A few newcomers who had only recently enrolled huddled together, whispering under their breath, their eyes full of surprise.
"Wow, who's that handsome guy? He's so good-looking, so how can he eat that much?" "This is ridiculous. There's so much food—can he really finish it all by himself?"
The older students and cafeteria aunties nearby, on the other hand, were used to it. Not a trace of surprise showed on their faces.
A few fourth- and fifth-year students saw the curious looks on the newcomers' faces and smiled as they explained, "That's Su Ming, one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of Shrek Outer Court!"
"Don't let his lean build fool you. He has the biggest appetite in the Outer Court—he's a regular little glutton. He can eat ten times as much as anyone else in one meal, and he's been famous around the Outer Court for ages."
Their words stirred up an even bigger commotion among the newcomers. One by one, they stared at Su Ming in astonishment, their eyes full of shock. They had never seen anyone eat so much in person.
Just as everyone in the cafeteria was still focused on the mountain of food in front of Su Ming, two figures slowly emerged from the crowd. Tang Ya was holding Jiang Nannan's hand as they walked toward the table where Su Ming and the others were sitting.
The moment Tang Ya saw Bei Bei, Su Ming, and Xu Sanshi, a bright smile spread across her face. She waved first and greeted them warmly. "Bei Bei, Su Ming, Sanshi, you're eating here too?"
Jiang Nannan followed right behind her, her expression gentle. She gave Bei Bei a slight nod, then turned to greet Su Ming as well.
But when her gaze passed over Xu Sanshi, who was watching her expectantly, she acted as if he weren't there and ignored him completely.
Xu Sanshi had been eagerly waiting for the girl he loved to respond, but his face fell at once. His eyes filled with hurt and disappointment, and he couldn't help calling out softly, his voice tinged with sorrow.
"Nannan..." Jiang Nannan acted as if she hadn't heard. She didn't respond at all, simply standing beside Tang Ya. The mood instantly turned awkward and delicate.
Bei Bei and Su Ming exchanged a glance. Without a word, they both lowered their eyes, pretending to mind their own business.
They acted as though nothing were amiss, not daring to get involved in the two's entanglement for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.
"Senior Bei Bei, Teacher Tang Ya, you're here too." Amid the painfully awkward atmosphere,
a clear, bashful voice drifted over from the crowd, instantly breaking the stillness.
Everyone turned toward the voice. Huo Yuhao, a slightly undersized boy, was hurrying toward them. Behind him walked a handsome young man with striking features and a cool, aloof air.
Su Ming only glanced at him, and immediately understood. He didn't even need to think it over to be sure this was Wang Dong.
After all, with looks like those, and walking alongside Huo Yuhao, he could only be Wang Dong. Still, a hint of doubt rose in Su Ming's mind. According to the original course of events,
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong should have clashed the first time they met, even coming to blows. But from the way they were walking side by side now, they seemed to get along peacefully. It didn't look like they'd fought at all.
Su Ming only gave it a passing thought, then let it go. Whatever the relationship between those two, it had little to do with him.
Bei Bei reacted at once, smiling and waving them over. "Yuhao, and you too, young friend—come sit with us."
Wang Dong greeted him politely. "Hello, Senior Bei Bei. I'm Huo Yuhao's roommate." He also nodded to the others.
As Bei Bei called them over, he took several simple soul tool stools—made by the three roommates—from his Storage Soul Tool.
Everyone took their seats. The fairly large table was soon filled with seven people, and the place grew lively.
Su Ming discreetly surveyed the people around the table and silently counted. Five of the future Shrek Seven Devils were already here; only Xiao Xiao and He Caitou were missing.
But Su Ming knew that ever since he had intervened in this world and joined Shrek Outer Court, everything had quietly begun to change.
He had no idea whether the seven students who were originally meant to form the next Shrek reserve team would still be able to come together.
He had no attachment to the name Shrek Seven Devils, but he was certain to compete in the next Soul Fighting Tournament for Advanced Soul Master Academies Across the Continent.
That meant the original seven members of the Shrek Seven Devils could no longer form a complete team.
The likeliest outcome was that he would take He Caitou's place entirely, but those thoughts only flashed through his mind.
Su Ming quickly stopped dwelling on them. His hunger was growing stronger by the moment, and he had no mind to think about anything else.
The next second, Su Ming stopped caring what anyone thought, picked up his bowl and chopsticks, and started wolfing down his food in full view of everyone.
He ate with wild abandon, devouring everything without a care for his appearance. All he wanted was to fill his empty stomach as quickly as possible.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were both new students. They usually observed their table manners, and now that they were eating with seniors and teachers like Bei Bei and Tang Ya, they were even more cautious, their movements stiff and reserved.
Jiang Nannan was naturally cool and gentle in her manners, while Tang Ya ate slowly and gracefully. All of them were especially restrained.
The sharp contrast left Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong staring at Su Ming's utterly uninhibited way of eating.
Their eyes were full of shock and disbelief. They had clearly never seen anyone with such a huge appetite, or someone so carefree at the table.
Bei Bei, Tang Ya, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan, on the other hand, were already used to it. They often ate together.
They had long since grown accustomed to Su Ming's wild appetite, and none of them showed the slightest surprise.
Bei Bei brought Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong to the table. They stared, dumbfounded, at Su Ming, who was busy burying his head in his food.
Seeing the two of them looking equally bewildered, Bei Bei immediately realized that they must be surprised by the scene in front of them.
He cleared his throat, breaking the slightly awkward silence. With a warm smile, he gestured toward Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong and introduced the people around him one by one.
"This is Su Ming, my roommate." Bei Bei pointed to Su Ming, who was still focused on eating, his tone edged with helpless amusement.
"Don't let the way he's wolfing down his food fool you. He looks like a starving ghost who hasn't eaten in ages, but he's actually steady and reliable when it comes to getting things done. He's a partner you can trust."
Su Ming's ears twitched when he heard Bei Bei's introduction. He stopped eating, raised his head, and gave Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong a slight nod in greeting.
He casually picked up the juice on the table and drank two glasses in a row to wet his throat, not caring in the slightest about the stares.
Then he lowered his head again and went right back to tackling the feast, utterly devoted to eating.
Bei Bei wasn't surprised. He turned toward the young man beside Huo Yuhao, who had a casual, roguish air, and said,
"Yuhao, the guy beside you who looks like a bit of a hoodlum is also my roommate. His name is Xu Sanshi."
At that, Xu Sanshi dropped his nonchalant demeanor at once and waved cheerfully to Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. "Hey, you two junior brothers! We're all fellow disciples from now on, so look after me!"
Finally, Bei Bei looked at Tang Ya, who was smiling gently, then at the slender, stunning girl beside her, and added softly,
"You've already met Teacher Tang Ya. The beautiful young woman beside her, with her distinguished air, is Jiang Nannan. She's a fellow student at Shrek too."