Chapter 18: Southern Rats

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Southern Rats

Back at the dorm.

Gu Qing took a shower and shot the shit with his three roommates for a while.

When it was about time, he headed out to meet Xia Shuran at the library.

A gentle breeze swept across the campus paths in the evening, making for a cool and refreshing walk.

Along the way, Gu Qing saw many couples holding hands.

For a moment, the sight stirred up old feelings.

Back when he and Bai Ningyu were still together, they would often go for walks at night. They’d find a secluded spot and couldn’t help but get a little intimate. Those were wonderful days.

But for some reason, they had suddenly broken up, just like that.

Neither of them had done anything wrong, and there hadn’t been any major conflicts.

Every time he thought about it, he felt it was a huge shame.

’I wonder if it has to do with the [Corpse] tag over her head... I hope she’s okay and that nothing bad happens to her...’

Gu Qing thought to himself.

「A few minutes later.」

Arriving at the library entrance, Gu Qing found that Xia Shuran was already waiting.

The physical education junior wasn’t wearing her usual high ponytail tonight.

Instead, her long, straight black hair fell naturally, fluttering gently in the breeze.

Compared to her usual sharp and capable appearance, she now had a gentler, more ladylike aura.

Other than that, she was pretty much the same as always.

Her bright, pretty face was still clean and completely free of makeup.

She was also wearing loose-fitting casual clothes, looking simple and fresh.

Overall, she didn’t look like a university student, but rather a high schooler who hadn’t even started college yet, exuding an unpolished, pure feeling.

Gu Qing praised her highly in his mind:

’As expected.’

’Good-looking people can still be stunning even when they’re bare-faced and dressed simply.’

With that thought, he walked quickly over to Xia Shuran and asked with a smile:

"Have you been waiting long?"

"Nope, I just got here too."

Xia Shuran tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear, her smile especially pure.

She was so used to wearing a high ponytail that having her hair down over her ears felt a little strange, and she kept reaching up to adjust it.

"Let’s go, then. Let your senior here freeload off your half-price coupon and enjoy an all-you-can-eat barbecue."

"Freeload all you want, senior. I’m an expert at finding coupons. If you ever want to eat out somewhere, just come to me for a coupon anytime."

"For real?"

"For real. But I have one condition."

"What condition?"

"Next time you go out to eat, senior, please take me with you if it’s convenient. I love good food more than anything."

"Deal!"

The two chatted as they walked.

They soon left the campus gates and arrived at the all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant across from the university.

As soon as they entered, they heard a loud commotion coming from a corner.

Following the sound, they saw a heavyset mukbang streamer livestreaming on his phone. A mountain of meat platters was piled up in front of him, and he was relentlessly stuffing food into his mouth, wolfing it down in a very exaggerated manner.

Xia Shuran stood on her tiptoes slightly and whispered into Gu Qing’s ear, "Senior, that guy is so over-the-top. How can he possibly stuff all that meat inside him?"

Gu Qing glanced over coolly and said, "He’ll just make himself throw up after the stream. It’s just for views."

Xia Shuran nodded, seeming to only half-understand.

In reality, she understood perfectly well. She just wanted an excuse to lean close to Gu Qing and be a little more intimate with him.

After paying and choosing a table, the two of them headed to the buffet area together.

Gu Qing carried two plates and swept through the entire section.

Fatty beef, pork belly, mantis shrimp, oysters, fruit, dessert...

He filled plate after plate and stacked them high on their table.

The stack looked even taller than the one in front of the heavyset streamer who called himself a Big Eater.

Xia Shuran, trailing behind him, was dumbfounded. "Senior, you grabbed so much! There’s no way we can finish it all..."

Even a passing waiter couldn’t help but come over and remind him, "Sir, just a heads-up, we don’t refund the deposit if you can’t finish your food."

Gu Qing didn’t even look up. "I know."

This scene happened to catch the eye of the heavyset streamer not far away.

He stealthily turned his camera to aim at the mountains of meat on Gu Qing’s table and complained to his viewers in a low voice:

"Fam, look at this. I ran into a real character today. He’s even better at faking it than I am."

The viewers in the livestream saw it and immediately started flooding the bullet chat with mocking comments:

"You can tell it’s his first time at a buffet. He’s desperate to get his money’s worth."

"He took so much. If he can’t finish it later and they don’t refund his deposit, I’ll bet you fifty cents he’ll throw a tantrum in the restaurant. I’ve seen plenty of people like him."

"Streamer, hurry up and point the camera at that guy! I want to see the drama!"

