The stunning girl parted her lips and asked, "Junior, how much are your grilled fish?"
Huo Yuhao did not answer. Tian Meng spoke first. "Five Copper Soul Coins each."
"What an adorable little sister." The girl smiled gently, then frowned slightly. "But your price is a little high. Taking your costs and preparation fee into account, three Copper Soul Coins at most should be enough, right? You'd still make a profit."
Tian Meng froze. This was the first time anyone had haggled in all their days of running the stall, and Huo Yuhao's employee training had never covered how to handle it.
At a loss, he looked to Huo Yuhao for help.
Huo Yuhao merely nodded and admitted frankly, "Your estimate is correct."
"I buy each fish for one Copper Soul Coin, and the fixed cost of grilling it comes to another Copper Soul Coin. If I charged three Copper Soul Coins, I would indeed still make one Copper Soul Coin in profit."
"But the situation you describe only exists in an ideal, highly competitive market. In reality, my exclusive grilling technique gives me a technological barrier to entry, which grants me sufficient bargaining power to establish a monopoly."
"At the same time, my target consumers-Shrek Academy students-have inelastic demand in response to price changes. Therefore, I can maintain a relatively high price within a range students can afford and earn a greater profit."
"After all, there are plenty of cheaper stalls around. If I dare to charge this much and still remain so popular, there's a reason for it."
The stunning girl: "???"
Wang Dong: "???"
Tian Meng: "???"
The other students: "???"
Huo Yuhao delivered an expansive speech, but no one else understood a word of what he was saying.
After mulling it over for quite some time, they seemed to get the gist: he charged so much because he had the skill to back it up.
Recalling the taste of his grilled fish, they felt that five Copper Soul Coins really was not expensive. It was absolutely worth the money.
Seeing the stunning girl standing there in a daze, Huo Yuhao asked again, "Senior, do you still want to buy some? If so, you'll have to wait for the next batch. These two are for my younger cousin."
He waved the grilled fish in his hands, ready to pass them to Tian Meng and start grilling another batch.
"Brat, you dare refuse to sell?"
A deep, resonant voice filled with anger suddenly rang out. Immediately afterward, a glint of gold flew toward Huo Yuhao's barbecue stall.
Killing intent?
Huo Yuhao stared at the incoming golden glint. His excellent dynamic vision identified it as a Gold Soul Coin.
With a clang, the Gold Soul Coin struck the grill and actually embedded itself in it. One could imagine how fast it had been thrown. Anyone hit by it would certainly have come to a nasty end.
Huo Yuhao's brows drew together slightly, and his expression darkened.
This one hadn't come with good intentions.
With an aggressive, oppressive presence, a tall figure lunged straight at him.
It was a young man in a purple school uniform, with thick brows, fierce eyes, and handsome features. At that moment, however, anger made him look overbearing.
He was fast, reaching Huo Yuhao in the blink of an eye and grabbing for the two grilled fish in his hands.
Huo Yuhao raised his hand, and the purple-clad youth caught nothing. He swiped again, but Huo Yuhao's sharp reflexes let him dodge once more.
"Brat, hand them over!"
The purple-clad youth abandoned the fish and changed targets, reaching his right hand straight for Huo Yuhao's collar.
Huo Yuhao's brows knitted tightly.
He could clearly see every movement his opponent made and knew how to dodge them. But the youth's cultivation was simply too high, and his movements too fast. Even though Huo Yuhao knew how to evade him, his body could not respond in time.
Unable to dodge, he was seized by the collar and lifted into the air.
"Huo Yuhao!"
Watching from the side, Wang Dong called out anxiously.
Huo Yuhao's expression turned cold.
He had always responded to kindness, never coercion.
Had the other party spoken politely, he would have gladly handed the fish over. But if someone tried to crush him with superior strength, he had never known what it meant to swallow humiliation for the sake of peace.
He held the two grilled fish high, keeping them out of the youth's reach.
