Du Hao, who had just been fed, licked his lips.
Feeling the moisture on her fingers, Zhu Zhuqing quickly pulled her hand back and wiped it on her clothes in disgust.
"What's wrong? You're disgusted with me now?"
"A little." Kitten didn't hold back in the slightest, showing the man before her no mercy.
And so, the two of them bickered and tussled.
"Xiao Wu, that's enough. If you buy any more, you won't be able to eat it all." Watching the rabbit race off ahead again, Du Hao called out helplessly.
In no time at all, he and Zhu Zhuqing had wound up with a few more bags of snacks, plus a carrot-shaped throw pillow.
"Got it!"
Xiao Wu turned back up ahead and stuck out her tongue, then ran toward another stall.
"This little rabbit..." There was nothing he could do. He could only spoil his own rabbit.
Just then, a nondescript shop at the end of the street caught the corner of his eye.
A circular emblem was carved into the shop's signboard. The place was tiny, and its exterior looked terribly shabby.
"Finally found it. So this is where it was." His gaze lingered on the circular emblem for a few seconds, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Zhuqing, I've spotted an old acquaintance's shop. Let's go in and fleece the sucker."
Du Hao headed toward the little shop by the street, carrying a few bags of snacks and the carrot-shaped throw pillow.
Though she had no idea who this "old acquaintance" of Du Hao's was, Zhu Zhuqing still stayed right by his side.
Not far away, Xiao Wu had been eyeing the fresh carrots at a stall. When she saw the two of them enter a shop, she immediately followed out of curiosity.
Not long after Du Hao and Zhu Zhuqing went inside, Xiao Wu caught up with them.
She cheerfully squeezed right between the two.
"What are you doing in this dump?" Xiao Wu asked, curiously looking over the goods inside.
The shop's interior was even more cramped than its exterior, and the lighting was poor. All sorts of strange odds and ends filled the shelves.
A middle-aged man was sprawled in a rocking chair behind the counter, dozing with a book covering his face. His body rocked slowly along with the chair.
It was just possible to make out that the shopkeeper was a man in his fifties, with a tuft of hair on his chin. He had the air of a typical cunning old merchant.
Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose and muttered, "You're not seriously thinking of buying something here, are you? This place looks like it collects scrap..."
Du Hao ignored her, quickly scanning the shelves.
He soon found what he wanted in a corner of the shop.
He went over to a half-open wooden box. Through the gap, he spotted a golden glimmer and knew at once that this was the Top-grade Rutilated Quartz he had been looking for.
"Boss, how much for this?" Du Hao asked, pointing at the wooden box, a hint of amusement in his voice.
He planned to tease his future principal.
Flender, still lying in his rocking chair, heard the commotion but didn't even lift the book from his face. He said casually, "One hundred Gold Soul Coins. No haggling."
"One hundred Gold Soul Coins?!" Xiao Wu's rabbit ears shot straight up. "Are you robbing people? You didn't even look at it, and you're asking for one hundred Gold Soul Coins!"
Flender finally took the book off his face and glanced at Xiao Wu. "You don't have to buy it if you're broke. Don't come near it, you pauper."
Over the years, with the Judgment Society's influence, Flender had seized the opportunity to make a little money.
Now that he ran this little shop, it was purely to pass the time. He didn't care whether it made a profit.
He was simply doing it for fun and to relax.
Xiao Wu couldn't possibly stomach being called poor and immediately wanted to step forward and argue.
Before she could move, Du Hao grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her behind him.
Du Hao smiled. "How about this, boss? Will you sell it for Five Copper Coins?"
"Turn left when you leave. There's a Judgment Society patrol officer over there. If he agrees, then I agree." Flender stared at the ceiling, not even bothering to give them a proper look.
He had already decided these people had come to cause trouble in his shop.
But he was in a good mood and couldn't be bothered to argue with them. In the past, he would have thrown all three of them out already.
"Boss, how about getting up and taking a look at us?" Du Hao's smile grew brighter. "Maybe you'll be willing to lower the price once you see me?"
Flender, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, grew a little curious. "What, is your face that big? If I look at you, I'll give you—"
"Huh? Hao? What are you doing here?" Flender had only been about to glance over, but he immediately sat up.
Flender hurried out from behind the counter.
He looked at the three of them standing before him, his face full of delight. "When did you get here?"
"We just arrived today." Du Hao beamed.
"It's only been a few years, and you've grown so much." Gone was Flender's earlier indifference. He stepped forward with a smile and patted Du Hao on the shoulder.
"This is Xiao Wu. You probably didn't meet her back then, but she's also a student joining us at Shrek." Du Hao introduced Xiao Wu.
After all, when Flender had visited the school back then, Xiao Wu had been dozing in her dormitory.
So it was only natural that the two of them didn't know each other.
"Such a naturally beautiful young lady. I could tell at a glance that you're no ordinary person. This Storage Pendant is yours." Flender quickly took a red crystal pendant from his clothes.
"Th-thank you...?"
Seeing how Flender had changed his tune, Xiao Wu was a little confused. Still, as the saying went, a fool was the one who turned down a free gift.
Seeing Xiao Wu accept his present, Flender secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The academy had almost lost a talented student. Good thing Flender had reacted quickly.
But before he could finish breathing that sigh of relief—
Du Hao pulled Zhu Zhuqing over and said with a smile, "Principal Flender, what about Zhuqing and me? You can't play favorites."
He had just breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart immediately jumped back into his throat.
"You're trying to empty my coffers!" Flender looked close to tears.
The Storage Soul Tool he had just given Xiao Wu had a storage space of ten cubic meters. It had already made his heart ache.
He knew this brat wanted to take advantage of the situation and fleece him again.
"You can't put it like that, principal." As he spoke, Du Hao set the snacks in his hands on the counter.
"Didn't we bring you a present, too?"
Seeing Du Hao do that, Zhu Zhuqing followed his example and placed her snacks on the counter as well.
Flender's mouth twitched as he watched them.
It looked like he was in for a serious loss today.
"All right, all right. You win." Flender had been stingy for half his life, yet today he had been fleeced by a little brat.
As he spoke, he reluctantly reached into the compartment beneath the counter.
He took a few more items out of a small hidden compartment and placed them on the countertop.
"Let me make this clear first: each of you can take only one. If you take more, don't blame me for being ruthless."
These items were all treasures he had painstakingly collected.
They weren't his entire fortune, but they were among the few precious items he owned.
[Choice detected—] Option One [White]: As a fine young man, how could you bully a middle-aged old geezer? Take nothing... Reward: One 9,000-year-old Spirit Bone.
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