Chapter Thirteen

How many dishes?

Something worthy of being called a banquet isn't "a few" — the preserved menus alone list fifty-eight items!

Because it's a banquet, the dishes are arranged properly: meat and vegetables, dim sum and porridge, varied cooking methods. The whole set, eaten through, is absolutely a pleasure.

Zhou Mu listened to Tianqi's description, and the snack in his hand lost its appeal. "Class monitor, I absolutely support you. I think it's a good thing you have ambition — they shouldn't pour cold water on you. Besides, you're still growing. When I was your age, I liked eating at banquets too!"

Tianqi was deeply moved, feeling Zhou Mu was truly a kindred spirit: "You really think so?"

Zhou Mu said firmly: "What's wrong with wanting a Tail-Burning Banquet!!!"

"Right! What's wrong with wanting to hold a Tail-Burning Banquet!" Tianqi said, his voice cracking. "Besides, I have other ideas — they didn't even let me finish. I thought our whole class couldn't finish it alone, so we could invite some alumni and teachers, do a charity fundraiser, with the proceeds going to support small, weak, and miniature Yao Clan."

Zhou Mu was nearly in tears: "Class monitor, I'm also a minority Yao."

Tianqi blew his nose. "Really? Ah, anyway, with your support, I've got my confidence back. I've saved up money, I can handle this myself. I'll go outside and hire a chef."

Zhou Mu thought for a moment. "Class monitor, I might be able to help. Let me go find the dean of studies."

Tianqi hurriedly stopped him: "No! Xiao Mu, don't bring Senior Youqi to threaten Director Cui!"

Zhou Mu: "..."

Tianqi could still vividly recall that day — Zhou Mu with Senior Xiao Xiao on his left and Senior Youqi on his right, looking absolutely magnificent.

"Class monitor, you've got me wrong. I would absolutely never let Youqi threaten any school leader." Zhou Mu swore solemnly. "I'll just help you borrow the Canteen, solve the venue problem. How about that?"

"Xiao Mu, you're so good. I want to thank you, for myself and for those Yao Clan who might be helped." Tianqi was deeply moved — what kind of friendship was this? Truly worthy of being the vice-class monitor he'd personally promoted.

Both were deeply moved. Zhou Mu said with concern: "Class monitor, then recite the menu for me again. Really only fifty-eight dishes? The lost ones can't be recovered?"

The moment Youqi came back, he saw Zhou Mu chatting with Tianqi about some banquet dishes.

He placed the tea egg he'd brought back into Zhou Mu's hand. Zhou Mu took a sniff, then immediately said to Tianqi: "The banquet definitely needs a few days to prepare. Good food is worth the wait. Class monitor, take your time. Studies come first — have you learned your pinyin yet? Good, go do your homework now. Bye!"

Zhou Mu hung up on WeChat and looked at the tea egg. The shell was cracked at just the right density; the brine wrapped the egg along marble-patterned fissures, perfectly seasoned. Once peeled, the egg white showed a faintly textured sauce color.

Two bites and it was gone — the egg white soft, smooth, and tender; the yolk firm but not dry; the salty fragrance spread, carrying the tea's clean freshness.

Zhou Mu said contentedly: "Delicious. By the way, the class monitor got elected class president, so he has to prepare a charity Tail-Burning Banquet."

"Tail-Burning Banquet?" Youqi did know what a Tail-Burning Banquet was. Hearing it was even paired with charity, he said offhandedly: "He just became class president and he's already making this kind of fuss? He's a Four Border Spirit, isn't he?"

Some students' roots — the School couldn't hide them even if it wanted to. Their habits were too obvious.

— "Mountains, great or small, all have spirits. Great mountains have great spirits; small mountains have small spirits... Those seen among mountains and waters as officials are called Four Border Spirits. To call their names brings good fortune."

Zhou Mu recalled how naturally the class monitor had bounced along the mountain road during training, and felt Youqi's guess was probably right.

Four Border Spirits are a kind of mountain sprite — calling them mountain gods works too. Jiao carries the meaning of patrol. So the class monitor didn't just love being an official; he loved doing the work. Worthy of one whose transformation form was already an "official" — he couldn't sit still anywhere.

Youqi had been about to say there was no point joining this commotion, but Zhou Mu was already thinking it through:

"Going to a banquet means giving a gift, right? What should we send? I grew up in a Human Race School, so I don't know if Yao Clan elementary schoolers are competitive. School supplies or toys?"

Youqi paused: "We?"

