Book 2: Academy of Monsters

Chapter 12.1: Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan

The mackerel, which had turned a golden brown, still had oil dripping off it, and a strong aroma gushed unceasingly from its belly. When the man’s bit into the roasted fish, a light crackling sound came from it. The roasted fish’s skin had actually been roasted until it was crispy, but it wasn’t burnt at all. However, what lay underneath the crispy layer of the skin was the fresh, tender, succulent meat of the fish, which was packed with flavour.

It was only a single bite, but that yellow-shirted student’s eyes widened in shock. He didn’t even stop to praise it. Instead, he ate the entire fish almost as fast as he could.

The other nearby students, who’d been observing Huo Yuhao from the sidelines, immediately understood what had happened. The other three mackerels that Huo Yuhao had roasted so far were instantly bought, and his total sales revenue directly increased to twenty copper soul coins, which was equivalent to two silver soul coins.

These four roasted fish caused Huo Yuhao to gain an ‘exceptional’ reputation in a very short period of time. This was the academy’s entrance, so the number of people that passed him was extremely great. His small booth quickly became surrounded by a nearly-impenetrable crowd.

“Too tasty, that was really too tasty.” The yellow-shirted student who’d bought the first roasted fish managed to squeeze back in, albeit with much difficulty. “Junior brother, give me three more roasted fish. I’ll have my dinner here tonight.”

A purple-clothed student who was one year older than him coldly responded, “Go to the back of the line.”

Huo Yuhao didn’t think that his roasted fish would sell so well. He spoke apologetically to the students surrounding the oven, “Fellow classmates and seniors, it’s my first day doing business, thus I can only sell eighteen roasted fish. I sold four fish earlier, but I still have fourteen left. Following the principle of ‘first come, first serve’, those who aren’t lined up should come back tomorrow.”

As he spoke, he put away the money that he’d so far into the Twenty Four Moonlit Bridges. After selling eighteen fish, he’d made nine silver soul coins. If he deducted the costs of production, what was left was enough for him to both eat his fill and save some. Huo Yuhao wasn’t greedy; he understand that the most important for him right now was to cultivate. Having enough money to survive was good enough.

Skewers of roasted fish came out of the grill one after another as Huo Yuhao continued to roast the fish with extreme seriousness. He didn’t decrease their quality due to the number of people. Every single person who chose to buy one of his roasted fish was incomparably satisfied, with some people even choosing to order fish for tomorrow in advance. After some consideration, Huo Yuhao still decided to stick with a queue model. After all, the taste of hot food was the greatest when it had just finished cooking. If someone were to eat it any later, its flavour would’ve diminished.

At this moment, a few female students wearing purple school uniforms walked out of the gate to Shrek Academy. Her appearance immediately attracted countless gazes.

She only looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, and her figure was slender and well proportioned. Her golden hair was draped behind her shoulders like a waterfall, and her skin was snow-white. Her eyes were akin to clear water, and when she looked around, she had an elegant temperament. Her face resembled jade, a crescent halo, as well as snow around a flowering tree. She had a gentle beauty, a charming voice, a lovable appearance, and an extraordinary beauty that couldn’t be found anywhere else. Her beauty, that seemed as if it could cause the downfall of a country, seemed to dull the colours of everything else around her.

“Sister Nan, something smells good. What’s that smell?” A student beside the exceedingly beautiful young lady asked curiously. Her looks were also extraordinary, but unfortunately, how could fireflies next to the moon emit any radiance?

The exceedingly beautiful young lady had clearly also smelled the aroma. All of the girls couldn’t help but cast their gazes towards Huo Yuhao’s booth.

Perhaps the beauty of that young lady was too imposing, but the students who’d originally been in line in front of Huo Yuhao’s booth actually opened up a path for her. She, and the other female students she was with, walked towards the oven. Only, when the exceedingly beautiful young lady saw everyone taking the initiative to open a path for her, she wasn’t arrogant at all. Instead, she carried an extremely warm smile and nodded her head towards them in thanks. All of the students who saw her smile had flushed faces filled with excitement.

When Huo Yuhao saw the exceedingly beautiful young lady, he blanked out. Previously, the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen had been was Tang Ya, but not only was the purple-clothed female student in front of him not inferior to Tang Ya, she even had both a gentle and warm temperament. When you added that to her somewhat melancholic expression, she had a beautiful and moving appearance. Compared to her, Tang Ya was a lively and cheerful, easy-go-lucky girl. As for their appearances, it simply depended on one’s preference.

“Junior brother, how much are you selling these roasted fish for?” The exceedingly beautiful young lady asked quietly.

At this moment, Huo Yuhao had just sold the last of the eighteen roasted fish he’d had. The last two remaining fish on the grill were for Tang Ya.

“Senior sister, they’re five copper soul coins each.”

The exceedingly beautiful young lady furrowed her brow, then said, “This is a bit expensive. If we consider how much it costs for the ingredients, plus the work you’ve put in, three copper soul coins—at most—should be fine. You’ll still make a profit.”

Huo Yuhao was stunned. He hadn’t thought that a young lady as beautiful as her would actually haggle with him. None of his previous customers had done this.

“I’m sorry, but my roasted fish are sold at a fixed priced. Furthermore, I’ve already sold all of my fish for the day.” Huo Yuhao spoke with a flat tone. Tang Ya was the one who’d set the price, so he wouldn’t change it easily. Moreover, this income was very important to him, and was just enough for him as-is.

The exceedingly beautiful young lady was stunned for a moment, then apologetically said, “I’m sorry, I was just making a casual calculation. If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll try your roasted fish.” As she said this, she turned around and walked away from Huo Yuhao’s temporary booth.

Huo Yuhao clearly sensed that the surrounding atmosphere had become somewhat abnormal. Many of the students that had previously been looking fervently at him were now glaring at him.

“Brat, you dare not to sell it?” A deep voice full of anger suddenly rang out, immediately followed by a golden light that shot towards Huo Yuhao’s booth.

“Ding—” The golden light accurately struck his grill. In fact, it actually embedded itself in it. Impressively, it was a golden soul coin. Following that, a figure walked towards Huo Yuhao’s booth with large strides, until he quickly arrived in front of it. As soon as he arrived, he stretched his hand out to grab the two roasted fish.

Because roasting fish required precise control over the heat, Huo Yuhao had kept his Spirit Eyes activated this whole time. When that deep voice rang out, he’d sensed an enormous pressure arrive. Thus, he’d subconsciously released his Spiritual Detection.

Although the hand that reached towards the roasted fish was very quick, Huo Yuhao managed to predict the movements of the other party via his Spiritual Detection, allowing him to grab the two skewers of roasted fish before retreating backwards a few steps. He’d set these fish aside especially for Tang Ya. How could he let other people take them?

The person who’d tried to grab the roasted fish actually grabbed a few pieces of charcoal from the oven instead of the fish in his hurry.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao was able to clearly see the appearance of the newcomer.

He was wearing a black school uniform; he was actually a sixth-year student. He looked to be around Bei Bei’s age, and had a tall figure that was comparable to He Caitou’s. He had bushy eyebrows, as well as eyes that resembled that of a tiger’s. He also had a straight nose, a square-shaped mouth, along with a grand appearance. His fair skin had already been suffused with a few shades of red due to his anger, while his face, which still seemed to contain some baby fat, was quite imposing.