A Lunch Wins Over Xiao Wu, Tang San Plays the "Helpless Husband"

Yu Xiaogang returned to his office. Seeing that something was off about him, Tang San poured him a glass of water and asked with concern, "Teacher, what happened?"

Looking at the water Tang San had handed him, Yu Xiaogang felt slightly comforted. He accepted the cup, took a sip, and moistened his throat.

"Little San, you're the sensible one. Unlike that Meng Chen—he thinks having an innate full soul power mutated martial soul makes him so extraordinary that he looks down on everyone and gets carried away."

Yu Xiaogang reached out and rubbed Tang San's head, praising Tang San while putting Meng Chen down.

Hearing this, Tang San guessed that Meng Chen must have upset his teacher.

"Teacher, did Meng Chen refuse to take you as his master?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded and said indignantly, "He actually said my theories were complete bullshit. He even said none of my theories are in the textbooks, so they aren't worth learning at all."

"Hmph! My theories are only passed down to my disciples. If any random soul master could learn them, what value would they have?"

Tang San felt that Yu Xiaogang had a point.

Teachings were not to be passed on lightly. It was like the Tang Sect: only inner disciples could study the Mysterious Heaven Record, while he himself could only borrow it in secret.

"Teacher, you're right. You compiled those theories through hard work. How could you let just anyone read them?"

Seeing Tang San agree with him, Yu Xiaogang felt even more gratified and patted Tang San's shoulder again.

"Little San, Meng Chen is far too arrogant, so I won't take him as my disciple. From now on, you'll be my only disciple, and I'll devote everything to nurturing you."

"Once you've adapted to academy life for a while, I'll take you hunting soul beasts and help you obtain the soul ring best suited to you."

"Then we'll let Meng Chen see that you, trained with my theories, will definitely be better than him—stronger than him!"

Hearing that Yu Xiaogang would take him hunting soul beasts before long, Tang San immediately grew excited and nodded repeatedly.

Thinking of how blind Meng Chen had been to reject Master as his teacher, Tang San gave a cold snort inwardly.

He was ultimately just a shallow country child. How could he possibly understand Master's greatness?

So what if he had innate full soul power and a mutated martial soul? Without a good teacher, he would only become another prodigy who faded away.

"Achoo! Achoo!"

Having just taken out the little cloth pouch the village chief grandpa had given him, Meng Chen suddenly sneezed twice.

Rubbing his nose, Meng Chen could not help looking out the window.

"Damn it, which bastard is cursing me? It has to be that asshole Yu Xiaogang!"

After cursing, Meng Chen lowered his head and looked at the little cloth pouch. He carefully poured out the soul coins inside and counted them meticulously.

There were seventy-eight copper soul coins, nine silver soul coins, and one gold soul coin.

There were also the two silver soul coins already paid as dormitory fees.

All of it had been scraped together by Xiahe Village for his schooling.

Putting the soul coins back into the pouch, Meng Chen clenched it tightly. He absolutely would not disappoint village chief grandpa!

Still, he was somewhat uneasy about leaving so much money in the dormitory.

"Aunt Ye, do you have any storage soul tools?"

Meng Chen asked Ye Xishui. He remembered that Ye Xishui was not only an Ultimate Douluo, but also a ninth-rank soul engineer who possessed the pseudo-tenth-rank soul tool, the Death God Tower.

He just did not know whether Ye Xishui had brought the Death God Tower with her.

A silver-gray ring flew in through the window and landed on Meng Chen's bed. Ye Xishui's voice followed.

"This Bone Dragon Ring is a storage soul tool I made. It contains one hundred cubic meters of space, which should be enough for you."

"Thanks, Aunt Ye."

Meng Chen put the Bone Dragon Ring on the index finger of his right hand, and the band automatically adjusted to fit his finger.

True to its name, the ring's face was carved into the head of a bone dragon. A dark-purple gemstone was set in its open mouth, giving it a trace of sinister evil amid its ferocity.

It was Meng Chen's first time handling a storage ring. He put the little cloth pouch into the Bone Dragon Ring, then took it out again, repeating the process over and over with endless delight.

Outside the dormitory, Ye Xishui raised a hand to her forehead, shook her head, and sighed softly.

This little fellow really did have the temperament of a child.

Speaking of soul tools, Ye Xishui also felt some regret.

Her Death God Tower had been left behind in her original world, and she had not brought many soul tools with her.

However, with her abilities as a ninth-rank soul engineer, rebuilding a Death God Tower would not be a problem.

There were no soul engineers in this world, nor did anyone know how to make soul tools. All those rare metals were going unused—wouldn't that be a bargain for her?

The next day was bright and sunny.

After breakfast, Meng Chen entered the first-year classroom. A bunch of little kids had already gathered inside, chattering noisily.

Meng Chen found a seat by the window in the back left corner.

A few minutes later, more new students arrived. They wore Notting Academy's standard uniforms. The boy had darker skin and was not particularly handsome, though he was fairly pleasant-looking.

The girl was different. She wore a long scorpion braid and pink rabbit-ear hair accessories. Her skin was soft and fair, and she looked cute and lively. With her pink stockings, she did not resemble a work-study student from a farming family at all.

After one glance, Meng Chen recognized the two new students.

Tang San and Xiao Wu.

As the class bell rang, the noisy classroom gradually quieted. A middle-aged teacher entered and began the lesson.