Zhou Mu, of course, was thinking of cutting costs: "Yeah, roommates pooling one gift together makes perfect sense, right?"

That was fair enough. Youqi said: "I think we should send a few jin of tutoring materials. Yao Clan are pretty hardworking these days."

A few jin? Zhou Mu immediately protested: "That doesn't seem right..."

The two had their own discussion, which need not be detailed.

....

Several days later.

Zhou Mu sat in the front row of the tiered Classroom. Today was a large lecture, the course titled 'Assessment of Marine Cultivation Resources.' The large Classroom was ninety percent full, and the teacher hadn't arrived yet.

Most of their major's teachers were aquatic Yao, which gave them a teaching advantage, but the students weren't necessarily so. In the new era, most Yao Clan freely chose majors that interested them.

For instance, the students sitting to Zhou Mu's left and right — from the Yao qi and prototypes they deliberately let slip, it was obvious.

The female student on the left was probably a feline — her tail was curled on the armrest. The one on the right also had a fairly pungent smell, but not a trace of fishiness.

But Zhou Mu calmly opened his laptop, ready to take notes once class officially started. He'd also brought the notebook Senior Yan Xingke had given him, so he could compare them later.

The female feline student on the left tore open a bag of chips and sighed theatrically: "Zhou Mu, why is it that even with your Stealth Charm on, I still feel my appetite opening up?"

She'd smelled Zhou Mu before. She wouldn't dare steal Youqi's prey, but teasing him a little while Youqi was away was fine. Besides, she really did feel like sitting next to Zhou Mu improved her appetite. So comfortable.

Zhou Mu said nothing.

The student on the other side said lazily: "Don't take it personally. Felines are all like this — even if it's not theirs, they'll poke at it just to court death." Unlike him — after seeing Gui Youqi's fate in the Canteen, he only moved his mouth, not his hands.

As he spoke, he gazed at Zhou Mu, and red light flickered in his eyes.

Zhou Mu, unable to help himself, leaned slightly closer to him—

The female feline student cursed: "Damn Huang Shuwang."

That was the Huang Shuwang's innate skill — bewitchment.

Calling her hand-greedy — you Huang Shuwang aren't hand-greedy? Don't dare eat but still rub, rub, rub — not afraid of getting beaten to death by Youqi.

Zhou Mu stared steadily at the Huang Shuwang student, his eyes like a sheet of fog. On the surface, he looked no different from anyone else who'd been bewitched. But for some reason, as he drew close, the Huang Shuwang student's heart began to race wildly, and he felt threads of panic.

In that instant, a white shadow shot out at top speed, leaped high on the spot, and slammed a paw down on the Huang Shuwang student's head. The sudden, vicious blow broke his spell on the spot. He yelped and scrambled to his feet: "Oh damn, who—!"

He looked closely — it was Senior Xiao Xiao.

It batted the Huang Shuwang away, then slowly sat down beside Zhou Mu, sighed, and let its tongue loll out.

"...Why isn't Senior staying at Chuanfang Building, coming here to sit in on class?" The Huang Shuwang student sulkily changed seats. No wonder he'd felt that panic just now — Senior had been watching him.

The female cat classmate slowly moved a seat to the side, dryly laughing. 'Hehehehe, Senior is so warm-hearted.'

Youqi wasn't here, and they didn't dare provoke Senior Xiao Xiao. Everyone knew Senior had lost one tooth, but the remaining one was still razor-sharp.

"Of course." Zhou Mu looked at Xiao Xiao sitting properly, not even meeting his eyes, and praised: "Wow, Senior is already a big dog — knows to protect the juniors."

Xiao Xiao: "..."

In the time it took to say those few sentences, the course's teacher had already appeared silently — no one had noticed when he'd arrived. The teacher turned on the projector and introduced himself.

He was indeed an aquatic Yao — a scallop who'd attained spirit form, from Zhangzi Island.

"Marine Cultivation Resource Assessment is a distinctive specialized course. Let me begin by telling you about a very famous cultivation-resource-rich place: Wanling Island. Many in the Yao Clan know that a special kind of turtle grows here — the San Kui Turtle. About three hundred years ago, people discovered that these San Kui Turtles rarely develop spiritual intelligence, but eating them greatly benefits cultivation."

Bei Lao Shi pushed up his glasses and asked: "Does anyone know why?"

