The cafeteria, lunchtime.
Lin An and Gu Yue sat down with their trays.
The food was piled high, nearly overflowing.
They'd ordered almost every dish from the Grade A Meal Window.
The rich aromas of Crystal Demon Kernel Porridge, Crimson Flame Python Steak, and Nine-Leaf Lingzhi Stewed Black Phoenix Wings wafted far across the room.
The students queuing for Grade C Meal buns caught the scent, and the coarse steamed buns in their hands suddenly lost all appeal.
Xie Xie walked into the cafeteria, his gaze habitually sweeping over the room.
The instant he spotted Lin An and Gu Yue, his eyes lit up.
He came scampering over.
The Grade A Meal Window was fragrant with the smell of food.
Crystal Demon Kernel Porridge, Crimson Flame Python Steak, Nine-Leaf Lingzhi Stewed Black Phoenix Wings.
One whiff was enough to tell him he'd get to mooch another meal today.
Pride?
Could you eat pride?
No.
But you could eat Grade A meals.
He'd just reached the table and hadn't had a chance to sit down when he caught sight of someone standing by the cafeteria entrance out of the corner of his eye.
It was Tang Wulin.
He stood at the door, hesitating as he looked over at them.
His feet seemed nailed to the floor.
His honest face was tinged with timidity, his gaze darting away.
The morning classes had gone by one after another, with Gu Yue standing between him and Lin An like a wall.
He hadn't been able to get a word in.
He wasn't even sure whether he still counted as Lin An's friend.
Or whether he was still worthy of being one.
Lin An looked up.
His gaze passed over Gu Yue's shoulder and settled on the hesitant figure at the entrance.
He smiled and beckoned Tang Wulin over.
Tang Wulin froze for a moment.
He lowered his head and shuffled over slowly.
In his hand was a bag of Grade C Meal buns.
Set on the table, the buns looked painfully shabby beside the dazzling Grade A dishes around them.
Xie Xie had already sat down and started eating.
Tang Wulin sat opposite Lin An.
He moved so lightly, as if afraid of disturbing something.
He perched on the very edge of his chair.
Gu Yue's expression turned cold at once.
The silver-haired girl put down her chopsticks.
She stared at Tang Wulin with an icy expression and spat out a few words.
"Always mooching off people."
Tang Wulin's shoulders drew in slightly.
Xie Xie's chopsticks stopped in midair.
With half a piece of steak stuffed into his mouth, he froze halfway through chewing.
Lin An turned to look at Gu Yue, utterly speechless.
"Aren't you the one who's always mooching off people?"
Gu Yue's eyelid twitched.
She kept her chin raised.
"That's different."
"How is it different?"
"I mooch off my wife. It's only natural." Her voice was righteous and indignant. "He's mooching off someone else's wife. That's shameless."
Lin An took a deep breath and slapped his chopsticks down on the table.
Head lowered, Tang Wulin nudged his bag of Grade C Meal buns toward the corner of the table.
"I... I brought my own food."
His voice was very quiet.
The tuft of hair on his head drooped.
He looked like a puppy caught in the rain.
His face was swollen and bruised in several places, and the bruise at the corner of his mouth hadn't faded.
A bandage was stuck across the bridge of his nose.
His lashes drooped, and a thin sheen of tears welled in his beautiful eyes.
He looked like he'd taken quite a beating in private.
Lin An looked at him and stopped with his chopsticks in hand.
He fell silent for two seconds.
An indescribable pang of guilt welled up inside him.
Tang Wulin hadn't actually done anything wrong.
Without Lin An, he should have become friends with Gu Yue.
And now look at him: battered and bruised, so nervous he could barely sit down to eat.
When it came down to it, that damn trait was to blame.
Lin An sighed.
"All right, all right."
He set down his chopsticks, his tone softening a little.
"Gu Yue, you're not allowed to bully Wulin anymore."
"We're all friends. There's no need for this."
Gu Yue whipped around to look at Lin An.
