Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Yeah, a little service, but not much

He could not figure it out. But the money was spent, and there was no reason to return the tickets. At least he had paid the original price and wasn’t overcharged. He told himself sadly: [So it’s not a loss.]

Time ticked to ten o’clock. With a bang, the plaza’s main gate closed. Old Master Sun and a few old fellows found seats right next to the Principal.

Old Master Sun chuckled and said, “So many people today. The Beast Taming plaza hasn’t been this lively in a long time.” He turned to the Principal and asked, “You and Little Qian are close?”

The Principal’s eye twitched. He knew Elder Sun did not want others to know his identity, so he answered like a regular person: “Kind of. I helped that girl before.”

Old Master Sun laughed and said, “What a coincidence. Turns out we both helped Little Qian.”

The Principal pricked up his ears and blurted: “You… you also gave Qian Qi money?”

Old Master Sun waved his hand and said, “Oh, not that. Little Qian is generous. She even cut me in on a share.”

[Huh? What?] the Principal thought.

He almost thought he misheard. A share? Back when he practically gave her an arm, not only did he get no share, he even paid out of pocket to help advertise her.

His heart felt bitter, but he could not complain in front of Elder Sun. He could only stare gloomily at the arena. Beside him, silent Su Ang pressed his thin lips, a tiny smile flickering in his eyes.

The bell struck ten. On the field, the north gate that led to the magibeast storage room slammed open. A junior from the Beast Taming department rode out on an Iron Bear nearly three meters tall.

The crowd roared. Students from the Magibeast department clapped and screamed with excitement. Students from the Skills department stared with wide eyes like they had never seen the world. Students from the Command department stayed calm and collected. Students from the Beast Taming department wore proud, satisfied smiles.

Students from the Magiplant department… scoffed.

One muttered under his breath: “It’s only D level. What’s there to show off? Once I grow a D level Wind Magi Flower, beasts of that level won’t even get close.”

Another snorted: “Look at that little bear. It looks malnourished. I bet it was starved and abused before it agreed to a beast contract.”

A third said: “Beast tamers will do anything to sign a contract. Not like us. We won’t give up our magiplant until the last moment.”

Beast Taming students whipped around and glared as one warned: “What did you just say? Looking for trouble?”

The Magiplant students bowed their heads in silence. They had no choice. In the Awakener University, their major was the least popular and had the lowest status.

With the Iron Bear’s flashy entrance done, Qian Qi finally showed up. She bounced to the front row with a few oranges in her arms and greeted Chen Tong and the Principal with warm cheer as she said: “How is it? The view is wide open, right? You can see everything crystal clear!”

Chen Tong snorted. To be fair, he was pleased with the exclusive seats. He felt a dark thrill as he thought: [Can’t wait to watch Qian Qi get hurt on the spot. I’ll record it on my Light-Brain, put it in a gold frame, and hang it in my room as a trophy.]

Qian Qi flashed a customer service smile and said: “Our VVVIP seats also come with other thoughtful service.” She handed each of them one of the four oranges and added, “Eat while you watch. Don’t be shy.”

The Principal looked at the orange in his hand and thought: [Yeah, a little service, but not much.]

Eager to claw back even one coin from Qian Qi, Chen Tong peeled his orange, took a bite, and then his smile died. It was sour.

Chen Miao Miao tried a tiny bite, put her orange aside, and refused to eat more.

The Principal had learned to be careful. Seeing Chen Tong and Chen Miao Miao suffer, he decided not to eat.

Su Ang lowered his gaze to the orange in his hand. After a moment, his long pale fingers slowly peeled it. He broke off a small segment and slipped it into his mouth. His expression softened as he chewed. The sight of the silver haired beauty eating an orange was so easy on the eyes that the Principal could not help wondering: [Maybe not all the oranges are sour?]

He peeled his own and immediately teared up from the sourness. He gritted his teeth and thought: [Unbelievable. That brat only gave the sweet orange to Su Ang.]

