Arriving at Suotuo Grand Hotel,
following the room number Qin Ming had given him when they parted yesterday,
Lu Fan smoothly met up with Qin Ming, who had been waiting for quite some time.
"Good afternoon, Senior Qin."
Lu Fan greeted Qin Ming.
"Good afternoon, Junior Lu. And these two are?"
Qin Ming returned the greeting, then looked at the two people beside Lu Fan and asked.
Lu Fan introduced them with a smile. "They're both students of Shrek Academy, in the same year as me. This is Dai Mubai, and this is Ma Hongjun. Just call him Fatty. Fatty is our headmaster's direct disciple."
Qin Ming smiled at the two of them. "So you're my junior brothers. I'm Qin Ming. Just call me Senior Qin."
The two nodded. "Senior Qin."
Born into the imperial family, Dai Mubai immediately understood from the expensive fabric of Qin Ming's clothes that Qin Ming was no ordinary person.
"Where are Sister Yanzi and the others? Aren't we bringing them along?"
Lu Fan looked around the room and found that Qin Ming was alone.
Qin Ming shook his head. "I told them to explore Suotuo City on their own. It'll just be me going back with you."
Lu Fan nodded.
Come to think of it, Dugu Yan and the others had nothing to do with Shrek Academy. There was nothing for them to do if they came along.
"Fatty, Mu Bai, go find Xiao Ao and Teacher Zhao. I'll take Senior Qin to see the headmaster first."
Lu Fan said to the two of them.
At this hour, Flender should still be at a little general store in Suotuo City.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun nodded in agreement.
Lu Fan turned to Qin Ming beside him and smiled. "Come with me, Senior Qin. The headmaster is probably still making some extra money at his general store."
Qin Ming nodded. "That certainly fits Headmaster Flender's style."
The two arrived at the general store.
They saw Flender lying in a recliner with his eyes closed, resting.
"Don't touch anything unless you're buying it. If you touch it, you buy it."
Hearing someone enter, Flender did not even open his eyes, merely speaking indifferently.
"Headmaster, I'm back."
Lu Fan's voice was utterly calm.
As though he were simply stating something completely ordinary.
Yet upon hearing those words, Flender's eyes flew open.
He looked incredulously toward the source of the voice.
"Xiao Fan!"
Flender sprang up from the recliner and threw his arms around Lu Fan.
"It really is you. You're back!"
Flender stared at Lu Fan before him in disbelief.
Lu Fan nodded with a smile. "They're on break over there. You know me—I go back to the village for a few days every holiday. Since I had time, I came by to see you."
As he spoke, Lu Fan took a gift box from his Storage Soul Tool and handed it to Flender.
"This is a local specialty I brought from Spirit City. They're pastries made by a food-system Soul Douluo from Spirit Hall. I bought them especially for you."
Flender accepted the gift box, which looked far from cheap, and burst into laughter. "You're still the thoughtful one. I didn't spoil you for nothing, kid!"
Flender gave Lu Fan another hug.
Qin Ming, standing beside them, smiled as well. "Headmaster Flender, I'm back too."
At that, Flender looked at the person behind Lu Fan.
At first, he had assumed this was a guard Chrysanthemum Douluo had assigned to Lu Fan.
But the more he looked, the more familiar the man seemed.
"You... you're Qin Ming!"
Flender's eyes widened. He was far more astonished than when he had seen Lu Fan.
Qin Ming was delighted that Flender still remembered him.
"It's me, Headmaster. I'm back."
Flender looked at Qin Ming and nodded with a smile. "Good, good, good. I never thought you'd still be willing to come back and visit an old man like me."
Looking at Qin Ming's clothing, Flender asked, "From the looks of you, you must have done quite well after graduation, right?"
Qin Ming nodded. "I'm currently employed at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. I'm the head coach of the Heaven Dou First Team."
Seeing that his student had become so accomplished, Flender felt proud as a teacher. He laughed heartily. "Good, excellent! As expected of someone who came from Shrek Academy. Truly outstanding among men."
Flender grabbed Qin Ming with one hand and Lu Fan with the other.
"Come on, come on, let's head back to the academy. We'll let Zhao Wuji and the other old brothers see you too."
With Flender, an agility-system Soul Saint, leading them,
the journey, which had not been far to begin with, took only a few minutes.
Looking at the academy's still shabby gate,
Lu Fan's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Qin Ming, on the other hand, looked as though he had returned home.
He spread his arms and breathed in the fresh country air.
And at the academy gate,
quite a few people had already been waiting.
The moment Oscar saw Lu Fan, he rushed forward excitedly and hugged him.
"Brother Fan, you're finally back! I missed you so much!"
Zhao Wuji also stepped forward and gave Lu Fan a huge bear hug.
"You brat, you've gotten a lot sturdier. Looks like you've been living well these past six months!"
"Old Zhao, look who this is."
Flender pointed at Qin Ming beside him.
Zhao Wuji found Qin Ming very familiar.
But for the moment, he could not recognize him.
Qin Ming merely smiled and said, "Teacher Zhao, I'm Qin Ming."
"Qin Ming?!"
Zhao Wuji stared at Qin Ming as if he had seen a Ghost.
He and Qin Ming had probably not seen each other in ten years.
Flender laughed from the side. "Qin Ming has made something of himself now. He works at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and serves as the head coach of the Heaven Dou First Team."
Seeing his student become so accomplished,
Flender was sincerely happy for him.
Zhao Wuji asked, "To become the head coach of Heaven Dou's first team, Qin Ming, your cultivation must be quite high by now, right?"
Qin Ming nodded. "I broke through to Soul Emperor a few years ago. The academy's three Education Committee Members valued me, which is how I received my current position."
"Good grief, your cultivation is almost catching up to mine!"
Zhao Wuji laughed.
He was only level sixty-nine now.
He was still just a tiny bit away from level seventy, from becoming a Soul Saint.
But breaking through this year should not be a problem.
Flender announced to everyone, "Go call the others out. Come on, come on! I'm in a good mood today. Let's eat in the city—this headmaster is treating!"
Flender let himself be generous for once.
Half a year ago, Chrysanthemum Douluo had left him fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Flender, who had been terrified of poverty for so long, had not been willing to spend even a single coin.
Seeing that the academy was furnished exactly as it had been before he left,
Lu Fan knew that the money had probably all gone into Flender's own pocket.
He secretly poked Flender. "Headmaster, that's a little unscrupulous, isn't it?"
As he spoke, Lu Fan pointed at the academy's shabby-looking things, reminding Flender of the matter.
Flender naturally understood.
But he only coughed twice. "Ahem, Xiao Fan, considering our relationship, you have to keep this a secret for me. Otherwise, Old Zhao and the others won't let it go."
Lu Fan nodded and made an OK gesture.
But inwardly, he had already decided to pick the best restaurant and order the most expensive dishes.
They had to go all out: four great beauties and eight mighty guardians.
If they could not finish it, they would feed it to the dogs.
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