The Grilled Fish Disaster

"Where are we going to cook the fish?"

Chen Ming asked the question that mattered to him. The three girls exchanged glances, and Dong Qianqiu suggested:

"How about... borrowing the kitchen in the cafeteria?"

"Probably not. It's lunchtime, so they're busy right now."

Chen Ming rejected the suggestion, then thought for a moment and looked toward the grove.

"Let's go to the grove. We can make it a picnic."

"The grove? How are you going to cook there?"

Lan Mengqin questioned him. There was no way the grove would have cooking utensils, but Chen Ming didn't even look back as he replied:

"I brought cooking utensils."

"You carry cooking utensils around with you? Are you some kind of food enthusiast?"

Lan Mengqin was surprised to hear that he carried cooking utensils with him. The four of them made their way to the grove.

Chen Ming waved his hand, and a stove, a furnace, pots, bowls, and all sorts of other things appeared. Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin were stunned.

"Did you bring the entire kitchen here?"

"Almost forgot about you."

Chen Ming then glanced at Di Qiu'er, who was getting ready to help, and pulled out two fishing rods.

"Hey! Chen Ming, what are you doing?"

As Di Qiu'er cried out, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu watched Chen Ming hook her with the two fishing rods and tie her to a tree.

Di Qiu'er struggled wildly, her feet dangling as she kicked furiously in the air. The bizarre sight left the other two completely baffled. What was going on?

"Don't let her down for now. You'll be responsible for the consequences if you do."

After dusting off his hands, Chen Ming warned them not to let Di Qiu'er down, then turned to prepare the fish.

"Uh..."

Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu didn't know what to do. They had no idea what he was up to.

"Qianqiu, Mengqin, let me down! Don't listen to that jerk! How bad could the consequences possibly be?"

Di Qiu'er protested indignantly, as if she'd been wronged. Chen Ming ignored her. This all went back to the second night after he'd brought her home.

Chen Ming had been frying chicken legs while Di Qiu'er helped prepare them. He ate one each time he finished frying it.

After two hours of hard work, Chef Chen had ended up with a pot of used oil, a greasy basin, a full Di Qiu'er, and a bellyful of rage.

From then on, Chen Ming never let Di Qiu'er into the kitchen. Nobody could stop this little glutton, so the only option was to tie her up nearby first.

"Should we... let her down...?"

"I have a feeling the consequences would be pretty serious..."

Lan Mengqin asked Dong Qianqiu, who was also hesitating. "You'll be responsible for the consequences" sounded pretty serious...

"By the way, why did your brother tie you up?"

Lan Mengqin asked. Di Qiu'er paused, then shook her head and played dumb.

"About that... I don't know! Anyway, just let me down first. I promise you'll be absolutely fine. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"

Meanwhile, Chen Ming raised his hand, and an elegant, beautiful pale-blue sword appeared in it: a Diamond Sword of good quality.

The instant Chen Ming drew his sword, he had cleaned and scaled all thirty-odd fish on the cutting board. His impressive technique left Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin staring in amazement.

He scaled them, removed the innards, and washed them before heating oil in the pan. Since there were so many fish, Chen Ming prepared them in all sorts of ways.

Steamed, pan-fried, grilled, deep-fried—he made them all. His cooking skill was now at an excellent level, allowing him to bring out the ingredients' fresh, savory flavor and the energy in the Soul Beast meat to perfection.

"It smells so good!"

"I didn't think he'd actually know how to cook."

The delicious aroma made Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu feel their mouths watering uncontrollably.

Soon, all the Succubus Grilled Fish was ready, its savory aroma filling the air. Di Qiu'er immediately struggled and called out:

"Can you let me down now?"

Hearing that, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu thought it over. The food was almost ready, so they went over and let her down.

A little while later, with Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu watching, the last six fish came off the heat.

The two girls helped carry the plates over to the picnic mat, ready to start their picnic. But the moment they saw the thirty-odd empty plates, they were stunned.

"Where's the fish?!"

"Over there."

Chen Ming gestured for the two girls to look in the other direction. They turned and saw Di Qiu'er finishing off the last piece of Boiled Black Bass.

Their eyes met, and the scene fell silent. The two girls stared blankly at Di Qiu'er.

Wait, how had she eaten more than thirty fish in five minutes? In that instant, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu finally understood why Chen Ming had tied Di Qiu'er up.

Turns out her own brother hadn't been wrong after all. All they could say was, "Good thing you tied her up! Tie her in a knot!"

"Uh... Is there any more? I'm still not full..."

Di Qiu'er gave an awkward smile, then looked at the six plates of fish in the others' hands. Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu immediately backed away, shielding their lunches. She wasn't full after more than thirty fish? Give them a break!

"See? Letting this girl down is like tossing a pig into a granary."

"...No wonder you tied her up... My mistake... I shouldn't have let her down..."

"We should've listened to you..."

Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu both regretted letting her down. They had paid a steep price for it, losing more than thirty fish.

Two minutes later, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu worked together to tie Di Qiu'er up, so she couldn't sneak any of the remaining grilled fish.

The three of them sat on the picnic mat and ate the grilled fish. After one bite, their eyes lit up.

"So good!"

"You're an amazing cook!"

"Thanks."

Chen Ming was pleased by their compliments. As for Di Qiu'er, who had sneaked food, her punishment was to sit and watch them eat.

While they savored the delicious fish, Chen Ming had already finished his two portions of grilled fish and taken out a few sandwiches he'd made himself.

He couldn't help it. It wasn't easy to fill three people's worth of fullness. Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu saw Chen Ming show off his appetite and could only stare in amazement. No wonder they were siblings... Their appetites were both unbelievable...

The two girls looked at Chen Ming and Di Qiu'er. Their stomachs seemed bottomless, and they ate rice by the basinful.

At last, Di Qiu'er was let down and ate a lot more food to fill her stomach.

After lunch came the midday break. Chen Ming went to practice his sword, while Di Qiu'er got sleepy as soon as she was full and fell asleep with her head in Dong Qianqiu's lap.

"Want to spar? I'm not at all convinced you deserve to be ranked first in our year."

Lan Mengqin came over to Chen Ming and challenged him to a spar. He gave a slight nod, and the ornate golden sword in his hand transformed into a low-quality Wooden Sword.

Dong Qianqiu watched the commotion from the side. She was ranked third in their year, with stats surpassed only by Chen Ming and Lan Mengqin.

As a ten-thousand-year Demon Soul Great White Shark who had taken human form to cultivate, her talent was naturally formidable, and her stats were certainly higher than those of her peers.

The top three in the year: one cheater, one pay-to-win player, and one powerhouse who had reincarnated to cultivate again. All gathered at this little Tiantou Technology Academy—it was truly a gathering of the immortals.