Fierce Beast Transfer Student

You Qi gave a slight pull, dragging Zhou Mu back and lifting him up, away from the cake. He no longer looked so dangerous. Seeing Zhou Mu's confusion laced with a hint of displeasure, You Qi said with some amusement: 'How hungry are you? Trying to eat the whole thing yourself?'

Only then did the others laugh in relief, though still a bit puzzled—Zhou Mu's move had been so fast it might have been a joke, but it had genuinely scared them.

They'd only ever heard of guests shoving the birthday star's head into the cake as a joke. Never heard of someone diving in themselves.

Zhou Mu's eyes shifted. Only now did he slowly realize the cake wasn't meant for him alone... wasn't that a bit unreasonable?!

Lin Teacher patted her chest at this point: 'You scared me to death. I thought your whole head was going in. I only bought this one.'

Zhou Mu shut up.

He knew many of the Human Race lived on dead wages from jobs, unlike the old days when they farmed for themselves. Lin Teacher saying she'd bought the cake made Zhou Mu suddenly understand why it was so small and had to be shared.

Probably because Lin Teacher didn't have much money.

Sigh...

Zhou Mu raised the cake knife and precisely divided the cake into small pieces, neat and even, force applied uniformly, the cut surfaces perfectly smooth. If someone weighed them, they'd find every small slice's weight error within one gram.

'Mm, let's eat cake together,' Zhou Mu said.

The homeroom teacher and classmates knew nothing of this. The cake passed through the crowd, each person getting a small piece.

The last two pieces. You Qi picked them up, gave one to Zhou Mu, kept one for himself, and bit off a corner. Rich cream flavor flooded his mouth. He looked at Zhou Mu, who'd finished his piece in about two bites, then smacked his lips as if he hadn't really tasted it, and then... stared at You Qi's cake.

You Qi: '...'

He really did love eating.

You Qi tentatively extended his piece. Before he could even say 'do you want some,' Zhou Mu had opened his mouth and quickly eaten You Qi's cake. He'd moved so fast his nose tip picked up a bit of cream; he wiped it off with his finger and licked it clean with a curl of his tongue.

'Thanks!'

You Qi's gaze drifted. He looked away.

Some classmates saw and took photos with their phones.

Zhou Mu had a feature phone too, but aside from scrolling through Moments when he was first learning about Human Race cities, he didn't use it much, and had no interest in photography. A Fierce Beast's excellent memory was enough to long-term store favorite scenery, sounds, scents—especially taste. For ordinary Yao Clan there might be one more: remembering danger.

These memories they could summon anytime to savor, even encode into DNA to pass to their offspring.

So Zhou Mu didn't really need tools like cameras.

But now, watching classmates record the joyful atmosphere, he felt that photography wasn't bad. Human Race memories blurred with time; these tools let them permanently preserve this moment too.

Zhou Mu stood at the podium and, for the first time, took a group photo with his classmates, smiling with curved eyes and brows.

He often felt not full—that feeling was familiar. But receiving so many people's birthday wishes was a first in his life. More importantly, he had also done something that could be called sharing for the first time.

Though those present knew nothing of it, what kind of feat it was that Zhou Mu could still smile after giving away food...

And this brief but fulfilling joy had only lasted ten minutes in total. Ten minutes was short, but at School, small chunks of time seemed enough for everyone to do many things.

...

When the third-period bell rang, everyone returned to their desks with lingering feelings, composed themselves, and continued class.

After a full day of classes, Zhou Mu had actually forgotten about not being full from sharing the cake—not that he'd stopped holding grudges... physics class was just genuinely hard to understand!

How do you make a Taotie who can swallow many times his own body weight in a single bite understand the laws of physics?

Therefore, Zhou Mu, trapped by physics problems, had no spare thought for anything else.

Until the dismissal bell rang, Zhou Mu, still staring blankly at the physics problem, heard You Qi say to him: 'Did you not eat enough?'

Eat? What eat, eat what?

Zhou Mu immediately raised his head: '?'

'You only got a bit of that cake,' You Qi showed him his phone. 'I ordered another one. Let's eat it after, this time a whole one is yours.'

Blessing in disguise!!!

Zhou Mu hadn't expected he'd get a whole cake. He pounced and hugged You Qi, generously saying: 'Don't say that, I'll share a bite with you!'

You Qi stiffened.

Zhou Mu had only said he'd share a bite. Such a big cake, sharing one bite—even though the cake was bought by You Qi, even though Zhou Mu had only made a verbal promise, he hadn't actually eaten that bite yet, but somehow his mouth already felt a little sweet...