The student beside Zhou Mu immediately raised his hand: "Because Wanling Island was originally the habitat of spiritual turtles. Legend has it, 'From Jietan came the Xianlong; from the Xianlong came the Xuanyuan; from the Xuanyuan came the Linggui; from the Linggui came the Shugui — all shell-bearing things are born of the Shugui.' But beyond the Shugui, the Linggui also bred with ordinary fish to produce the San Kui Turtle — though this never made it into the histories. So it's because the Linggui bloodline has something unusual about it."

Bei Lao Shi nodded. "Good. Let's continue analyzing this place's resources."

"Teacher," another student said, puzzled, "but why would the Linggui produce offspring like this? The ordinary turtles it produces are still pretty powerful — same blood concentration. Yet the San Kui Turtle can only be eaten. Is it because the ordinary fish the Linggui mated with was too inferior?"

"Uh, this actually involves knowledge from other majors, but — whatever, I'll just say a few words briefly." Bei Lao Shi shrugged. "For example, in plants there's the concept of heterosis — hybrid vigor. But there's also hybrid weakness: new varieties produced by crossbreeding can turn out in all kinds of ways.

"Among our Yao Clan, cross-species mixed blood is the same. The more familiar examples: dragon and jackal produce Yazi; jiao and fish produce Kun Geng.

"These Yao mixed-bloods also have advantages and disadvantages — but most are just ordinary. It's hard to say whether the crossbreeding turned out well or not. Genetics is complicated — it can produce wonderful changes, but we can't grasp it yet.

"In fact, we can't even be arbitrary about what counts as an advantage. Should we judge purely by combat power?"

"I only know this: for our Yao mixed-bloods — whether they're outstanding, ordinary, or utterly useless — we can't do what the Human Race do with new plant varieties, selecting directionally and discarding the 'products' we don't want. At least in this day and age, that's illegal, haha."

Bei Lao Shi laughed: "Alright, everyone can freely judge for themselves which category the San Kui Turtle falls into — whether being tasty counts as advantage or disadvantage. Next, let's get back to the main topic."

After Bei Lao Shi finished speaking, the female feline student's hand-greedy nature struck again. She poked Zhou Mu with a fingernail tip: "So, Zhou Mu — what did the Human Race mix with to get this kind of fragrant—"

She paused, then asked: "Would you say that's an advantage, or a disadvantage?"

Zhou Mu showed a harmless, innocent smile: "I think, of course, it's an advantage."

....

After dismissing the class, Bei Lao Shi slipped away faster than anyone — no intention of holding anyone over, unlike Zhou Mu's childhood Human Race School. Zhou Mu, thinking about how he could go to Tianqi's banquet today, was happier than anyone. He rubbed Senior's doggy head: "Senior, bye-bye!"

He went back to the dorm first, met up with Youqi, took the prepared gift, and set off for the Canteen.

This charity Tail-Burning Banquet, planned by Tianqi from Class 3, Grade 1 of the Primary Division, was held on the third floor of Canteen One at Hualing Academy. Attendees wore school uniforms or formal attire and registered at the first-floor window.

Tianqi's execution ability was strong — those handling registration were his new team, their class's vice class monitor.

When Zhou Mu placed the gift at the window and signed in, the vice class monitor glanced at it: "USB Drive?"

Zhou Mu said: "No — mainly it contains 9G of electronic learning materials we prepared."

Youqi had said to send a few jin, but Zhou Mu said how could that work — the class monitor was only one point four meters tall, would they have the heart to make him carry it?

So as a compromise, they'd jointly sent tutoring books and workbooks inside a USB Drive.

The vice class monitor's heart immediately clenched. With trembling hands, using a 2B pencil in elementary-school handwriting, she wrote: Zhou Mu and Youqi jointly donate 9G of learning materials.

Zhou Mu added: "The nine is a wish for the class monitor's presidency to last long and enduring."

The vice class monitor: "..."

The two went up to the third floor. The venue had already been decorated. Tianqi's execution was strong, but because of his age and the fact that a good portion of the guests were his classmates, the chairs on site were race-car-shaped, and the tissue boxes were printed with cartoon characters.

But those details weren't the point. After Zhou Mu sat down and waited a while, he couldn't help staring at the kitchen: "It's the right time — why hasn't the food been served yet?"

Tianqi was at the same table as Zhou Mu. Whether or not he'd heard Zhou Mu's question, he stood up at just the right moment.

Zhou Mu: Good! Class monitor! Announce the start!

Tianqi raised a glass of milk: "Hello everyone, I'll briefly say a few words..."

Zhou Mu: "..."