"Rongrong!" Xiao Wu sprang up from her bed, her nose twitching like a little rabbit that had caught the scent of food. "What smells so good?"
Ning Rongrong spread the oil-paper package across the table. Honey walnut pastries, osmanthus cakes, braised duck wings, sugar-roasted chestnuts, sesame flatbreads—the table was filled with an array of treats.
Xiao Wu immediately lost control of her drool.
"Where did all this come from?" Her eyes lit up, and her hand had already reached for the plate of walnut pastries.
"I went into the city to buy them after finishing twenty laps." Ning Rongrong patted her chest, her confident tone utterly matter-of-fact. "I brought them specially for you. And Zhu Qing's share too."
Xiao Wu's hand stopped. "You finished running?" Her face was full of surprise. "I just went out and circled the academy once. I found that one lap was huge! You actually finished so quickly?"
She leaned closer to Ning Rongrong, her gaze filled with curiosity as well as surprise. "What about Oscar?"
Ning Rongrong showed no guilt whatsoever over having run only half the distance. She patted her chest, her almond-shaped eyes curving into crescents, her tone so certain that it allowed no doubt.
"Xiao Wu, don't you know about my Wind Empress Qimen? How could Oscar possibly keep up with me?" She spread her hands, looking innocent. "I reduced wind resistance and increased my glide. By the time I finished ten laps, he hadn't even completed his first. I'm not familiar with him, so surely this young lady wasn't supposed to wait there for him?"
She pointed at the pile of food on the table. "If this young lady hadn't run so fast and saved time to go into the city, how would you have gotten all these delicious things to eat?"
Xiao Wu turned it over in her head.
It seemed to make sense.
It really did make sense.
She thought of Shrek Academy's breakfast. Steamed buns with pickles—the portions were sufficient, but the taste was like chewing wood. As a Soft Bone Rabbit that had cultivated for a hundred thousand years before taking human form, she possessed a craving for delicious food etched into her genes.
Then she looked at the table of fragrant, colorful pastries and snacks before her.
"Rongrong, you're so nice!" Xiao Wu grinned, revealing her two little canine teeth as her hand reached for the walnut pastries again.
"Wait." Ning Rongrong grabbed her hand.
Xiao Wu looked at her pitifully.
"Let's bring some to Zhu Qing and eat together." Ning Rongrong smiled gently. "After all, we'll be spending a long time together in the future. We can't leave her out."
Xiao Wu swallowed, glanced at the plate of walnut pastries within arm's reach, then looked at Ning Rongrong.
"Fine." She nodded, but her gaze lingered over the table several times before finally moving away.
The two girls carried the food to find Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing's door was tightly shut. Ning Rongrong knocked three times.
"Who is it?" The voice was cold.
"It's Xiao Wu and me." Ning Rongrong's voice carried a hint of playfulness. "We brought you some food."
There was several seconds of silence.
"No need."
It was the answer Ning Rongrong had expected. She was in no hurry.
She had long noticed Zhu Zhuqing's traits. This cold girl had an extremely strong sense of pride, and refusing others was her way of preserving her personal space. At the same time, she pursued her own strength with near-obsessive determination.
So Ning Rongrong did not try to persuade her with words like, "Let's all be friends."
"Zhu Qing, you've eaten the academy food too." Ning Rongrong leaned against the doorframe, her tone casual. "Eating that stuff will reduce the recovery speed of your Soul Power cultivation by at least thirty percent. There's training class tonight, and Dean Flender said it won't be easy. Even if you refuse to eat with us, don't refuse nutritional supplements that can help you maintain your best condition during training."
The room behind the door fell quiet for several seconds.
Ning Rongrong continued, "We'll be together for a long time from now on. This young lady only hopes we can get along amicably, nothing more."
Several more seconds of silence passed.
"Creak."
The wooden door opened a crack.
Zhu Zhuqing stood expressionlessly behind it. Her gaze swept from Ning Rongrong's face to the oil-paper package in her hands, then to Xiao Wu beside her, who was holding a plate of pastries with sparkling eyes.
"Come in."