The homeroom teacher first had every student go up and introduce themselves. Many of them were shy. After all, they were only six years old, and they stammered for a long while before managing to say their names.

When it was Xiao Wu's turn, she lifted her chin slightly, her scorpion braid swaying as her crisp, pleasant voice made even Meng Chen perk up his ears.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Xiao Wu, the Wu from dancing. My martial soul is the Soft Bone Rabbit. Of course, you can also call me Sister Xiao Wu. From now on, Sister Xiao Wu will look after you!"

Mm, as expected of Tao Diandian's voice. It really was pleasant to listen to!

There was no denying that Xiao Wu's only two standout features in the animation were her voice acting and her white stockings.

Almost forgot—Tao Diandian had also voiced Yan Lingji.

After Xiao Wu finished, Tang San went up. He gave a simple introduction of his name before coming back down.

"Meng Chen. My martial soul is the Thunder Hell Vine."

Soon, Meng Chen also went up to introduce himself.

When Tang San heard his name, his gaze sharpened slightly. So this is the Meng Chen Teacher mentioned?

Tang San studied Meng Chen and silently committed him to memory.

Once the introductions were over, the homeroom teacher began teaching.

Time flew by. When the dismissal bell rang, the students rushed out of the classroom impatiently.

If you weren't eager to eat, there had to be something wrong with your head.

At the Notting cafeteria, the lines before the three serving windows on the first floor were packed with people.

Seeing this, Meng Chen looked toward the second floor.

The dishes downstairs were cheap, but there was little variety. And with so many people standing in line, who knew how much food would be left by the time it was his turn?

Meng Chen considered it only briefly before heading upstairs.

In the food line, Xiao Wu caught sight of Meng Chen going up to the second floor and froze for a moment.

Then her pink eyes rolled around. Seemingly thinking of something, she gave a sly smile with her childish little face, handed her tray to the student behind her, and turned to follow him upstairs.

Compared with the noisy, crowded first floor, the second floor was rather quiet. The dishes were more plentiful and refined, each served in its own bowl. Most of the diners were teachers and upper-year students.

Meng Chen ordered two dishes and a soup. After getting his meal, he found a corner table and sat down.

Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, Meng Chen suddenly felt someone lightly pat his shoulder. When he turned around, Xiao Wu's cute, childish face came into view.

"Hello, Student Meng." Xiao Wu gave him a playful smile, her rabbit ears twitching as she waved at him.

The same voice as Kiana's made Meng Chen's ears go soft, and he immediately guessed that Xiao Wu was here to mooch a meal.

She really was familiar with strangers fast!

Meng Chen smiled at her, then pointed to the empty seat beside him and invited her, "Looks like you don't want to queue downstairs either. I happened to order a little too much food, so why don't you eat with me?"

"Really? Great!"

Xiao Wu had not expected Meng Chen to be so generous. She had even been prepared to act cute and beg for food.

With a smile, Meng Chen got up and fetched another serving of rice, then handed it to Xiao Wu.

Taking the rice, Xiao Wu said sweetly, "Thank you, Student Meng."

"Eat up."

Meng Chen smiled and picked up his chopsticks as well. While eating, he watched Xiao Wu from the corner of his eye.

In his previous life, people online had held widely differing opinions about this female lead of Soul Land.

They said she was a pretty face, an accessory with no self-awareness, a tool arranged solely to sacrifice herself for Tang San.

Meng Chen found it hard to judge.

He did not have any bad feelings toward Xiao Wu. On the contrary, he had a faint fondness for her.

After all, his first impression of Xiao Wu had come from the comic, not the novel or animation.

The Xiao Wu in the comic had a vivid personality. She was playful, adorable, strong, and unyielding, far more lifelike than in the novel or animation.

It was because of the comic that he had started reading the novel and watching the animation, only to discover that they were completely different.

That Third Dog ought to kowtow to Mu Fengchun a few times.

In Meng Chen's view, Xiao Wu in the novel and animation had become so irritating because no one had properly guided her.

Before long, they finished eating. Xiao Wu gave Meng Chen a thumbs-up, and her gaze toward him held a little more approval.

"Student Meng, you treated me to a meal. From now on, you're under my protection. If anyone dares bully you, come find me. Sister Xiao Wu will deal with them!"

"Mm, then I'll be counting on Sister Xiao Wu from now on."

As Meng Chen spoke, he pulled out several tissues and gently wiped the grains of rice still stuck at the corner of Xiao Wu's mouth. His eyes carried a trace of amusement.

Such an intimate gesture made Xiao Wu's childish little face flush faintly, and her upright rabbit ears drooped as well.

This scene fell into the eyes of Tang San, who had come up to the second floor to find Yu Xiaogang. His heart twinged, and he suddenly felt as though something that belonged to him was being taken away.

It was suffocating. It hurt.

He and Xiao Wu had clearly met first. They had even fought each other.

But why? Why was Xiao Wu now closer to Meng Chen?

And Xiao Wu had even blushed!

"Let's go," Meng Chen said, standing up.

Xiao Wu nodded obediently and followed Meng Chen downstairs. As they passed Tang San, she did not spare him even a glance, treating him as if he did not exist.

The ignored Tang San turned to look at their retreating figures. His mouth opened, but it was as though he had gotten stuck, unable to say anything.

What right did he have to call out to Xiao Wu? What standing did he have to stop her?

Tang San was like a helpless husband, able only to watch Meng Chen take Xiao Wu away and disappear from his sight.