Bang! Bang! Bang...
Almost everyone present had their rice bowls fall to the ground.
The fragrant white rice scattered everywhere.
Everyone crouched at the edges of their tables and started vomiting, wishing they could expel every bit of stomach acid.
Now they finally understood why the supermarket gave rice to Ah San.
"I'm going to kill you!" Long Yeyue exploded, slapping towards Ah San.
She didn't expect that even though she was half dead, she'd still have to deal with... this.
She really couldn't understand why Tang Sect had such disgusting people.
"Yue Jie, calm down!" Cao Dezhi hurriedly blocked Long Yeyue. Right now, Tang Sect was not the Tang Sect it once was. There were only a few people left, and every genius had to be cherished.
Ah San might be disgusting, but his talent was undeniable. In the future, he would certainly be one of Tang Sect's pillars, and Cao Dezhi couldn't afford to let him die.
"Is there any more rice? If there is, throw it all away!" Cao Dezhi looked darkly at Ah San.
"I don't know, I've sent all the leftovers to the cafeteria," Ah San muttered.
"Cafeteria!" Cao Dezhi's face changed instantly, and he pushed the door open, rushing out.
"You... you..." Zang Xin also gritted his teeth. Excluding Ah San himself, he was the only one who hadn't vomited. To him, this kind of home-style meal was negligible.
"I just wanted to improve everyone's meals. What's wrong with that?" Ah San lowered his head, speaking pitifully.
Meanwhile, Cao Dezhi had arrived at the cafeteria, where many Tang Sect disciples were happily eating bowls of steaming white rice.
After eating coarse grains for so long, they were finally getting a decent meal.
Many Tang Sect disciples were so moved that they teared up.
"Master," they all stood up enthusiastically as soon as they saw Cao Dezhi. Today, they were in high spirits, and the way they called out to him felt especially warm.
Cao Dezhi even saw Zang Xin's adopted daughter, Ling Zichen, among the crowd.
Looking at these disciples who were overjoyed just from eating white rice, Cao Dezhi opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to tell them that it was just a home-style meal.
If they knew the truth, they would have torn Ah San apart.
"You all don't have to be so polite, eat and drink well. I'll go check the kitchen," Cao Dezhi said quickly before fleeing to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, he saw two cooks chatting while guarding a basket of rice.
One of the cooks laughed loudly: "Old Wang, I told you, you shouldn't wash the rice! The nutrients in rice, like vitamins, minerals, and proteins, decrease from the outside in. Washing the rice causes a serious loss of nutrition. About a quarter of the vitamins and over half of the minerals are lost. The longer you wash it, the more you lose. See? This rice, which hasn't been washed, smells so good!"
"Exactly! As chefs, the most important thing is to keep the original fragrance of the rice. Otherwise, who would know you're cooking rice?" Old Wang, the cook, chuckled.
"You didn't wash this rice before cooking it?" Cao Dezhi's cold voice suddenly sounded from behind.
"Ah! Master!" The two cooks were startled and turned around, relieved when they saw it was just Cao Dezhi.
"Master, you scared me to death," Old Wang said, patting his chest.
"Stop talking, tell me, why didn't you wash the rice? Aren't you worried the disciples might get sick from it?" Cao Dezhi's face darkened.
"Master, don't worry. This rice is top-quality. Smell it! It's so rich and fragrant! It's definitely rice grown with natural manure from the countryside, not that high-yield rice grown with chemicals. Washing it would ruin the rice," Old Wang excitedly said, even taking a handful of rice and bringing it to Cao Dezhi's nose to show off its fragrance.
Cao Dezhi quickly turned his head away, disgusted.
"Forget it. They've already eaten. The most important thing now is to keep this a secret," Cao Dezhi muttered, turning and leaving the kitchen through the back door.
Feeling guilty, he didn't dare face the disciples who were still eating happily in the cafeteria.
The most crucial thing was to prevent the disciples from learning the truth. Otherwise, if they all found out, he couldn't protect Ah San.
By the time he returned, he found that Long Yeyue was already preparing to leave with Tang Wulin.
"Yue Jie, are you leaving so soon?" Cao Dezhi asked.
"I'm taking Wulin for military training. You've gone through it, so you should know how important it is for his future development. We can't afford to delay," Long Yeyue explained.
"Yue Jie, what I meant was, can you give me a little time? I want to pick out some elite disciples from Tang Sect to join the military training alongside the students of Shrek Academy," Cao Dezhi said quietly.
"Sure, that would be great. If Shrek Academy's students and Tang Sect's disciples compete with each other, it'll push them to improve during training," Long Yeyue replied without thinking.
She clearly understood that in order for Shrek Academy to recover, they had to closely cooperate with Tang Sect.
Cao Dezhi moved quickly and soon selected more than twenty of Tang Sect's best young talents. He personally led them, and together with Long Yeyue, they quietly returned to Douluo Continent.
Although they had a group of young people, the two Limit Douluos didn't want to waste time. They couldn't fly at full speed, but they still made it back to Douluo in just a day and night.
"Yue Jie, why didn't the Holy Spirit Douluo come with you?" Once back on Douluo, Cao Dezhi finally couldn't help but ask.
"Do you need something from her?" Long Yeyue asked curiously.
"It's a bit of an awkward situation, let's not talk about it," Cao Dezhi said, embarrassed.
Seeing him act this way, Long Yeyue became intrigued and asked, "You're not going to tell me? Now I really want to know what's going on."
"Well... lately, my muscles have been really loose, and I wanted to see Ya Li for some treatment," Cao Dezhi admitted.
"Loose muscles? At your age, that shouldn't be happening," Long Yeyue remarked, examining Cao Dezhi. "And I don't see anything wrong with your muscles."
"Well, it's more about internal loosening! Yes, internal loosening!" Cao Dezhi awkwardly explained.
"Internal loosening?" Long Yeyue blinked, clearly not understanding what he meant.
"Forget it. When we get back to Shrek City, I'll take you to see Ya Li. No matter the reason, I'll make sure you're satisfied," Long Yeyue said, patting her chest. Although she had strong opinions about Ya Li, she was very confident in her medical skills.
"I don't care if I'm satisfied or not. As long as Zang Xin is happy, that's what matters," Cao Dezhi grinned.
"Zang Xin is happy?!" Long Yeyue paused, then quickly realized what he was implying.
"Go away. If you want to see Ya Li, you go by yourself. That's disgusting!" Long Yeyue yelled.
She didn't expect that after being disgusted by Ah San earlier, she'd be disgusted again by Cao Dezhi.
"I just didn't know how to talk to her, so I came to you, Yue Jie. After all, I feel bad for Ya Li," Cao Dezhi muttered under his breath.
"Feel bad for Ya Li? What do you mean by that?" Long Yeyue frowned.
"Uh... nothing, nothing! Just a slip of the tongue!" Cao Dezhi quickly waved his hands. He definitely didn't dare tell Long Yeyue that his muscle looseness might be partly due to Yun Ming.
(End of Chapter)