The Banquet

"Master, I'm back~"

Zhu Zhuqing returned to Phantom Star Academy. Chen An hadn't started preparing the barbecue yet.

"Huh, you're back so soon? Looks like things went smoothly."

Chen An stood up and teased her with a smile.

At his words, Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed, her face full of disdain.

"Don't even get me started, Master. I've really seen it all now. You have no idea..."

Zhu Zhuqing launched into the story, recounting what had just happened and describing the woman on the windowsill.

"That kid really was in the wrong, but why was he eating so well?"

Chen An's muttering trailed off before Zhu Zhuqing could catch the rest. She had no idea what he was saying.

"Master, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing."

It was better to keep thoughts like that to himself and not lead the kid astray.

"By the way, Master, I bought some ingredients. I picked up the ones you've been saying we needed while I was out."

Zhu Zhuqing told a little lie. She hadn't picked them up along the way; she'd taken a huge detour to buy them all.

"I also saw this little trinket. It looked nice and suited you, Master, so I picked it up."

That was another little lie. She hadn't picked it up on a whim or stumbled across it by chance. She'd deliberately gone out of her way to buy it, and had even chosen it carefully. She handed Chen An the Storage Ring with the ingredients, then gave him a bracelet.

It was his disciple's thoughtful gift, so Chen An happily accepted it. As for the little lies, did they matter? Not in the slightest.

"Go get some rest first. We'll be having barbecue soon. Oh, right, go call Little Stone in a bit. He seems to still be cultivating."

At Chen An's instruction, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly felt uneasy. Was her junior brother still working hard?

He was so caught up in the grind—didn't that make her look like a clown?

Her expression turned a little strange. Dai Mubai hadn't put any pressure on her, but this little junior brother was doing it instead.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Master."

She didn't say anything out loud, but in her heart she came up with a plan: she'd make her junior brother eat plenty of filling staple food, stuff him until he felt like sleeping, and then sneak in some training tonight.

The most important thing now was to stop her little junior brother from cultivating.

"Then, Master, I'll go call Junior Brother."

With that, Zhu Zhuqing took off as if the soles of her feet were greased.

Chen An stared after her, dumbfounded. What was up with this girl now? He wondered if he'd said something wrong.

He paid it no mind, slipped on the bracelet Zhu Zhuqing had given him, and broke into a foolish grin.

"Heh heh, heh heh."

If he had any acquaintances or friends in this world, he'd definitely grab one right now and say, "Hey, how'd you know my sweet disciple gave me a present?"

Sigh, the design is a little too common, so it looks rather plain on me. You probably don't have one, huh? Heh heh.

After grinning foolishly for a while, he finally reined in his creepy smile and hurried to the cafeteria, bringing out the grill and the charcoal.

And the fire starter...

Looking at the fire starter in his hand, he figured he'd have to take on a fire-attribute disciple someday.

His Myriad Silk was attribute-less. It just wasn't versatile enough.

"Master~"

Zhu Zhuqing led Luo Xiaoshi to the cafeteria. Seeing Luo Xiaoshi's timid expression, it was clear she hadn't woken him up gently.

"Since you're here, help wash the rest of the food."

This really was inconvenient, Chen An thought. Wasn't Five Spirits Academy somewhere nearby later on?

Ahem. He was a little tempted by the students there.

"Sure."

Zhu Zhuqing and Little Stone promptly went to wash the food. Little Stone hadn't wanted to come, but now he worked even harder than Zhu Zhuqing. He'd never dared to imagine having such a good life before.

"Here, Master."

"Great."

Batch after batch of barbecue came off the grill, and paired with a pot of rice porridge, it was delicious. The ingredients were limited, so it couldn't compare with the food from his previous life, but it sure tasted good.

Luo Xiaoshi was completely won over. No one could match his speed when it came to eating.

As the saying went, fifteen was the age of being poor in the chest and ravenous with hunger.

"Junior Brother, eat some more."

Zhu Zhuqing kept feeding him, much to Chen An's amusement. He'd more or less figured out Little Zhu's intentions by now. What a devious kid.

He'd have to keep an eye on the boy later, just in case anything went wrong.

"Mmph, Senior Sister, mmph, I can't eat that fast."

He'd thought Little Stone meant he couldn't eat that much, but he meant he couldn't eat that fast.

Everyone had a wonderful time at the banquet.

After eating and drinking their fill, they chatted for a while. Chen An turned into a relationship expert and got front-row seats to the gossip—especially when it came to Zhu Zhuqing. She'd grown up in the Zhu Family, and noble-family gossip tasted best of all.

For example: "The Zhu Family arranged a marriage with the Dai Family, only for the bride to discover after marrying that her fiancé had made her his father."

And another: "One aunt came running home in tears. Her family went over to demand an explanation, only to discover that the other party's legs had been broken by their aunt and he was still lying in bed. The Dai Family hadn't wanted to pursue the matter, but the Zhu Family came knocking, so they had no choice but to pay compensation..."

After spending the whole evening hearing gossip, Chen An could only conclude that the nobility really knew how to have fun.

As they chatted, Chen An was thoroughly enjoying the gossip, but the two kids naturally steered the conversation back to cultivation. He could only sigh helplessly.

If I had a social media account, I'd really want to post: What do I do when my students are too caught up in the grind and too self-motivated?

"It's getting late. Finish washing up, then go get some rest."

Obviously, the disciples were still the ones doing the work. Still, he was considering whether he should hire a few people or set up a Servants' Hall. Doing everything this way every day wasn't a real solution.

As for putting the plan into action right away, that was unlikely. He was still pretty broke.

Maybe he could get the herb garden going and sell some medicinal herbs to make ends meet. Or there was the Forge Hall. The wondrous arts in the Technique Pavilion covered all sorts of things.

"Okay~"

With their master's orders, how could they disobey? They got down to work with a will.

Before leaving, Chen An glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, then at Little Stone. For some reason, he felt like messing with them. He cleared his throat, put on airs, and even raised his voice before speaking.

"Zhuqing, don't cultivate too late tonight, okay?"

He immediately made his escape, leaving the two kids staring at each other.

"Senior Sister, I was wondering why tonight felt so strange—you kept stuffing food at me."

Zhu Zhuqing first froze at Chen An's words, then started cursing him under her breath. Being found out made her a little embarrassed. But pride wasn't important anyway; it was the sort of thing you could just toss aside.

"Junior Brother, I just remembered I have something to do. You clean up. I'm out of here."

Zhu Zhuqing decided to come clean. She wasn't going to pretend anymore.

She set the things down and bolted. As the bearer of the Civet Spirit, she was already pretty fast, and she was even faster when running away.

"..."

Little Stone looked at the dishes still waiting to be washed in his hands, then stared blankly in the direction his master and senior sister had gone.

There was a line that suited him perfectly right now: "Guys, I think I've been set up."

It took him a while to recover. What could he do? Get on with it. He'd seen worse before, and besides, his senior sister had even let him have more food.

He carried the things Zhu Zhuqing hadn't finished washing over to his own spot and kept at it. It was just that the wind was a little strong...