Food Street

"You didn't ask, did you?"

Chen Jianshu spread his hands helplessly. She hadn't asked whether he had a younger sister or anything like that, had she? Na'er, meanwhile, gave Xu Xiaoyan a sweet smile and took the initiative to greet her.

"Hello, my name is Na'er. Are you Brother Jianshu's friend? It's nice to meet you."

"Hello, I'm Xu Xiaoyan of the Xu Clan in Eastsea. It's nice to meet you too."

The two girls met and, for some reason, seemed to hit it off. They were soon chatting away, leaving Chen Jianshu out in the cold.

The three of them headed toward the cafeteria. On the way, a senior girl stopped him. She seemed to be Liu Yuxin, the senior responsible for registration.

"Junior, junior! I saw you come out of the Class One classroom. Could you do your senior a favor?"

The senior girl, dressed in the Eastsea intermediate division's uniform, had brown hair. She pressed her palms together in a pleading gesture and looked at him with sparkling eyes.

"Uh... what is it?"

Chen Jianshu hesitated. What did she want with him? Besides, wasn't this senior acting a little too familiar with him...?

As he grumbled inwardly, Senior Liu handed him a camera and a thousand Federation Coins, then explained:

"Half a year ago, a super handsome male teacher came to our Eastsea Academy. I heard he's the homeroom teacher for Class One, so I wanted to ask you to take a few pictures for me."

"Uh... you mean Wu Changkong, Teacher Wu, right?"

Hearing her request, he didn't know what to say for a moment. Sure enough, Teacher Wu's charm was as potent as ever.

But she wanted him to play paparazzo and take pictures on the sly... Chen Jianshu looked at the camera and the thousand coins in his hands. He was short of money right now. Surely a person couldn't give up money for the sake of dignity, could he?

"Yes, yes, yes! That handsome male god, Teacher Wu! I'm counting on you, junior. Remember to take plenty, and make sure they're clear. Your senior will reward you handsomely!"

Liu Yuxin rubbed her hands together like a fly, a perverted expression on her face. She looked as though she was about to drool. Chen Jianshu was speechless. It was the first time he had ever used the word "sleazy" to describe a girl.

"Got it. I'll take them for you at the next class."

Chen Jianshu nodded slightly, accepting the request. Anyone who turned down easy money was a bastard. He only had to snap a few pictures, and he had nothing to lose anyway. Liu Yuxin immediately nodded and said goodbye.

"Great, thanks, junior!"

After they parted, Chen Jianshu went to the cafeteria and got himself a Class A meal. Na'er performed as usual. By the time he had eaten a little over one plate, she had already finished ten.

"Little Sister Na'er... that's a little too scary..."

Xu Xiaoyan looked at her own half-eaten Class A meal, then at the ten plates of Class A meals stacked beside Na'er. She broke into a sweat, looking as though she had seen a ghost.

Little Sister Na'er looked so cute, and she was so tiny. How could she fit so much food inside her? Chen Jianshu, on the other hand, looked perfectly accustomed to it. He placed another ten Class A meals and five Class B meals in front of her.

"Thank you, Brother!"

Na'er's eyes lit up, and she began devouring the food again. Chen Jianshu stroked her head and said helplessly:

"Slow down. Nobody's going to fight you for it. And don't just eat the Class A meals. Remember to eat the Class B meals with them."

"Got it, Brother Jianshu."

"Na'er still isn't full?!"

Xu Xiaoyan stared, slack-jawed, at Chen Jianshu, who had brought over another fifteen plates. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Yeah, that was only a warm-up to get her appetite going. I'm planning to take Na'er around the snack street during the lunch break too."

He looked at Xu Xiaoyan as though to say, "Don't be so ignorant." He was also worried that Na'er wouldn't get enough to eat, so he planned to take her around the snack street. After all, they only had the first lesson of the term today.

"Well... speaking of which, Little Sister Na'er won't eat people if she gets too hungry, will she?"

Watching Na'er eat to her heart's content, Xu Xiaoyan felt that she really might be able to eat a person if she got hungry enough.

"Na'er doesn't eat people!"

Na'er stopped what she was doing and quickly shook her head, saying that she didn't eat people. Xu Xiaoyan smiled and waved a hand.

"I was only joking."

As they chatted, the people around them stared open-mouthed at the mountain of plates piled up beside them, equally stunned.

Who would have thought that such an adorable little silver-haired girl could eat so much?

And why was she still so thin when she ate that much? Many of the female students were envious. They wanted a body that wouldn't get fat no matter how much they ate, too.

