Find an Excuse in Advance

Tang San hesitated slightly.

He was a bit worried about his little friends from the village; after all, they had always played and spent time together. Suddenly separating for meals felt a bit strange.

Of course, it was mainly because Du Hao had often provided meals in the past... He still remembered that kindness.

"Master, I still want to eat with my friends..." Tang San had just been about to decline the Grandmaster's invitation, intending to dine with his companions.

Unexpectedly, Du Hao patted him on the shoulder. "Hey! Are you stupid? If there's a free meal to be had and you don't take it, you're a fool! Isn't it good to have someone treat you? Why are you only picking on me to mooch off of?"

"This..." Tang San hesitated.

"Are you really going to be coy with me?" Du Hao laughed and patted Tang San's shoulder again.

He then whispered, "He's your teacher, after all. Isn't it better to mooch off him than me? Just think of it as saving a bit of money for me..."

Du Hao hadn't stood in the way of Tang San taking Yu Xiaogang as his master. After all, just in case, Du Hao still needed to let the two of them grow closer.

Otherwise, with Tang San's specific Martial Soul, he, a complete novice, truly didn't know how to cultivate it.

After all, matters of Martial Souls had to be left to the professionals.

As a layman who knew nothing, he could at most come up with a bad idea. It was impossible for him to be like the protagonists in his past life's novels, casually surpassing the "theoretically" knowledgeable Grandmaster, right?

Even if he wanted to surpass him, he would have to wait for the system to roll out relevant knowledge. Otherwise, if he messed around blindly, he might really ruin things...

(I am neither slandering nor praising; I will try to write as objectively as possible!)

In the end, Tang San agreed with Du Hao's suggestion and followed the Grandmaster to the second floor for a free meal.

"Are you very close with that Tang San?" Xiao Wu stared at Du Hao curiously from the side, her eyes sparkling.

"Haha, San is the mastermind of our village! We used to play together all the time when we were kids! You tell me, could we not be close?" Du Hao said with a smile.

"Indeed." Zhu Zhuqing, who had been silent nearby, nodded and spoke up for once. "I've seen them go steal cow dung from the neighbors before and throw it on other people's windows. I heard they even..."

"Shut up, shut up." Hearing the end, Du Hao quickly stepped forward to cover Zhu Zhuqing's mouth, anxious. "No, why are you saying all that?"

Those experiences from childhood.

To him, now that his memories had awakened, they were simply a dark history!

If it weren't for the fact that his adult soul had strong endurance, he might have wanted to move to another planet to live long ago.

Who didn't have a childhood? This is all normal, all normal...

Du Hao tried hard to hypnotize himself, not letting himself fall into the vortex of his dark history.

While the two girls were still giggling, Wang Sheng, Tang San's lackey, appeared at his side.

"Did Boss Tang San take the Grandmaster as his teacher?" Wang Sheng looked at Tang San's retreating back, then asked in confusion.

"Is there a problem?" Du Hao raised an eyebrow, seemingly having anticipated what Wang Sheng would say next.

"But I heard the Grandmaster's Spirit Power has always been at level 29. Wouldn't that waste Boss Tang San's talent? Boss Tang, he hasn't been tricked, has he?" Wang Sheng frowned. One had to know that Tang San was their boss now; if he were tricked into a dead end...

The work-study students wouldn't have an easy time in their future studies.

"Hey, why are you thinking so much? Relying on others is not as good as relying on yourself. Training more is better than anything else." Du Hao waved his hand and walked toward the cafeteria.

Although the reputation of the Grandmaster in his past life wasn't great, the "knowledge" he displayed in the original work proved the richness, diversity, and comprehensiveness of the information in the Grandmaster's brain.

At the very least, before he obtained his first Spirit Ring, if he hadn't acquired the relevant knowledge, he might consult the "Grandmaster" for his insights.

Although he had expected it, Du Hao was still a little disappointed when he saw the first-floor cafeteria.

Even though the academy's first-floor cafeteria was considered quite good for this era, it still fell short of his expectations in some subtle ways.

Although there were some meat dishes in the windows, all in all, they were pitifully scarce.

"Let's go! I'll take you to the second floor to eat today!" Du Hao waved his hand and headed toward the second floor.

"Yay!" Xiao Wu waved her little hands, following closely behind Du Hao, her face full of excitement.

Zhu Zhuqing, who had maintained a cold demeanor, also followed closely behind the two.

However, the small group led by Wang Sheng stood rooted to the spot, looking at the three people about to step onto the stairs with a mix of hesitation and childishness.

"Hmm?" Noticing the lack of footsteps behind him, Du Hao turned around and saw the awkward expressions of Wang Sheng and the others. "What? Are you worried I won't pay for you?"

Facing Du Hao's joking remark, Wang Sheng, standing at the front of the crowd, gave a bitter smile. "Brother Hao, it's not that we don't want to go up and eat, but in the eyes of those people up there..."

Wang Sheng didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was already perfectly clear.

"..."

In the end, Wang Sheng and the others didn't have the courage to go up, but Du Hao couldn't be bothered to say anything more.

After all, the class divide between commoners and nobles was buried deep within their very bones.

It was impossible to open their minds in such a short time, but Du Hao did not go back on his word; he paid for their meal in advance.

"Du Hao, come over here quickly!" No sooner had they reached the second floor than Xiao Wu impatiently hurried to the serving area, pointing at plates of crisp, delicious carrots and shouting excitedly.

The ingredients on the second floor were clearly much richer than those on the first. For this meal, Xiao Wu ordered a portion of almost every dish related to carrots.

She didn't care at all whether she could finish them or not.

"You ordered so much; aren't you afraid of eating yourself into a fat rabbit?" Du Hao said with dissatisfaction while accepting a feeding from Zhu Zhuqing.

"This is nothing," Xiao Wu said happily, shoveling food into her mouth. "Good brother, give me another green onion, will you?"

Without a green onion to add flavor, she felt like everything she ate was missing something.

"You call me brother when you need something, but call me Du Hao when you don't. Do you believe I'll cut off your rations?" While continuing to accept Zhu Zhuqing's feeding, he threatened Xiao Wu with her food supply!

Although he made verbal threats, his hand still condensed a crystal-clear, emerald-white green onion and handed it to Xiao Wu.

"Hehe, I'll just be your maid then," Xiao Wu said, blinking her eyes provocatively.

"Zhuqing! Look at her..." Du Hao turned his head, then looked at Xiao Wu's soul-stirring eyes and sighed, "If I make any mistakes in the future, it must be because Xiao Wu seduced me first! You can't blame me when that happens!"

Zhu Zhuqing, who had been silent the whole time, just rolled her eyes at him helplessly and said with disdain, "You've already found an excuse for yourself so quickly? You truly are the master who has been ** since childhood..."

"No, don't slander me!" Du Hao retorted.