Before Cao Yu had had his fill of fun, the bell rang, and an elderly woman walked in through the door.
She strode up to the lectern and swept her torch-bright gaze over the students below. Seeing how stern she looked, Cao Yu felt too embarrassed to expose her disguise.
Zhou Yi, Class One's homeroom teacher, hid an exquisite beauty unknown to others beneath an elderly woman's appearance.
Sigh... too bad she already had someone in her heart.
Even if Cao Yu someday took a hoe to pry away the foundations of Fan Yu's relationship, his chances of success would be extremely low.
Just as everyone was under her scrutiny, she suddenly spoke in a raspy voice.
"My name is Zhou Yi, and I'm your homeroom teacher. I'm not sure how many of you will make it through the coming year with me. But let me tell you this: no trash in my class will ever pass the assessments. I intend to cultivate monsters, not idiots."
"Anyone who has been in a fight since registration began, stand up."
Cao Yu smiled faintly. Only an idiot would stand up. We'd still have to run anyway.
Sure enough, when no one stood, Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment before sending everyone down to run.
A few troublemakers were dissatisfied, but under her intimidating presence, they could only obediently comply.
This old hag really was ruthless. Although one lap around Shrek Square was only about three hundred meters, she demanded that they finish a hundred laps within two hours.
With the physical fitness he had possessed before transmigrating, he would have been done for on the spot.
Fortunately, he had long since become a Soul Elder.
Huo Yuhao ran over just then and said, "Brother Yu, let's run together."
"You go ahead. I'll take my time." Cao Yue gave him a rather meaningful look and glanced behind himself. Seeming to understand something, Huo Yuhao took off running.
At this point, Cao Yu was surrounded by a crowd of pretty girls. He had originally intended to shake them off, but they were too persistent, desperately keeping pace with him.
What could Cao Yu say? He could only slow down a little and wait for them.
Beside him, Wang Dong quietly asked, "Why didn't you stand up earlier? If you had, we might not have had to run."
Cao Yu shook his head. "I suspect your brain's been fried. You're dreaming in broad daylight."
"You're the one whose brain's fried!" Wang Dong retorted.
"I call you silly, and you actually argue about it. Stop talking and save your strength."
"Hmph!"
Seeing this, every girl following behind them grew envious.
"Wang Dong and Brother Yu are so close. I'm so jealous."
Yes, all these girls called him Brother Yu. In less than a day, they had already become close enough to call one another brothers.
Cao Yu was even considering whether he should pretend to distance himself from them. He couldn't help it-their overwhelming enthusiasm had frightened him.
The girls continued chatting as they ran.
"Look closely, and Wang Dong's pretty good-looking too."
"Nowhere near Brother Yu. I wonder if Brother Yu has someone he likes."
"What, you want to pursue Brother Yu? We won't agree to that."
"Hmph! That's not up to you."
"Then we'll see!"
Zhou Yi had already arrived at Shrek Square, her gaze settling on Cao Yu.
She shook her head and said helplessly, "One look at this brat, and you know he's not the well-behaved type."
The academy's higher-ups had specifically instructed her to be polite to the Cao Clan's young master, but as Class One's homeroom teacher, that put her in a difficult position.
He had gathered a crowd of girls around him before even one day of school had passed. With such powerful appeal, wouldn't he be like a fish in water in Class One?
Only after well over an hour had passed did Zhou Yi stand up there and speak.
"Speed up. Use my position as the finish line."
Whoosh!
Soon, more than a dozen front-runners swept past her, Huo Yuhao among them.
With his current physical fitness, finishing these hundred laps was a piece of cake.
Most of the credit for this actually belonged to the medicinal herbs Cao Yu had given him.
There was a story behind where those medicinal herbs had come from.
Cao Yu's father, Cao Xiang, had prepared all these herbs for him, but their medicinal effects were too potent. His body couldn't withstand being nourished like that every day, so Cao Yu had no choice but to secretly give half to Huo Yuhao.
As a result, in less than a year, Huo Yuhao had eliminated his body's hidden ailments and become stronger in the process.
Consequently, Huo Yuhao deeply respected Cao Yu as his big brother. He had never slacked off while working in the shop, diligently doing his work every day so he wouldn't let down Brother Yu's expectations.
In truth, Cao Yu hadn't thought that far ahead. He simply couldn't handle the medicinal effects.
After all, had you ever experienced the feeling of having a pillar... propping up the heavens every single day?
No! You hadn't. None of you understood Cao Yu's pain. Having to endure such torment at such a young age-this simply wasn't a life fit for a human being.
He had told his dad he didn't need any more nourishment, but his dad just wouldn't listen. Every year, he prepared a whole basketful of Storage Soul Tools filled with medicinal herbs, and Cao Yu had eaten so much he wanted to throw up.
Even on the day he came to register at Shrek, Cao Xiang had still stuffed a handful of Storage Soul Tools into his hands, every one packed full of medicinal herbs!
Such profound... fatherly love!
Enough said. His heart was filled with tears.
Cao Yu led the group of young girls behind him toward Zhou Qi. Aside from a few who lagged a little, most kept up with the main group.
This time, Wang Dong didn't rush toward the finish line. She stayed beside Cao Yu, glancing at him from time to time and thinking haughtily to herself.
If it weren't for the breakfast you brought me, I wouldn't wait for you!
Wang Dong also understood that Cao Yu was deliberately waiting for the girls behind him. If he showed his true ability, first place would surely be his.
They finally crossed the finish line with over ten minutes to spare. Many people sat on the ground in exhaustion and began circulating their Soul Power to replenish their depleted stamina.
Just then, a few girls took the drinks they had prepared out of their Storage Soul Tools and walked over, each offering her prettiest smile.
"Here, Brother Yu!"
"Mine's peach-flavored."
"Mine's apple-flavored."
"..."
Wang Dong rolled her eyes at them. "Ladies, what about me? I want a drink too!"
The girls readily replied, "Next time, definitely!"
"Be good, Wang Dong. Your big sisters only brought one bottle each this time."
Wang Dong: "..."
Cao Yu accepted their drinks, cradling a whole pile of ice-cold bottles in his arms. He picked out a strawberry-flavored one and drank heartily. That smug look on his face made Wang Dong inwardly cough up blood.
Wasn't this way too mercenary?
So cruel~
Although she was a girl too, for some reason, she still felt terribly jealous.
The boys who had crossed the finish line first had eyes full of fury. Every one of them wanted to beat Cao Yu up, but none dared make a move.
This was a classic case of winning the race but losing at life.
When the two hours were up, Zhou Qi began her "mass layoffs" without expression.
Of the students cut, Tai Long showed the most backbone. He couldn't stop himself from getting into a shouting match with Zhou Qi right there, but since he was in the wrong, it ended helplessly.
These students gathered together and headed straight for the academic affairs office to complain, seething with indignation.
What Cao Yu found strange, however, was why there wasn't a single girl among the students who had been cut.
Didn't you find that strange?
Could it be that my charm was too powerful? Were all these girls so infatuated with my good looks that they couldn't bear to leave?
Very, veeery possible!
(End of chapter)