Some of the students were still unmoving, sitting in neat rows, each with their own Demon Pet on the table, along with the matching pet food.
Du Yu felt absolutely miserable inside, wondering what important class he had missed. Just as he was quietly regretting it, Gong Cheng's voice came from the side:
"Squad Leader Du, you finally decided to get up?"
In that moment, whether they were students sitting with their Demon Pets at the dining tables or lining up for food, everyone turned their heads to look at the cafeteria entrance.
Du Yu's face flushed red. He lowered his head and walked over to Gong Cheng's table. "Sorry, Instructor."
"No need to apologize to me. You're the one taking the loss." Gong Cheng tilted his head slightly, his signature cool move, "Go get me a plate of food."
"Yes!" Du Yu hurried over to the line. The other students had obviously heard Gong Cheng's words; they didn't make him queue at all and just cleared a wide open path for him.
Because of this, Du Yu didn't feel right grabbing food for himself, so he just brought Gong Cheng's meal straight back.
Gong Cheng took the tray and said casually, "I gotta admit, you do have some skills."
Du Yu: "Thank you, Instructor Gong."
Gong Cheng: "But not many."
Du Yu: "..."
Gong Cheng picked up his chopsticks. "That shot of yours pretty much drained all the Demon Breath out of you, huh? Overdrawing your body feels awful, doesn't it?"
Body overdrawing?
Overdraw what? I'm totally full of energy right now, okay!
Even Li Mengnan should hand over her name—I'm the real powerhouse here!
Evidently, Gong Cheng had chalked Du Yu sleeping in until noon up to overexertion, which fit his judgment of Du Yu yesterday.
The guy really had been holding back, but after being forced to play his trump card, he paid the price for it.
Gong Cheng: "Talk!"
"Ah." Du Yu snapped back to reality, and quickly said, "I feel fine now."
"Well then go eat, stop loitering here." Gong Cheng lowered his head and started eating, no longer bothering with Du Yu's stubbornness.
"Yes." Du Yu said softly, turning to join the food line.
"Hey, Little Bro!"
"Huh?" Du Yu followed the voice, looking towards the window.
"Come here." Li Mengnan beckoned him over, totally unfazed by anyone's stares—classic social pro.
There were already two plates of food and two servings of pet food set out on her table.
Feeling his classmates' strange glances, Du Yu knew his "Little Assistant" rep was basically set in stone now.
He quickly walked over and sat down across from Li Mengnan.
The free food didn't really matter, but Li Mengnan had even bought both a Wind and Fire High-Level Pet Food.
"I wanted to go wake you up, but Old Demon Gong wouldn't let me." Li Mengnan whispered, sneaking a peek at Instructor Gong's back.
Du Yu wasn't bothered by any of that—he stared at the high-level pet food on the table, feeling a little ashamed, "You..."
"Ah, it's nothing! I asked my dad for pocket money yesterday. As soon as he heard I became a Demon Tamer, he was over the moon. Said he'll come pick me up when the training's over, too."
Looking all secretive, Li Mengnan pulled her phone from her pocket, unable to resist flaunting it as she showed Du Yu her cash balance.
Ones, tens, hundreds, badass, wifey, godmother...
Okay, not quite "call her Mom" level, but this nearly five-digit pocket money did leave Du Yu totally shell-shocked.
Having lived two lives and never made it past 17, he had never seen that kind of pocket money in either.
Du Yu: "I..."
He'd been telling himself to let his Demon Pets tough it out for two more days, planning to take on missions and earn some money right after training. Who could've thought Li Mengnan would just whip out a rich dad?
"Alright, alright, I know you'll pay me back."
Li Mengnan tucked her phone away, that dazzling smile on her face bright enough to chase away storm clouds. "I really love Xiaoyan. We can definitely nurture her into a heterochromatic variety!
Hurry up, hurry, summon Xiaoyan!"
This girl is a keeper—spending her dad's money is zero stress!
Du Yu reached for his forehead. Visible wisps of Fire Attribute Demon Breath gathered, and finally, a beautiful Little Fire Fox appeared.
"Ying~" The Little Fire Fox curiously looked around, but the moment she spotted Li Mengnan, she cheered and leapt into the air.
Li Mengnan had clearly predicted this; she cupped her hand at her collarbone, letting Little Fire Fox dive right into her neckline, and easily pulled her back out.
Powerhouse prediction?
"You silly little fox, missed me after one day?" Li Mengnan picked up a sandwich cookie.
Floating at her shoulder was the Wind Witch Doll. Watching the pampered Little Fire Fox in its owner's arms, and seeing Wind Witch eagerly waiting to be fed too, its expression changed instantly:
(╥﹏╥)
The white cream in the Wind Element High-Level Pet Food cookies made them easy to spot. Du Yu grabbed one in good timing and raised his hand.
"Whoosh~" The Wind Witch Doll's cloth body, looking just like a little white dress, floated over with soft whooshing, quickly landing beside Du Yu's hand.
Its tiny, stitch-like mouth suddenly opened, swallowing the sandwich cookie in one gulp.
Curious, Du Yu lowered his head and peeked up under the Wind Witch Doll's skirt, really wanting to see where the sandwich cookie disappeared to...
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" Li Mengnan slapped her hand on Du Yu's head, pushing him right back up.
He was just about to say something when a familiar figure walked past—Lin Shihang.
Lin Shihang glanced at Du Yu with an indifferent look, said nothing, and kept going.
Du Yu considered saying something, but stopped himself. Sure, they were roommates for these three days, but more importantly, they were rivals.
With nothing much between them, if he woke you up for class, that was a favor; if he didn't, you really had nothing to complain about.
"You know him?" Li Mengnan asked with deep curiosity.
"He's my roommate." Du Yu nodded gently.
At that, Li Mengnan also looked at Lin Shihang's back, seeming slightly displeased, and muttered, "Ancient Pine Tower Lin Family—a Great Demon Tamer Clan."
"Oh?" Du Yu raised an eyebrow. "How big can they be?"
Li Mengnan shrugged. "Lin family members work in various Demon Spirit Departments. At least in Ancient Pine Tower City and the surrounding areas, their influence is huge.
I only found out last night. That girl who was with you yesterday is from the Lin Family too. The one with the Rose Spirit—what's her name again..."
Du Yu: "Lin Shiyi?"
"Right." Li Mengnan glared at Du Yu. "You remember the girl's name pretty clearly, huh?"
Du Yu rubbed his head, feeling like something was off.
Me and Lin Shiyi are totally innocent—so what's with your tone?
Also, even though I'm eating your food, sleeping at your place, and relying on you to buy pet food during training, we're totally innocent t—uh, fine.
Du Yu, oh Du Yu, these debts just keep stacking up!
Shaking his head, Du Yu buried himself in rice...
Mmm, so good!