Wang Dong'er gave a heavy snort in her heart.
She wished she could avoid Dai Huabin forever. Just seeing that smug look on his face, as if everything were under his control, was enough to make her angry.
But for some reason, the more she thought that, the faster her feet carried her forward.
Halfway down the snack street, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu were weaving through the crowd.
Suddenly, a remarkably unusual fragrance wafted over.
It carried the freshness of perilla, the strong scent of cumin, and the smoky aroma of fish fat sizzling over charcoal.
The flavors blended perfectly, burrowing straight into people's noses and instantly drowning out the smells of every other snack nearby.
"What a wonderful smell." Zhu Lu drew in a deep breath and felt a little hungry.
"It's up ahead." Dai Huabin pointed in the direction the fragrance was coming from.
The two of them made their way through the throng and found the source of the aroma in a corner.
It was a very simple grill, with glowing red charcoal burning beneath the iron mesh.
More than a dozen students in Shrek uniforms had already gathered around it.
And the one sweating profusely as he busied himself behind the grill was Huo Yuhao.
Tang Ya stood at the very front of the stall, holding two freshly grilled, golden-brown fish and wolfing them down without a trace of decorum.
As she ate, she didn't forget to call out loudly:
"Come and try some! Grilled fish made with our secret recipe, five Copper Soul Coins each! If it doesn't taste good, you don't pay!"
Dai Huabin led Zhu Lu over, ready to pay for two fish to try.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from behind them, followed by Wang Dong'er's unmistakably clear voice.
"Wow! That smells amazing! Xiao Xiao, Yajie, come smell this! Is that where the fragrance is coming from?"
Dai Huabin turned around.
He came face-to-face with Wang Dong'er as she pushed her way out of the crowd.
The excitement on Wang Dong'er's face instantly froze. She instinctively took half a step back, then thrust out her chest and loudly shouted, feigning composure:
"What are you looking at? Never seen this young lady come out for a late-night snack before?"
Cui Yajie came up behind her and very naturally linked arms with Zhu Lu.
"Lulu, what a coincidence. Were you drawn here by the smell too?"
Looking at Wang Dong'er's haughty act, all bluster and no bite, Dai Huabin deliberately drew out his words to tease her:
"Shrek City is huge, yet you managed to home in on me just to get a late-night snack. Classmate Wang Dong'er, you'll have to work on your tracking skills."
"Who was tracking you? Don't flatter yourself!"
Wang Dong'er stamped her foot in anger and pointed at Huo Yuhao's stall.
"I came to buy grilled fish!"
Hearing the argument, Huo Yuhao looked up from behind the stall.
When he saw Dai Huabin standing at the front, his hand abruptly stopped turning the fish over the fire.
He remembered those humiliating days at the Duke Mansion. He remembered the sight of his mother's tragic death.
The hatred buried deep in his heart surged up in an instant, making his breathing grow heavy.
But he knew he couldn't afford to provoke Dai Huabin now. He could only bite his lip hard and force himself to lower his head, continuing to turn the fish in his hands.
Just then, Tang Ya spotted Dai Huabin approaching.
"Oh! Junior, you're here too!" Tang Ya waved excitedly and hurried over in just a few strides.
She leaned close to Dai Huabin and looked him up and down.
"What a coincidence. You were drawn here by the smell too, weren't you?" Tang Ya greeted him with a beaming smile.
Looking at the senior sister with grease all over her mouth, Dai Huabin casually handed her a clean handkerchief.
"Senior Sister Tang Ya, long time no see. The grilled fish really does have a unique flavor. I could smell it from far away."
Dai Huabin spoke familiarly.
He had helped Tang Ya and Bei Bei in the Star Dou Great Forest, so they got along reasonably well.
Tang Ya took the handkerchief and wiped her mouth, then turned and called out toward the grilled-fish stall:
"Yuhao, hurry up and grill two more! My treat, I'll pay!"
As she spoke, she boldly fished out a few coins and slapped them down on the wooden table beside the stall.
Huo Yuhao's movements behind the grill paused ever so slightly.
He set down the seasoning jar, picked up two more prepared river fish from beside him, and placed them on the iron mesh.
"Mm."
Huo Yuhao's voice was very low.
Apart from sprinkling on an extra handful of cumin, he showed no reaction at all.
Dai Huabin took Zhu Lu's hand.
"Thank you for treating us, Senior Sister."
Dai Huabin introduced her openly. "This is my fiancée, Zhu Lu. We were just planning to wander around the street."
Zhu Lu gave a slight curtsy. "It's nice to meet you, Senior Sister Tang Ya."
Tang Ya looked at Zhu Lu and clicked her tongue in admiration.
"Junior, you're one lucky guy. Your fiancée is beautiful, and she has such a great figure too."
Tang Ya praised her without the slightest restraint.
Rarely had an outsider praised her so bluntly, and Zhu Lu's cheeks turned faintly red as she leaned gently against Dai Huabin.
Wang Dong'er couldn't stand it anymore.
She had already been fuming over their earlier argument, and seeing Dai Huabin playing the gentleman here only made her even angrier.
"Hey, blondie!" Wang Dong'er planted her hands on her hips and protested loudly.