The cake You Qi had ordered online wasn't far from School—the physical store was walkable. The nearby commerce was bustling, crowds of pedestrians, including many students like You Qi and Zhou Mu who came after school to eat and drink.

Zhou Mu saw the lively commercial street with snack stalls, game machines, and all kinds of small goods, and couldn't move.

'After we eat cake, we'll come play.' You Qi pulled him to pick up the cake first. If Zhou Mu had grown up abroad, many cities had few people—he probably rarely saw such bustling scenes. No wonder he was interested.

The two arrived at the cake shop and queued by order number. In front of them was a student couple—looked like the girl's birthday. The clerk brought out a 16-inch three-layer cake, a crown on the top layer plus some custom patterns, so gorgeous the shop filled with amazed gasps.

The young couple smiled shyly and sweetly at each other. The girl holding the cake couldn't help lifting it to look again and again—the patterns clearly had special meaning to her. 'Thank you, dear!'

Then it was You Qi and Zhou Mu's turn. You Qi gave the order number to the clerk.

Zhou Mu impatiently leaned on the counter and asked: 'Thank you, dear. So what pattern did you order on my cake!'

You Qi: '...'

Pfft.

Everyone laughed quietly.

The young couple, who hadn't left yet, blushed harder, feeling subtly roasted by this mischievous student.

Just then You Qi's ordered cake was brought out. You Qi said: 'Ordered in a hurry, so I only had them draw a Parallel Circuit. Wishing you pass physics.'

Zhou Mu, just tortured by physics all afternoon: '………………'

The clerk smiled as she watched Zhou Mu accept the cake covered in physics formulas, happy yet green-faced. She didn't know if these two were a couple, but when the cake maker was making this cake, she'd really wanted to know what expression the recipient would have. Haha.

The two sat by the window inside the shop to enjoy it.

Zhou Mu cut cake for the second time today. Unlike the first time when every portion was equal, this time he confidently cut out a sharp angle of about 15°, put it on a small plate for You Qi, then started digging from the circuit diagram, fiercely, impatiently, taking big bite after big bite of the ice cream cake.

Any passerby who glanced their way through the window couldn't help looking a few more times.

Not only because the two boys at this table were both striking in appearance, but also because one had only a small piece of cake in front of him, while the other occupied nearly the entire 18-inch double-layer cake...

Many people couldn't help looking around, searching for what they assumed was a livestream camera, always feeling this looked like a big-eater mukbang.

Several clerks had been observing since the cake pickup, secretly discussing.

'Will he really eat it all? I thought they'd have several classmates eating.'

'...Is there a black hole in adolescent boys' stomachs?'

'There's a Taotie, probably.'

They were chatting when suddenly they heard a loud crash, like something heavy had fallen upstairs. They all froze. What was with such a big noise? Please don't let anything have collapsed?

The clerks panicked a little, called management on their phones, and learned it was just a decorative large statue toppling over, no one hurt. They relaxed a bit. 'So careless.'

'Yeah, I thought something had happened.'

Modern people's attention was hard to hold on such disturbances for long. Soon no one cared.

And Zhou Mu kept eating the cake at a steady pace, as if no outside sound could disturb his focus on eating. Anyway, public safety was decent these days.

Just when You Qi thought he'd really eat nearly the whole cake, Zhou Mu stopped. 'Oh, so full. I'm going to the bathroom.'

Zhou Mu rubbed his belly, looking stuffed, and walked out. After two steps he turned back: 'Don't let them take it away. I'll pack it up... eat it tomorrow!'

You Qi laughed. 'Got it.'

The moment Zhou Mu walked out, You Qi took out his phone and made a call: 'Chun Shijiu, are you at Lingxiu Mall?'

Chun Shijiu... counted as his classmate. An eighteen-year-old first-year high schooler, because he'd repeated twice. Chun Shijiu had originally been a year above You Qi; when he repeated, he was in the same class as You Qi for a year. Now You Qi was in second year, but he was still in first year.

The noise had been so loud just now that You Qi had immediately caught Chun Shijiu's Yao aura. By current common standards, most Yao Clan still in school hadn't obtained 404 Office permits and couldn't casually release Yao aura or cause disturbances that would arouse Human Race suspicion.

Chun Shijiu cursed on the other end: 'How did you know? I just ran into Gongzi Cong and fought him. Damn, he actually dared mock me. I'm hiding in the bathroom setting up an ambush now, I'll get revenge for sure later. Where did that Congtou hide...'

Gongzi Cong was Chun Shijiu's former desk mate, now in third year.

You Qi said coldly: 'You better leave fast. If you make any more noise, I'll report to 404 and beat you up.'

Given Chun Shijiu's recklessness, if they fought the noise would be so big You Qi couldn't take Zhou Mu out to play anymore. Better switch to a different threat.

