"Actually, the failure rate is quite low," Ouyang Tianyun said slowly as he brought over the prepared barbecue ingredients.
"It seems so. We have thirteen spots. The chance of failing is really small," Elder Wu said slowly, then complained, "You kids, why play competitions? You took thirteen spots. I wonder what you’ll do tomorrow."
"Rock, paper, scissors," everyone answered in unison. "If we meet each other, we’ll just play rock, paper, scissors."
"Isn’t that too casual?" Guan Feng asked curiously.
"Casual?" Yi Yunfei laughed. "Dean Guan, you really don’t know us. This isn’t casual; it’s doing as we please. For us, this small competition doesn’t matter. We just don’t want others to watch our show."
A true cultivator never becomes an actor in someone else’s play. They only watch others perform, without needing to comment.
Guan Feng might have known this before, but over time, he forgot. Now, hearing Yi Yunfei, he remembered. He recalled being carefree in his youth. When did he start caring so much about cultivation? The more he cared, the harder it was to break through. His progress stopped.
Guan Feng paused. Was his mindset the problem?
She wanted to ask, but decided to wait. She would test if her mindset was the issue.
"Fifteen, do we have more vegetables? We ran out," Niu Wulang shouted.
"Ask Third Senior Brother. I just gave her two more boxes," Zhu Yanyi said, grilling her own food. "By the way, Thirteenth Senior Brother, you’re too fast. I only grilled a third of the first batch, and you finished it?"
"We big eaters ate several vegetables raw, without grilling," Niu Wulang said. As a teacher, he should have grilled tomatoes and cucumbers, but his group ate them raw.
Zhu Yanyi looked at Niu Wulang speechlessly. "Take it easy. Third Senior Brother prepared those. If she knows you wasted her work, she’ll beat you."
"It’s fine. Third Senior Brother didn’t hear," Niu Wulang smiled.
"Thirteen, do you think I’m deaf? I heard you loud and clear," Ouyang Tianyun sneered.
Niu Wulang froze. He rushed to Ouyang Tianyun, looking flattering. "Third Senior Brother, I was joking. Who made me a fool? Scold me if you want. Just give me vegetables after."
"Fine. Here are vegetables," Ouyang Tianyun said, not bothering to argue. "But these must be grilled. Raw eating is forbidden for these mushrooms. Grill them yourselves."
Niu Wulang didn’t care. He grabbed the vegetables and hurried back, afraid Ouyang Tianyun would beat him if he stayed.
Ouyang Tianyun smiled seeing Niu Wulang’s reaction.
"Third Senior Brother, you’re generous today. You’re not angry," Cui Changjiu asked, puzzled.
Zhu Yanyi smiled faintly. "Generous? She put medicine in the mushrooms for Thirteenth Senior Brother. She’ll fall asleep after eating."
Since he’d sleep, he couldn’t eat more. Clearly, this was Ouyang Tianyun’s punishment.
Sure enough, Niu Wulang took one bite of the grilled mushroom and fell asleep.
"We were discussing his food, but he didn’t listen. This fool is truly foolish," Cui Changjiu laughed helplessly.
Zhu Yanyi laughed too. "Ignore her. She’ll sleep and wake up tomorrow."
Poor Niu Wulang. He thought avoiding a beating meant avoiding punishment. He was too naive.
Jian Feiyan walked to Niu Wulang and kicked him twice. "Sleeping like a dead pig. He wouldn’t wake up even in a粪 pit."
"The medicine was refined by Fifteen. Naturally, it works," Ouyang Tianyun shifted the blame.
Zhu Yanyi glanced at Ouyang Tianyun. "Third Senior Brother, should I give Thirteenth Senior Brother an antidote pill?"
"(⊙o⊙)…" Ouyang Tianyun hurriedly said, "No need. Thirteenth Senior Brother has been tired lately. Let him rest."
"Thirteenth Senior Brother rests every day," Yang Ruochen said. "He doesn’t need the semi-finals."
"Right," Ouyang Tianyun paused, then looked at Niu Wulang, sleeping like a dead pig. "Who suggested he lose? He gets to relax while we work hard."
Ouyang Tianyun’s eyes twinkled. "I decided. If I meet First Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister, or Fifteen, I’ll admit defeat immediately. No need for rock, paper, scissors."
"What about others?" Mi Xiao asked with a smile. "I think if we meet you, we should admit defeat. You have too many tricks. Problems might arise."
"What do you mean I have too many tricks?" Ouyang Tianyun complained.
"Shall we count who we admit defeat to?" Cui Chang’an asked carefully.
"Seventeen said what I wanted to say. Let’s discuss admitting defeat," Shi Chengchen said.
"How about I admit defeat to all of you?" Zhu Yanyi suggested.
"You wish," everyone said in unison, looking at Zhu Yanyi. Jian Feiyan huffed heavily. "Why do we have thirteen spots? Because of you. We decided: except for you, if any of the twelve meet you, we admit defeat. You caused the trouble; you fix it."
Zhu Yanyi paused, then looked helpless. "It really has nothing to do with me. I didn’t know it would turn out this way."
"Don’t make excuses. You can’t give up. Be good," Jian Feiyan said, patting Zhu Yanyi’s shoulder to comfort her.
Zhu Yanyi paused, laughing and crying at Jian Feiyan. She looked at the other classmates. "You have no class friendship."
"Fifteen, since you’re all-powerful, we rely on you from now on," Yi Yunfei said with a smile.