Since seating at Little Huo Grilled Fish was in such short supply, customers had to share tables.
Jiang Mingyuan raised his head and looked at the older girl in the green dress sitting beside him, smiling at him. She was even rubbing his head.
Jiang Mingyuan thought viciously, Go on, keep patting. Since you're treating me to a meal, I'll let it slide. And Little Huo Grilled Fish had better actually taste good.
After a little over ten minutes, a server finally brought over several large platters. Fragrant grilled fish was served. Jiang Mingyuan knew nothing about grilling techniques, but he could tell that this restaurant had really put effort into its ingredients and spices.
Ya Li picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and held it to Jiang Mingyuan's lips.
"I come here to eat all the time. They're very particular about their ingredients. Go on, try it."
The fish skin was lightly charred, gleaming with an enticing golden hue, and a glistening layer of fat coated its surface. That piping-hot fat slowly seeped along the grain into the snowy-white flesh. The fish's natural sweetness mingled with the fragrance of the spices, wafting straight into his nose.
Jiang Mingyuan pursed his little lips and blew on it, then opened his mouth and took a bite.
Without any elaborate words of praise, Jiang Mingyuan gave her a thumbs-up. Still chewing, he spoke somewhat indistinctly.
"Sho yummy!"
Watching this scene, Yun Ming felt a jumble of emotions. He could sense that Jiang Mingyuan was quite talented, but unlike Ya Li, he could not clearly perceive that pure life force. He simply assumed that Ya Li had taken a liking to an adorable child. If that incident had never happened all those years ago, perhaps they could have had a daughter this adorable by now.
Judging by the child's appearance, he was around eight or nine. He would miss this year's admissions, but when Shrek opened enrollment again in three years, perhaps he would apply to Shrek Academy too.
Fifteen fish were served in total. Jiang Mingyuan and Ya Li ate fewer than five between them, leaving Yun Ming to finish all the rest.
Jiang Mingyuan rubbed his little belly. He had no dragon's stomach, just the appetite of an ordinary child.
The more Ya Li looked at Jiang Mingyuan, the harder she found it to tear her eyes away. Both the irresistibly alluring life force radiating from him and the pain of being unable to have children kept tugging at her heart.
She took out a handkerchief and wiped the grease from Jiang Mingyuan's mouth.
"Little one, I still don't know your name. Could you tell me?"
"My name is Jiang Mingyuan. What's your name?" There was no reason to hide his name. This was neither the Dou Qi Continent nor tens of thousands of years in the past.
"Jiang Mingyuan." Ya Li's lips moved slightly as she murmured the three syllables. It did not sound like a girl's name; it was somewhat gender-neutral, or even more masculine.
"That's a lovely name. I'm Ya Li, and he's Yun Ming. We both live at Shrek Academy. How old are you, little Mingyuan? Where do you go to school now? Would you like to attend Shrek Academy someday?"
Ah!
Jiang Mingyuan's mind went blank for a moment.
What did she just say her name was?
But Jiang Mingyuan was only stunned for an instant. They were just two people from Shrek. It was not as though he and Shrek were enemies.
Jiang Mingyuan raised both hands, extending one finger on each and crossing them to form a ten.
"I'm almost ten. I can't tell you the rest. But I do plan to attend Shrek Academy someday."
Ya Li's eyes lit up! As long as he wanted to come, that was enough. Even if he failed the entrance exam, she could ask Brother Ming to relax the rules a little.
When they left Little Huo Grilled Fish, Ya Li was terribly reluctant to part with him, but she really had no reason to ask Jiang Mingyuan to stay with the two of them.
"Well, goodbye, you two!" Jiang Mingyuan waved to them, then turned and ran off.
He checked the time on his Soul Guidance Communicator. It was already one thirty in the afternoon. He might as well wander around Shrek City some more and head to the Spirit Pagoda that evening.
Using a martial soul was forbidden within Shrek City, so Jiang Mingyuan could not fly to speed up his journey. He could only strengthen his body with soul power to run a little faster.
He picked up a Shrek City visitor's guide from a rack outside a shop. Opening it, he found a brief introduction to Shrek City on the first page.
In fact, Shrek had been expanding continually. It was apparent from the buildings too: the closer they were to the center, the more classical their architectural style became.
Around Huo Yuhao's era, changes in the political landscape, the rise of powerful organizations such as the Spirit Pagoda and the Tang Sect, and the Star Dou Great Forest's gradual decline had all contributed to Shrek City's steady expansion.
Now, Shrek Academy covered almost as much ground as the entire Shrek City had ten thousand years ago. A single academy rivaled a whole city.
A term sprang unbidden into Jiang Mingyuan's mind.
Academy City.
As it happened, today was Sunday. Jiang Mingyuan still remembered what Wu Changkong had told him on the way here, and the booklet said the same thing. Shrek Academy opened to the public on Sundays. Anyone who passed an identity check could enter certain areas of the outer court for a visit.
Jiang Mingyuan jogged all the way to Shrek Academy's main gate. His first impression could be summed up in one word: magnificent!
He had to admit, something converted from a city wall really was imposing.
Jiang Mingyuan looked up. The wall had to be twenty or thirty meters high. Although it had been maintained, the marks left by ten thousand years of wind and rain still lingered on its surface.
This is a genuine antique.
The academy's main gate stood wide open, with students coming and going in twos and threes, chatting and laughing.
Fifty meters to the left of the main gate stood another, smaller gate. It was only less imposing in comparison with the main one; it was still three or four meters tall.
A large sign there read "Visitor entrance."
At a glance, Jiang Mingyuan saw at least seven or eight hundred people. Many of them were not queuing, however, but milling around, their faces filled with disappointment or anxiety.
Only when Jiang Mingyuan drew closer did he notice that a few people were actually queuing at the small gate.
Several young people wearing Shrek Academy uniforms stood guard.
"Sir, why aren't you getting in line?" Jiang Mingyuan found a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties and politely asked him.
The man looked rather unhappy. He was about to wave the questioner away, but when he saw such a pretty little girl, he suppressed the impulse and lowered his voice as much as possible so he would not frighten the little girl before him.
"Little girl, you might not know this, but you have to pass a very strict screening to visit Shrek Academy. I got here at five this morning and was among the first to submit my details for review, but I still haven't been approved. I can't bear to leave, either, so all I can do is keep waiting here. Everyone else standing around the edges is in the same boat."
Jiang Mingyuan smiled and thanked him, then looked at the huge crowd again, unable to help thinking, Even if I queued until tomorrow, I might still not get in.