Head of the Shui Family

"Only four hours of sleep a day?" Shui Yue'er asked in shock. "You spent all the remaining time cultivating and blacksmithing? No wonder you were level thirty-nine. That's way too intense."

"I'm used to it."

"Then eat more tonight and replenish your strength. My sister's treating us anyway."

Shui Bing'er nodded. "Order whatever you want."

After leaving the academy gates, the five of them followed the road beside the main canal into Skywater City's night market.

Though night had not fully fallen yet, the market was already bustling.

Lanterns hung along both banks of the canal, while pedestrians hurried through the streets.

There were vendors calling out their wares, women taking their children for walks, and groups of men with their arms slung around one another's shoulders, having just come out of some tavern.

"Sis, what are we eating, exactly? If we don't eat soon, I'm really going to starve to death."

"Didn't you have two bowls of rice at noon?"

"That was three hours ago."

Wu Changkong's gaze swept over the restaurants lining both sides of the street before he suddenly stopped in front of one.

The restaurant's sign was shaped like a large copper pot, with two bold characters carved onto it—"Boiling Cauldron."

"How about hot pot?"

Shui Bing'er followed his gaze. "Sure, we'll go with that."

The five entered the restaurant, and a waiter immediately came up to greet them. Tossing a towel over his shoulder, he said with a beaming smile, "This way, five honored guests. There's an empty table by the window with a view of the river. Please follow me."

The window-side booth had a rectangular iron table, with a long bench on either side.

Shui Yue'er walked at the front and plopped down on the bench by the window. Then she looked up at the others who had yet to sit, blinked, and a sly glint flashed through her eyes.

"Sis, sit there."

"Changkong, you sit on that side too."

Wu Changkong secretly gave Shui Yue'er, his little wingwoman, a thumbs-up, then sat down beside Shui Bing'er.

The bench was not particularly wide. Sitting side by side, their arms were pressed tightly together.

Across from them sat Xue Wu, Gu Qingbo, and Shui Yue'er.

Watching the two sit shoulder to shoulder, Shui Yue'er nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it."

"What's more like it?" Shui Bing'er asked.

"Nothing." Shui Yue'er grinned as she picked up the menu, hiding the expression on her face behind it.

"Ahem, I'm ordering. Three plates of tripe first, two plates of beef aorta, one plate of beef, one plate of lamb, tofu... Sis, what do you want?"

"Order what you want. Changkong, what do you want?"

Since there were only two menus on the table, Wu Changkong and Shui Bing'er leaned together to look at one.

"This special tender beef looks good."

"Then we'll get one."

Shui Bing'er turned to the next page and leaned a little closer toward him.

"What about vegetables? What do you like?"

"Lotus root slices and potato slices. Yue'er already ordered those. How about another plate of bamboo shoots?"

"Mm. What about drinks?"

"Sour plum juice. It'll help with the spice."

"Okay."

The two spoke back and forth in calm, natural tones.

Yet the easy rhythm between them and the way they leaned close made the three girls across from them fall silent at once.

Shui Yue'er rested her chin in both hands, staring fixedly at the two across the table.

Gu Qingbo asked, "Yue'er, what are you looking at?"

"Qingbo, don't you think... the way my sister and Changkong are looking at the menu together makes them seem like a married couple?"

At those words, Shui Bing'er froze, and the menu in her hand nearly fell into the copper pot.

"Yue'er, do you still want to eat tripe tonight?"

"I do, I do!" Shui Yue'er immediately raised both hands in surrender. "I won't talk anymore, really, I won't." After saying that, she made a zipping motion over her mouth.

Xue Wu slowly flipped through the menu beside her and added without even raising her head.

"Yue'er talks too much, but sometimes she isn't entirely wrong."

"Xue Wu."

"I was merely evaluating Yue'er's observational skills. I meant nothing else."

Fortunately, the waiter arrived just then carrying a stack of plates. All the dishes had been served, filling the table completely.

The chili oil in the copper pot had begun to boil.

"Let's eat, let's eat!"

Shui Yue'er was the first to pick up her chopsticks. She grabbed a slice of tripe, swished it up and down through the pot eight times, dipped it in sesame oil, and stuffed it into her mouth in one bite.

"Mmm, delicious! So delicious!"

The meal was lively.

Shui Yue'er and Xue Wu nearly started a chopstick duel over the last slice of tripe, only for the unfortunate piece to slip into the depths of the pot during their tug-of-war.

Wu Changkong ate quietly throughout, but the corner of his eye remained fixed on Shui Bing'er beside him.

Her movements while eating were graceful. At the same time, Wu Changkong noticed that she preferred lotus root slices and bamboo shoots. She only ate two slices of beef and tripe before leaving them alone.

The reason was that Yue'er and Xue Wu were fighting over them too fiercely, and she could not be bothered to join in.

So, during a lull between the two girls' three-hundred-round battle over the next piece of food,

Wu Changkong quietly fished out two slices of cooked beef and placed them onto Shui Bing'er's plate.

"Hmm?"

"I noticed you hadn't eaten much."

Shui Bing'er smiled. "Thank you."

Meanwhile, the lights were still on in the dean's office on the third floor of Skywater Academy's main building.

Shui Qinghan sat behind her desk, with a stack of documents requiring her review spread out before her.

As the dean of Skywater Academy, aside from daily academic administration, she personally had to handle student placement reviews after enrollment, approval of teaching plans, budget allocations for maintaining academy facilities, and communications with the Heaven Dou Empire's Department of Education.

Knock, knock, knock...

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Lan Xiaoyue walked in.

"Qinghan, look who's here."

Shui Qinghan looked up. The moment she saw the visitor, she hurriedly set down the pen in her hand.

The man appeared to be in his early forties. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and straight-backed, with a silver-white jade belt around his waist. The Shui Family crest was carved into its buckle.

His features bore a five- or six-tenths resemblance to Shui Bing'er's, though his brows and eyes carried the masculine firmness and composure she lacked.

His temples were faintly gray, yet that did nothing to diminish the naturally commanding aura he carried.

He was the current head of the Shui Family, the father of Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er... Shui Yu.

"Brother? Why are you here?"

Shui Yu strode into the office, then sat down in the chair opposite Shui Qinghan's desk.

Lan Xiaoyue sat down as well and casually poured Shui Yu a cup of tea.

"It's Bing'er and Yue'er's first day at the academy. I came to see how things were going."

"Have they adjusted well today? Did anything happen?"

"Bing'er is doing well. They were assigned to classes today, and both she and Shui Yue'er entered the Elite Class."

"Bing'er ranked second in Soul Power among the freshmen. She has a level thirty-three Ice Phoenix martial soul and is currently one of the candidates for vice class monitor."

"Yue'er is lively as well. She's made the atmosphere in the class much more active."

"Bing'er only ranked second?"

Shui Yu was utterly astonished. He had originally thought Shui Bing'er would rank first at Skywater Academy.