Sure enough, Chun Shijiu weighed it on the other end. 'Hmph... then if he makes a move, it's not my business!'

...

Zhou Mu walked out, turned into the corridor where the bathroom was, but didn't enter the bathroom. Instead he walked along the long corridor a stretch, opened a storage room, and found Gongzi Cong inside.

'I smelled it. Knew it was you.' Zhou Mu stretched his hand.

Gongzi Cong had been resting with closed eyes. He'd just had a bout with Chun Shijiu and had to guard against revenge. Suddenly seeing Zhou Mu now nearly scared his soul out of him.

'H-h-how is it you!' Gongzi Cong, pale-faced, watched Zhou Mu stretch his hand, looking like he was about to eat him.

Zhou Mu walked forward.

Gongzi Cong stepped back. In the cramped space he was soon pushed to the wall corner. Though Zhou Mu's figure wasn't tall, the light cast down and the shadow formed massively covered Gongzi Cong's form.

Meeting unexpectedly, Gongzi Cong despairingly slowly closed his eyes. Today he might really get a piece bitten off...

'Whatever you were doing, don't make that kind of noise again. You disturbed my eating,' Zhou Mu said. 'If you can't do it, then come over here and add to my dishes. I'm celebrating my birthday today.'

What Gongzi Cong hadn't expected was that Zhou Mu had only pushed him to the corner and dropped this harsh line.

'...Huh?' Gongzi Cong opened his eyes, saw Zhou Mu dangerously narrow his eyes as if dissatisfied with his reaction speed, and immediately said: 'Sorry, I didn't know I'd disturbed you. I'll leave right away!'

Gongzi Cong and Zhou Mu walked out of the corridor one after the other. Gongzi Cong headed toward the main entrance and carefully said: 'Then see you?' He thought, better never see again.

Zhou Mu gave a flat hum.

Gongzi Cong heard it and was terrified. His steps slowed.

You Qi had already packed up the cake. Coming out of the cake shop, he saw Zhou Mu talking to someone—on closer look, it was Gongzi Cong.

Gongzi Cong wore the same uniform as them.

Speaking of which, he was also quite famous at School—outstanding looks, ethereal air. And because both he and You Qi had rather cold personalities and both looked good in white, people often compared them, debating who was better.

But what You Qi really cared about was that Gongzi Cong was also Yao Clan, had just fought with Chun Shijiu, and Zhou Mu was unknowingly standing with Gongzi Cong. He was afraid Zhou Mu was in danger. After all, no matter how ethereal he looked, Gongzi Cong was still Yao Clan.

You Qi hurried two steps forward. 'Senior Jiang?'

Gongzi Cong saw him and was stunned, barely maintaining his senior's poise. '...Hello, you're second-year You Qi, right?'

They had each been classmates with Chun Shijiu, but had never directly met each other. Gongzi Cong didn't even know the low-key You Qi was also Yao Clan. But because everyone was quite famous at School, they still had a passing acquaintance.

'You Qi, Senior has things to do, you two chat next time.' Zhou Mu couldn't wait to say goodbye to Gongzi Cong—he was waiting to go play, then eat the remaining cake.

'You've known each other long?' You Qi had originally been worried about Zhou Mu, but now realized they knew each other. Zhou Mu had spent most of his time with him after transferring, and he didn't know when Zhou Mu had met Gongzi Cong.

'Hehe, no, haven't known long either.' Gongzi Cong barely smiled, also eager to escape, not caring about this junior's situation. 'Then eat slowly, happy birthday, I'll send a gift later.'

'Thanks, Senior.' Zhou Mu heard he was being sensible, knew to send a gift, and his expression improved a lot. He patted Gongzi Cong's arm. 'Not in vain that I value you, Senior!'

Gongzi Cong: '...'

He didn't want to know if it was 'value' or 'fancy.' He just wanted to log off as a Cong.

You Qi hadn't expected they not only knew each other but were quite close. Zhou Mu was both joking with Gongzi Cong and touching him. He frowned.

Seeing someone of his own race treated so similarly by Zhou Mu, You Qi wasn't in a good mood.

'You and Senior haven't known each other long, but you're close.' You Qi said it, then noticed his tone sounded strange, which startled himself. And this sentence seemed to also apply to him and Zhou Mu, which made him even more annoyed.

Zhou Mu immediately denied it. 'No, we just eased up.'

He glanced at Gongzi Cong, who hadn't walked far, and said pitifully: 'You don't know, he took advantage of being a senior. When we first met he tried to trick me into eating dirty stuff QAQ.'

Gongzi Cong: '………………'