He first heard his stomach rumbling.
Tang Wulin rubbed his belly. Well, he was hungry too.
Ever since gaining the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, he felt like he could eat an entire cow.
"That won't do, Na'er. How about this? I'll take you to complete your enrollment first, then I'll take you to the cafeteria. We only need to pick up your dormitory key now," Tang Wulin said with a smile.
Na'er lowered her head and thought for a moment, then nodded. In a soft, sweet voice, she said, "Can you hurry, big brother? Na'er is really hungry!"
Tang Wulin lowered his head. "Big brother is hungry too, so I'll definitely help you as fast as I can."
Before long.
Tang Wulin led Na'er out through the side door of the registration office.
He had settled Na'er's enrollment with Teacher Zhang, who was in charge of new student registration. The teacher briskly handed over the dormitory key and added, "The Outer Court student dormitories are in that row of white buildings to the east. Don't go to the wrong place."
Na'er clutched the key in her palm and examined it over and over before looking up at Tang Wulin with a satisfied smile.
"Big brother, do I live upstairs from you?"
"Mm, upstairs." Tang Wulin glanced down at her. "Come on, put your things away first..."
Before he could finish, his stomach suddenly let out an exceptionally loud rumble.
The sound echoed twice through the quiet corridor, making even an Outer Court senior passing by turn to look.
Tang Wulin calmly patted his stomach and said in an even tone, "Then we'll go eat."
Na'er was tugged into a run after him. Her silver-white hair streamed behind her like a lengthened beam of moonlight.
She did not get upset. Instead, she laughed twice and followed him with light, quick steps.
She looked incredibly curious and excited!
Shrek Academy's cafeteria stood west of the administrative building. It was a three-story gray-brick structure, its outer walls covered in half-withered vines, and it looked rather old.
When Tang Wulin pushed open the cafeteria's heavy doors, the aroma of food rushed out ahead of him, and his stomach growled loudly again.
But the moment he stepped over the threshold, he stopped.
There were no chairs in the cafeteria.
More precisely, the cafeteria was filled with long wooden tables, their surfaces polished so brightly that they reflected the outlines of the ceiling beams.
Both sides of every table were completely bare. There was not a single chair or bench.
The diners stood in twos and threes by the tables, holding bowls and shoveling down food with their heads lowered like craftsmen racing to meet a deadline. Some simply placed their bowls on the tables, bent over, and ate that way.
Tang Wulin froze for a moment before realizing what was going on.
The Shrek Academy Outer Court cafeteria simply did not have chairs.
It was said that this had been a rule set by a former Sea God Pavilion Master: "Eating while standing nourishes one's spirit; eating while seated breeds laziness." It had been passed down to this day and become customary.
Though in Tang Wulin's opinion, it was just people meddling where they were not needed.
They would not even let people eat properly!
Still, at least the Inner Court had chairs. He should have known to eat there.
But Na'er probably would not be able to get in.
Though if her martial soul were reported, she should receive a great deal of attention.
Standing at the entrance, she rose onto her tiptoes and peered around the cafeteria. Her gaze swept over the tall senior boys and girls eating while standing, then over the bare edges of the tables, and the smile on her face slowly faded.
A thin, barely noticeable sadness surfaced in her violet eyes, like a cloud drifting across a lake.
She pursed her lips slightly, and the fingers clutching Tang Wulin's clothes quietly tightened.
Tang Wulin looked down at her.
He said nothing. He merely shifted half a step closer and lightly bumped her with his shoulder.
"It's fine." He kept his voice low. "I put a chair in my Storage Soul Tool. It's not a big problem!"
Na'er looked up at him, and her eyes brightened slightly. Before that faint sadness could fully take shape, it vanished without a trace.
She neither nodded nor shook her head. She merely loosened her grip on his clothes, and the corner of her lips curved into a small smile.
Tang Wulin turned and led Na'er straight toward the cafeteria serving window.
Behind the window stood a broad-shouldered, thick-waisted middle-aged man. He wore a greasy, twisted white apron and held a large iron ladle, which he was listlessly tapping against the rim of a food basin.
When he saw Tang Wulin enter, he lifted his eyelids slightly and shifted the toothpick in his mouth. "Oh, Little Tang's here."
"Uncle Chen, the usual. Start with ten portions of braised pork." Tang Wulin took a meal card from his pocket and set it on the counter. "Is there anything else today? And why are you working in the Outer Court, Uncle Chen?"
"Lion's head meatballs. There are six left. Two steamed fish, three pumpkin bowls, and several vegetable dishes." Uncle Chen pointed behind him with the iron ladle. "What, planning to eat thirty people's worth again today?"
Tang Wulin turned to look at Na'er behind him. The little girl stood quietly just behind his side, her silver-white hair glowing softly beneath the cafeteria's dim yellow lights.
He also noticed the horizontal plaque above Window One, which read: "No dish is too refined, no minced meat too finely cut."
Na'er leaned forward to look at the food, then at Tang Wulin, then at the sign again. In a low voice, she said, "That sign feels so shameless."
Tang Wulin coughed softly twice.
The sign had not originally been there. He seemed to be the one who had said that...
The reason was that the first time he had been too hungry, he had force-fed himself twenty or thirty steamed buns. Yan Shaozhe had seen it and asked him whether the buns were really that delicious.
Then he had said it.
He had never expected that damned Yan Shaozhe to hang his words up there?!!!
Tang Wulin turned back and gave Uncle Chen a bashful smile.
"There's one more person today, and I went to the Star Dou Great Forest a couple of days ago. I haven't had a proper meal in a long time. Uncle Chen, serve three times my usual amount."
The iron ladle in Uncle Chen's hand paused. He tilted his head and looked through the gap beside the serving window. Seeing the skinny little girl behind Tang Wulin, who was not even as tall as his chest, his mouth twitched.
"Three times?" Uncle Chen spat out his toothpick, his tone growing serious. "Little Tang, you normally eat as much as dozens of Outer Court students in one meal. Three times that is several hundred people's worth. Can you finish it?"
"I can." Tang Wulin smiled bashfully and unconsciously scratched the back of his head. He looked unbelievably well-behaved. "Don't worry, Uncle Chen. I definitely won't waste any. If even one grain of rice is left over, I'll pay ten times the price."
Uncle Chen stared at him for two breaths, then tilted his head to look at the silver-haired little girl again.
The little girl was craning her neck to peer through the serving window. Her violet eyes sparkled, and she did not look like she could eat much at all.
"Fine." Uncle Chen sighed and turned to call into the kitchen. "Six extra portions of braised pork! Serve all the lion's head meatballs! Save both steamed fish for Little Tang! And the pumpkin bowls..."
"Three pumpkin bowls too. Remember, make my rice portions extra, extra large," Tang Wulin added from behind him.
Uncle Chen turned back and glared at him, but did not argue. He simply raised a hand and held up three fingers toward the kitchen again.
While waiting for the dishes to arrive, Tang Wulin found a long table against the wall and pulled Na'er a little closer to his side.
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