Ch. 290 - You're Really Good at Faking It

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"Hm? You contracted two huskies?!"

Professor Cheng Qing's expression was utterly dumbfounded.

Contracting two identical beasts — the odds of that were no lower than winning the lottery.

Chen Shu spoke up. "Teacher, this is its skill..."

In an instant, one of the huskies' bodies gradually dimmed and vanished from sight.

"Hm?! A clone skill?!"

Cheng Qing's expression froze, her eyes filling with shock. "Show me your information panel!"

Chen Shu displayed the Husky's skills.

[Clone Lv1] immediately seized her attention.

"It really is that divine skill!!"

Professor Cheng Qing rubbed her chin, her eyes still carrying a trace of disbelief.

"Unscientific... completely unscientific. The clone skill and Elemental Beasts have no connection whatsoever!"

Chen Shu cracked a grin. "So, teacher? My Elemental Beast has talent, right?"

Zhang Dali, seeing his advisor starting to waver, immediately chimed in from the side:

"Teacher, my friend really is a genius. And he just graduated from senior year."

"Just graduated?!"

Cheng Qing's expression jolted. She'd never heard of anyone reaching Black Iron before the college entrance exam.

Chen Shu had broken through inside a dimensional space, and Nanjiang City hadn't heavily promoted him, so his recognition outside the province was low.

On top of that, all exam footage from the gaokao was prohibited from public release.

Cheng Qing asked, "What about your other contract spirit?"

"I was worried the office couldn't fit it..."

Chen Shu wanted to summon it but feared the Slime would punch right through the ceiling.

He showed the Slime's panel info — though naturally, he only let Cheng Qing see one skill: [Gigantification Lv4].

"Holy crap!"

Cheng Qing's eyeballs bulged, and she couldn't help blurting out a curse.

"Interesting. Two D-rank contract spirits, both with divine skills? That's a little absurd!"

She rubbed her chin, and finally nodded. "Fine. I'll put together a Black Iron-level diet plan for you, free of charge."

"You two can go now. I'll have Dali send it to you in a week."

Putting together a top-tier diet plan involved far too many areas of expertise.

Even as a King-rank Spirit Chef, she still needed a certain amount of time to complete it.

Cheng Qing asked, "Can you afford the food costs?"

She was only making the diet plan for free — Chen Shu would obviously be the one buying the actual food.

It would be a joke if she painstakingly designed the plan and then Chen Shu couldn't even afford the ingredients listed on it.

"Teacher, is there a possibility..."

Chen Shu cleared his throat and probed cautiously, "That you could put together the diet plan for me, and also toss in a free year or two of food, or maybe some financial sponsorship..."

"Holy crap!"

Zhang Dali immediately clamped a hand over Chen Shu's mouth and hastily explained, "Teacher, he's joking."

With that, he dragged Chen Shu straight out of the office.

Cheng Qing shook her head. "That kid... skin thicker than a city wall. Don't tell me the boy himself awakened a divine skill — [Impenetrable Defense]?"

...

"You're seriously next-level insane!"

Zhang Dali couldn't help but blurt out.

He'd barely managed to get his teacher to make a diet plan for free.

And this guy had the nerve to ask for sponsorship on top of it — basically refusing to spend a single cent!

Truly, a chronic case of freeloading addiction...

Chen Shu said, "Do good deeds all the way, escort the Buddha to the west — that checks out, right?"[1]

"It does not check out! Back then, the teacher only grudgingly agreed to make food for Sis Fang Si because her talent was staggering, and she still charged a hundred million in labor fees!"

Chen Shu's expression jolted. "A hundred million?! Spirit Chefs make that much?"

"What did you think? My advisor's a King-rank Spirit Chef. Nationwide, she's among the absolute top tier."

Zhang Dali curled his lip. "She only makes food for famous powerhouses. Every job she takes is at least several hundred million."

"Don't worry. Yours is a Black Iron-level diet plan — most of the food's Black Iron-rank fierce beast meat, only a small portion might be Silver-rank. Won't be too expensive."

Zhang Dali patted Chen Shu on the shoulder, consoling him.

"Seriously just burning money."

Chen Shu scratched his head. He was a Black Iron-rank beast tamer, so naturally Cheng Qing was putting together a Black Iron-level diet plan.

Once he reached Silver, the contract spirits would need a whole new diet plan.

