Ji Ye remained unruffled, quietly eating his meal.
He ate at an unhurried pace, chewing each bite thoroughly before picking up the next.
He looked every bit the gentleman.
Elegant!
Ning Rongrong's eyes grew brighter and brighter as she watched him.
Zhu Zhuqing occasionally stole a glance at him, then quickly looked away, though the corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly.
The more Dai Mubai watched, the angrier he got. He jabbed at his bowl twice with his chopsticks and muttered a curse.
"Bah!"
"Why put on airs over a meal?"
His voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet dining hall, everyone heard him clearly.
Ji Ye looked up at him, a faint smile on his lips.
He didn't say a word.
He knew he didn't need to.
Someone would speak up for him.
Sure enough.
"Smack!"
Ning Rongrong slapped the table and stood up. Her chair toppled backward, crashing to the floor with a bang.
"Dai Mubai, what's that supposed to mean?"
Dai Mubai looked up at her, his gaze hostile.
"You can't even stand watching someone eat? Is it because the girl someone likes is serving another guy food, and he can't stand it?"
Ning Rongrong's words rang out sharp and clear, landing like a slap across Dai Mubai's face.
His face flushed in an instant. He was clearly furious and embarrassed.
"What's it to you?" He sprang to his feet, knocking his chair over too.
"This is Shrek Academy, not your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! You don't get to meddle in other people's business here!"
Ning Rongrong laughed in disbelief, planted her hands on her hips, and raised her chin even higher.
"Oh, so you can't win a girl over, and no one's allowed to say it? You can't even handle one little girl. You're useless."
The words stabbed Dai Mubai straight in the heart.
His fists clenched with a crackle, Soul Power gathering in his right palm.
"I'm warning you. Other people may be afraid of your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but I'm not!"
He lowered his voice, as if forcing the words out through his throat.
"Push me too far, and I'll kill you!"
The moment he said it, the air in the dining hall plunged to freezing.
Tang San set down his chopsticks, his brows creasing slightly.
A trace of coldness entered Zhu Zhuqing's eyes as she looked at Dai Mubai.
Oscar stared open-mouthed, uncertainty in his eyes. He didn't know what to say.
But Ning Rongrong wasn't afraid in the slightest.
She patted her flat chest, curled her lip, and spoke in a sharp, ringing voice.
"Oh, I'm so scared~"
Dai Mubai's eyes reddened.
He clenched his right fist, a layer of golden Soul Power gathering around it, and swung straight at Ning Rongrong.
Ning Rongrong's smile froze.
She hadn't expected Dai Mubai to actually attack.
His fist loomed larger before her eyes, and the instinctive dread of death rushed over her.
She shut her eyes in fright.
Boom!
A dull thud rang out.
Ning Rongrong opened her eyes.
Somehow, Ji Ye had already risen and stepped in front of her.
His right hand was clenched into a fist, wrapped in a layer of transparent light.
Dai Mubai's fist had been stopped in midair, unable to advance another inch.
Ji Ye's fist was faster than Dai Mubai's.
As he blocked Dai Mubai's punch, his other fist had already slammed into Dai Mubai's stomach.
"Ugh!"
Dai Mubai's body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing into the dining hall wall with a heavy thud.
Dust sifted down from the wall, and cracks spread out from the point of impact like a spiderweb.
Dai Mubai slid down the wall and slumped to the floor, clutching his stomach. His face was deathly pale as he gasped for breath.
He looked up at Ji Ye, disbelief filling his eyes.
He hadn't even seen how the other boy had attacked.
The dining hall was so quiet they could hear dust settling.
Tang San looked at Ji Ye, his expression changed.
He hadn't seen how Ji Ye had attacked either.
Too fast.
Just how much Soul Power did he have?
Standing behind Ji Ye, Ning Rongrong stared at his back.
His gray cloth clothes, his tousled black hair, his shoulders not particularly broad but straight and strong.
She swallowed, her heart beating fast.
Not because she was afraid. It was something else.
Ji Ye lowered his fist and turned to look down at Ning Rongrong.
"Are you all right?"
Ning Rongrong shook her head, her voice small.
"I-I'm fine."
Ji Ye nodded, turned around, and sat back down. He picked up his bowl and continued eating.
As though nothing had happened.
Dai Mubai was still sitting on the floor, clutching his stomach. It took him a long while to get up.
Tang San went over and bent down to look at him.
"Are you all right?"
Dai Mubai clenched his teeth, braced himself against the wall, and stood up. He brushed the dust off his clothes.
He said nothing. He returned to his seat, picked up his chopsticks, and lowered his head to eat.
He didn't look at Ji Ye once.
The atmosphere in the dining hall turned strange.
No one spoke. Only chopsticks tapping against bowls could be heard.
Ning Rongrong sat down again and righted her chair, then sneaked a glance at Ji Ye.
Then she picked up another rib and put it in his bowl.
This time she said nothing, but a smile played on her face.
Zhu Zhuqing stopped pushing food toward him, but shifted her posture slightly in his direction.
Oscar watched Ning Rongrong's hand as she served Ji Ye, then lowered his head and silently ate the little sausage in his bowl, now gone cold.
Tang San and Xiao Wu ate with their heads down, neither saying a word.
Xiao Wu leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"Brother, what's going on with them?"
Tang San lowered his voice too.
"Shh. Eat."
Xiao Wu pouted and bent her head over her meal, though she couldn't help glancing from side to side.
Ji Ye paid no mind to any of it, quietly eating his meal from start to finish.
Braised pork, ribs, greens, rice.
Not bad.
After dinner, night had fallen completely.
A few dogs barked now and then in the distant village.
Everyone went back to their dorms.
Ji Ye stood outside the boys' dormitory, watching Tang San and Oscar go in, then Dai Mubai hobble in after them.
"Ji Ye, aren't you going to sleep?" Tang San asked in confusion.
Ji Ye shook his head.
"I'm going to watch the moon for a while."
Tang San didn't say anything more. He went inside to sleep.
As Dai Mubai passed Ji Ye, he deliberately bumped his shoulder. Ji Ye neither dodged nor hit back. He just smiled.
What a clown.
Dai Mubai gritted his teeth and walked on.
Ji Ye waited by the doorway for a while. Only after everyone's breathing had settled did he slowly set off.
He didn't return to the dormitory.
He went around the flower bed in front of the boys' dorm, crossed a weed-choked patch of open ground, and came to the girls' dormitory.
It was a two-story building, a little newer than the boys' dorm, but not by much. Several patches of plaster had fallen off the walls, and one of the second-floor windows wouldn't shut properly, creaking whenever the wind blew.
Ji Ye stood below and looked up.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing shared the room on the left on the second floor.
Xiao Wu's room was on the right.
A light was still on in Xiao Wu's room. A hazy yellow glow shone through the window paper, outlining the shadow of someone sitting on the bed, a long scorpion braid hanging down behind her.
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