They arrived at the cafeteria.
Qian Renxue had Poseinan sit obediently and wait while she went to get their food.
Everyone around them cast them odd looks.
Poseinan was honestly a little speechless.
Why did he feel like she was taking care of him as if he were a baby?
It wasn't as though he had no hands or feet.
Still, that brief annoyance...
vanished the moment Qian Renxue brought over the food.
"Mmm, it smells so good!"
Qian Renxue bragged proudly, "Hehe, tasty, right? Let me tell you, these are all my mother's favorite dishes. My father said she was very picky when she was young, so he remembered every dish she liked. I remembered them too!"
Poseinan asked, "What about you?"
Qian Renxue didn't catch his meaning. "What?"
"I asked what you like to eat."
"Um... well, I like all the dishes Mother likes!"
Qian Renxue tried hard to think, but after a long while, she still couldn't come up with anything, so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
Poseinan furrowed his brow. "That won't do. If you can't even name the food you like, how can you get by in life?"
He stood up, picked up his tray, and got a serving of every dish he remembered children liking. Then he brought them over to Qian Renxue.
"Here, try them and see which one you like best."
Poseinan looked utterly serious.
Their seats were tucked away in a dim corner, but anyone who took a closer look would have noticed the delight and bashfulness on Qian Renxue's round cheeks. "All right."
She tried seven or eight dishes one by one, but none of them made her eyes light up.
Just as she was about to give up, Poseinan brought out his pièce de résistance. "Try this: braised pig's trotters! And make sure you eat them with rice and pickled vegetables."
In this world, nobles generally didn't eat pork.
So he was certain Qian Renxue had never tried it.
"Can you really eat this?"
Qian Renxue looked doubtfully at the bowl of food stirred into a mess before her.
It was bright red and white, and didn't look appetizing at all.
"Of course. Try it. It's definitely delicious!"
"All right."
Qian Renxue closed her eyes and took a bite. In an instant, her eyes lit up.
"Mmm... it's so good!"
She began eating faster.
In the blink of an eye, she had polished off an entire bowl of pig's trotter rice.
"Wow, I haven't been this full in ages!"
Following Poseinan's example, Qian Renxue leaned back against the table and rubbed her belly with one hand.
She had to admit, it felt great!
"Tasty, huh?"
Qian Renxue nodded, beaming. "Mhm! This is the most delicious meat I've ever had. It's tender and rich without being greasy, and it melts in your mouth. It's way better than beef! Honestly, I want another bowl!"
Poseinan glanced sideways at her round belly and warned her, "As good as it is, don't eat too much, or you'll end up a little chubby girl."
The moment Qian Renxue noticed his gaze, she flew into a rage.
She glared at him, cheeks puffed out. "So what if I get fat? Are you the one paying for my rice?"
"Besides, I'm not fat at all!"
Qian Renxue threatened Poseinan with her little fist again.
A woman's words were as unreliable as a ghost's.
He rolled his eyes helplessly and humored her. "Yes, yes, you're not fat at all."
"Hmph, that's more like it."
After resting for a while, the two of them left the cafeteria.
It was time to part.
Qian Renxue looked a little forlorn.
She had an undercover training class that afternoon.
"Hey, Poseinan, why don't you come to class with me?"
"No way. Classes are boring and useless."
"All right..."
"Never mind. Tell me where it is, and I'll come find you after class."
"Yay! Poseinan, does that mean we're friends now?"
After giving him the address, Qian Renxue looked at him with both anticipation and nervousness.
"Yes, yes."
Poseinan couldn't bring himself to turn her down, so he answered offhandedly.
"Hehe, I knew that if I kept trying, you'd agree to be my first friend!"
Qian Renxue ran off, eyes shining with delight. After getting more than ten meters away, she suddenly turned around and waved. "Bye-bye!"
Poseinan raised a hand and waved perfunctorily. Only after the girl disappeared from view did he purse his lips and mutter,
"Tch, so sentimental."
But as he turned around, the corners of his mouth curled upward.
After parting ways with Qian Renxue,
Poseinan wandered around Spirit City until, without realizing it, he arrived at a training ground.
"Move! Faster! If you don't hurry up, you'll be the first ones eliminated from the Devil Training Camp!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you: whoever finishes last won't get any food today! And you'll have to keep training tomorrow!"
Hearing the thunderous shouts from inside, he couldn't help growing curious.
The Devil Training Camp?
Wasn't this where the future Golden Generation came from?
Since he was dressed in the finery he'd brought down from the Divine Realm, nobody stopped Poseinan.
The guards simply assumed he was some young master who had come to watch the fun.
On the training ground, a line of boys and girls ran with weights strapped to them.
They were all dressed in thin clothes, running with sweat pouring down their faces.
In this Devil Training Camp, where everyone saw everyone else as a rival,
two boys and a girl in one corner stood out from the crowd.
The little girl with a ponytail had legs that wouldn't stop trembling. "Brother, I can't keep going. You two run on ahead. Don't worry about me."
The boy she called her brother scolded her. "Nana, don't give up so easily. Keep going a little longer!"
The red-haired boy beside them couldn't bear to see it. "Xie Yue, how about we help Nana run? We can each support one of her arms."
Xie Yue glanced at Yan, who was even sturdier than he was, hesitated, then nodded. "Okay!"
The other runners stared at them in surprise.
Although the Devil Training Camp had no rule against helping others,
the instructor saw it as a challenge to his authority.
The instructor shouted angrily, "If you don't leave her behind, you'll all run twenty extra laps!"
"Yes!"
Xie Yue and Yan exchanged a glance and answered loudly. Then they helped Hu Liena along and ran even harder.
For the two boys, abandoning Hu Liena had never been an option.
It was the first time the instructor had met anyone so stubborn. He gritted his teeth. "Fine, fine! Let's see if you can actually finish."
By the time everyone else had finished running and gone to eat,
"You three aren't allowed to eat today."
The instructor was almost out of patience. He tossed out the words and went to eat too.
A long while later, the three of them finally finished, gasping for breath.
Unfortunately, they still weren't allowed to eat.
They could only swallow their saliva and silently watch the people eating in the distance.
Hu Liena's eyes reddened, and she felt terribly guilty. "Brother, Yan, I'm sorry... It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you could've eaten."
Xie Yue said nothing. He patted his younger sister's shoulder, trying to ease her guilt.
Yan thumped his chest. "Nana, don't say that. So what if we go a day without eating? When has Yan ever been afraid of anything?"
Just then, three steaming hot chicken legs were held out to them.
"I bought too much lunch. Would you like to try some?"
The three of them looked up.
Under the setting sun, a faint glow bathed Poseinan's fair face.
At that moment, utterly exhausted, the three of them could no longer tell if it was the sunset... or the light!