Chapter 75 Radish & Pork Bone Soup (a)
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
The End of Term Competition was one of the grandest events at the College. There were two semesters per year, with a grand competition at the end of each semester. The purpose of these competitions was to help resolve grievances between classmates and increase students’ motivation to improve themselves. With so much honour and reward at stake, it was not surprising that the Ranking List and First Placing according to Grades would attract so much attention.
Want the honour and respect of the people around you? No problem, strive hard and Cultivate, then blow your opponents out of the water at the Competition to become an overnight celebrity, ah!
Because of the nature of this competition, a lot of less well-known people would suddenly be brought to attention in the most spectacular way at the end of the term. Most of the time, students entered the College at a young age, and the young often burned with the passion to prove themselves. Moreover, the rewards for winners of the First Placing and members of the Ranking List were very lucrative, which naturally attracts the attention of people aiming for the top.
As a testament to how big the Competition was, by the time Feng Luo decided to make his appearance, the story of how a Feng Clan member had achieved Divine Transformation Core did not excite people as much anymore. Not to mention, Feng Luo himself was not quite as smiley or approachable as before, which made it difficult for people to get close to him. One can’t blame him after all. After experiencing the brittleness of human affections, anyone would find it difficult to return to their original affable nature.
As for Shiyu? After disappearing for a while, her reappearance at the cafeteria caused a great storm of welcome. The reason was simple. Though Gan Ping’s knife skill was good, this guy had no culinary skills at all. Aside from Sashimi, he was incapable of making any other dishes without transmuting them into some kind of Dark Cuisine.
Students who have been frequenting the Soup Shop had been eating Gan Ping’s Sashimi for a long time now. They were starting to miss Shiyu‘s dishes.
Under the warm welcome of her fellow students, Shiyu did not disappoint their expectations as she dished up all kinds of good things for them. Some smart-alecky students smirked and asked, “If I managed to win a good ranking in this Competition, would Little Shi make something special for me to celebrate?”
Shiyu merely continued to busy herself with her spatula and wok, not even bothering to lift her head as she said, “Just hand over the silver if you want food.”
In a corner somewhere, Xue Qingruo’s lips curled disdainfully at this. Sure enough, this person was an insignificant cook through and through. As expected, ‘Rotting Mud Cannot Shore Up a Wall’. She knew it, this person was no different from that inferior commoner Ling Xiaoxiao who stank of copper coins.
When she heard that the two Venerable Elders of Liu Clan personally came to Ling Xiaoxiao’s birthday banquet, she nearly had a stroke. No matter what, her social status and birth were more imposing than either the lowly cook or that upstart Ling Xiaoxiao. So, why did the Liu Clan only sent a gift to her, but two of the most important Liu elders personally visited that stinking pile of money pit?
She was clearly better than them, ah!
While she was fuming over this, someone bumped into her. Xue Qingruo snapped her gaze up. When she saw that the person has a gentle, slightly innocent and refreshing face, she snarled, “Where did you put your dog eyes? Did you not see this young miss sitting here?!”
It was Meng Li. She had just stepped into the cafeteria and her eyes immediately zeroed in on a young man sitting at a table close to the Soup Shop. He was speaking to Lin Fan. It was unclear what they were talking about, but there was a hint of a smile on Feng Luo’s face.
Now and then, Shiyu would sometimes bustle past them with a word or set a plate of food at their table before rushing back to the kitchen.
Meng Li thought back to the most recent rumours of the past few days: with the protection of a Divine Transformation Cultivator, the Feng Clan was on its way to becoming the most influential family in the East Martial Empire. Perhaps even in the whole of the Ninth Realm. While both claims might be an exaggeration, the one undeniable fact was that with a clan member at the Divine Transformation Stage, the Feng Clan was now stronger than ever before.
Who would have thought that the previous rumours were just that? Baseless rumours. If only she had treated him a little better, wouldn’t she now be able to openly walk over to Feng Luo and take her place by his side?
For a moment, Meng Li hesitated at the door, something like regret brewing in her heart.
Just then, she spotted Xue Qingruo’s angry and gloomy face. The girl was seated not far away from Feng Luo. An idea formed in her heart and she deliberately walked over and bumped into the girl…
Xue Qingruo had intended to just scream a couple of times to ease the temper in her heart and leave. However, when she saw the eyes of the person who had bumped into her suddenly grew red with emotion; when the tears welled up and lips trembled with tremulous emotion, the noble Xue House’s second young miss’ temper ignited as though someone had thrown a napalm bomb into her vicinity.
The pitiful red eyes, designed to elicit pity from the people around them was a commonplace trick employed by women who hailed from large estates. Even as a young girl, Xue Qingruo was already familiar with it. To see it happening in front of her now…
“Yo, feeling wronged, are you? Who are you putting this foxy little seduction trick on?” Xue Qingruo scolded. “Aside from a pretty face, what are you? A 2nd Level Core Transformation Stage [2] witch like you might draw compliments from the commoners outside the College, but your abilities are nothing within this College!”
Suddenly, Xue Qingruo smacked her own forehead exaggeratedly and said, “Oh, don’t tell me this performance is meant to attract the Feng Clan’s influence? You’re here to display yourself, aren’t you? Let me tell you, you haven’t married Feng Luo yet, so don’t try to act like a young madam in front of my face!”
As she ranted, Meng Li’s lips twisted, not daring to say anything until the last bit. Suddenly, she raised her head and stared at Xue Qingruo, “I don’t have any designs on the Feng Clan’s influence. Second Young Miss Xue, you’re too sensitive,”
When Meng Li actually dared to retort, Xue Qingruo’s hand came up and slapped her in the face, “Pei! How dare you talk back to me!”
Her strike was powerful and Meng Li’s cheek quickly turned red. Though it was not swollen, a trickle of blood leaked out of the corner of her lips.
By now, practically everyone within earshot was paying attention. Feng Luo and Lin Fan were no exception. Even Shiyu, who was still busy in the kitchen, stopped her hands long enough to look up curiously.
What she saw was this: Xue Qingruo standing arrogantly over Meng Li, who was sprawled pitifully on the ground. Anyone looking in would see a proud and arrogant young miss bullying some poor ordinary commoner girl just for kicks. The scene was almost picture-perfect with Xue Qingruo’s arrogant sneer and Meng Li’s pitiful, tear brimmed eyes gazing up at her abuser, scared, but still defiant.
Some of the youths could no longer stand the sight of a pitiful beautiful girl being trodden down by an arrogant bitch began accusing Xue Qingruo of being too cruel. Even so, Xue Qingruo maintained that Meng Li was the one who deliberately bumped into her and started off the whole mess in the first place.
Shiyu glanced over at Feng Luo. She had no good feelings for either Xue Qingruo or Meng Li. While she would not rejoice in their drama, she was quite happy to pretend not to see anything. However, she had no idea what Feng Luo was currently thinking. No matter what, Meng Li used to be the girl he loved. Though she had hurt him before, could he still ignore her now that she was being slapped and insulted right in front of him?
[Gumihou: I like Lin Fan and Feng Luo’s bromance. There should be more stories about bromance and epic girlfriends without bringing romance into things]
Picture from noobcook!
[1] Rotting Mud Cannot Shore Up a Wall – A worthless person, my other favourite idiom for a worthless person is ‘A Pig with No Fat’. [2] Core Transformation Stage aka the Second Stage: Shiyu is at Core Transformation Stage now, but haven’t even gone up to Level 1 yet.
If you love my translations, do consider putting a review at novelupdates!
Or Supporting me via Patreon or Ko-fi ~
໒( ́ ́ )७
