ji Xian, “You haven’t paid the participation fees . ”
“That wasn’t counted as an official match!”
“But it’s counted as an official experience, and handing in the fees is part of the experience . ”
Cao Ji Xian glared at Liu Yi Chen . Liu Yi Chen wasn’t scared of him, arms crossed as she waited for his response .
At last, Cao Ji Xian acquiesced, angrily throwing down a large bill before turning his head to go .
“Please come again . ” Liu Yi Chen called out sarcastically after him, waving, then turned, announcing cheerfully, “The match ends here!”
Thunderous applause rang out; no one present was unawed by this spectacular competition .
Feng Ping Lan and the others released a sigh of relief, withdrawing from the dining table . As the competition ended, applause ringing out, what they truly needed was rest, and a doctor .
“That was a great performance!” Morris clapped a hand on Feng Ping Lan’s shoulder in appreciation, “I admire you! To grip your fists and fight bravely to the last possible moment, you are a real man!”
“That was just a fluke…” Feng Ping Lan smiled, with a hint of a guilty conscience . “Um, I need to go to the sick bay to get some stomach medicine, I’ll come back soon!”
“Go get some rest . You’ve done enough, no need to come for tonight’s shift . ” Liu Yi Chen smiled, patting Feng Ping Lan’s shoulder, “Thank you!”
“No need to thank me, it’s just what I’m supposed to do, that’s all . ”
Liu Yi Chen hesitated slightly before asking a little awkwardly, “Although it might sound a little unreasonable to ask you this, but if it’s possible, could you please think of something to solve the matter on the prizes? Our business is growing more than ever, and if we can’t come up with a really good prize, someone will definitely file a complaint on us . ”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already thought of an idea!” A brilliant smile rose on Feng Ping Lan’s lips, carrying a hint of mischief, “All we need to do is to obtain it tomorrow!”
The earlier match had earned Shadow 1A a large amount of profit . In addition to the participation fees, the admission fees for the spectator seats had also risen as time went on .
Liu Yi Chen had recorded the whole thing as proof, as she was originally afraid of Cao Ji Xian going back on his word . However, many students requested for the recording later on, meaning to share it with friends who didn’t come to observe the match, and so she changed her mind, simply selling it as DVDs . The orders for it skyrocketed very quickly, and their business instantly rushed up to the top three in the rankings .
“You did great, earlier . ” Byriel walked over to Simo, saying with a smile, “That was quite courageous of you . ”
Simo wanted to deny it, but after stalling for quite a while, lowered her head to honestly admit, “Ping Lan has helped us a lot… So, I thought I should help him this time around…”
“So, do you regard him as your master?”
“No . ” Simo denied, and after a small pause, said quietly, “Ping Lan is… a friend…”
“Oh, I see . ” Byriel nodded smilingly, turning to return to his post, “However, your answer may perhaps be much more worrying instead…”
Feng Ping Lan made a beeline for the sick bay building the moment he left the vendor stall .
Although there were large amounts of damaging liquid in his stomach, he still persisted in hurrying his footsteps, passing through the public square and the hallway to reach the office in the corner of the second floor .
He knocked quickly, twisting the knob .
Pushing the door open, the inside was still pitch-black, not a soul in sight .
Yet, there was a faintly peculiar odor wafting through the air . The smell of Dongya’s cooking .
“Thank you!” He spoke into the darkness, smiling, before turning to leave .
After Feng Ping Lan had left, Quetzal emerged .
However, he knew that the other had perhaps long since sensed his presence in this room…
A trace of annoyance flitted across his chilly features .
Thirty minutes ago, Simo’s bird had arrived in his office .
He was slightly astonished, because Simo had always feared him, never dared to approach him .
The bird circled in the air for a moment, its sweet and agreeable twittering entering Quetzal’s ears, automatically translating into words to announce Simo’s information .
Quetzal’s brows furrowed slightly .
That guy had done something unnecessary once again…
Unexpectedly, he seemed to be unsurprised, as if he had gotten used to this .
The bird flew and circled in the air, waiting for his instructions .
Quetzal was silent for a moment, before he reached out a finger, lightly touching the bird’s head . His own shadow swayed, the slender body condensing into a small part of the shadows . The shadows flickered, and the office was empty once more . The bird flew out the window, returning to its master’s side .
The shadow, at the moment of Liu Yi Chen’s announcement of the match’s conclusion, retreated back to the office at lightning speed .
Not long after, Feng Ping Lan arrived .
Quetzal walked over to the window, looking at the gradually disappearing back in the snow .
An indecipherable emotion swirled in his purple eyes, caught in a deep sense of perplexity .