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"Safe journey, Viscount. And please, don't forget about the donation."
At the gates of Tianxing Spirit Master Academy, Lin Jin saw Peng Ming off with a friendly smile.
"Don't worry! I won't forget."
Peng Ming didn't seem too pleased—after all, it was hard to forget everything that had happened over the past six hours.
"Brat, study hard here with Dean Lin. I'll come back when I'm on break, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
Peng Fan rubbed his reddened ears, replying half-heartedly.
"Hmph."
Peng Ming gave Peng Fan a glare filled with frustration and disappointment, like iron that refuses to become steel, before turning to leave with the guards.
"Come with me to the office," Lin Jin said, beckoning Peng Fan as he turned back.
In the office.
"Dean, what's going on? I need to get back to training."
"Calm down. I've got something good for you this time."
Lin Jin pulled out a bottle from his Spirit guide and placed it on the table. It was a transparent plastic bottle filled with a familiar brown liquid.
"What's this?"
Peng Fan asked, curious. He picked it up and gave it a shake, accidentally creating some bubbles inside.
"Drink it."
"Drink it? You're kidding, right, Dean?"
Peng Fan's eyes widened, his hand trembling slightly as he stared at the odd bottle.
The bubbling liquid inside made him nervous.
Drink it? What if it's poison...?
"Dean, my father's promised 50,000 gold coins haven't arrived yet. If something happens to me..."
He trailed off mid-sentence, sneaking a glance at Lin Jin's expression. The message was clear.
Lin Jin raised an eyebrow. "Funny. I don't remember you being this imaginative before."
He reached for the bottle. "If you don't want it, give it back. I only have one, and I don't think i will get more anytime soon. Don't come crying to me later."
"Huh?"
Peng Fan hesitated. When he saw Lin Jin's hand reach out, he instinctively clutched the bottle tighter and took a step back.
"Haha, of course I trust the Dean!" he said with a sheepish grin, preparing to open the bottle.
Good thing this kid's not my son, Lin Jin thought, shaking his head and covering his face in secondhand embarrassment.
"Not like that! Give it here—I'll open it."
Snatching the bottle from Peng Fan's hands, Lin Jin twisted the cap open with practiced ease. A soft pop sounded, and bubbles began to fizz to the top.
"Dean... are you sure this is safe?"
Peng Fan looked as though he was on the verge of tears. No matter how much he trusted Lin Jin, this so-called "drink" looked suspiciously out of place.
"It's fine. Drink it."
With trembling hands, Peng Fan raised the bottle to his lips.
He glanced at Lin Jin. Seeing the Dean's encouraging eyes, he finally made up his mind.
Clenching his jaw, he shut his eyes and drank the entire contents in one go.
"Hey! Slow down!"
Lin Jin was stunned. Who drinks cola like that?! Damn, this kid's got talent.
Peng Fan gulped it down in huge swigs, the fizzy drink bubbling violently in his throat.
His chest tightened as something surged upward.
"Pffft!"
He suddenly spewed it out, brown liquid bursting from his nose in a dramatic fountain.
Lin Jin stood there, dumbfounded.
Do regular people not test unknown drinks before consuming them? Just a sip? Anything? You're really... one of a kind.
After a moment of thought, Lin Jin dug through his vocabulary and finally settled on one word: Idiot.
Meanwhile, Peng Fan was in agony. His nasal passages burned, and his throat felt raw. The strange liquid had betrayed him.
There's something wrong with this stuff!
Peng Fan felt like he was on the brink of death. He turned his watery eyes toward Lin Jin, disappointment evident in his gaze.
Dean... I trusted you...
Lin Jin furrowed his brow and looked away, resisting the overwhelming urge to complain. This kid... seriously?
With a sigh, Lin Jin summoned a ruler with a flash of light in his right hand and turned back around, expression unreadable.
"Smack!"
The ruler cracked against Peng Fan's arm with a sharp whap. The jolt of pain brought him back to reality. He blinked rapidly, glancing around in a daze. The burning in his nose was fading.
"Wait… I'm not dead?!"
Lin Jin stared at Peng Fan's confused face, his expression utterly exhausted. This kid is an idiot. A sincere, genuine idiot.
"Take it slow next time. No one's chasing you," Lin Jin said with a sigh.
Peng Fan looked embarrassed. He scratched his head and opened his mouth awkwardly.
"Uh... Dean—"
"Save it. Today, I learned just how uninformed you are."
Lin Jin cut him off without mercy and pointed at the bottle with the ruler.
"You still have two-thirds left. Finish it. Not a drop wasted!"
"Oh!"
Peng Fan nodded quickly. He glanced down at the remaining drink, then, out of habit, licked his lips.
The strange flavor lingered… but honestly, it wasn't bad.
This time, having learned his lesson, he was far more cautious. He cradled the bottle gently and sipped carefully.
Gulp. Gulp..
Peng Fan drank slowly, savoring the taste. The bottle emptied little by little.
Lin Jin watched him, his own throat twitching involuntarily.
He turned his head away.
Damn it... I want a Coke.
He let out a sigh. This world sucks. No games. No delivery food. Not even Coke.
"Burp!"
Peng Fan finished with a satisfied belch.
"So? How was it?"
"Kind of weird and fizzy… but honestly, not bad! "
Peng Fan's eyes sparkled, and he licked the corner of his mouth.
Lin Jin raised an eyebrow and muttered to himself, "Huh… is that so..."
The magic of Coke lies in the bubbles—carbon dioxide.
If I remember my high school chemistry right, that can be made with baking soda and acid...
But how do you make baking soda again? Sugar, salt, flour, water?
A spark lit in Lin Jin's eyes.
He may have just discovered a gold mine.
Quickly, he pulled out a little notebook from his spatial ring and began jotting down ideas for the academy's Development Plan.