He looked up and caught Qian Qi watching him with a sneaky grin. The instant their eyes met, she wiped the smile and pretended she had seen nothing.

The Principal glowered and thought: [Just wait. Don’t let me catch you slipping.]

After teasing the three of them, Qian Qi turned to head down to the field. Right then, Chen Tong stopped her. He glanced at her Light-Brain, forced his excitement down, looked away, and said calmly: “Qian Qi, the match is dangerous. Give anything valuable to Miao Miao first. Otherwise if you break it, you’ll play games and try to make me pay.”

Qian Qi blinked and clapped, looking touched as she said: “Senior! You’re so thoughtful! I almost forgot!”

She quickly took off her Light-Brain and bent toward Chen Miao Miao to hand it over. Chen Miao Miao did not know what Chen Tong was planning, but she had to play along to get any benefit. She reached out to take it.

Then Qian Qi paused, straightened, and walked to the Principal instead. She held out her newest model Light-Brain, started to speak, hesitated, sighed, and turned to Su Ang.

The Principal stiffened and thought: [What does that mean? Is she sighing because she thinks I, the Principal, would pocket her Light-Brain?]

Qian Qi handed it to the silver haired student and said, “Senior Su, please keep this for me. I feel safer with you.” She really had no choice. She had tricked the other three before. Only Su Ang had no grudge with her, so she trusted him more. She had also heard he was strong and responsible. If something happened in the fight, he could protect her Light-Brain.

In the back row, Su Xing Le shot up a hand and volunteered: “Junior, junior, I’ll help you!”

Qian Qi smacked his hand away and said, “Can’t you see I’m flirting with a beauty? Don’t butt in!”

“…” went Su Xing Le.

Su Ang met Qian Qi’s steady eyes. He did not think she was flirting. He opened his hand to take the Light-Brain and said in a cool voice, “Okay.” He thought: [For the sweet orange.]

With her most valuable item safe, Qian Qi rolled her neck and stretched her limbs. Now it was showtime.

She grabbed the microphone connected to the speaker, sprang onto the railing like a monkey, spread her arms, and shouted: “Hello back there, audience! I’m Qian Qi, a first year in the Magiplant department. On this grand and sunny day, I’ll show you the latest Qian Qi brand product: a Defense Fruit that can ignore all D level magibeast damage for ten minutes!”

She swung a homemade thumbs up cane from her waistband and pointed toward a suddenly black faced Chen Tong as she announced: “First, let me introduce today’s sponsor, Chen Tong from the Magibeast department!”

She grinned and added: “Chen Tong bet one hundred thousand credits against me. He put down a fifty thousand deposit. As long as I ignore all D level magibeast damage for ten minutes, he’ll pay the other fifty thousand on the spot!”

She swept her arm over the stands and cried: “And all of you will be the witnesses to this bet! Cheer! Let me hear your fire!”

The students caught her bold, social energy and shouted back. The noise swelled until the plaza crackled with heat.

Qian Qi tipped back and fell toward the stands, then finished a clean backflip, landed steady on the field, and sprinted toward the D level Iron Bear as she yelled: “Timer, start!”

The scoreboard flared to life overhead, and the countdown jumped to 09:59.

The whole place exploded. The roar was so loud it felt like it would lift the roof of the plaza.

Someone yelled: “Wuhu! Qian Qi is insane in the best way! I vote her craziest of the year!”

Another whooped: “She’s really going solo against a D level contract beast! That’s awesome!”

A third cried: “My heart is about to jump out! Can she really last ten minutes?”

The freshmen especially had not seen a contract beast match this exciting in a long time. They chattered over one another until the whole place boiled.

Students in the back grumbled: “We can’t see anything back here. Move up!” People left their seats, crowding near the front rows and along the rail, nervous and shaking as they watched.

The Principal watched these excited, full of life students, and a young blaze rose in his heart. He thought: [This is the kind of hot blood students should have. Even when facing a D level magibeast, they stand in the front row to witness a great fight and hope humans win in the end.]

His chest swelled, but the very next second, he suddenly felt something was off.