Though he hung suspended in the air, his eyes looked down on the purple-clad youth with cold contempt.
"What kind of look is that?"
The purple-clad youth spoke viciously. Holding Huo Yuhao up with his right hand, he reached for the grilled fish with his left.
Huo Yuhao sneered inwardly, but just then, he sensed a powerful surge of spiritual power.
The sealed power within his body suddenly showed a hint of loosening and surged outward, but it was not flowing toward him.
Huo Yuhao glanced sideways and saw Tian Meng staring coldly at the purple-clad youth. Vast waves of spiritual power were gathering around him, and his bright, expressive golden eyes gave off a faint glow.
Tian Meng was drawing on the power inside Huo Yuhao's body that had originally belonged to him, gathering strength for a Spiritual Shock!
That idiot! Huo Yuhao knew this was bad.
Letting him out already required them to keep an extremely low profile. What if his reckless attack drew out the Titled Douluos in Shrek Academy?
Huo Yuhao lowered his raised right hand and stuffed a grilled fish straight into Tian Meng's mouth.
Tian Meng instinctively took a bite, interrupting the Spiritual Shock he had been preparing. All the power flowed back into Huo Yuhao's body and was sealed away once more.
Huo Yuhao's sudden movement made the purple-clad youth grab at empty air again.
Seeing both grilled fish handed to Tian Meng, the purple-clad youth burned with rage, feeling utterly humiliated. But he could hardly snatch something from a little girl, so he could only vent his anger on Huo Yuhao.
He tightened his right hand and lifted Huo Yuhao as high as he could, snarling, "Brat, you're asking to die!"
"What? You think you're good at fighting?" Huo Yuhao looked down at the purple-clad youth coldly. Though he was dangling in the air, his indifference made it seem as if he were the one in control.
Tilting his head slightly, he tapped his forehead provocatively with his right index finger and said with disdain, "Go on. Hit me. Right here!"
"If you don't hit me today, you're my grandson!"
Huo Yuhao's voice was unusually calm, yet thick with mockery and contempt, as though he were certain the purple-clad youth would not dare strike him.
"Brat, how dare you!"
The youth roared, feeling blood rush to his head. He clenched his left fist and swung toward Huo Yuhao's face.
"Xu Sanshi, what are you doing?!"
At that moment, the stunning girl from earlier shouted, her face already filled with shock and anger.
The purple-clad youth's name was indeed Xu Sanshi.
"Nan Nan!"
Her shout seemed to restore some of Xu Sanshi's reason, and he hurriedly pulled back his fist.
He threw Huo Yuhao to the ground, but the anger inside him only burned fiercer, refusing to subside. He slammed his right fist into the grill, and the sturdy frame fell apart with the blow.
Seemingly feeling that he had vented his anger, Xu Sanshi stood where he was, panting heavily to bring his emotions under control.
The stunning girl said coldly, "Xu Sanshi, you've disappointed me terribly! I told you there could never be anything between us. Please stop bothering me!"
With that, she turned and left.
"Nan Nan, let me explain..."
Xu Sanshi was just about to follow her when he suddenly heard a strange laugh behind him.
"Huo Yuhao, are you all right?" Wang Dong stepped forward and asked with concern, then glanced at Xu Sanshi. "Why are you so overbearing?"
Tian Meng also came forward and asked anxiously, "Yuhao, how are you feeling?"
"Heh, heh heh, heh heh heh..."
Huo Yuhao sat on the ground, letting out a chilling laugh steeped in utter mockery.
He looked at Xu Sanshi with a savage grin.
"Why aren't you hitting me anymore?"
"Grandson!"
Xu Sanshi's lingering anger had yet to fade. Hearing Huo Yuhao insult him like that, his face darkened, and he clenched his fists, speaking through gritted teeth.
"Brat..."
With a furious roar, he charged toward Huo Yuhao, radiating an oppressive aura.
"I think you really are asking to die!"