Her purple eyes were full of disbelief.
"Who's friends with him?"
Her voice rose half a pitch, fury held in check.
She glared viciously at Tang Wulin, her pupils narrowing almost to slits.
The Dragon Queen had been bewitched again.
It was always the same.
Whenever Tang Wulin put on that pitiful look, the Dragon Queen's heart softened.
But she saw things clearly.
Standing behind Tang Wulin was Tang San, the human God King who had stolen the Soul Beasts' fortune ten thousand years ago.
She could only be thankful she'd managed to restrain herself from killing him.
Besides, during their sparring session last night, she'd sensed something hidden within Tang Wulin: a powerful divine consciousness.
Though dormant, its aura was ancient and profound.
It was no ordinary person's power.
The more she thought about it, the more certain her suspicions became: this was a scheme Tang San had laid.
Tang Wulin said nothing.
The tuft of hair on his head drooped all the way down.
He silently took a bite of a Grade C Meal bun.
He was young to begin with, and now, with his face bruised and swollen, sitting among a tableful of delicacies, he looked all the more pitiful.
Watching him, Lin An felt something tug gently at his heart.
He glanced at the tray in front of him, which was still more than half untouched, and pushed it toward Tang Wulin without a second thought.
"Hey, if I eat any more, I'll get fat."
His tone was casual, as though he were commenting on the weather.
"Here, have some extra."
The tray slid in front of Tang Wulin.
On it were half a serving of Crystal Demon Kernel Porridge, two pieces of Crimson Flame Python Steak, and an almost untouched serving of Nine-Leaf Lingzhi Stewed Black Phoenix Wings.
Lin An hadn't touched any of it.
Tang Wulin froze.
He looked down at the food.
It was clean and neatly arranged, clearly set aside on purpose.
He knew Lin An had saved it for him intentionally.
And he'd used an excuse like "I need to lose weight" to spare Tang Wulin's pitiful pride.
A warm lump rose in Tang Wulin's throat, and his nose stung.
He opened his mouth, but in the end, all he managed was two words.
"Th... thanks."
His voice was muffled and hoarse.
"Lin An."
Gu Yue's voice suddenly rang out, dripping with jealousy.
"Based on what I've observed these past two days, you seem to treat Tang Wulin especially well."
Lin An turned to look at her, utterly confused.
"Do I?"
As he spoke, he casually picked up a glistening chicken leg from his bowl and placed it in Tang Wulin's.
"Eat some more. You need to build yourself back up."
Tang Wulin looked at the chicken leg in his bowl. The tips of his ears turned red.
Watching this, Gu Yue looked as if someone had made her drink an entire bottle of vinegar.
"Heh."
She let out two cold laughs.
"Based on my years of experience, when one guy smiles and puts the chicken leg from his bowl into another guy's bowl, there are only two possibilities."
She raised one finger.
"First, they're father and son."
She raised a second finger, the corners of her mouth curling into a knowing smile.
"Second... heh heh heh."
She didn't finish.
But there was enough packed into that "heh" for everyone there to imagine an entire forbidden romance novel.
Lin An's hand froze with his chopsticks in midair.
He withdrew them thoughtfully, his gaze lingering on Tang Wulin's face for a second.
The boy had his head lowered, his face red as a boiled shrimp and the tips of his ears red enough to drip blood.
He didn't dare look at Lin An. His lashes quivered, and his lips were pressed tightly together.
His whole body radiated, "I'm so embarrassed, but I'm so happy."
Lin An's expression went rigid.
He was sure of it.
There was no doubt whatsoever that he was straight.
But Tang Wulin? That guy definitely wasn't.
Which meant...
An equation that sent a chill down Lin An's back surfaced in his mind: he was raising Tang Wulin like a son, but Tang Wulin was harboring designs on him.
And the fool of a dragon beside him had been chasing him as a dragoness all along, always plotting how to make him bear little dragon hatchlings.
He raised a hand to cover his face.
What the hell kind of messed-up relationship was this?
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