Is This Reasonable?

Li Jinshui no longer cared about the discussions around him, nor did he mind those strange gazes.

They were all whispering about him, yet he was growing stronger at a mad pace.

This was normal.

A typical webnovel trope, but the protagonist was him: Li! Jin! Shui!

Bring on the meat!

He maintained the posture of the stake standing, directly forked an entire slab of meat, tilted his head, and bit right into it.

The heat current slid down his stomach and dispersed once more.

[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +1]

"It only added 1 point because that bite was too small? Heh, I was being too refined."

Li Jinshui smiled with unbridled demonic charm, then opened his mouth and took a massive bite.

This time, the meat that entered his mouth was noticeably larger.

[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +3]

"So that's how it is! The process of exploring the mysteries of martial arts is actually this interesting!"

Li Jinshui was overjoyed and immediately let loose to eat meat to his heart's content.

Wasn't this bold and unrestrained way of eating just another kind of elegance?

Elegance never goes out of style!

Amidst the eccentric gazes of the students, Li Jinshui ate his meat while holding his stake stance.

The half-jin of exotic beast meat entered his belly entirely, leaving him with a bit more of a feeling of fullness.

He checked the panel again.

[Basic Stance Technique (Novice 21/200)]

"Twenty-one proficiency points, exceeding 10% progress, yet not a single Ren Meridian acupoint has been cleared..."

Li Jinshui carefully sensed the condition within his body and found that aside from his vital energy and blood increasing by a tiny fraction, the rest indeed hadn't changed much.

This was enough to corroborate his previous deduction: as long as the proficiency of Heaven Rewards Diligence was maxed out, it could force a breakthrough.

Moreover, the proficiency boost brought by this dietary tonic was also terrifying.

Merely half a jin of the lowest-grade exotic beast meat could boost him by ten percent.

Then, eating another four and a half jin would allow his stance technique to directly break through to the Proficient realm.

"One jin of meat is 2,400 yuan, so four and a half jin is 10,800 yuan..."

Li Jinshui was already impatiently calculating the price. Then he checked his card balance, and there was still a little over 12,000.

Enough!

Without hesitation, he walked straight up to the service window. "Auntie, another four and a half jin of Iron-Skin Beast meat ribs. Remember, they have to be freshly cut; don't try to fool me with synthesized ones. I'm a student buying with sincere intentions."

"F... Four and a half jin?"

The cafeteria window attendant froze, thinking she had heard wrong. "Little classmate, are you sure it's four and a half jin? Are you treating guests?"

"Treating what guests, I'm eating it myself. Don't worry about it, Auntie, our lineage has money and we just love eating like this."

Li Jinshui waved his hand and scanned the code to pay without any pressure.

Seeing that he had already paid, the attendant said no more and turned around to go prepare the pan-fried meat.

The surrounding students already wore faces full of shock, completely dumbfounded.

"Oh no, it turns out we were the clowns all along. We laughed at him for being unworldly, but it turns out he's the one who's loaded!"

"Real rich people are like this; they do as they please and don't care about the opinions of others at all."

"The rich second-generation kid in our class eats at most half a jin or a jin a day. This is the first time I've ever seen someone eat five jin in one go. A true divine tycoon."

"Is it just me who thinks this is unnecessary? Eating five jin at once, how much can he even absorb? The effect probably isn't as good as eating one jin a day."

"What do you know? Didn't you hear what he just said? His lineage has money! Do you even know what a lineage is?"

"Sorry, I accidentally stumbled into high society!"

The crowd discussed animatedly, changing their previous attitude and losing any sense of contempt.

Quite a few people even took out their phones to take pictures of Li Jinshui and began inquiring about his identity and background.

Li Jinshui sat back down at the cafeteria dining chair, quietly took out his phone, and glanced at the remaining balance on his card—only a little over a thousand left.

The plan has changed. Once I finish eating, I need to figure out how to make money fast.

Originally, he had wanted to stabilize his situation with a bit of money first, find some fighting scenes to leech off, and accumulate proficiency.

