Fierce Beast Transfer Student

Gongzi Cong was howling into the Ancient Race Management Office hotline when Zhou Mu snatched the phone and said: "I was just joking with him!"

...Not convincing at all.

Gongzi Cong strongly suspected that without the call for help he might have been done for. He said weakly: "Um, but, jelly really isn't made from leather shoes. There's something called, Moments rumors."

"Is it a rumor?" Zhou Mu actually seemed to care a little.

Although Taotie would eat anything, Zhou Mu had only inherited a strong streak of Taotie nature, not pure Taotie blood. And living in an era of abundant food, of course he'd still pay a little attention to food hygiene!

"In that case, do fruits actually have added coloring? Are boneless chicken feet really sucked out by old ladies? Is pickled cabbage really stomped out by feet?"

Gongzi Cong: "…………"

Gongzi Cong had wanted to laugh at the earlier ones, but at the last one he couldn't help sighing: "It really can't be explained in a sentence or two. Let me explain slowly!"

Fortunately Gongzi Cong had the background of a docent. He took Zhou Mu around the city, and besides setting the record straight on everything Zhou Mu had seen in the old man's Moments, he played the mole and introduced all the places the Feral Race liked to frequent.

He felt guilty. Sigh—even though he wanted to be a gentleman, it seemed he couldn't overcome his instincts.

"We've talked enough today, right? I have class tomorrow." Gongzi Cong wanted Zhou Mu to let him go.

"Mm, go ahead then, school is important." Zhou Mu seemed quite reasonable, but for some reason Gongzi Cong felt uneasy.

Sure enough, after just two steps, he heard Zhou Mu say from behind: "See you next time."

Next time??

Gongzi Cong choked, didn't dare turn his head, and slipped away.

……

The next day was Monday. Zhou Mu was also going to report to the School his father had arranged.

In the Principal's Office, the Principal looked at Zhou Mu's file—seemed he was from a mountainous area. The Principal had also been instructed by his superiors to receive this student. The assigned homeroom teacher hadn't arrived yet, so the Principal made small talk: "How many days have you been here? Have you gotten around at all?"

"Arrived the day before yesterday. Went out to look around yesterday—went to the Provincial Museum, Pedestrian Street, Xiu Liu Park..." Zhou Mu counted the places Gongzi Cong had taken him to yesterday.

"Why only go to the Provincial Museum to play? You could also visit the famous historic sites—like Wenxing Pavilion, over three hundred years of history, a very famous all-wood structure..." The Principal was a local, and took pride in the city's historic sites.

"Three hundred years? Then I won't bother, my mom's older than that." Zhou Mu said.

"Hahahaha! How can you say that about your mother." The Principal burst out laughing.

Zhou Mu laughed along. As long as the truth was outrageous enough, people wouldn't take it to heart.

Soon Zhou Mu's future homeroom teacher arrived—an experienced teacher who also taught a key class, surnamed Lin.

Lin Teacher wasn't vague about it. She looked Zhou Mu over a few times, her brows knitting, suspecting this student the Principal had asked to transfer straight into her class was someone with connections.

Zhou Mu, completely unaware, greeted the homeroom teacher: "Shizun, hello."

Lin Teacher: "..."

Her brows couldn't quite stay furrowed. Zhou Mu was cute-looking, with a dry humor, and that "Shizun" made the corners of her mouth lift. "How many cultivation novels have you read? You young people, always joking around like this."

Zhou Mu: "?"

...He'd always addressed teachers that formally at his previous school!

Jokes aside, Lin Teacher still proposed giving Zhou Mu a placement test first. If his foundation was too weak and dragged down her class's average, she'd fight with the Principal herself before accepting that.

Zhou Mu didn't mind, took the test and started working on it.

In just two hours he'd finished—every subject had questions. Lin Teacher looked it over and was speechless. This Zhou Mu was seriously lopsided in his studies!

Math and geography were both good, especially math. English and chemistry were a mess. Chinese level... hard to describe, didn't know whether to call it good or bad.

But on average, each subject was about the same...

If pressed, he hadn't dragged down the overall average.

Lin Teacher considered for a moment: "Fine then, welcome to our class. Zhou Mu, your subject imbalance is really quite serious. School starts and you're already in second year of high school, soon you'll be preparing for the arts-science split. Your math is good—if you want to go the science route later, you'll need to catch up on chemistry!"

She wasn't seeing this kind of student for the first time—lopsided, but a person always needs two legs to walk steady. The kid still looked smart. She'd already started thinking about how to help Zhou Mu improve his grades.

With the homeroom teacher's approval, there was no other problem.

"You still need to handle paperwork, right? I'll head back to the Office first. When you're done, come find me and I'll take you to class." Lin Teacher said, rubbing her lower back. "Getting old, can't really stand for long—only taught two periods and already this tired."

