Dumplings

He got up early.

He continued using the power of his soul to fix the Runes of the Thousand Mechanisms Art in his Spirit Sea. When he grew tired, he stopped and read for a while, but found it dull. He watched a few short videos, then felt it was a waste of a perfectly good morning to spend it on girls he couldn't touch. Caught between the two, he took out the Bodyguard Divine Light he had acquired earlier and worked on optimizing it.

Most people were content to learn a spell. Those with higher standards also adjusted it.

Everyone was different.

Their Spirit Seas and spiritual power differed, as did their habits when casting spells. Adjusting a spell made it better suited to their Spirit Sea and the way they used it.

Chen Shu hadn't adjusted this one earlier because he intended to incorporate it into the Thousand Mechanisms Art, and at the time, he hadn't seen what the new version looked like. Now he could modify and optimize the spell, clearing up the flaws he'd left behind.

The automatic activation, for instance, hadn't worked very well.

Four in the afternoon.

Chen Shu and Meng Chunqiu arrived at Martial Cultivation Hall No. 3.

Meng Chunqiu already had feminine features, and he wore his hair long. That might have been fine, but his clothes gave little clue to his gender either. From a distance, people might have thought Chen Shu was walking with a quiet, gentle girl.

In fact, Meng Chunqiu was neither quiet nor a girl.

"Ah..."

Chen Shu tried to say something several times, then stopped himself.

At last, they entered the Martial Cultivation Hall.

Martial Cultivation Hall No. 3 differed from Halls No. 1 and No. 2. The first two catered more to Martial Cultivation, while Halls No. 3 and No. 4 were geared toward Martial Artists, with more equipment for body training and martial arts practice.

These days, few universities still offered a Martial Artist major. Most people who wanted to learn martial arts went to commercial schools, clubs, and other such establishments. Some of those had even been founded by ancient Martial Artist sects.

As far as Chen Shu knew, only a handful of exceptional universities, including those in the Jade Capital and Ling'an Academy, still offered such programs. They recruited the most talented martial arts students and trained the nation's finest Martial Artists.

"Thud, thud, thud..."

Blows rang out without pause inside the hall, while shouts rose and fell.

Now and then, cheers came from the spectators. There were clearly quite a few young women among them.

"I'm in this class! Let us through!"

Chen Shu called out as he led Meng Chunqiu through the crowd toward the back.

Meng Chunqiu straightened his clothes and nodded calmly. "Brother Chen, you really do know what to do..."

Then he looked toward the center of the floor.

Three pairs were sparring.

Chen Shu spotted Jiang Lai.

He wouldn't have guessed it from the young man's baby face, but Jiang Lai's upper body was remarkably sturdy, his muscles nearly perfect.

Opposite him stood a taller, burlier male student, also heavily muscled. Runes covered his back and lent his whole body a hard, silvery-gray sheen.

The other student lashed out with a kick.

It cut through the air with a faint whistle!

Jiang Lai dodged.

But it was only a feint. The second leg swept around with greater force, straight toward Jiang Lai's head.

Jiang Lai stepped back and ducked, dodging again.

With ease.

Then he stepped forward with his left foot, rose onto the toes of his rear foot, leaned in, and twisted his body into a punch.

Thud!

The punch struck only the student's shoulder, missing any vital point, yet the impact sounded like a heavy hammer hitting the ground. His opponent stumbled back two steps. Even protected by his Runes, he was badly hurt. He clutched his shoulder and hunched over, his face contorted with pain.

That ended the bout.

Meng Chunqiu sounded surprised as he murmured, "I never expected Brother Jiang to be so formidable!"

"Neither did I."

Chen Shu couldn't have agreed more.

Jiang Lai did not leave the ring afterward. The teacher sent other students to face him, but regardless of their size or how many Runes they had inscribed on their bodies, they were plainly in a different league. Jiang Lai overwhelmed them in every respect—strength, speed, technique, and experience.

Jiang Lai could fight.

He could really fight.

Compared with him, the other students were like house pets. They lacked experience in combat and were afraid of pain.

Those with plenty of Runes were presumably wealthy, and could use the power granted by cultivators to hold their own against Jiang Lai for a few exchanges. For those with fewer Runes, it depended on Jiang Lai's mood. Kindhearted as he was, he usually sparred with them for a while before knocking them down. Then he helped them up and told them where they needed to improve.

At least fourth rank, surely?

At least...

That was what Chen Shu thought.

When the sparring ended and the students finished stretching, the teacher gave the Martial Artist class a break. Only then did Chen Shu and Meng Chunqiu approach.

Jiang Lai hurriedly put his shirt on. He looked at his two roommates a little sheepishly and searched for something to say.

"I saw you two earlier..."

"We've been here a while." Chen Shu nodded to him. "You're fierce."

"N-no, not really..."

"When does class end?"

"The teacher still has to wrap things up."

"Tired?"

"Not too bad today." Jiang Lai wiped away his sweat. "Today was mostly sparring. Conditioning is the exhausting part. When that's over, I can barely walk."

"Then we'll wait until class is over."

"Okay."

Chen Shu couldn't help glancing at Meng Chunqiu beside him.

Meng Chunqiu hadn't spoken just now. In this situation, no one could tell whether he was male or female, and Jiang Lai's classmates kept looking his way.

A dozen or so minutes later—

The three left the Martial Cultivation Hall. It wasn't getting dark yet. Chen Shu took out his phone, checked it, and pointed down another path. "Let's go back this way and have a look around campus while we're at it."

"Sure!"