But now that dietary tonics had such a massive effect, making money was the primary objective.

Keep in mind, the exotic beast meat he ate this time was only ordinary.

If he replaced it with higher-quality exotic beast meat, to what degree would that improve?

It was a pity the school cafeteria didn't sell that kind of high-end stuff, so there was no way to test it.

And then there was the supplement potion, which was said to have even stronger effects. Starting at 20,000 a bottle, he couldn't afford it for the time being.

Once I digest that four-plus jin of exotic beast meat and my stance technique breaks through to the Proficient level, I might be qualified to apply for a loan. But... without a work and income proof, it'll probably still be hard to get the loan approved.

Li Jinshui frowned and pondered.

Soon, the cafeteria attendant served the new exotic beast meat.

This time, a larger iron plate was used, completely covered by that slab of meat weighing over four jin. Sizzling hot oil was still bubbling on the surface of the meat ribs.

"Good grief, first time seeing such a huge piece of cooked exotic beast meat." Several students couldn't help but crowd around, taking out their phones to snap pictures endlessly.

"I've seen it many times online, but it's my first time in reality. Truly shocking."

"This is over 10,000 yuan right here. It'd be enough for me to eat dietary tonics for over half a year."

The crowd chatted incessantly.

Li Jinshui remained calm and composed, picking up his knife and fork with ease.

He began cutting the meat, eating the meat, and holding his stake stance.

He continued to digest this plate of heavy meat in the most efficient manner!

[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +4]

[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +3]

As Heaven Rewards Diligence continuously provided feedback, the proficiency values on the panel also rapidly shifted.

It wasn't until Li Jinshui had eaten until his mouth was glossy and his belly began to bulge that he finally stopped the movements of his hands.

"Hah, a bit stuffed..."

Li Jinshui let out a long breath, put away his stance technique, and sat back down in his chair.

Among the surrounding students who were still watching the spectacle, the eyes of quite a few lit up.

He was stuffed?

Then was the remaining meat...

Someone looked at the remaining half of the exotic beast meat ribs in front of Li Jinshui and swallowed hard.

"No, this is meat that our predecessors fought and died at the front lines to get. Compared to the blood and sweat they paid, what does this little bit of bloating count for?"

Li Jinshui suddenly wore a resolute gaze, rallied his spirits, and abruptly stood up from his chair.

"To practice martial arts, fear no hardship!"

The stake stance is established once more, and bring on the meat ribs!

"Stop right there!"

At that moment, a hurried shout came from the cafeteria entrance.

Looking up, Yao Xiaona was walking over in a hurry with several classmates in tow.

"Li Jinshui, what are you doing?"

Her brows were deeply furrowed, and right off the bat, her tone was serious. "Although exotic beast meat can be used as a dietary tonic, a martial artist's daily capacity to absorb vital energy and blood is limited. Eating this much all at once right now will only waste it in vain."

"???"

Li Jinshui widened his eyes.

Who could understand this? Why was she everywhere?!

"Also, didn't you say you had no money? How could you afford to buy so much exotic beast meat? Where did you get the money?" Yao Xiaona pulled a long face and sternly demanded.

After a moment of silence, Li Jinshui let out a deep sigh. "I, Li Jinshui, act through life as I please. Why should I explain myself to others?"

"Am I considered just anyone? I'm your class monitor!" Yao Xiaona said righteously.

"No, you—your..."

Li Jinshui instantly cracked under pressure. He dropped the meat ribs in his hand, rolled up his sleeves, and pointed at Yao Xiaona as he demanded, "What's your strength?"

"Stance Technique Minor Accomplishment!" Yao Xiaona replied.

"Crack!!!"

Li Jinshui immediately let out a loud shout while making a pause gesture with his hands, turning his head left and right before finally looking up at the sky.

Is there a director?

Is there an author?

Come out!

I understand webnovel tropes, and I understand villains leaping out to mock me—that's the protagonist's treatment.

But for such an annoying person to jump in my face when I can't even beat her, is this reasonable?!