After all, there was so much delicious food in the world that there was bound to be something they liked. And as everyone knew, eating bad food wouldn't necessarily make you thin, but eating too much good food would definitely make you fat.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, another rice bucket was hard at work. Xie Xie watched the rice bucket from the side, his heart pounding in fear.

"Hey! You eat way too much! You're going to eat up all my pocket money!"

Xie Xie watched the plates pile up one after another, feeling as though his heart was dripping blood. Who the hell knew this guy could eat so much?

News that Eastsea Academy had produced two rice buckets soon spread throughout the academy.

Afterward, Chen Jianshu took Na'er and Xu Xiaoyan for a stroll along the snack street. Xu Xiaoyan noticed that Na'er seemed to really love good food and couldn't help suggesting:

"Na'er, since you like good food so much, why don't you join the Gourmet Association? I'm sure you'd love it."

"The Gourmet Association? What's that?"

Hearing that it had something to do with food, Na'er grew interested and immediately pressed her for an answer. Chen Jianshu looked over curiously as well.

He hadn't looked into the Gourmet Association either. All he knew was that its current president was the Emperor Auspicious Beast of the Soul Beast Clan, who was also a national treasure of the Federation.

Come to think of it, the Emperor Auspicious Beast, Di Qiu'er, seemed to have become a major star on the Douluo Continent... Everyone knew her name.

There were also rumors among the people that good fortune sprang up wherever the Emperor Auspicious Beast set foot. Over ten thousand years, however, those rumors had evolved into the belief that anyone stepped on by the Auspicious Beast would receive good luck.

Ahhh! Qiu'er, step on me! Step on me hard~

"Supposedly, the Gourmet Association was established because the First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo loved good food. He created countless dishes and was also known as the God of Gourmet."

"They say the current president of the Gourmet Association, the Emperor Auspicious Beast, was a disciple of the First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo and learned one-tenth of his culinary mastery."

Xu Xiaoyan slowly explained the origins and history of the Gourmet Association. The other two listened quietly.

"Unfortunately, Lord Spirit Transferring Douluo died young, and Lady Auspicious Beast didn't have time to learn all of his culinary legacy. But over the past ten thousand years, she has kept trying to recreate the recipes he left behind. That was why she founded the Gourmet Association, which now has a history of ten thousand years."

"Everyone who joins the Gourmet Association loves good food. They say the 130th God of Cooking came from the Gourmet Association and is now the head chef at the Star Dou Hotel."

Xu Xiaoyan gave them a general account of the Gourmet Association. The corner of Chen Jianshu's eye twitched. Wasn't that just an association for foodies and chefs?

As Xu Xiaoyan recounted the Gourmet Association's history, Na'er listened in wonder. So all that delicious food had been passed down by that person.

That First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo was truly great. Long ago, he had ushered in this prosperous age in which humans and Soul Beasts lived together in harmony.

As the three walked along the snack street, Xu Xiaoyan told them the history of all kinds of delicious foods.

"Lord Spirit Transferring Douluo passed down eight great cuisines in all: Sichuan, Shandong, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Anhui. Each has its own distinctive qualities. There are many other schools among the people, but none can compare with the eight great cuisines. That's why Lord Spirit Transferring Douluo was given the title of God of Gourmet."

Hearing the names of so many dishes, Na'er felt as though she was about to drool. Her stomach seemed to be hungry again.

"Look! Every city's food plaza has a statue of Lord Spirit Transferring Douluo. There it is!"

Xu Xiaoyan suddenly pointed at a statue in the middle of a food street plaza. Chen Jianshu and Na'er both looked over.

A five-meter-tall statue of a great man stood there, made entirely of dark slate stone. The gray statue captured the heroic bearing of the figure.

They walked to the front of the statue and saw that it stood on a square block of unworked stone. The words "God of Gourmet, First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo" were carved into it.

The statue stood tall and straight, dressed in a trench coat, its long hair flowing. But it was only a stone carving, so they couldn't make much out.

"Every city's food street plaza builds a statue of Lord Spirit Transferring Douluo, symbolically inviting the god to grant his protection."

"And the statue must never be made carelessly. You can't say you're buying one, either; that would be blasphemy against the God of Gourmet. You have to say you're inviting him. Any food street plaza without a statue of the God of Gourmet isn't legitimate. The Spirit Pagoda takes this very seriously."

"Lord First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo had a grand wish: that every living being under heaven would have enough to eat. He achieved it, too. It's just a pity he never got to see everyone eating their fill with his own eyes."

"So everyone voluntarily builds statues to invite the God of Gourmet here and let him see for himself that everyone has enough to eat."

As Xu Xiaoyan explained the significance of the statue, Chen Jianshu looked at it and sighed with feeling. This transmigrator senior was truly great, having reformed the Douluo Continent into a place where people could live and work in peace and contentment.