Quite a few people around them were watching the spectacle.

But Gu Qing completely ignored the stares of the onlookers.

Once he felt he had enough food, he returned to his seat and immediately switched into devour mode.

Under the enhancement of his [Devouring] Attribute,

Gu Qing’s eating speed was inhumanly fast.

The food seemed to melt the moment it entered his mouth.

His stomach was like a bottomless pit, frantically digesting and absorbing everything.

One slice, two slices, one plate, two plates...

Gu Qing ate quickly and steadily, the stack of empty plates in front of him growing ever higher.

His eating speed looked even more exaggerated than the professional mukbang streamer’s.

Xia Shuran was stunned.

The other diners around them were stupefied.

The waiter was dumbfounded.

Even the heavyset streamer, who called himself Hai City’s number one Big Eater, was so shocked he forgot to speak for a moment.

His camera was just aimed directly at Gu Qing.

The bullet chat in the livestream exploded.

"Holy shit! Is this dude the reincarnation of a Taotie? How can he eat so much?"

"Now *this* is a real Big Eater! Streamer, you’re only eating that little? Are you on a diet or something? If you can’t eat, then get the hell out of the way! Don’t embarrass yourself!"

"Whoever said he couldn’t finish, come out and fight me!"

Seeing his "Big Eater" persona being crushed to dust by Gu Qing, the heavyset streamer’s face turned pale and he quietly moved his camera away.

No matter how his "fam" in the livestream prodded him, he resolutely refused to give Gu Qing any more screen time.

...

After eating and drinking their fill, Gu Qing and Xia Shuran walked out of the buffet restaurant.

The deposit was returned in full without a problem.

When the two returned to campus,

Xia Shuran wanted to go for a walk on the athletic field, but Gu Qing declined.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend more time with his junior.

It was because he had an eight o’clock class the next morning.

He needed to get to bed early to ensure his mind was sharp enough the next morning.

That way, he could do some high-intensity problem-solving with the female classmate in his class who was studying for the grad school entrance exams, allowing him to farm Attributes from her [Top Student] tag.

"Come on, I’ll walk you back to your dorm."

"Okay."

The two walked slowly, talking and laughing along the way.

As they were approaching the women’s dormitory,

several large rats suddenly darted out of a nearby greenbelt, running incredibly fast.

Xia Shuran was startled and instinctively leaned closer to Gu Qing.

After calming down a moment later, she frowned slightly and said,

"Senior, there have been so many rats on campus lately. One even got into my dorm room last night. It took my roommates and me ages to finally kill it and throw it out."

"Girls from the athletics department are really built different. You see a rat and you just kill it yourselves."

Gu Qing chuckled and said, "If that were girls from my foreign languages department, they’d probably all hug their pillows and scream all night until the rat died from the noise."

"Hahaha... Senior, you’re so funny."

Xia Shuran had a low bar for humor. Hearing Gu Qing’s joke, she was completely amused, covering her mouth with one hand as she laughed nonstop.

As they were about to part,

Gu Qing looked at Xia Shuran and asked, "If you’re free tomorrow afternoon, want to practice with the Red Tassel Spear on the field again?"

"I’ll definitely be free."

Xia Shuran gave him a sunny smile and a playful wave. "See you tomorrow, senior."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

After saying goodbye to Xia Shuran with a smile, Gu Qing turned and walked toward his own dorm.

He walked for nearly ten minutes before he finally arrived at the base of his dormitory building.

Just as he was about to head upstairs,

Gu Qing suddenly spotted an unusually fat rat in a nearby corner, fighting fiercely with a tabby cat over some cat food.

’What the?’

’What’s up with this rat?’

’So vicious?’

Gu Qing was stunned. He quickly pulled out his phone, recorded a video, and sent it to his three "sons" in the group chat to show them something wild.

[Gu Qing: (Video)]

[Gu Qing: You guys gotta see this authentic Southern giant rat. It’s even taking on a wild tabby cat. Tell me that’s not badass.]

[Qian Duole: Holy shit, that’s fucking badass. That’s basically the me of the rat world!]

[Chen Zijie: The hell, don’t just stand there filming! Help the poor cat and kill that disgusting fat rat! I’m the one who fucking put that cat food there!]

[Qian Duole: Rats are so cute! Why kill the little rat? Speciesism alert!]

[Gao Fei: To be fair, you southerners really do have huge rats. No wonder One-Ear from *Black Cat Detective* ran to his uncle in the south for help after getting his ass kicked.]

...

PS: Holding out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!