"You're still very young." Zhou Mu said sincerely. Really, everyone who'd taught him before had been old Feral Beings hundreds or thousands of years old—this was his first time seeing such a young teacher.

Lin Teacher wasn't being complimented for the first time, but Zhou Mu's was the most direct and sincere she'd ever received. She couldn't help laughing: "That's enough, you child."

……

After finishing the paperwork, Zhou Mu walked alone toward the teaching building the teacher had mentioned. City No. 2 High School was large, and it was currently class time—only a sparse two PE classes were active on the field or in the gym.

He found Lin Teacher, who then took Zhou Mu to the class. When they reached the door, the third period was almost over, so they stood at the door and waited briefly.

Even just one homeroom teacher standing at the door was intimidating enough. This time there was also a pretty boy standing beside her.

This boy was good-looking, eye-catching, and not wearing a school uniform. The students' hearts itched—they wanted to discuss whether this was a transfer student. But with Lin Teacher at the door, even sneaking a second look at the boy had to be furtive: 0.5 seconds of a glance, then look away.

Fortunately, class ended soon. Everyone tacitly stayed in their seats and watched the homeroom teacher lead him in. She said: "This is the transfer student joining our class, Zhou Mu. Everyone please welcome the new classmate."

Before the words had even landed, a cheer had already risen in the class, applause going on and on.

Zhou Mu was very surprised!

Wow, the Human Race was too friendly. At his previous school he'd never received this kind of treatment—classmates were afraid to even move when they saw him.

Such treatment was truly rare...

"Hehe, then I'll arrange a seat." Lin Teacher glanced over, locking on You Qi in the back row—their class's top student. Not only did he study well, he was also handsome, and even she knew he was very popular at school.

"There's an empty seat right next to You Qi, you sit beside him. There are empty desks and chairs in the back, move one over yourself. You Qi is our class's physics representative, his chemistry is also good—if you have questions, feel free to ask him. You Qi, you should also help your new deskmate in life and studies. He didn't used to attend school locally."

You Qi was tall—even sitting in the last row you could see he was a head taller than the others. He leaned lazily against the wall, looking toward the podium, and met Zhou Mu's eyes.

Human Race.

Both silently categorized the other, and neither caught any unusual scent.

Zhou Mu gave You Qi a friendly smile. He was in a good mood, and the smile was especially sincere—so far his impressions of Human Race schools and teachers were very positive.

Those round almond eyes were especially pretty when smiling, and a little cute.

You Qi actually felt his heart itch...

This feeling was too rare—and it was for a boy, no less. You Qi sat up a little stiffly, stood to help Zhou Mu get a desk and chair.

Not just You Qi—the whole class, boys and girls, was enchanted by that smile. He's too good-looking. What luck did our class have—both You Qi and now Zhou Mu. To see him clearly they'd better do their eye exercises properly.

"Thanks." Zhou Mu watched You Qi easily carry the desk and chair over to his own, two identical desks fitting together seamlessly, as if they'd always been one.

After he came closer, You Qi didn't feel anything stranger—just that Zhou Mu's smile was unusually fetching, which was rare. He just gave a casual "mm."

Lin Teacher came over and handed Zhou Mu's test paper to You Qi. "Zhou Mu, have You Qi go over your mistakes with you when he has time."

"Okay." Zhou Mu took the paper, spread it flat, and pushed it across the midline of the desk onto You Qi's side. "Sorry to trouble you."

Because of those clear bright eyes, Zhou Mu looked innocent and a bit childish. And being new here, he seemed a little shy, very obedient—whatever the teacher said he did right away, not thinking of slacking off at all.

You Qi looked at his test paper again and couldn't help laughing.

Zhou Mu's math was indeed good, but his Chinese level was simply... uneven.

His classical Chinese questions were nearly perfect—he could accurately translate classical texts. But he could misspell two of the Four Great Classical Novels' authors: Luo Guanzhong, Cao Xueqin—such absurdly basic mistakes. These two things appearing in the same person was simply contradictory.

—Not to mention You Qi—if the test paper weren't one she'd just made, Lin Teacher would suspect Zhou Mu had known some of the questions in advance.

"Are you interested in classical Chinese?" You Qi thought for a moment, didn't immediately point out how basic Zhou Mu's mistakes were, but worked the topic in sideways—maybe there was something behind it.

His tone, overheard by the students in front, seemed softer than usual, as if afraid of startling the shy new classmate.

"Not really." Zhou Mu thought back. "Oh, the day before yesterday I went to see the illustrated edition Jinping Mei, the meat was plentiful and fragrant."

You Qi: "…………"

The innocent, shy Zhou Mu: "Desk mate, why aren't you saying anything?"