"Don't you know any manners? Aren't you going to introduce this senior sister to us?"
Xiao Xiao tugged at Wang Dong'er's sleeve from behind, signaling her to lower her voice.
Cui Yajie, however, was only too happy to watch the show and giggled behind her hand.
Dai Huabin turned around and pointed at Wang Dong'er.
"These are my classmates."
His tone grew somewhat perfunctory.
"The one in white, with the worst temper, is Wang Dong'er."
"You're the one with a bad temper!" Wang Dong'er immediately shot back.
Dai Huabin ignored her and continued pointing to the other two.
"This one with pink hair is Cui Yajie. Her Martial Soul is the Nine-Tailed Fox."
"And that little green-haired girl beside her is Xiao Xiao. She's a Twin Martial Souls genius who keeps her talents hidden."
At the words "Twin Martial Souls," Tang Ya jolted.
She turned around sharply and stared at the three girls, looking at them as if they were priceless treasures.
Not only were the three girls beautiful, they knew Dai Huabin, and their talents seemed promising too.
If she could bring them into the Tang Sect, the sect's revival would be just around the corner.
Tang Ya quickly calculated how she could talk them into joining.
Dai Huabin paid no attention to Tang Ya's calculations and walked up to the grill.
The closer he got, the stronger the fragrance of perilla and cumin became.
He took fifteen Copper Soul Coins from his pocket and arranged them neatly on the wooden table.
"Could you grill three more for me, please?" Dai Huabin asked in an even tone.
Huo Yuhao kept his head lowered.
He stared at the charcoal and deftly turned the fish in his hands, then brushed on a thin layer of oil.
Hearing Dai Huabin's polite tone, Huo Yuhao felt a powerful sense of absurdity rise within him.
Was this the second young master who had run roughshod over everyone at the Duke Mansion and treated the servants like they weren't human?
Was this the person who had let his underlings bully Huo Yuhao, indirectly leading to his mother's tragic death?
And now he was speaking so politely to a little street vendor?
The outside world sure knew how to dress up the class system.
Huo Yuhao gripped the bamboo skewer so tightly that the wooden stick bent slightly beneath his fingers.
"Just a moment." His reply was terse.
Dai Huabin watched Huo Yuhao for a while.
As someone who had transmigrated, he naturally knew what kind of hatred was churning in Huo Yuhao's heart right now. But he was going to pretend he knew nothing.
Dai Huabin leaned forward slightly, his voice tinged with just the right amount of curiosity. "Have we met somewhere before, classmate?"
The brush in Huo Yuhao's hand stopped abruptly.
A drop of oil fell into the charcoal with a sharp hiss, sending up a wisp of white smoke.
He clenched his back teeth and forced all his emotions down.
He couldn't be impulsive. He absolutely couldn't expose himself here.
The Duke Mansion's power was immense. Right now, Huo Yuhao was less than an ant.
"No." Huo Yuhao lowered his voice. "You've mistaken me for someone else."
Dai Huabin nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe. There are plenty of people in the world who look alike." Dai Huabin straightened up and asked no more.
He had only been testing the waters, just to put Huo Yuhao on edge.
Dai Huabin turned and looked toward the open space beside them.
Tang Ya had fully gotten into the swing of things.
Somehow, she had produced several crumpled flyers and forcibly stuffed them into Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao's hands.
"Come, come, junior sisters! Learn about our Tang Sect!" Tang Ya was as enthusiastic as a street hawker. "The continent's number-one Hidden Weapon sect in its heyday!"
Cui Yajie pinched one corner of the flyer between two fingers, her face full of disdain.
"Senior Sister, your flyer is way too slapdash."
Cui Yajie criticized it without mercy.
Tang Ya's face reddened. She tried to save face by insisting:
"That's called being low-key! See that young man grilling fish over there? He's a new disciple of our Tang Sect! Impressive, right?"
Xiao Xiao poked her head out and glanced at the busy Huo Yuhao.
"So Tang Sect disciples have to sell grilled fish to make ends meet? Does your top sect not provide meals?"
That devastating question left Tang Ya speechless.
Several new students waiting in line couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Wang Dong'er held the crude flyer, but unlike Cui Yajie, she didn't toss it away.
She felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to the Tang Sect. When she was at the Clear Sky Sect, her two uncles had often brought it up.
She raised her head, her gaze passing Tang Ya and landing on Huo Yuhao behind the grill.
The temperature in front of the grill was high.
Huo Yuhao wore a gray homespun shirt that had been washed until it faded. His collar was completely soaked with sweat.
His movements were quick and nimble.
He slit open the fish's belly, sprinkled on the seasoning, and turned it over, all in one smooth motion.
He made no unnecessary flourishes.
Wang Dong'er unconsciously moved two steps closer.
Strange.
It was really strange.
The boy selling grilled fish looked perfectly ordinary, the sort of person you wouldn't pick out of a crowd.
So why couldn't she stop looking over at him?
It was as if he carried an invisible force that kept tugging at her attention.
"Could I really be so hungry I'm hallucinating?" Wang Dong'er raised her hand and tapped her forehead.
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