But at least for now, the other side hadn't broken any school rules, so Xie Peichen just stood quietly to the side, watching Gu You.
Gu You gave a slight smile. "Senior, how about this — let's make a bet. If we can finish all this food, how about you give us 1,000 contribution points? If we can't, of course, we'll let you handle it however you want."
"Fine." Xie Peichen answered curtly. For regular meals, maybe he could believe someone eating thirty portions. But thirty portions of the top-tier dishes? He absolutely couldn't believe that. Still, a bet's a bet — and though 1,000 points hurt a little, half the cafeteria had already seen him step in. If he backed down now, he'd lose face.
And so, Gu You began.
He ate calmly, but his speed was downright shocking.
At first, Xie Peichen stood beside him, still composed. But as time went on, his expression gradually turned blank, his jaw slowly dropping open.
This guy… is this guy even human?
Looking at the towering stack of empty plates, then back at Gu You — whose speed wasn't slowing at all — he instinctively gulped.
Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan had each taken their own small portions to a neighboring table, leaving all the rest to Gu You.
Before long, the other students in the dining hall started noticing.
"Is this guy a starving ghost reborn? How can he eat so much?"
"Damn, the more I look at him, the more familiar he seems…"
"Hey, you're right! Where have I seen him before?"
Soon, the area was packed with curious onlookers, watching Gu You devour his meal. Honestly, his hearty, carefree eating even boosted the others' appetites — many students, seeing how much he was enjoying his food, subconsciously ate more themselves.
"Senior, could you process the contribution points for me? Thanks," Gu You said with a polite smile, turning to Xie Peichen.
With a numb expression, Xie Peichen held out his student card and tapped it against Gu You's. With a soft ding! the transaction went through.
1,000 contribution points — credited!
"Nice!"
Someone in the crowd suddenly clapped.
Clap! Clap!
The applause quickly spread through the onlookers.
This guy…
Just as Gu You was happily finishing up, the crowd parted, and a middle-aged man with a grim expression walked in. Seeing the table piled high with plates, the muscles on his face twitched slightly. As the cafeteria manager, he'd just received an alert that they were running out of rare ingredients — and it was all carefully portioned each day! How could they suddenly be low?
Seeing Gu You, he instantly understood.
When did the academy take in a bottomless pit like this?
"Student, your appetite has far exceeded normal limits. The academy can't afford to feed someone like you," the cafeteria manager said sternly.
Gu You blinked. "I'm paying for it myself — can't I eat as much as I want?"
The manager's mouth twitched. "Of course you can, but when you eat this much, the students who actually need these high-grade meals to supplement their training won't have anything left. They came late, and now they have nothing. What do you say to that?"
"Oh… fine, I'll just have this one meal today," Gu You replied with a helpless shrug.
Satisfied, the cafeteria manager finally walked away.
"Tch, so picky. Unlike me — I eat anything," Gu You muttered softly.
As they left the cafeteria, his body swayed a bit — he had eaten way too much.
Xie Xie was a little worried. "Boss, you're not gonna puke, right?"
"No way. I'll have it all digested by the time I need to," Gu You shot him a look.
"You win, okay? Enough eating. Let me treat you all to some drinks, and we can stroll around the outer court a bit — it's basically a whole city, and we haven't explored it yet!" Xie Xie suggested with a grin.
"Sure." His idea was quickly seconded by Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue.
The four of them left Lingbing Plaza and walked into a lively, brightly lit street.
Not far ahead, they spotted a bustling storefront.
"What's that place?" Xu Xiaoyan asked curiously.
Xie Xie glanced over. "Looks like a drink bar. Oh wow, Shrek City has drink bars too! Let's go grab something — maybe some juice."
"Yes! I want ice cream!" Xu Xiaoyan chimed excitedly.
Inside, the drink bar was packed, at least eighty percent full, with many customers wearing Shrek Academy uniforms. Waiters wove between tables, busy but efficient.
If outsiders saw this, they'd definitely be shocked. After all, anyone who could enter Shrek was a formidable soul master — if the media got wind of Shrek Academy students working part-time, it would absolutely go viral.
It took the four of them some time to finally snag a table. They called over a waiter and ordered juices and ice cream.
When it came to ice cream, girls were universally powerless. Even the usually aloof Gu Yue brightened up, eagerly digging in with Xu Xiaoyan.
"What are you looking at?" Gu You sipped his coconut juice and nudged Xie Xie, who was glancing around sneakily.
Xie Xie gave a sheepish grin. "I'm scoping out the pretty senior girls — gotta plan for the future, you know, when we're grown-ups."
Gu You smirked. "Didn't take you for it — I thought you were a proper rich kid, but turns out you play pretty bold, huh?"
Xie Xie waved his hands frantically. "You misunderstand! I'm not like that. Haven't you heard of Shrek Academy's Sea God Fate Matchmaking Festival? They say as long as you make it into the inner court and meet the age requirement, you're eligible to participate. It's one of Shrek's biggest internal events. When the time comes, even outer court students like us can watch. I don't know all the details, but apparently, it's a tradition that's lasted over ten thousand years. Tons of legendary couples met at the matchmaking festival — even Ice God Douluo and Dragon Butterfly Douluo first connected there!"
Gu You admitted he'd misunderstood. "Well, there's no point thinking about that now. Focus on getting stronger first. Besides, you have to make it into the inner court."
"Yeah, yeah, gotta set a target first, right? As for the inner court, I'll work hard — I'm definitely gonna catch up to you!" Xie Xie said with shining eyes.
Gu You gave a knowing smile and raised his juice. "Here's to us!"
Of course, he didn't take Xie Xie's talk of catching up too seriously — because…
(End of Chapter)
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