Chapter 49: How About I Call You Xiao Wu from Now On?
Early in the morning, Zhu Zhuqing was already up. She shared a dormitory with Ning Rongrong, and upon waking, she also made sure to wake her up.
This pampered young lady originally wanted to sleep in a little longer, thinking of her father's instructions when she left home. But since she was new here, she decided to at least show some consideration to her new classmates and got up properly.
After freshening up and tidying their appearances, the two girls opened the door and prepared to have breakfast.
Through some directions from passersby, they soon arrived at the academy's cafeteria.
The so called "cafeteria" was actually just an arrangement between the academy and the village. A few villagers were hired to take care of the students' meals. Breakfast consisted of nothing more than a bowl of thin porridge with plain white buns at most, a bit of pickled vegetables as a side dish.
Seeing such a simple meal, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but frown slightly.
Soul Masters were still human and needed food to survive. However, compared to ordinary people, Soul Masters required even better nutrition due to their rigorous training. Some who could afford it even ate spirit beast meat, as it contained energy beneficial to their bodies.
Many mid to high level academies provided meals made from spirit beasts, whether it be their meat or special plant based spirit foods.
But this academy?
Just thin porridge, plain buns, and pickled vegetables.
What kind of nutrition could this possibly provide?
For ordinary people, it might still be acceptable.
But for Soul Masters, this was far too simplistic.
Moreover, they were only twelve years old still growing. If they had to eat this every day while undergoing intense training, wouldn't it ruin their health?
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's opinions of the academy dropped yet again. They were already starting to regret enrolling here.
Was this place really reliable?
Though their thoughts were filled with complaints, the two girls didn't show any signs of dissatisfaction on their faces. Instead, they calmly accepted their porridge and buns from the cafeteria lady and sat at a random spot to eat.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't express anything, and although Ning Rongrong had been spoiled since childhood, she wasn't completely incapable of handling hardship.
She took a bite and found the taste barely acceptable after all, she'd never eaten such common food before, so it was at least a new experience.
That being said, there was no way she would accept eating this every single day.
Just as they were eating, the sound of approaching footsteps came from the cafeteria entrance. Moments later, four young men walked in.
Besides Tang San and Dai Mubai, there were two others a handsome youth with peach blossom eyes and a short, chubby boy with rat like whiskers.
"Wow! Two beauties!" The chubby boy's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together excitedly, his expression looking completely perverted.
Dai Mubai immediately elbowed him, whispering, "Calm down. Keep that evil fire of yours in check."
The chubby boy scowled, "Why? Don't tell me you're going after them again. Look, Dai, even if you're the boss, you've got to let the rest of us have a chance too, right?"
Dai Mubai elbowed him again before stealing a glance at Zhu Zhuqing.
She hadn't even looked at them once and was quietly eating her meal with her usual cold, indifferent expression.
"Ahem."
Clearing his throat, Dai Mubai said, "Since everyone's here, we might as well introduce ourselves properly. We'll be living and training together from now on."
Pointing at the chubby boy, he introduced, "This fatty here is another student at our academy Ma Hongjun. His martial soul is…"
He paused for a moment before correcting himself, "Not grass. It's a phoenix."
At the mention of phoenix, both Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing lifted their heads slightly.
But when they saw Ma Hongjun's round, pudgy body, they immediately doubted if they had heard correctly.
A phoenix?
On this guy?
In Douluo Continent, martial souls often had some influence on a person's appearance.
For example, those with tiger type martial souls were usually tall and robust, while those with cat or fox type martial souls tended to be either handsome or beautiful.
But phoenix?
A divine, majestic, and noble existence?
Shouldn't someone with a phoenix martial soul be elegant and graceful?
Yet this guy… looked more like a pig.
Was Dai Mubai messing with them?
Seeing their skeptical expressions, Dai Mubai awkwardly coughed and quickly changed the topic, pointing to the other boy. "And this is Oscar. He's a food type Soul Master. His martial soul is a sausage."
Oscar nervously waved, "Hello…"
After the introductions, Dai Mubai continued, "Since we'll all be living and training together, there's no need to be too formal with names. Including you three newcomers, the academy now has only six students. Oscar and Fatty call me Boss Dai since I'm the oldest. You can just call me Mubai. As for Ma Hongjun, just call him Fatty. Oscar… you can call him Little Ao or Big Sausage Uncle."
Then he turned to Tang San, "Lan Wu, how about I call you Xiao Wu from now on?"
Xiao Wu?
Tang San's face twitched.
He immediately regretted choosing this alias.
"Just call me by my full name." He quickly corrected.
"Good point. 'Xiao Wu' does sound like a girl's name." Dai Mubai nodded in agreement. "Alright then, I'll call you Lan Wu."
Tang San nodded, expressing no objections.
Despite his short time at Shrek Academy, he was already starting to feel a sense of belonging. Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun were all unique in their own ways, but none of them were disagreeable.
They were the kind of people he could get along with.
Before Dai Mubai could continue, Ning Rongrong smiled brightly and said, "Just call me Rongrong. My family and friends all call me that."
Her charming smile instantly shortened the distance between them.
Now, only Zhu Zhuqing was left.
As Dai Mubai's gaze landed on her, she stood up and said in a calm tone, "Zhu Zhuqing. You can call me by my full name or just my first name."
With that, she turned and walked away without another word.
Ma Hongjun blinked and turned to Dai Mubai. "Boss Dai, didn't you say you were irresistible to women? The ultimate lady killer? That new girl didn't even spare you a glance."
Dai Mubai's face darkened, and he shook his head, saying nothing.
After all, he had abandoned her and run away.
If Zhu Zhuqing ever forgave him for that…
Even he wouldn't respect himself.
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