Xiao Xiao Fell Apart, and Trouble Came Calling

Xiao Xiao sat on Huo Yuhao's bed, utterly distraught.

"What's wrong with you?" Wang Dong'er ended up comforting Xiao Xiao instead.

"You... how could you be..."

Xiao Xiao suddenly remembered Huo Yuhao outside and lowered her voice.

"How could you be a girl?"

Wang Dong'er smiled. She hadn't expected Xiao Xiao to figure it out.

"Sorry. I kept this from you."

"And here I was, paying so much attention to you two, only for you to turn out to be a girl."

"What's wrong with being a girl?"

"I..."

Xiao Xiao had words caught in her throat. She had worked so hard for their relationship all this time, only to suddenly learn that Wang Dong'er was a girl. She felt as though her entire world was about to shatter.

Anyone would probably have had a hard time taking something like this.

"Xiao Xiao, please keep this a secret for now. I plan to tell Huo Yuhao after a while."

"All right, I promise. But you can't keep living here. How can a boy and a girl share the same room?"

"It's fine, Xiao Xiao. We've been living like this for months anyway."

"You might get through this month, but what if this happens again next month and Huo Yuhao finds out?"

"Then I'll just tell him."

"Ugh, forget it. I'm washing my hands of you two. Do whatever you want."

"I bought you some porridge and an egg pancake. Have a little."

"Okay, thank you." Wang Dong'er opened the lunch box and began eating.

"I knew it. Boys that pretty really don't exist. If everyone else found out, who knows how many older and younger girls at the academy would be heartbroken?" Xiao Xiao sighed.

Quite a few people at the academy liked Wang Dong'er. She had received several love letters in the few months since she enrolled.

Wang Dong'er had simply tossed the love letters to Huo Yuhao. Yet Huo Yuhao hadn't been jealous in the slightest and had instead showered her with congratulations.

While Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao chatted animatedly inside, Huo Yuhao was beside himself with worry outside.

"Hey, how are you two doing in there? At least make a peep and tell me whether everything's all right!"

Xiao Xiao said, "Fine, I'll find a way to help you keep this from Huo Yuhao. But how long you can hide it will depend on you."

"All right, I understand."

Wang Dong'er hadn't expected it to come earlier in this life than in her previous one, which was why she hadn't been prepared.

Otherwise, with that brain of Huo Yuhao's, he never would have noticed anything amiss.

"I'll head out, then. Get some rest after you finish eating."

Xiao Xiao stepped out of the room.

Huo Yuhao asked anxiously, "Xiao Xiao, is Wang Dong really injured?"

"No, she just has a stomachache and feels a little unwell. She probably ate something bad yesterday."

Huo Yuhao scratched his head. "Oh, so that's it. No wonder she was in such a bad mood yesterday."

"All right, Wang Dong'er is sick, so take good care of her over the next couple of days. Come upstairs and find me if anything comes up."

Xiao Xiao went straight upstairs.

Huo Yuhao opened the door and saw that Wang Dong'er's complexion had already improved considerably.

"Are you all right now?"

"I'm fine. My stomach just hurts a little."

"Oh, you really scared me. I thought something was seriously wrong with you."

"Yuhao, I suddenly feel like having grilled sausages. Could you go buy me some?"

"Of course!"

Huo Yuhao went straight downstairs to buy grilled sausages at the cafeteria.

Wang Dong'er cleaned up everything stained with blood in the room so Huo Yuhao wouldn't smell it anymore.

She had done the same thing in her previous life and was well practiced at it.

That evening, Huo Yuhao sat on Wang Dong'er's bed, and the two cultivated together.

Huo Yuhao sniffed instinctively and found that the bloody smell on Wang Dong'er had disappeared, replaced by that sweet fragrance again.

The next day, Wang Dong'er felt less pain, so she went to class with Huo Yuhao.

As classes were about to end, Wang Dong'er asked, "Yuhao, are you going to sell Grilled Fish today? I haven't had your Grilled Fish in ages."

"Yes. I ordered thirty fish at noon. I'll grill a couple extra for you."

"Great."

After class, they went straight to the academy gates.

Wang Dong'er helped Huo Yuhao set up the stall, and then they sold Grilled Fish as usual.

"One fish, please."

"Sure. Five copper soul coins each."

"Here's your Grilled Fish. Hold it carefully."

Huo Yuhao packed the fish while Wang Dong'er collected the money. The two worked together seamlessly.

"Move, move! Don't block the way."

Just then, four men walked over, drove the other customers aside, and surrounded Huo Yuhao's stall.

Both Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao realized that these men had come with ill intent.

The man in front asked, "Who gave you permission to sell Grilled Fish here?"

Huo Yuhao wasn't intimidated. He stared at the man and said, "We've paid the stall fee. What's wrong with that?"

The man glanced at the guards patrolling nearby.

Anyone who paid a stall fee to Shrek received protection. If someone caused trouble, the guards would help resolve it.

He changed tack. "My younger brother ate your Grilled Fish yesterday, and his stomach still hurts. Speak! Did you poison the Grilled Fish?"

Wang Dong'er gave a disdainful laugh. "Get your facts straight. We haven't sold anything here for the past few days, so where exactly did your brother buy Grilled Fish yesterday? If you're going to slander us, at least investigate properly first."

These men had clearly come just to make trouble.

If Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao had offended anyone recently, it could only be Dai Huabin.

But Dai Huabin still hadn't woken up, so this was probably his older brother Dai Yueheng's handiwork.

Dai Yueheng couldn't settle the score with them inside the academy, so he had been waiting for a chance when they left.

The man in front froze for a moment. They had been hired to wreck the stall and thought it would be easy, so they hadn't investigated much. They hadn't expected to leave a hole in their story.

They couldn't simply attack, either. Shrek's guards weren't people they could afford to provoke.

"If there's nothing else, leave. Don't interfere with our business," Huo Yuhao said.

The man suddenly had an idea.

"Then we'll just stand here. Let's see who dares buy anything."

Though the customers nearby grumbled, they didn't want to get dragged into trouble and drifted away one after another.

"You're going too far!" Wang Dong'er was angry.

"What? Are you going to attack us? We're just standing here, not smashing your stall. Even the guards have no say in that."

Wang Dong'er tightened her grip on the copper coins in her hand. They weren't afraid of people looking for a fight; it was shameless troublemakers like these who worried them.

With these men standing here, they couldn't sell any Grilled Fish at all.

"Yuhao, keep grilling. If we can't sell them, we'll eat them ourselves."

"Okay."

Huo Yuhao turned the fish with both hands, grilling them even more carefully.

He gave Wang Dong'er one of the two Grilled Fish he had finished grilling, and they sat beside the stall to eat.

"Yuhao, your Grilled Fish smells so good. Add some more chili, and it'll taste even better."

"Really? I'll give it a try."

Huo Yuhao understood Wang Dong'er's meaning. He scattered a large handful of chili into the fire. A pungent smell billowed into the air, choking the men nearby until tears streamed down their faces.

"Cough, cough, cough! That's so spicy!"

"You... just you wait!"

Unable to stand it, the men fled farther away.