Damn Little Scumbag, ten thousand deaths wouldn't be enough to atone for your crimes! He couldn't imagine how much more this transmigrator senior could have accomplished if he had lived a few more years. What a pity he had died young. After taking a slice of Buddha Tang's cake, he had been invited by Tang San to bathe in the Sea God's glory.

After learning about the Gourmet Association's history, the three entered a snack street. Before long, a vendor in a corner waved enthusiastically at them.

"Handsome young man and pretty ladies, barbecued Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat! Would you like to try some?"

The mention of barbecued Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat whetted Na'er's appetite. She was about to go over and buy a few skewers when Xu Xiaoyan pulled her back.

"Let's go. Stay far away from here..."

"Huh? What's wrong, Sister Xiaoyan? Is there something wrong with that stall?"

A question mark appeared over Na'er's head as she was pulled away. Chen Jianshu was puzzled too, but he followed them, glancing at the stall as he left.

"Never eat at an unlicensed stall like that. It definitely doesn't comply with regulations."

Xu Xiaoyan stared seriously at the two of them as she warned them. Chen Jianshu also shared what he had noticed.

"That stall doesn't seem to have a business license, and the owner keeps looking around. He seems a little shifty."

He told them what he thought, and Xu Xiaoyan agreed.

"That's right. If we're going to eat, we should eat at legitimate shops like these. Don't eat at those little stalls with no clear origins."

"I see..."

Understanding dawned on Na'er. She had never paid attention to such things when eating before. Whenever she smelled something delicious, she ate it, holding to the belief that her stomach was a bottomless pit.

"You again! Stop right there!"

As the three chatted, an angry roar rang out. They looked over to see a burly bald man surrounded by three Yellow Soul Rings charging at the stall with Martial Soul Possession active.

The stall owner was startled. He hopped onto his food cart and fled, leaving trash scattered all over the ground.

There were plastic bags, tongs, vegetable leaves, drink bottles, and the like. He desperately started up his food cart, hoping to escape, but the city enforcement officer caught him at once.

"You bastard again! You've got the nerve to come back! Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat, my ass! You're the fucking Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat!"

The burly bald man grabbed the food cart and forcibly dragged it back. Then he seized the stall owner, slammed him to the ground, and unleashed a barrage on him.

"Uh... haha, Lord Guang Long, calm down. Have a smoke. This really is Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat. I'm absolutely not lying."

The stall owner climbed to his feet and pulled out a pack of cigarettes with an awkward grin, offering one to him. Guang Long, dressed in the snack street city enforcement uniform, immediately cursed him out.

"You call this Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat? Who are you trying to fool?! You think I'm an idiot, is that it?!"

The stall owner cringed before the three-ring Soul Elder, not daring to talk back. Even so, he couldn't help muttering:

"It's been kept in cold storage for a hundred years. Maybe even a thousand. How is it not Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat?"

Chen Jianshu, Xu Xiaoyan, and Na'er all heard the mutter. The corners of their eyes twitched.

Six six six, so that's what he meant by Hundred-Year Soul Beast meat! There's a hidden version too, huh!

"You're still arguing?! Cut the crap. You're getting a fine, you're cleaning up the trash from your stall, and your cart's confiscated."

Guang Long was furious too. How dare he sully the snack street right under the God of Gourmet's nose? He had already shown remarkable restraint by not punching the man.

"Yes, yes, Lord Guang Long. I'll clean it up right away..."

The stall owner spoke obsequiously, then obediently cleaned up the trash from his stall. Otherwise, he couldn't withstand a fist the size of a sandbag.

"That's Guang Long of the Guang Clan, a city enforcement officer on Eastsea City's Number One Food Street. His older brother is the captain of Eastsea City's mecha brigade. They say they were commoners who rose up and developed into the Guang Clan."

Xu Xiaoyan introduced the burly bald man. Hearing his name, Chen Jianshu froze for a moment. Wasn't this the NPC who was guaranteed to spawn during the canned beef incident? How had he become a city enforcement officer and a Soul Elder?

Curiosity flashed in Chen Jianshu's eyes. It seemed the reforms to the Douluo Continent really were important. Just look: because of the reforms, the bully who had once used his brother's position to oppress men and women had become a city enforcement officer who specialized in dealing with these unscrupulous vendors.

Soul Beast meat frozen in cold storage for a hundred or even a thousand years... This stall owner was quite a talent...

So many things from the original story had changed that Chen Jianshu's foreknowledge as a transmigrator would also be greatly limited.

After all, things had changed beyond recognition. Who knew whether events would still unfold as they had in the original story?

The third and fourth updates for July 18, a two-in-one chapter, free chapter.