The moment Lu Mingfei stepped into the cafeteria, a feeling akin to a dean inspecting the cafeteria at Shilan arose within him; all the students simultaneously turned their gazes towards him, then quickly looked away.
Even the auntie at the counter was extra careful, no longer letting the meat chunks in the large ladle fall back into the pot, lest the sound startle the S-rank.
It was unclear which idiot started it, but after a shout of "Welcome, S-rank, on your triumphant return!" thunderous applause erupted, interspersed with a few voices from the Seek Path Society's fan club, whose words were truly unbearable, making Lu Mingfei's face flush.
Seeing Lu Mingfei walk towards the counter, the students in line automatically parted, escorting him to the counter.
"What would you like?" The auntie's voice was unusually gentle today.
"Braised pork?"
This atmosphere made Lu Mingfei feel incredibly uneasy; he hadn't done anything earth-shattering, comparable to saving the world, yet everyone's attitude towards him was a bit too enthusiastic.
"Eating here?"
"Takeout, takeout," Lu Mingfei quickly said. In this environment, let alone finding someone to be his dungeon partner, it would be a miracle if he could even sit down and eat.
Perhaps only a divine being like Senior Brother Fingel could be so at ease and talkative in such a situation.
"No need to swipe your card. It's only right to give braised pork to a returning hero."
Lu Mingfei twitched his lips. "Returning hero gets braised pork? Then when I return victorious from the Kui Men Plan, will I get twice-cooked pork?"
"Fleeing in disarray" from the cafeteria, Lu Mingfei returned to his dorm, heart pounding.
Even so, many people along the way still eagerly approached him to shake hands and ask for autographs. He even mastered the trick of writing his name with lipstick. After writing it, he couldn't help but wonder if he should practice his handwriting more.
"The big star is back?"
Fingel leaned back in his chair, a chicken leg, from which even the marrow had been sucked, dangling from his mouth.
"Senior Brother, you don't have to be so shabby, do you? Didn't you make a fortune from the 3E Exam?" Lu Mingfei placed the braised pork on the table and went to the fridge for a drink.
"It all went to paying off debts and earning credit," Fingel said, eagerly untying Lu Mingfei's takeout bag. "Still, Junior Brother, you're the best. You actually bought two servings of braised pork for lunch today. Senior Brother truly didn't misjudge you."
Lu Mingfei didn't think he could finish such greasy braised pork by himself, so he didn't stop Fingel. He rummaged through the fridge. "Senior Brother, did you buy this alcohol?"
It was strange; Senior Brother always claimed to be broke, yet the fridge was never without drinks, and occasionally, there would be two bottles of beer.
"Carefully prepared for my dearest Junior Brother. In the future, when Junior Brother brings Junior Sisters into the dorm, if you're too shy, you can have a couple of bottles," Fingel said lecherously.
"First, let's not even talk about what that 's' means," Lu Mingfei turned and glared at Fingel. "Senior Brother, can you please stop imposing your flirtatious persona on me?"
"I thought Junior Brother, after hanging out with the principal for so long, had finally learned a bit of the essence."
"Is the essence just randomly abducting girls back to the dorm?" Lu Mingfei angrily reprimanded Fingel's improper conduct.
"I get it! So Junior Brother, you're a pure-love enthusiast!" Fingel seemed to have seen through Lu Mingfei's true nature.
"Nonsense! If I wasn't a pure-love enthusiast, could I have liked Chen Wenwen for three years?!" Lu Mingfei shouted, putting the drink in his hand back and pulling out a bag of alcohol. "Three years! Do you know what I went through in those three years?!"
"Junior Brother, you actually used that to refute me," Fingel said in surprise, catching the beer Lu Mingfei forcefully threw at him with both hands. "Your growth truly makes this father proud."
"Bah! Trying to take advantage of me, huh? Believe it or not, if I raise my arm and shout now, you'll be able to eat a cartload of tomatoes and rotten eggs when you go out tomorrow?" Lu Mingfei threatened.
"An elder brother is like a father! I'm your Senior Brother, so what's wrong with taking a little advantage?!" Fingel argued, his reasoning unsound but his spirit strong.
"Twisted logic, twisted logic! Senior Brother, how do you want to die? Pillow or shoelace? Pick one." Lu Mingfei sat opposite Fingel and opened a beer.
Fingel smiled knowingly and opened a bottle of beer. "Come on, drink me to death!"
Two cans of beer clinked together, and the atmosphere suddenly shifted. Lu Mingfei leaned in on Fingel with immense pressure. "Speaking of which, Senior Brother, have you been single for eight years?"
"No way!" How could Fingel endure such an insult? He immediately denied it before the alcohol even touched his lips.
"Oh? So you've had several convoluted love stories?"
"What 'several'? Senior Brother has only had one!"
"Ha! Senior Brother, you're also a die-hard pure-love enthusiast. Why pretend to be a ladies' man?" Lu Mingfei's scheme succeeded. "Why wasn't there a second one?"
"Senior Brother is too useless, ah. I was afraid of holding a good girl back," Fingel said mournfully, putting on a self-sacrificing act.
Lu Mingfei looked at the feigning Fingel with disgust. "Senior Brother, you're surprisingly self-aware."
"Junior Brother, if you talk about Senior Brother like that, Senior Brother will be sad," Fingel said tearfully.
"Senior Brother, I'm sorry," Lu Mingfei said, feigning comfort.
A moment later, both of them gagged twice, disgusted.
Lu Mingfei hadn't forgotten he still had things to do, so he didn't drink much. After clinking two cans with Fingel, he lowered his head to play on his phone.
Opening his contacts to reach out to his A-rank partner, he realized he only had a handful of contacts: Professor Guderian, Fingel, Chu Zihang, Caesar, and Zero.
He remembered the cold girl and, for a moment, bit his finger, unsure what to do.
Exiting the contacts interface, Lu Mingfei intended to send Zero a message, but then he discovered Zero had already sent him a text message a while ago.
"Are you back? Not hurt, are you? Want to team up?"
Although it was three consecutive questions, Lu Mingfei could still imagine Zero's expressionless face when sending those three messages.
Fingel, who was silently peeking at the screen, immediately brightened. "Which junior sister is this, caring about you so much?"
"She's a junior sister to you, but a classmate to me, Zero. You must know, given how much you browse forums," Lu Mingfei mumbled, thinking about how to reply. There was no reason for this girl to be so proactive with him.
The message was sent a few hours ago, a few minutes after the forum post about his brutal killing of three Death Servants.
"Wow, Junior Brother, with that send time, she cares about you endlessly," the peeking Fingel exclaimed.
"Senior Brother, can you imagine Zero caring about someone?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously.
"Begging Senior Brother's pardon, it's very difficult," Fingel said with a troubled expression. From the information he had, the news department found it as hard to find a hot topic about this girl as it was to find a banana in Siberia, let alone news about her caring for someone of the opposite sex.
"Junior Brother, you are truly Senior Brother's blessing."
Lu Mingfei picked up a piece of braised pork and stuffed it into Fingel's mouth. "Senior Brother, you are forbidden from sending this news."