Everyone ate happily. After all, most people weren’t like Xu Mang. Even though Xu Mang didn’t exactly fit the image of a good person, he was an honest-to-God rich kid—he just kept a low profile on the matter.
“Xu Mang. You’re… you’re sure that this meal is free?” As their homeroom teacher, Lin Yishan was extremely pleased with their class’ gathering this time, but he had secretly asked the boss for the price, and suddenly, his mood wasn’t so sweet.
Even the rough estimation had started at fifty to sixty thousand!
They could buy an imported car with that amount of money!
Plus, Lin Yishan had found out some other news. Technically, their meal wasn’t free! They would have to show some of their prowess if they wanted a free meal. He took a look at the bucket of unagi rice. If they could finish the entire bucket in ten minutes, their meal would be on the house.
Ten minutes?
An entire bucket of rice?
How was that even possible!!
“Don’t worry about it, Mr. Lin!” Xu Mang laughed. “Eat to your heart’s content… Hey, Mrs. Lin, it looks like you’re really enjoying that plate of sashimi. How about I get the boss to prepare two more plates?”
“Huh? I… I…” Lin Yishan’s wife stole a glance at her husband, and seeing his brows were knitted in a bunch, she knew he wasn’t at his happiest, and she quickly shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine.”
The wordless interaction between the married couple didn’t go unnoticed by the King of Mischief himself, Xu Mang. Being the infamously horrible student from Class 2, cancer even amongst the other bad students, and little more than a pile of trash with no moral values, Xu Mang could read people like a book.
Otherwise, he might not have been able to safely make it to his final year.
Xu Mang ordered another twelve sets of the sashimi platter, adding tens of thousands more to the already astronomical bill.
“Lawyer Gao? Eat up!” Xu Mang spoke to the lawyer beside him. “Don’t be shy!”
“I…”
Lawyer Gao didn’t really know what to do. He had thought that this was going to be a regular business meeting, but now, it had become a feast. His professionalism was bugging him too. He hadn’t even done anything yet and he had already had his client spend a small fortune on food.
“Mr. Xu… I… won’t charge you anything this time,” Lawyer Gao said, exasperated.
“Cool!” Xu Mang nodded. He had never planned on paying anything anyway, but now that lawyer Gao was the one to bring it up, he would gladly take him up on his offer.
“Honey?”
“Yes?”
“Are there any underaged students in your class?”
Lin Yishan’s wife pulled her husband aside, a puzzled expression on her face. “That girl that’s sitting beside Xu Mang, no matter how I look at her, she looks to be thirteen or fourteen at most, yet she’s already in Senior 3?”
“You’re talking about Yang Xiaoman? Haha!”
Speaking about Yang Xiaoman always caused Lin Yishan’s face to glow with pride. “She’s the treasure of our school. Do you know who was ranked first in our entire city during the midterms? It was Yang Xiaoman!”
“After the exam, do you know how many famous schools started scouting her?” Lin Yishan continued, “Every school with a ranking came to ask about her.”
“Huh?! She’s… that good?”
“You just asked a question, didn’t you?” Lin Yishan was unsatisfied. “You shouldn’t use questions when talking about Yang Xiaoman, you should use exclamations!”
“She really is just that good!”
“See, now that’s the right way to talk,” Lin Yishan nodded sternly.
“How old is she?”
“Sixteen!”
“GASP!”
Lin Yishan’s wife felt a wave of shock rush through her, and once she calmed down, she grabbed on to her husband’s shirt. “Then you must keep a close eye on her, don’t let a genius like her fall victim to a teenage relationship.”
A relationship?
Yang Xiaoman?
How was that even possible!
Lin Yishan shook his head. “There’s no way Yang Xiaoman would date anyone right now!”
“Really? But my female instincts are telling me that her relationship with Xu Mang might have more to it than meets the eye.” Lin Yishan’s wife laughed. “Didn’t you notice while you were eating? Every dish was laid out by Xu Mang, and all of them were near to where Yang Xiaoman was sitting, and yet, all the empty plates were pushed to Xu Mang’s side.