Meng Chunqiu agreed without a second thought. "It's rare for Brother Chen to be in such a leisurely mood. Naturally, we'll keep you company."

Jiang Lai agreed too.

Chen Shu pressed his lips together before adding, "I also have a few packages to pick up along the way."

Meng Chunqiu's smile froze.

Only then did they realize that the path led straight to the parcel station.

Chen Shu seemed rather surprised. "I didn't know Martial Cultivation Hall No. 3 was so close to the parcel station. Jiang Lai, won't that make picking up your packages convenient?"

Jiang Lai lowered his head and didn't dare say a word.

A few minutes later.

Jiang Lai was carrying several of the heaviest parcels, while Chen Shu and Meng Chunqiu each held a pile of smaller ones.

"Brother Chen, what did you buy this time?" Meng Chunqiu asked, arms full of parcels. "Your talent for architecture must be perfect too. It'd be a waste if you didn't study it."

"A bunch of kitchenware."

"Kitchenware? What for?"

"Cooking."

"Brother Chen, you can cook?"

"Yeah." Chen Shu glanced at them. "So don't think carrying a few packages for me is such hard work. You've got good food to look forward to."

"I never said it was hard work," Meng Chunqiu said casually. "I wasn't doing anything anyway."

"Me neither," Jiang Lai said at once.

"Maybe."

"I just think you love tricking us, Brother Chen, and you seem to enjoy it." Meng Chunqiu had seen right through him, but he didn't mind. "Still, I'm surprised you can cook. I thought all you did was cultivate, read, and work to earn money."

"Then maybe I know how to enjoy life better than you think..."

"Really?"

"There are lots of ways to enjoy life."

"That's true."

On that point, Meng Chunqiu agreed.

On the way back, Chen Shu stopped at the campus supermarket and bought flour, dumpling wrappers, meat, vegetables, seasonings, and more. He hooked the bag over his little finger so it wouldn't get in the way of the parcels.

"What are you making, Brother Chen?"

"Dumplings and mooncakes."

"You're making mooncakes yourself?"

"I bought an oven and molds online."

"Impressive, Brother Chen."

"I just had time on my hands."

"I can help wrap dumplings. I've been wanting to try that," Meng Chunqiu volunteered. "But I don't know how, so you'll have to teach me."

"Sure." Chen Shu nodded. "Then we're having dumplings tonight."

"I can help too," Jiang Lai said quickly, afraid there might not be any for him to eat otherwise.

"Of course."

Back at the dorm, the three of them opened the boxes and unpacked the bowls, chopsticks, and cookware. Once it was all set out in the kitchen, the place looked different at once.

Chen Shu got busy preparing the fillings.

The campus supermarket had a limited selection of ingredients, so he made just two kinds of filling for now—

Pork and cabbage;

Pork and mushrooms;

By the time the fillings were ready, Jiang Lai had finished showering. Chen Shu called them both to the table, brought over the wrappers and fillings, put three pairs of chopsticks in the bowls of filling, then spread a layer of kitchen paper over the table and dusted it with flour for the finished dumplings.

Chen Shu demonstrated how to wrap one.

"Like this, then this, then this...

"Easy, right? That's all you do.

"Until you get the hang of it, don't use too much filling. Otherwise, you won't be able to seal them, and they'll fall apart when boiled.

"It doesn't matter if they look ugly. We're eating them ourselves." Chen Shu paused. "Oh, right. Put the ones you two make over here, and mine over there."

"Why?" Meng Chunqiu asked, puzzled.

"Don't ask so many questions." Chen Shu urged them on. "Come on, start wrapping. I'm starving."

Jiang Lai's stomach had already begun to growl.

All three got to work, chatting as they wrapped.

Chen Shu felt he was getting through more dumplings than the other two combined, but speed was the lesser issue. The real problem was quality—

Jiang Lai's dumplings were passable, neither pretty nor ugly.

Meng Chunqiu, on the other hand, was all thumbs. He seemed never to have done this kind of work before. Yet he was completely absorbed in it and grew more enthusiastic with every dumpling. No matter how ugly one turned out, he held it up and admired it with delight. He even took out his phone to photograph them several times, getting who knew how many germs on them.

Chen Shu's dumplings were evenly sized. They even looked identical, down to the number of pleats.

He had made two shapes: crescents and willow leaves.

"Do you cook at home often, Brother Chen?"

"Isn't it common for men in Yi Nation to cook? What's so surprising about that?" Chen Shu glanced at him. "Stop taking pictures. Phones are filthy."

"Really?" Meng Chunqiu paused.

"Ask Jiang Lai if you don't believe me," Chen Shu said.

"I don't know either," Jiang Lai said.

"Did you two grow up in palaces or something?" Chen Shu shook his head helplessly. "Anyway, both my parents cook, though neither of them is much good at it."

"I see."

Meng Chunqiu sounded as though he'd learned something.

Jiang Lai stayed silent.

Partway through, Chen Shu went to wash a pot and put water on to boil. Once it was boiling, he tipped in all the dumplings Meng Chunqiu and Jiang Lai had made. "Keep wrapping. Don't stop. We'll get rid of these misshapen ones tonight. The ones you're making now look better and better, so we'll freeze the rest. Let's try to fill the freezer. Whoever wants some can boil them."

"What about the ones you made, Brother Chen?"

"I'm giving them away."

"To whom?"

"My sister, and my girlfriend who isn't dating me."

"To whom?"

"Ah..."

Chen Shu couldn't be bothered to explain any more to the two of them. He waved them back to work and took a little break himself.