The First Lesson of the New Semester

When he heard the little fatty's name, Zhou Yi unconsciously swallowed.

Seeing her swallow, Hu Manduo cowered backward in fear.

"Don't misunderstand, I don't eat people. I just remembered a type of carbohydrate."

The people here would never understand the happiness of instant noodles.

Zhou Yi explained briefly, though it seemed to make him sound even scarier.

"Hello, my name is Lu Xiaoxiao."

Lu Xiaoxiao stretched her head over from the other side to introduce herself.

"Hello, I'm Hu Manduo, nice to meet you!!"

Perhaps it was the first time meeting a classmate who proactively greeted him and showed goodwill, Hu Manduo excitedly introduced himself.

Zhou Yi casually scanned his neck, noticing a sun pattern.

Zhou Yi always felt that Hu Manduo was a bit strange, and it wasn't entirely intuition.

Hu Manduo lacked a certain scent, a scent that everyone else, including Zhou Yi, had – the scent of Nutrient Solution.

Although Nutrient Solutions now came in all sorts of flavors, after drinking it, only one scent remained on a person.

It was a slightly heavy, woody impurity scent.

This scent wasn't obvious, and most people might not notice it, but for someone with extremely keen senses like Zhou Yi, it was clearly discernible.

But Hu Manduo didn't have it. He had another scent, one Zhou Yi had never smelled before. It was somewhat similar to the scent of her favorite Dried Insect, but different. It was more intense than Dried Insect, yet carried a hint of sweetness.

If he didn't drink Nutrient Solution, what did he usually eat?

It's important to know that Nutrient Solution wasn't that addictive. There were very few fat people in the interstellar era, and it was rare to see them in daily life. Perhaps this was the reason Hu Manduo was ostracized.

Everyone probably thought he was a disgusting guy who could even get addicted to Nutrient Solution.

Only after everyone had arrived did the teacher make a late appearance. The first thing she did was distribute textbooks to everyone.

There was only one textbook, and it wasn't too thick, containing all the material for the first semester of the first year.

Upon receiving it, Zhou Yi flipped through it first. It was all basic knowledge about Mech Infantry, with no difficulty at all.

"So the knowledge Mech Infantry needs to learn is so little. I heard the Mech Masters next door received many books! Each one this thick."

Lu Xiaoxiao gestured the thickness from the side.

"It's not easy being a Mech Master," Zhou Yi echoed with emotion.

She felt like returning to the library's warehouse to assemble those parts.

As it was the first day of school, the teacher first led everyone in introductions to get acquainted, as the person sitting next to you was your classmate for the next three years.

Then, she simply lectured on some knowledge related to mechs.

Most of the children in the classroom had no prior experience with mechs, and everyone listened intently. Especially Hu Manduo, sitting next to Zhou Yi, who was completely focused, his eyes sparkling, a stark contrast to his usual bullied demeanor.

The only one looking lazy in the classroom was probably Zhou Yi. She had returned too late yesterday and had to wake up early today, so she hadn't rested at all and was drowsy.

More importantly, what the teacher was saying was too simple. It was basically about the origin and history of mechs, things Zhou Yi had already read hundreds of times.

Moreover, the teacher was just reading from the textbook for such simple material, with no novelty.

Zhou Yi, having already disassembled a mech once, felt that instead of listening to this lecture, she really wanted to go back and assemble mechs.

Drowsy, Zhou Yi propped her chin with one hand and actually fell asleep...

Seeing a female student asleep in the last row, the female teacher on the podium could only shake her head silently.

Teaching in Huadun, such students were the majority.

Students like the others who listened to her attentively would eventually become like this. After the initial excitement of the first couple of days of school wore off, very few children could study diligently.

The two classes quickly ended, and the lunch break was very short.

Because lunch was a tube of Nutrient Solution for everyone, it was over after drinking it.

After drinking some water, using the restroom, and chatting with newly met classmates, the afternoon classes began.

This was also Huadun's usual schedule. The lunch break was shorter, allowing for an earlier dismissal in the afternoon, giving everyone more personal time.

"Hu Manduo, why aren't you drinking Nutrient Solution?"

At noon, after Lu Xiaoxiao finished her Nutrient Solution, she saw Hu Manduo still sitting at his desk reading and asked curiously.

Zhou Yi, who was currently indulging in two tubes of Nutrient Solution to gain weight for her extra meal, was already satisfied.

"I'm not hungry..."

Hearing the question, Hu Manduo was a little flustered and replied unnaturally.

"How can you not be hungry? You've been in class all morning."

Lu Xiaoxiao looked at Hu Manduo with pity in her eyes.

This child must also be from a poor family like Zhou Yi, so poor that they couldn't even afford Nutrient Solution. It was impressive that he could gain so much weight.

"I'm really not hungry."

Hu Manduo's face turned red.

Actually, he hadn't eaten all morning and was already starving. Fat people naturally burned more calories.

It was just that he had never tried Nutrient Solution before and couldn't get used to it. Plus, he was eating in front of everyone, so he couldn't bring out his own food...

"Here, my Nutrient Solution, grape-flavored, please drink it!"

Lu Xiaoxiao generously offered her Nutrient Solution.

In space, everyone hadn't eaten or seen real fruit, but they understood the flavors of various fruits perfectly through the medium of Nutrient Solution.

"I..."

Hu Manduo hesitated, unsure if he should take it.

"Take it. If you're still being polite with me, I'll get angry and won't be your friend anymore!"

Lu Xiaoxiao delivered her ultimatum. Hu Manduo, startled, immediately reached out and took the Nutrient Solution.

Fearing Lu Xiaoxiao might say something else, Hu Manduo simply opened the cap and gulped down the entire Nutrient Solution with a frown.

Hmm... it had a slightly sweet taste and was a bit thick, not as bad as he'd imagined.

Hu Manduo licked his lips, staring at the empty tube in his hand as if he'd discovered something incredible.

"It's good, right? Grape is my favorite flavor. Although I don't know what grapes look like... What do you think those ancient fruits tasted like?"

Lu Xiaoxiao was a foodie. Even though the food choices were limited now, it didn't stop her from having wonderful fantasies.

"They were probably something like Dried Insect, something chewy and sweet."

In reality, she hadn't eaten anything other than Nutrient Solution and Dried Insect.

And almost everyone on D-class Star Blocks was the same.

As for gourmet food, that was a concept found only on A-class or even S-class Star Blocks, unrelated to D-class Star Blocks.

Hu Manduo looked at the two people beside him, lost in thought.

Why did he think the Nutrient Solution tasted better?