“Even though Yang Xiaoman hasn’t said a word during the meal, her posture is slightly tilted toward Xu Mang, and the towel for her to wipe her mouth is always placed near Xu Mang. All these details can only mean one thing, which is their relationship exceeds that of a pure friendship!”
Lin Yishan fell into deep thought…
“You’re overthinking things! Yang Xiaoman is a pure young girl!” Lin Yishan said, completely serious. “There’s no way she would fall for a boy like Xu Mang!”
Facing her stubborn husband, Lin Yishan’s wife let out a long sigh. In today’s day and age, it was exactly the bad-boy types that got the girls!
Even though it was the first time she was meeting Xu Mang, from her husband’s previous ramblings about his students, Xu Mang fit the stereotypes of a bad boy to a T. He could do everything besides studying, he was brave, he had thick skin, he was happy-go-lucky, he was attractive, and he came from a rich family. No woman would be able to resist him.
By 12.30 pm, everyone was finishing up their meals. That was when the excited boss made his way over to their table with a credit card terminal in his hand and a commercial smile plastered on his face. “Credit card?”
Xu Mang paused, shaking his head. “Let’s not bother with that first, I’m not even full yet… doesn’t your restaurant have that Plus Ultra Unadon thing? I’d like to try that, could you make one for me?”
“Huh? Of… of course!” The boss nodded, smiling all the way back to the kitchen.
“One Plus Ultra Unadon!”
“Coming right up!”
In the blink of an eye, the head chef started grilling the unagi while a waiter busied himself by filling a bucket with rice. Still, the boss wasn’t completely satisfied.
“Push it down a little!”
“Okay!”
The waiter pressed the rice down into the bucket before topping it off with… you guessed it, more rice.
“Boss? I think you’re worrying too much.” The waiter laughed. “That guy challenged our Plus Ultra Unadon yesterday as well, could you imagine his face when the rice bowl was brought out? He was so scared he just stood up and left.”
“We mustn’t let our guard down! The bill this time is astronomical, we have to take all necessary precautions!” The boss’s expression darkened. “Push it harder! Is that the best you can do?!”
***
When the unadon was served, seeing the sheer size of the thing, everyone couldn’t help but stare with their eyes and mouths wide open. You were supposed to finish this in ten minutes? Would you even survive?
Everyone was trying to talk Xu Mang down, telling him to treasure his life. Even though not everything would always go their way, the most important thing was to live on! Hope could not exist without life, and once you were dead, that was the end.
Xu Mang understood, but he had already decided what he had to do.
“Sir, before the challenge begins, I have to ask you a few questions.” The boss smiled. “You have medical insurance, don’t you? What about life insurance?”
Sarcasm! Absolutely raw sarcasm!
Even though they usually weren’t too close with Xu Mang, seeing him get teased by an outsider didn’t make the rest of the students feel particularly good, and all of them stared daggers at the boss, itching to start a fight.
“Thank you for your concern…”
Xu Mang was sarcastic in his response as well.
He picked up his chopsticks, only for a hand as soft as silk to grab him by the wrist. Looking up, it was Yang Xiaoman.
“Don’t… don’t do it, we should just pay!” Yang Xiaoman was extremely worried about Xu Mang’s safety, fearing for her friend’s life. In her eyes, when compared to Xu Mang’s well-being, this bit of money was nothing.
“Hehe. I’m absolutely famished… Oh, that’s right, help me record this!”
Xu Mang ignored Yang Xiaoman’s kindness, he was serious this time.
‘System, how many points will I need to finish this unagi rice in ten minutes?’
[System has detected, finishing the Unadon in ten minutes will require: 200 points (Hungry Ghost Skill)]
Checking skills…
Hungry Ghost Skill: 320
Pay!
“Boss! Today’s your lucky day, you get the chance to see my true power!” Xu Mang snickered. “Now, I shall break the seals on my mortal body!”
And then, Xu Mang silently took off the leather belt on his jeans.
Bon appetit!