The Grilled Fish Incident

A little over ten minutes earlier.

Xu Sanshi and Dugu Yanran had come to Shrek's food festival mainly to celebrate the anniversary of their date.

As they strolled down the food street, planning to eat at the place where they had gone on their first date, the rich aroma of grilled fish caught their attention.

They followed the scent and eventually found its source.

It was a small grilled fish stall, run by a blue-haired boy.

That boy was Huo Yuhao, the protagonist of the original story.

Huo Yuhao was sprinkling salt on his fish at the stall, and the rich aroma made Xu Sanshi and Dugu Yanran's mouths water.

So the two decided to line up and buy some grilled fish here first, then head to the restaurant they had originally planned to visit.

As for why Huo Yuhao was grilling fish here to earn money, besides having been taught the craft by his sect master, he had also decided to do it to earn his tuition and build up his savings.

After all, the expenses at Shrek Academy were considerable. Neither the tuition nor the cost of eating at the cafeteria was something an ordinary commoner could afford.

With Huo Yuhao's meager savings, he likely wouldn't even be able to pay his tuition for the next school year.

So Tang Ya had suggested that he sell grilled fish, the dish he made best, at Shrek Academy.

That way, he could earn his tuition while making himself some dinner and saving on his evening expenses.

However, since Tang Ya had helped Huo Yuhao secure both the ingredients and the location, he had to set aside a few grilled fish for Tang Ya and Bei Bei every day.

Fortunately, Huo Yuhao was quite a good cook and soon attracted a large crowd, so he no longer had to worry about losing money.

Setting aside a few grilled fish for Tang Ya and Bei Bei was therefore no great problem.

Unfortunately, this thing that should have been no problem became one on his very first day selling grilled fish.

As mentioned before, Huo Yuhao was exceptionally skilled at grilling fish, so his fish quickly became popular with a large number of students.

Among them were the aforementioned Xu Sanshi and Dugu Yanran.

Watching the students who had already bought fish eat with relish, the two wanted to try some themselves and see whether the fish from this new stall really was that delicious.

But just as their turn came, Huo Yuhao brought out a sign and said, "Today's grilled fish is sold out. Please come back tomorrow."

Xu Sanshi, who had waited a long time, flew into a rage. "What do you mean, sold out? Don't you still have a few in your hands?"

Huo Yuhao replied somewhat apologetically, "Well, some of these are my dinner, and the others are for the friends who helped provide my equipment."

Hearing that, Xu Sanshi, who had wanted to say more, could only let the matter drop. He wasn't an unreasonable person, after all. The boy before him looked thin and frail, so it was only natural for him to save a few fish for himself and the friends who had provided his cooking equipment.

Just then, Dugu Yanran asked, "Then could we reserve a few grilled fish with you and come back to pick them up tomorrow?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the students behind them who hadn't gotten any also looked at Huo Yuhao, waiting to hear his decision. After lining up for so long, it was frustrating not to get any grilled fish.

If they could reserve some in advance, they could save the time spent lining up and wouldn't have to worry about missing out.

As for Huo Yuhao, for some reason, he had been struck dumb the moment he saw Dugu Yanran. But he could hardly be blamed. Growing up, he had hardly interacted with any girls, much less a beauty on Dugu Yanran's level.

At the very least, he was certain that in terms of looks alone, even Tang Ya, who had invited him to join the Tang Sect, couldn't compare to the girl before him.

Seeing Huo Yuhao staring blankly, Dugu Yanran thought he was still struggling with her suggestion and continued, "Well, if there's an extra fee for reserving the fish in advance, I don't mind. After all, keeping the fish for someone is work too."

Huo Yuhao hurriedly came to his senses and raised a hand. "Sorry, my mind wandered for a moment. Well, senior, I'd really like to follow your suggestion, but I'm a new student, and I still want to spend most of my time cultivating. Besides, this method wouldn't be very fair to the other customers, so please come back tomorrow."

Hearing that, Dugu Yanran couldn't help saying in disappointment, "All right, if you insist, then so be it. See you tomorrow, then? Sanshi, it's time to go. Our date isn't over yet."

"Yes, my lady wife, your humble servant is coming right away!" Xu Sanshi immediately shook off his dejected look at having failed to get any grilled fish and hurried over to his girlfriend.

But he moved too quickly and accidentally knocked over Huo Yuhao's grill as he set off, sending sparks onto Huo Yuhao's clothes.

Huo Yuhao's clothes soon caught fire. Realizing he had caused trouble, Xu Sanshi immediately summoned his Black Tortoise Martial Soul and a large amount of water element to put out the flames on Huo Yuhao.

Fortunately, thanks to the soulless ice-attribute Martial Soul that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had given him, Huo Yuhao hadn't been burned by the flames.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao was unharmed, Xu Sanshi breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and said, "I'm terribly sorry! It was my fault!"

Huo Yuhao looked at the grilled fish, now completely charred, and felt a trace of displeasure, but he held it in. The person before him was his senior, after all, and as a level-fifteen Soul Master, he had no way to resist.

Xu Sanshi also saw that he had unintentionally destroyed the young stall owner's dinner and grill. With a pained expression, he could only take a small bag from his Storage Soul Tool and hand it to Huo Yuhao.

"I'm terribly sorry for ruining your dinner and your grill. Please accept this as my apology."

Huo Yuhao took the bag from Xu Sanshi and checked inside, finding ten Gold Soul Coins.

Never in his life had Huo Yuhao held so much money!

His grilled fish sold for only five Copper Soul Coins each. Ignoring the cost of ingredients, he would have to sell two thousand fish to make a single Gold Soul Coin.

Ten Gold Soul Coins meant he would have to sell twenty thousand grilled fish to earn that much!

So this is what a noble's child is like? He just tossed out that much money!? Or was he giving me charity?

At that thought, Huo Yuhao felt that his dignity had been violated. "There's no need for that much money," he said coldly. "Ten silver coins will be enough. These Gold Soul Coins are too much. Please take them back!"

Though Xu Sanshi didn't understand why Huo Yuhao's attitude had turned so cold, he said firmly, "Once I've given something away, it's given. I don't intend to take it back. Come on, junior, just accept it."

Seeing how determined Xu Sanshi was, Huo Yuhao could only accept the compensation he offered. "All right. Since you've put it that way, senior, I'll accept it without further ceremony."

Seeing that Huo Yuhao's expression had improved, Xu Sanshi knew the matter was settled and prepared to leave and continue his date with his girlfriend.

But the moment Xu Sanshi turned around, an overbearing voice shouted, "Xu Sanshi, you bastard, compensate me for my grilled fish!"

A girl in pink hurled several golden flying needles at Xu Sanshi. Like soaring dragons, the needles shot straight toward him.