Ate Me Out of House and Home

Nuoding Academy's cafeteria stood on the east side, a single-story building of gray brick. A faded wooden sign by the entrance read "Cafeteria."

By the time Lin Yuan and Xiao Wu arrived, plenty of people were already seated inside. Most were children around their age in matching blue uniforms, gathered in little groups. Bowls and chopsticks clattered amid laughter and chatter.

They went upstairs to the second floor, picked up trays, and headed for the serving window.

Today's meal was chicken drumsticks, braised pork, stir-fried greens, and a bowl of white rice. The server was a plump auntie who swept her big ladle from dish to dish, piling every serving high. Lin Yuan carried his tray to a corner table, and Xiao Wu sat opposite him.

Guga poked its head out of Lin Yuan's clothes.

"Guga?"

The little creature caught the smell of meat, and its black-bean eyes lit up. It sprang onto the table and stared at the glossy chicken drumsticks, drool beginning to trickle from its mouth.

Lin Yuan pushed the plate of drumsticks toward Guga. It grabbed a large drumstick in each hand and ate. Soon, the whole plate was clean. Then it turned to the braised pork and looked up at Lin Yuan with pleading eyes.

Lin Yuan picked up a piece of pork and placed it in front of Guga.

Guga opened its mouth and swallowed it in one bite.

No chewing. Straight down.

Then it looked up at Lin Yuan with those pleading eyes again.

"...Did you even chew?"

"Guga."

Lin Yuan gave it another piece. This time Guga chewed twice before the meat vanished. It looked up again, still pleading.

Before Lin Yuan could move his chopsticks again, half the braised pork was gone. He looked at Guga, then at his nearly empty plate, and took a deep breath. He pushed all the remaining pork toward Guga and took a bite of greens for himself.

Guga bent over the food, its little mouth working furiously. In a few bites, all the pork was gone.

Then it looked up at Xiao Wu with those same pleading eyes.

Xiao Wu froze and glanced down at the untouched braised pork on her plate. After a second's hesitation, she offered it a piece. Guga swallowed it whole and kept staring at her.

"Is... is it still hungry?"

Lin Yuan looked at Guga. A dreadful feeling came over him.

He stood, picked up his tray, and returned to the serving window. The plump auntie looked surprised to see him again.

"Finished already, kid?"

"Another serving, please."

"Coming right up! You're still growing. Eat plenty!"

He brought back the second serving, and Guga's eyes lit up again. Lin Yuan gave it all the meat and half the rice as well. Gripping the rim of the bowl with its stubby hands, Guga buried its head inside and ate with loud, happy snuffles.

In less than five minutes, the bowl was empty.

Guga raised its head, licked the grease from its mouth, and looked at Xiao Wu again.

Xiao Wu's chopsticks hung in midair. She was dumbstruck. Guga had already eaten all her braised pork and even swiped two pieces of greens from her plate.

"It... it can still eat?"

Expressionless, Lin Yuan stood and walked to the serving window for a third time.

Now the plump auntie was truly astonished. "Kid, you've got quite an appetite."

"Mm. I'm still growing," Lin Yuan said without batting an eye.

A third serving. A fourth. A fifth.

By the time Lin Yuan returned with the tenth serving, Xiao Wu was utterly transfixed. Chin propped in both hands, she watched Guga without blinking. The tiny penguin's belly was round as a ball, yet it kept eating. It devoured the braised pork with such solemn focus that it looked as if it were fulfilling a sacred duty.

Other students in the cafeteria began to notice. A six-year-old making ten trips for food was a strange sight anywhere.

"Look at him. That's his tenth serving..."

"What's that beside him? A Soul Beast? How can it eat so much?"

"Good heavens, those plates are stacked like a little mountain."

Lin Yuan ignored them. He sat across from Guga and watched it devour the fifth helping of braised pork piece by piece. His expression shifted from shock to numbness, then finally to the calm of a man accepting his fate.

The tenth plate was empty.

Guga finally stopped. It patted its round belly, let out a satisfied burp, and lay on its back atop the table, stubby legs slightly curled and contentment all over its face.

"Guga's full, guga—"

Lin Yuan studied its belly. Round as a little ball, it rose and fell with each breath. He reached out and gently poked it with one finger. Guga grunted, rolled over, and kept lying there.

Xiao Wu finally found her voice.

"Do you... do you always feed it like this?"

"Today was the first time."

Lin Yuan's voice was calm, but Xiao Wu had a feeling something lay beneath that calm. She looked at the stack of empty plates, then at Guga lying there with its round belly, and suddenly understood.

"So you didn't know it could eat this much?"

"I didn't."

Silence.

The cafeteria gradually emptied, leaving only a few late arrivals eating in the corners. The plump auntie watched from afar, her expression long since changed from surprise to shock.

Lin Yuan sat with his arms folded, staring at the contented little creature on the table.

He was doing the math.

Su Yuntao had given him ten Gold Soul Coins. Bedding and food had cost him one today, leaving nine. Once he went to the Soul Hunting Forest and obtained a Soul Ring, he could collect an allowance of one Gold Soul Coin a month. Spent carefully, that was more than enough to feed one person.

But that was a budget for one person.

Not a budget for one Guga.

He looked at Guga's round belly and thought of those ten servings of braised pork. Ten servings. One meal. Three meals a day, ninety meals a month. If it ate that much every time—

Nine Gold Soul Coins would not last long.

Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair and stared at the dim yellow lamp on the cafeteria ceiling. He stayed silent for a long time.

Watching his expression, Xiao Wu asked cautiously, "What are you thinking about?"

"How to make money."

"Huh?"

Lin Yuan lowered his gaze to Guga, which was still burping on the table. The little creature rolled over, patted its belly with a stubby hand, and mumbled, "Tasty, guga," under its breath.

He had thought things were off to a decent start. His Martial Soul had awakened, he had secured a work-study place, and he had ten Gold Soul Coins in his pocket. With an allowance of one Gold Soul Coin a month, he could eat without worry and focus on cultivation.

Now he knew better.

He also had a little creature with a staggering appetite to feed.

Lin Yuan stood, stacked the empty plates, and carried them to the return window. When he came back, Xiao Wu had picked up Guga. It nuzzled against her, found a comfortable position, and closed its eyes.

"Let's go," Lin Yuan said.

"Where?"

"Back to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll figure something out."

They left the cafeteria. Night had fallen. The sky above Nuoding Academy was clear, stars hanging one by one like a handful of silver scattered across the dark. The evening breeze blew in from the field, carrying the smell of grass and earth.

Xiao Wu walked ahead with Guga in her arms, her scorpion braid swaying with each step. Guga slept soundly, making the occasional little murmur as though it were having a lovely dream.

Lin Yuan followed with his hands in his pockets, thinking about tomorrow's plans.

Tomorrow: go to the Soul Hunting Forest, obtain a Soul Ring, and—make money.