The corners of Ning Rongrong's mouth lifted.
The three girls sat down in Zhu Zhuqing's room. Ning Rongrong laid out the food, and Xiao Wu immediately grabbed a braised duck wing and started gnawing on it. Her mouth shone with oil, and her eyes narrowed happily with bliss.
Zhu Zhuqing took an osmanthus cake and ate it in small bites. Though her expression remained cold, she did not refuse.
As she ate, Ning Rongrong chatted intermittently with Xiao Wu, occasionally tossing one or two questions Zhu Zhuqing's way.
They were mostly harmless topics. Where had she cultivated before? Her Hell Spirit Cat was really fast; Ning Rongrong had noticed it during yesterday's assessment.
Zhu Zhuqing's answers were brief and stiff, but at least she answered.
Ning Rongrong was secretly satisfied.
Of course, she was not acting out of pure kindness. She had brought food to win over Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing because she had clearly seen these people's strength during the entrance assessment.
Xiao Wu, Rank 29, assault-type, twelve years old.
Zhu Zhuqing, Rank 27, agility-type, with extremely formidable skills.
Tang San, Rank 29. His match against Zhao Wuji had been even more astonishing.
Dai Mubai, Rank 37, having broken through Rank 30 at thirteen.
Even Ma Hongjun, that fat guy, possessed a top-tier mutated Phoenix Martial Soul.
Every one of them met the standards her cheap swindler of a master used for accepting disciples.
But Ning Rongrong had no plans to introduce them to him for the time being.
For one thing, she had not yet fully mastered the Wind Empress Qimen herself. She had to fill her own stomach with the good stuff first.
For another, sharing the master she had all to herself with others gave her an inexplicable sense of resistance.
For now, she was merely building good relationships in advance. If she ever needed something from them in the future, having this connection would make things much easier.
Ning Rongrong quietly gave herself a thumbs-up for her farsighted planning.
Night fell.
On the training ground.
Flender stood in the center, his gaze behind his black-rimmed glasses as sharp as an eagle's.
Dai Mubai, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing stood neatly in line, full of energy. Oscar also hurried back with a face distorted by exhaustion and stood at the end of the formation. Ning Rongrong stood at the far right, smiling calmly and unhurriedly.
Flender's gaze swept across everyone.
Then it stopped on Oscar and Ning Rongrong.
"Oscar."
Oscar's body tensed. "Dean."
"Did you finish twenty laps?"
Oscar coughed and nodded. "Dean, I finished."
Flender did not respond. His gaze shifted to Ning Rongrong.
"I wasn't asking you." Flender's voice was measured. "Ning Rongrong, did you finish?"
Everyone's eyes gathered on Ning Rongrong.
Ning Rongrong's expression did not change at all. She still wore that gentle smile, her beautiful eyes clear and bright as she looked innocently at Flender.
"I finished."
She said it openly.
Flender looked at her. The expression on that shoe-sole-shaped face of his was impossible to read.
"Is that so?"
He turned to Oscar. "Oscar, did she finish?"
Oscar turned to glance at Ning Rongrong. Ning Rongrong was looking at him too, smiling with innocent purity in her almond-shaped eyes.
Oscar gritted his teeth.
"Yes, we both finished."
Flender smiled.
That smile made Tang San think of two words. Sinister.
"Very good." Flender pointed to the space in front of him. "Oscar, come here."
Bitterness appeared on Oscar's face, but he still walked over to Flender.
Flender placed his right hand on Oscar's shoulder. "I appreciate your spirit of camaraderie. Go run another twenty laps. If you don't finish, you don't eat. I've already sealed your Soul Power. Go."
Oscar did not argue. He silently turned and ran off.
Flender's gaze fell upon Ning Rongrong again.
"Ning Rongrong." His tone was calm. "Did you really finish twenty laps?"
Everyone's eyes focused on her again.
Ning Rongrong looked at Flender. She knew this dean already knew the answer.
She did not panic.
She was not even the slightest bit nervous.
"No." Ning Rongrong's tone was calm and frank. The smile on her face faded slightly, but she remained composed. "I ran ten laps."
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