Volume One, Chapter One Hundred and Eight: The Face

“What am I supposed to eat then?” Mu Qing hugged her backpack and walked back into the inner room, her eyes filled with grievance, though the tinted brown sunglasses shielded them from view.

“Northwest wind,” Mo De replied irritably.

It was early winter now, and the northwest winds were howling fiercely all over Jing City.

Seeing that Mo De was still upset, Mu Qing stuck out her tongue in annoyance and rummaged through her backpack again.

“Looking for something?” Mo De, having taken another sip of hot water, noticed Mu Qing still fiddling with her things and asked.

The anger in his chest eased a bit as the hot water settled within. Clearly, he would need to be even more cautious with this one going forward.

“Why was it buried at the very bottom?” Mu Qing had overturned everything in Mo De’s backpack—toiletries and change of clothes scattered all over the bed—before finally finding the sheath of the Boundary Stone Knife at the bottom.

“What do you want it for?” Mo De asked, tidying up the scattered items as he followed behind her.

“To get something.” Mu Qing held the sheath, activated its storage space with her spiritual energy, and retrieved a large Rilakkuma pillow from a secluded corner inside, along with the suitcase she had packed earlier.

Perhaps due to the infusion of dark fire aura, Mu Qing was able to use the sheath’s storage function.

“You really have your tricks,” Mo De muttered, unsure how much this girl had secretly done behind his back.

“Why did you have to follow me here anyway?” With a sigh, Mo De took out his toiletries and stuffed the rest of his belongings back into the backpack.

“When you were catching up on lessons before, I was stuck at home all day—so bored I was about to die. Finally, I got a chance to get out; how could I not seize it?” Mu Qing rubbed the big face of her Rilakkuma pillow and replied casually.

Mo De opened his mouth but found no argument to make. Those few days, he had been swamped, barely able to cook for her, let alone keep her company.

“What exactly do you mean by ‘external assistant tutor’? Is that different from an ordinary accompanying teacher?” Sitting cross-legged on the large bed, Mo De changed the subject, probing for information about the winter camp. This girl clearly knew a lot of exclusive insider details.

“Do you know that besides the regular selection spots, there are also special invitation spots in the winter camp?” Seeing Mo De’s interest, Mu Qing shoved the bear behind her, leaned against the pillow with leisure, and began to explain.

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Mo De nodded. “Yes, I know. Our high school even has one.” The special invitee at Tianshui High School was none other than the aloof but warm-hearted Feng.

“Oh? Your school’s quite something then, having special invitees,” Mu Qing said, surprised, then quickly steered the conversation back. “The external assistant tutor status is actually similar to that of special invitees—people who weren’t originally on the planned list.”

“This winter camp is a big deal. Some want to sneak in for prestige; some want to build connections with the potential talents early; others want to select promising candidates for their factions. The open and covert struggles among all sides never cease. In the end, the committee of the Academy, pressured by all parties, came up with this external assistant tutor role as a compromise.”

Mo De finally understood—it was a concession, designed to prevent people from resorting to all means to force their way into the winter camp and cause chaos.

The committee graciously set aside a few casual spots: seven regions, fourteen positions, for everyone to compete for by their own merits.

Besides that, anyone daring to interfere privately in winter camp affairs should prepare to be closely watched by the higher-ups.

“Such a rotten form of privilege,” Mo De sighed, always disdainful of these outside-the-rules types.

Mu Qing wasn’t bothered, since Mo De was already annoyed enough with her.

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Mo De furrowed his brows, gestured to Mu Qing, and tiptoed to the entrance.

Understanding the signal, Mu Qing grabbed the remote and turned up the TV volume, then quickly tidied the bed.

Mo De peered through the peephole and saw Yan Ruoting and Du Haiwei standing outside, reaching to knock again.

He stepped back into the inner room, pointed to himself, and signaled Mu Qing to hide in the back room.

“Who’s there?” Mo De called loudly, and outside came Yan Ruoting’s voice: “Little Brother Mo, it’s me, Yan Ruoting.”

“Coming, coming!” Turning around, Mo De noticed Mu Qing silently had taken her luggage and pillow into the back room, smoothing out the messy bed.

Opening the door, Mo De scratched his head, puzzled. “Senior Yan, Senior Du, what’s going on?”

“The guide said it’s time for the late-night snack. We thought we’d call you guys since we only had a quick bite on the bus for dinner. Now’s perfect to grab another meal,” Yan Ruoting said, rubbing his hands in anticipation of the night’s offerings.

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“Oh, that sounds good, but I need to tidy up first. You two go ahead; I’ll catch up soon.” Mo De waved them off and closed the door again.

“What’s going on?” Mu Qing poked her head out from the back room and asked.

“It’s time for the late-night snack. Anything you want? I’ll bring some back for you when I come back.” Mo De put on his coat and grabbed his phone to contact Su Ziwen and the others.

The class monitor hadn’t eaten all day; this was a good chance to make up for it.

“Forget bringing back food. I’m coming with you!” Mu Qing slammed the back room door, changed clothes in less than a minute, and came out.

“Let’s go! When I first arrived, I heard that this hotel’s late-night snacks are quite something,” she said, holding a hairpin in her mouth, her hands weaving through her cascading hair to twist it into a bun.

“Where are you going?!” Mo De was stunned—not by the sleek, form-fitting black qipao she wore, but because she insisted on coming to the snack hall with him.

“I’m an assistant tutor, why can’t I go?” Mu Qing argued confidently. With fresh, hot dishes waiting, who would want to eat leftovers Mo De brought back?

“What if they find out we’re sharing a room?” Mo De was stunned by her “stomach controlling the brain” logic.

“That’s true. Then let’s split up. I’ll head straight to the dining hall; you circle around and come in later.” Mu Qing slipped on her shoes, tied them quickly, and in two steps was out the door.

As expected of you, able to say things like that with such ease.

Mo De sighed inwardly, then checked his phone, planning to meet Su Ziwen and the others first before heading to the snack hall together.

In their impromptu group chat, the others were all intrigued by the late-night snack plan.

After winding through several corridors, Mo De followed the room numbers the girls gave him until he saw Ivanoti standing in the hallway. The young girl stood on tiptoe, waving eagerly at him from afar.