Chapter 43: Wait, we agreed to handle our own control, so why are you still blaming me?
At daybreak the next morning, someone knocked on Jun Yi's dormitory door, and Ning Rongrong's voice rang out. "Jun Yi, are you up?"
Jun Yi, who had been sitting in meditation, opened his eyes and ended his cultivation session. He got off the bed and opened the door to find Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong waiting for him.
Seeing Jun Yi come out, Ning Rongrong asked, "Want to come exercise with us?"
"I don't really feel like it." Jun Yi shook his head in refusal.
"All right, we won't drag you along today. You did most of the work in yesterday's entrance test, after all. Get some proper rest today."
With that, Ning Rongrong waved at Jun Yi, then jogged out of the village with Zhu Zhuqing.
Should I take this chance to slip out of Shrek Academy? There really isn't anything interesting here. I already know the plot, after all. Watching it again would just be rereading the original.
Jun Yi rubbed his nose as he watched Ning Rongrong's retreating figure in the distance, then shook his head.
Ugh, damn this plot. Why did it have to bring Ning Rongrong here? The food is bad, the clothes are bad, and there's nowhere to spend money even if you have it. If I hadn't promised Uncle Ning I'd look after Rongrong, I would've left ages ago.
Just as Jun Yi was about to return to his dormitory, he happened to glimpse a figure searching for something on the ground in the nearby training field.
Huh, isn't that Tang San? He's awake. But what's he doing in the field with his head down? Picking up trash?
Curious, Jun Yi headed toward the training field.
He soon reached the edge of the field and saw Tang San crouching on the ground, retrieving all the hidden weapons he had thrown yesterday.
"Morning."
Jun Yi instinctively greeted him. Tang San looked up, a trace of surprise crossing his face, but he quickly regained his composure and said, "Morning."
"Are you looking for something?"
Tang San turned away, no longer looking at Jun Yi, and replied, "I'm retrieving those weapons I threw yesterday."
"Take your time, then. I won't disturb you."
Jun Yi turned around and was about to return to his dormitory when Tang San's voice reached him.
"You have the ability to relocate other people. Why did you only relocate Zhu Zhuqing when Teacher Zhao attacked both her and Xiao Wu yesterday?"
"Huh?"
Jun Yi turned back and found Tang San staring coldly at him, as though blaming him.
Tang San continued questioning him. "You clearly had the ability to relocate Xiao Wu. Why did you stand by and do nothing?"
Those words actually amused Jun Yi. He shrugged and said, "Why should I save her?"
"Because she's your teammate, and she'll be your classmate in the future. If she's about to get hurt, you should help her," Tang San said bluntly.
"Ha!" Jun Yi laughed. He could sense intense hostility from Tang San.
"Wait, we agreed to handle our own control, so why are you still blaming me? You couldn't protect her yourself, so now you're making excuses?"
"That's different from our verbal agreement. When a teammate is about to get hurt, you should help her. That's your responsibility," Tang San insisted.
Jun Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. "Oh? You say it's my responsibility? Here's what I have to say to that: do I know you people that well? Why should I help you?"
At that, Tang San snorted coldly. "Someone with no team spirit like you is destined to amount to nothing."
"Is that so?"
"If you don't believe me, just wait and see."
Tang San snorted coldly, turned, and left, leaving Jun Yi with a view of his aloof, haughty back.
"Unbelievable. You failed to protect Xiao Wu, and now you're blaming me? Sister-Con Tang, you really are something," Jun Yi couldn't help complaining.
"Forget it. I never cared for Buddha Ancestor Tang anyway. So what if we're on bad terms?"
Jun Yi stretched, then headed toward his dormitory.
After returning to his dormitory and washing up, he cultivated for a while, waiting for Ning Rongrong to return from exercising so they could eat together.
Since Shrek Academy had originally been a small village, wisps of cooking smoke rose early in the morning. Along with the rising smoke, waves of enticing aromas drifted over to Jun Yi's dormitory.
"It's been so long since I smelled cooking smoke like this."
Jun Yi opened his eyes, got off the bed, pushed open the window, and looked outside.
Sure enough, about a hundred meters from the dormitory, he saw Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing running back toward it.
Jun Yi waved to the two girls. Ning Rongrong looked at him with a beaming smile and ran over.
Ning Rongrong ran up to Jun Yi's window and said, "Wait until I've showered, then we'll go eat together."
"Mm-hmm, hurry along. I'm getting a little hungry too," Jun Yi replied.
About an hour later, the two girls came out of their dormitory. Ning Rongrong wore a plain blue outfit, while Zhu Zhuqing was dressed in black. They held hands, looking every bit like close sisters.
"Come on, let's go to the dining hall." Jun Yi greeted them, and the three walked side by side toward the dining hall. They had toured Shrek Academy yesterday, so naturally, they knew where it was.
Ning Rongrong eagerly approached the serving window, imagining all the delicious things she could eat, but the food before him was a far cry from what he had expected.
Cornmeal buns, boiled greens, coarse-grain porridge, and eggs.
"This is what we're supposed to eat? Cornmeal buns and coarse-grain porridge? We feed this stuff to pigs back home." Ning Rongrong's brows knitted tightly as she spoke with a look of disgust.
"You should have expected this when you signed up. Complaining won't help now. Just make do and fill your stomach first."
Smiling, Jun Yi collected food for all three of them and found a place to sit in the dining hall.
"Ugh..."
Looking at this "pig food," Ning Rongrong felt utterly disgusted. But seeing Zhu Zhuqing start eating right away, she still picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of cornmeal bun, and put it in her mouth. After just a few chews, she spat it out.
She furrowed her delicate brows. "This tastes awful! I'm not eating it. I'm going to buy something else."
With that, Ning Rongrong stood up and started toward the dining hall entrance, only to stop suddenly. She stared at Jun Yi and asked in puzzlement, "Huh? You're not stopping me?"
Jun Yi shook his head slightly. "Could I stop you?"
At that, Ning Rongrong lightly pressed her red lips together and hesitated for a moment. Then her expression abruptly changed. She tiptoed over to Jun Yi and sat beside him, smiling at him as she said, "Jun Yi, there's something I want to talk to you about."
Jun Yi took a bite of his cornmeal bun and asked, "What is it?"
"Could we leave this academy and go to another one?"
"Another academy? Where do you want to go?"
Jun Yi took a sip of coarse-grain porridge and continued, "As I recall, you already promised Uncle Ning you'd stay here and grow stronger, didn't you?"
"But this place is just too shabby..."
"Rongrong, do you know why Uncle Ning wanted you to come to Shrek Academy?" Jun Yi asked in return.
"Wasn't it because I could become stronger here?" Ning Rongrong asked in confusion.
"Can an academy that doesn't even have a Soul Douluo really make you stronger?"
(End of chapter)