You couldn't let high-level contract spirits keep eating low-level beast meat — otherwise, forget boosting attributes, you couldn't even fill them up.

He sighed. He'd originally thought that earning over a hundred million would be enough to sustain his journey to becoming a high-level beast tamer.

Now, it was clear — pure and utter nonsense.

"Well, you're the one who insists on pursuing the best. Not everyone can afford a King-rank Spirit Chef."

...

Chen Shu and the other two spent a few more days touring Capital, taking in the local culture and customs.

July 20th.

"Chen Pi, come to Huaxia Academy. Time to get to work!"

Chen Shu's expression jolted. A text from Fang Si had him instantly wired.

"Finally heading into another dimensional space?"

Half an hour later.

Chen Shu arrived at Huaxia Academy from his hotel.

Beast Taming Building No. 1, Room 703.

At that moment, Fang Si was seated in a circle with three other girls, discussing something among themselves.

"Sis Fang, is A'Ling really unable to join?"

A girl wearing a goose-yellow short-sleeved shirt asked.

"Yeah, something came up with her family."

Fang Si nodded. "Don't worry, I've specifically invited an outside reinforcement."

Another sweet-looking girl asked, "Not someone from Huaxia Academy?"

A trace of worry crossed her brow. If it was a beast tamer from outside society, the gap between them would be pretty large.

"You could say they're from this school. Rest assured, they absolutely won't drag the team down."

Fang Si spoke with conviction. She had absolute confidence in Chen Shu's strength.

"I'm a little curious now, seeing someone Sis Fang values this much."

A girl who'd been playing with her phone looked up. She had a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, and when she smiled, there was even a hint of allure to it.

Creak!

Chen Shu strolled in, utterly composed, and spotted the four in the classroom at a glance.

Fang Si called out, "Chen Pi, over here!"

She turned to the other three girls. "Everyone, this is the outside reinforcement I invited — my little brother, Chen Shu!"

"My teammates: Ning Qingyi, Qiao Yue, Lu Zhining."

Chen Shu cleared his throat and spoke:

"Greetings, seniors! Your humble servant is one loved by all who see him, carried by every car he rides, and even coffins pop their lids open at the sight of him..."[2]

Smack!

Fang Si gave him a knuckle to the head, cutting Chen Shu off mid-sentence. She really couldn't take it anymore.

"Sorry, he's a bit of a blabbermouth..."

"Sis Fang, is he really your little brother?"

The three rose to their feet at once, scrutinizing Chen Shu with intense curiosity.

"I don't think there's any resemblance at all!"

"I think so too. Nothing like Sis Fang Si's violent nature. He looks so sunny, and kind of innocent."

"Sis Fang, are you sure he's ever killed a fierce beast? Don't tell me we'll have to babysit him."

Fang Si froze for a moment, then likewise turned her gaze toward the beaming Chen Shu.

You're really damn good at faking it!

When this guy smiled, he genuinely looked incredibly sunny — even made people want to get closer.

But in reality...

She was silent for a moment, then said, "Judge by the actual product, got it?"

[1] 好人做到底，送佛送到西 (hǎo rén zuò dào dǐ, sòng fó sòng dào xī): Literally "Do good deeds all the way, escort the Buddha to the west." A common chengyu/proverb meaning if you're going to help someone, do it thoroughly and see it through to the end. Chen Shu deploys this ancient wisdom to justify his shameless request for free food on top of a free diet plan — peak Bandit Logic.

[2] 人见人爱，车见车载，棺材见了都开盖: A rhyming self-introduction pattern. "Loved by all who see, carried by all cars, even coffins open their lids." This follows the Chinese internet meme format of absurd escalating compliments. The standard version goes "人见人爱，花见花开，车见车载" (loved by people, bloomed for by flowers, carried by cars). Chen Shu's version replaces "flowers bloom" with "coffins open their lids" — a darkly comedic twist suggesting even dead people sit up to take notice. This is Chen Shu's compulsive inability to introduce himself without including some morbid or absurd element.

[3] 你丫的 (nǐ yā de): A distinctive Beijing dialect intensifier for "you," derived from the old insult 丫头养的 (literally "raised by a servant girl" — i.e., "bastard"). In modern casual speech it functions as rough-but-affectionate address between close friends. Fang Si uses it as her signature speech marker throughout these chapters — it's her verbal fingerprint, conveying street-smart informality and closeness rather than genuine hostility. Equivalent to something between "you jerk" and "you dude" in tone.