Xiao Wu glanced at Tang San and snorted. "What do you mean, boys and girls shouldn't touch? We're all children. What are you afraid of? That I'll rape you?"
"Uh... well..." Tang San was left speechless.
"Uh, what? Hurry up and pull your bed over so we can sleep together. Weren't you so strong when you fought me just now?" Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips like a little gang boss and urged him impatiently.
Under Xiao Wu's tyrannical pressure, Tang San finally pushed his bed beside hers, then spread his quilt across the middle.
Tang San said, "Xiao Wu, it's almost noon. Time to eat. Let's go together."
Hearing this, Xiao Wu slipped over to Tang San, grabbed his arm, and said excitedly, "Sure! Tang San, what tasty food are you taking me to eat?"
"Uh... I don't have much money. I'll probably just buy something cheap at the cafeteria and make do." Tang San shook his head.
"Huh?" The excitement on Xiao Wu's face suddenly froze.
Just then, Wang Sheng declared generously, "Since this is everyone's first day meeting each other, I'll treat you today. Once you've earned some money working for the academy, you can treat me back."
Tang San hesitated slightly at his words, but still nodded in agreement. His family was so poor that their empty pockets practically rattled, and Tang Hao had spent all their money on wine. Naturally, he wouldn't refuse a free meal.
After all, it was perfectly normal for someone who had enjoyed stealing his sect's secret manuals in his previous life to enjoy petty freebies as well.
As for Xiao Wu, she positively beamed, her gaze at Wang Sheng almost flirtatious. However, remembering the grappling techniques she had used to beat Tang San earlier, Wang Sheng kept his distance.
A few minutes later, Wang Sheng led Tang San and Xiao Wu across the playground to the cafeteria. Nuoding Academy's cafeteria was large enough to accommodate six classes and the teachers, three hundred people in total.
Tang San and the others had barely entered the cafeteria when a rather discordant voice rang out:
"Well, well, isn't this Wang Sheng and his pack of paupers?"
Tang San looked toward the voice and found that the speaker was a somewhat handsome male student, around eleven or twelve years old. His eyes brimmed with contempt.
This student was named Xiao Chenyu, and he was Nuoding Academy's school bully.
"Wang Sheng, paupers like you only deserve to eat on the first floor for the rest of your lives. If you bark like a dog for me, I might consider treating you to a meal upstairs," Xiao Chenyu taunted.
Nuoding Academy's cafeteria had two floors. The second floor served individually ordered dishes, which were expensive and generally beyond the means of work-study students.
Faced with this provocation, Xiao Wu, already seething after Xiao Yan had burned her backside, thrust out her little chest and charged straight forward. "Who the hell are you? What are you barking about?"
Tang San hurriedly reached out to stop her.
Wang Sheng smiled bitterly. "Xiao Chenyu throws his weight around because his father is the city lord and he's an upper-year student. He's always bullying us work-study students. Look." As he spoke, he pulled back the sleeve of his school uniform.
Tang San and Xiao Wu were startled to see no fewer than seven or eight bluish-purple bruises on Wang Sheng's arm.
"Damn it, does having a city lord for a father make you so special? Does being rich mean you can do whatever you want?" After seeing the bruises on Wang Sheng's arm, Xiao Wu glared furiously at Xiao Chenyu.
Because Xiao Wu was short and had been standing behind Wang Sheng, Xiao Chenyu hadn't gotten a clear look at her before. Now that she had bounced out, the city lord's son's eyes lit up, and he said:
"Oh? Where did this little cutie come from? Sorry, but being rich really does mean you can do whatever you want. I'll definitely come play with you when I have some time later."
With that, Xiao Chenyu and his companions headed up the stairs to the second-floor cafeteria, wearing victorious smiles.
Seeing Xiao Chenyu and the others about to leave, Xiao Wu, already brimming with anger, could no longer hold herself back. She lifted her foot to chase after them and beat them up, only for Tang San to stop her again.
Tang San tried to persuade her. "Xiao Wu, let it go. We're here to eat. There's no need to stir up trouble."
"Hmph, Tang San, are you really that much of a coward?" Xiao Wu gave him a disdainful look and said furiously, "Xiao Chenyu bullies the work-study students like this, and you don't have even a shred of justice in you to protect the weak?"
The education Tang San had received in the Tang Sect in his previous life had amounted to petty thievery, poison, sneak attacks, and bullying the weak. What sense of justice could he possibly have?
In the original story, the nobles had constantly bullied and looked down on Tang San early on. Yet in the end, he had stood up to defend those nobles' interests and overthrown Spirit Hall, which put the common people first.
The fellow was an utterly ungrateful wolf.
Faced with Xiao Wu's questioning, Tang San offered little explanation. With memories of two lifetimes, he regarded it all as nothing more than children's antics.
Still, Tang San thought secretly to himself:
No disciple of the Tang Sect should lightly stand up for others and invite trouble. But anyone who attacks us first must be repaid with thunderous force.
The Tang Sect Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record General Outline: once you have determined that your opponent is an enemy, he has already chosen the path to his own death. Show no mercy, or you will only create trouble for yourself.
That's right. The Tang Sect was just that hard-line. If you dared provoke me, I would damn well kill you.
Just then, Tang San spotted someone familiar: his teacher, Yu Xiaogang. Tang San walked up to him and said respectfully:
"Teacher, are you here to eat too?"
"Oh, Little San, I didn't expect to find you here. Come upstairs and eat with me." Grandmaster approached, gently stroked Tang San's head, and spoke mildly.
"Yes." Tang San bowed his head respectfully.
Seeing this, Wang Sheng hurried over to Tang San and whispered in his ear, "Tang San, Grandmaster is your teacher?"
"Yes." Tang San nodded slightly.
Wang Sheng's expression turned rather strange. Lowering his voice, he said, "You actually took Grandmaster as your teacher? Do you know his strength is only at the twenty-ninth level? Do you know what it means for someone in his forties or fifties to be at the twenty-ninth level? It means he's basically useless. I heard he only gets to stay at the academy because he's close to the dean. I'd advise you to find another teacher!"
Hearing this, Tang San raised his head and looked sternly at Wang Sheng:
"If you don't want to die, then please don't presume to judge my teacher behind his back. This is the first time, and it will be the last. I think I no longer need you to treat me."
With that, Tang San turned and followed Grandmaster up to the second floor, where the nobles dined, leaving Wang Sheng and the other work-study students to eat on the first floor.
With that turn, Tang San seemed to have completely separated himself from the people at the bottom, placing them in two different worlds.
"Like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, unable to recognize a kind heart." Watching Tang San's retreating back, Wang Sheng could only shake his head helplessly and sigh.
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