The Heartache of Flender

Du Hao, having been fed, licked his lips.

Zhu Zhuqing felt the moisture on her fingers and immediately pulled her hand back, wiping it on her clothes in disgust.

"What's wrong? Are you disgusted by me?"

"A little." The Kitten was blunt, showing no mercy to the man before her.

And so, the two of them bickered and played.

"Xiao Wu, that's enough. If you buy any more, we won't be able to eat it all." Watching the rabbit run off into the distance ahead, Du Hao called out helplessly.

In just a short while, he and Zhu Zhuqing were already carrying several more bags of snacks, plus a carrot-shaped pillow.

"Got it!"

Xiao Wu turned back to stick out her tongue before dashing toward another stall.

"This little rabbit..." There was no helping it; one had to spoil their own rabbit.

Just then, his gaze caught sight of an inconspicuous shop on the street corner.

The shop sign was carved with a circular mark, the space was narrow, and the exterior looked extremely shabby.

"Finally found it. So it's here." His eyes lingered on that circular mark for a few seconds, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Zhuqing, I've spotted an old acquaintance's shop. Let's go in and fleece a sucker."

Du Hao carried the bags of snacks and the carrot pillow as he walked toward the small shop.

Although she didn't know who the acquaintance Du Hao mentioned was, Zhu Zhuqing followed closely by his side.

Not far away, Xiao Wu, who had been eyeing fresh carrots at a stall, saw the two enter a shop.

Curious, she immediately followed them.

Not long after Du Hao and Zhu Zhuqing entered, Xiao Wu, who had been tailing them, caught up.

She happily squeezed right between the two of them.

"What a dump. Why are you here?" Xiao Wu asked, curiously examining the merchandise in the shop.

The interior was even narrower than the outside, the lighting was poor, and the shelves were cluttered with all sorts of strange odds and ends.

Behind the counter, a middle-aged man lay on a rocking chair with a book covering his face, napping as his body swayed slowly with the chair.

One could only vaguely discern that the shopkeeper appeared to be a man in his fifties with a tuft of beard on his chin—the classic look of a cunning, stingy merchant.

Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose and muttered, "You aren't trying to sell things here, are you? This place looks like a scrap collection center..."

Du Hao ignored her, his gaze sweeping quickly across the shelves.

Soon, he found what he was looking for in a corner of the shop.

He approached a half-open wooden box and, peering through the gap at the golden glow within, confirmed that this was the Top-grade Rutilated Quartz he had been searching for.

"Boss, how much for this?" Du Hao asked, pointing at the wooden box with a hint of a smile.

He intended to tease his future headmaster.

Flender, lying on the rocking chair, didn't even lift the book from his face as he replied casually, "100 Gold Soul Coins. No bargaining."

"100 Gold Soul Coins?!" Xiao Wu's rabbit ears stood straight up. "Are you robbing us? 100 Gold Soul Coins just like that!"

Flender finally removed the book from his face, glanced at Xiao Wu, and said indifferently, "If you don't have the money, don't buy it. Don't loiter if you're broke."

Over the years, under the influence of the Judgment Hall, Flender had taken the opportunity to make a small fortune.

Now, Flender ran this little shop purely to pass the time; he didn't care about making a profit.

He was just doing it for fun and to relax.

Xiao Wu, having been called poor and shabby, couldn't endure such an insult and immediately wanted to step forward to retort.

Before she could move, Du Hao grabbed her shoulder and pressed her behind him.

Du Hao smiled and said, "How about this, Boss? Will you sell it for Five Copper Coins?"

"Turn left when you go out. There's a patrol officer from the Judgment Hall there. If he agrees, I agree." Flender, staring at the ceiling, couldn't even be bothered to look at them properly.

In his heart, he had already decided these people were just here to cause trouble.

However, he was in a good mood and couldn't be bothered to spar with them. If it had been in the past, he would have kicked the three of them out long ago.

"Boss, don't you want to get up and take a look at us?" Du Hao's smile grew even brighter. "Maybe if you see me, you'll be willing to lower the price?"

Flender, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, felt a spark of curiosity. "What? Is your face that big? Just because I see you, I'll..."

"Eh? Little Hao? How did you get here?" Flender, who had only glanced at them, immediately sat up.

Flender then stepped out from behind the counter.

He looked at the three people standing before him with delight. "When did you arrive?"

"Just arrived today." Du Hao smiled.

"It's only been a few years, and you've grown so much." Gone was Flender's earlier indifference; he stepped forward with a wide smile and patted Du Hao on the shoulder.

"This is Xiao Wu. You probably haven't met her yet, but she is also a student who will be joining Shrek with us." Du Hao began to introduce her.

After all, when Flender arrived at the school, Xiao Wu was still napping in her dormitory.

It was only natural that the two of them did not know each other.

"Young lady, you are naturally gifted. I could tell at a glance that you are no ordinary person, so I shall gift you this Storage Pendant." Flender hurriedly fished a red crystal pendant from his person.

"Th-thank you...?"

Looking at the fickle Flender, Xiao Wu was a bit confused, but as the saying went, only a fool would pass up a freebie.

Seeing Xiao Wu accept his gift, Flender secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The academy had almost lost a genius student; it was a good thing he, Flender, had reacted quickly enough.

However, before he could even catch his breath.

Du Hao, standing to the side, pulled Zhu Zhuqing over and said with a beaming smile, "Principal Flender, what about ours? You can't play favorites, you know."

The breath he had just let out was instantly sucked back in.

"You two are trying to bleed me dry." Flender felt like crying but had no tears.

One had to know that the Storage Soul Tool he had just given to Xiao Wu possessed ten cubic meters of storage space, which had already caused him a wave of heartache.

He thought this brat was trying to rob him while he was down.

"You can't put it that way, Principal." As he spoke, Du Hao placed the snacks in his hands onto the counter.

"Didn't we bring you gifts as well?"

Zhu Zhuqing, seeing this scene from the side, followed suit and placed the snacks in her hands onto the counter as well.

Watching this, the corners of Flender's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

It seemed he was going to suffer a major loss today.

"Fine, fine, I give up." Flender, who had been stingy for half his life, never expected to be extorted by a little brat today.

As he spoke, he reached into the hidden compartment of the counter with a pained expression.

From one of the small secret slots, he took out a few more items and placed them on the countertop.

"Let's get this straight: each of you can only take one. If you take more, don't blame me for being impolite."

One had to know that these items were treasures he had painstakingly collected.

Although they didn't account for his entire net worth, they were among the few relatively precious items he possessed.

[Detection of choices--]

"Option One [White]: As a respectable, upstanding youth, how could you bully a middle-aged man? Take nothing...

Reward: One 9,000-year Spirit Bone."