Feng Wu Wants to Study at Xingguang Holy Academy
The three older men from earlier were very helpful and gave Feng Wu and Tian Ke directions to the school. “See that clock tower? It’s a part of the school. If you keep walking towards it you’ll eventually reach the academy.”
Jier got off the flying beast carriage and followed Feng Wu and Tian Ke. When he found out their destination he was even more willing to following along.
“Feng Wu, are you really not gonna take the entrance examinations for Xingguang Academy? They only open enrollment once every three years. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot of advanced sword techniques there. Maybe even Saint level ones.” Jier thought she was an interesting girl and that it would be nice to have a cla.s.smate like her.
Feng Wu bit her lip but didn’t reply. Instead she hugged little bun closer to her chest and just kept walking straight ahead towards to bell tower.
“You really don’t want to go? The cooks at the school are first cla.s.s so the food there is delicious! There are lots of speciality dishes from all the countries on the continent. So if you become a student, all the way until you graduate, you get to eat till you’re stuffed!” He’d come to understand her nature from the time they spent on the flying carriage. Food was definitely her weak point.
Sure enough Feng Wu paused and turned around. Her eyes shone as bright as the stars in the sky. “It’s all delicious?! Really?!”
“Really really.” Jier nodded his head emphatically. “The food is super tasty. And you won’t even need to spend money. As long as you’re the top student in your grade, the school will comp your meals. They take really good care of all their top students. So how about it?”
“I want to go there.” Feng Wu stated in a daze. She was being told there would be delicious food to eat. Not only that, it could be free delicious food! She was very happy.
Tian Ke sighed. This girl… so simple. Where there is food she will follow. He shook his head looking at her. She’s going to be tricked and be sold one day.
This was great. Jier felt a sense of accomplishment at having convinced her.
“Yeah and even if you’re not the top student, if you’re too poor to afford lunch, the school will give you free lunches. They’re prepackaged meals but they are filling and nutritious. It’s just that you can’t customize it and they don’t have much variety.”
With her at the school he wouldn’t have to worry about not having anyone to hang out with. Jier didn’t want her to regret her decision so right then and there he made up his mind to accede the top student position to her. This way she would get lots of preferential treatment as the top student. Xingguang Academy was hard to get into, but once you were in, the school made sure to take good care of you.
Feng Wu had no resistance to free things. She was really interested in the free meal aspect of it all. So if you’re poor you get free food? She really wanted to know how to apply as a poor student.
“What poor student? If you don’t have money just go with this brother. I’ll take you out to eat as much as you want.” Jier slapped his chest proudly. He hadn’t asked about her home situation, but he wondered if it was really bad.
“No. I want to apply as a free meal student. Also you’re not my brother. You’re a friend.”
That last part… Jier made a complicated face. Clearly they were referring to two different things. The brother she referred to was hundreds of thousands of miles away from the one he had in mind.
Feng Wu kept on insisting that she wanted to apply as a student under financial duress.
“Ugh! OK! Apply! Just apply. I’ll help you fill out the application!” Jier cried out in frustration. “Also you know the term ‘brother’, when I said it, I didn’t mean it literally. It’s a figure of speech, a joke.” Jier found it hard to believe this girl was real. It was the first time he had seen such a thing. What was wrong with being his sister? Do you know how many girls wanted to be his sister but had no shot in h.e.l.l?!
“Joke? What’s that?” Feng Wu’s childhood had been very simple. The one she had most contact with was her Master, and Master had a very indifferent att.i.tude. As a result she had grown up to this point without rever encountering a joke.
This question made Jier and Tian Ke want to vomit blood. What deep isolated forest did this girl come from?! both wondered.
“A joke is something that doesn’t have to be taken seriously. That is, it’s for playing around. You don’t have to take it to heart.” Jier tried to give her the simplest explanation he could think of.
Feng Wu listened intently. Jokes don’t need to be taken seriously. It’s just playing around and doesn’t need to be taken to heart. She repeated what Jier said in her head so as to memorize it well.
If Jier knew she was taking what he said so seriously and was studiously memorizing it, he would have surely wanted to vomit even more blood.
Because Zhongyong was such a big city, it would take them over an hour to walk all the way to the academy. Jier wasn’t into that. So he suggested taking a carriage, his treat of course.
The carriage he hired was large and comfortable. Within twenty minutes they reached the campus gates. The area was deserted though as most students were still on break and wouldn’t be returning until the next day. The only person in sight was an elderly guard.
“h.e.l.lo old sir. [notes] We’re looking for Tian Ke’s aunt. Can you help us and have her to come out?” Feng Wu first politely greeted the old man. Master taught her to always greet others first before asking for things. It was the proper thing to do.
The old man looked at her and saw that her eyes were clear and clean. She was definitely a “What you see is what you get” kind of girl - very straightforward. He swept his gaze across Tian Ke. There was nothing much to see there, he was just a small child after all. The red haired boy though… he was another matter altogether. The amount of magic emanating from him was very strong. The fact that he wasn’t purposefully projecting it outward was what made it so incredible. Is he one of the eight kids exempt from the test? Well whatever. Whether he is or not, we’ll find out in a few days. Finished checking them out he returned his gaze to Feng Wu. He appreciated simple children like her so his att.i.tude when he spoke was very amenable.
“What is that aunt’s name? Is she faculty or staff?”
Tian Ke felt the old man’s eyes turn to him. It felt like he was seeing right into him. It made him really nervous! So much so that he moved and hid behind Feng Wu without even realizing it. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt pressure of the gaze move away from him. Although he was afraid, he really wanted to meet again the only relative he had left, his beloved aunt. So he gathered his courage to answer the old man. He took a breath and said, “My aunt’s name is Tian Yue. She’s the wife of the head chef for the student dining hall. She told me that she also worked in the kitchen prepping.”