Inside Shrek Academy's Outer Academy cafeteria.
Bai Ran's Luckin Coffee stall was still as devoid of customers as ever.
In truth, business should have improved.
Unlike at noon, there were no classes in the evening, so Outer Academy students lingered in the cafeteria longer.
When they saw something novel, they would inevitably want to give it a try.
Unfortunately, the first second-year Outer Academy student daring enough to try it ordered a Luckin Iced Americano.
After tasting that bitter, astringent coffee with a slight sourness to it, the student spat it out on the spot and bluntly declared, "This tastes worse than the dorm supervisor's foot-washing water."
Thus, Bai Ran became completely idle.
He even had time to take his meal card to a nearby window and get himself a duck leg rice bowl.
Bai Ran: Auntie, why did you only charge me ten Copper Soul Coins for this duck leg rice bowl with a century-old duck leg? Wouldn't the cafeteria lose money?
Cafeteria Auntie: Child, has it occurred to you that the century refers to how long it has been stored, not the soul beast's age?
Bai Ran: I rolled a 666 and got the hidden prize. When this duck died, Tang San hadn't even become a god yet, right? (Not exactly fresh.)
Just as Bai Ran ate his duck leg rice bowl and wondered whether he should get off work early tonight.
Two figures suddenly appeared before him.
"Little Brother Bai Ran~"
"It's Sister Tang Ya."
"Big Sister has come to support your business again, and I even brought you a new customer."
As Tang Ya spoke, she pointed at Jiang Nannan beside her.
"Oh? What should I call this sister?"
Judging by her icy demeanor and her closeness with Tang Ya, Bai Ran figured she was most likely Jiang Nannan. But what if she was not?
Mistaking someone for another person could lead to plenty of awkwardness.
"Jiang Nannan."
Perhaps because the child before her, Bai Ran, was still young, or perhaps because she remembered that the delicious drink she had this afternoon had been made by this little shop owner.
Jiang Nannan's attitude was not overly cold.
"What would you two like to drink?"
If they had been regular customers who had drunk hundreds of cups of coffee, Bai Ran would have already served their finished coffee without waiting for them to order.
But they were still far from that point.
"Two Luckin Raw Coconut Latte Coffees."
Knowing that Jiang Nannan was short on money, Tang Ya chose to pay voluntarily.
Tang Ya: No matter what, I still have Beibei backing me, while Nannan... sigh. (Helpless sigh.)
Of course, Tang Ya was also someone with a strong personality. For something like avenging her parents, she still hoped to accomplish it with her own strength. If Beibei used the power of his family elders to help her, Tang Ya would probably fall out with him without hesitation.
"Xiao Ya, isn't there another kind of coffee here?"
While checking the coffee prices, Jiang Nannan noticed that besides the Raw Coconut Latte, this coffee shop also sold a classic Iced Americano.
Iced meant there were lots of ice cubes inside, while Americano probably meant it made customers feel beautiful after drinking it, right?
There was no America on the Douluo Continent, so that interpretation was not really wrong.
But guesses often differed greatly from reality.
The first time one tried an Iced Americano, there was a good chance they would not feel beautiful, but simply cease to exist.
"Nannan, I suggest you stick with the Raw Coconut Latte Coffee."
Although Tang Ya had not tried the other classic Iced Americano, she had seen Huo Yuhao drink it at noon.
Even Xiao Yuhao, a child who had suffered hardships ever since he was little, had nearly been unable to swallow it. One could imagine how powerful that classic Iced Americano was.
Tang Ya was not some masochist. Why would she pass up something delicious just to drink something hard to swallow?
"Then I want to find out what that other classic Iced Americano tastes like."
Tang Ya would have been better off saying nothing. Her words instead piqued Jiang Nannan's interest.
"Are you sure? One Raw Coconut Latte and one Iced Americano?"
Before heading into the back kitchen to "make" the coffee, Bai Ran confirmed it once more.
"Sure."
Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan answered at the same time.
"Alright, please wait a moment, ladies."
While Bai Ran went into the back kitchen to prepare the coffee.
Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan, the two close friends, stared wide-eyed at each other.
"Xiao Ya, why is this shop owner so young?"
Even for work-study students, they had to be at least third-year students, generally fourteen or fifteen years old or older.
Jiang Nannan would have believed him if that child had said he was only five.
Jiang Nannan: Since when did Shrek Academy allow child labor?
"Little Brother Bai Ran is very young. He only awakened his martial soul not long ago."
Tang Ya: If I remembered correctly, Little Brother Bai Ran should only be six this year.
"That isn't right, then. How is someone his age working in the Academy cafeteria?"
She had initially thought he was a young junior working to support his studies, but suddenly realized something seemed off.
"Who said he came here to work? Nannan, this stall belongs to him."
"Huh?"
"Mm. Simply put, that child is the descendant of some important figure in the Inner Academy. You could say he is second generation."
"Is his elder an Inner Academy elder?"
Jiang Nannan thought it over carefully and realized something was wrong.
As the descendant of an Inner Academy elder, shouldn't he be diligently cultivating and building a solid foundation? Why had he come to the Outer Academy cafeteria to sell coffee?
Could it be that he had no talent for cultivation and was planning to make a small living for himself instead?
"Not that."
"Could he be an elder from the Sea God Pavilion?"
"Even less likely."
"Then who exactly..."
"Your coffee."
Just as Tang Ya was about to reveal what she knew, Bai Ran emerged carrying two cups of coffee and pushed each ordered drink toward its respective customer.
"Xiao Ya, hurry up and tell me!"
Jiang Nannan was getting anxious.
Girls were naturally extremely fond of gossip. Hearing only half the story before the other person stopped talking was no different from stopping halfway through taking a dump.
"The person involved is back. Nannan, ask him yourself."
Seeing that the Raw Coconut Latte Coffee had arrived, Tang Ya, whose throat felt a little itchy, chose to take two sips to soothe it first.
"Hakiya, you rascal."
Looking at the little brother she was not familiar with, Jiang Nannan decided to forget it.
She merely picked up the Luckin Iced Americano and prepared to taste it.
The Luckin Raw Coconut Latte already tasted so wonderful. Even if the Luckin Iced Americano listed alongside it did not taste as good, it could not be too far off, right?
Unlike Tang Ya, who directly picked up her coffee cup with her hand.
Jiang Nannan pressed the coffee cup against her chest, using her heaven-defying stats to completely free both hands.
The sight left little Bai Ran utterly stunned.
Bai Ran: Ah, this is way too inappropriate for children.
Tang Ya: So what if yours are big? I can do it too. (She squeezed them together, but the cup encountered no resistance whatsoever and fell. If she had not reacted quickly, the coffee would have spilled all over the floor.)
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