Jin Feifan's upturned lips froze in place, and for a moment, she didn't know how to answer.
She'd been seen through...
Would her roommate think she wasn't actually welcome...
Qiao Sang stared at Jin Feifan, observing her for a while, before saying seriously, "I've figured it out. You have slightly slanted eyebrows that give you a natural air of sorrow. If you shave off the drooping parts at the ends and draw them with an upward flick, it'll be fine."
"Really?" Jin Feifan paused, asking in a small voice.
"Really," Qiao Sang smiled. "But since you're only in the first year of high school, drawing eyebrows might be a bit too early. You look great like this too; it's quite a personal characteristic."
This roommate was quite similar to her pet; they both had such small courage.
While speaking, Qiao Sang glanced at the two bedrooms; one of them already had the bed made.
"If you want to stay in this room, I can move my things out," Jin Feifan said hurriedly, seeing her roommate look toward the bedroom where she had placed her belongings.
"No need, it's the same for me regardless of which room I stay in," Qiao Sang replied.
The two rooms were side-by-side, each with one bed, one desk, one cabinet, and one window; there was no real difference.
Fire Fang Dog followed its Beast Tamer, surveying the place where it would be living.
It looked at the empty room and paused, then ran into the living room, looking around. In the end, it still didn't see the thing it wanted.
Refusing to give up, it ran to the bathroom. After scouring the entire dormitory, it still didn't see it.
"Ya!"
"Ya ya!"
Frustrated, Fire Fang Dog ran in front of its Beast Tamer and began gesturing with its paws.
Seeing Fire Fang Dog's anxious expression, Jin Feifan panicked and retreated several steps.
*My god, what's wrong? This is terrifying...*
Qiao Sang looked at Fire Fang Dog and said unhurriedly, "We're here to get stronger; it's normal not to have a TV to watch."
Fire Fang Dog froze.
Get stronger?
Then whether or not there was a TV wasn't very important.
Jin Feifan hadn't quite processed it yet.
That's it?!
Are Fire-type pets this easy to coax?!
"This is a Little Ball-Puff, right?" Qiao Sang asked.
Little Ball-Puff, a Grass-type pet, was a species with a hereditary healing skill.
Qiao Sang had considered it when researching her second pet, but the price had exceeded her expectations.
Furthermore, forget about buying one directly; even for a reservation, it was basically impossible to get one without political background or internal channels.
"Ball."
Little Ball-Puff had been buried in its Beast Tamer's arms. Hearing someone mention it, it timidly turned its head and let out a murmured cry.
It was about 20 centimeters in size with a green body and short limbs, looking like a large round ball. Its eyes were also green, though they looked a bit red because it had just been crying. A white dandelion grew atop its head.
Little Treasure Ghost stared blankly at the dandelion on Little Ball-Puff's head after it turned around.
"Yes, I call it Little Ball," Jin Feifan's smile became instantly genuine when mentioning her pet.
"Xun~"
At that moment, Little Treasure Ghost floated in front of Little Ball-Puff, skillfully removed a ring, pulled out a bottle of milk from within, and offered it.
Qiao Sang paused, a bad feeling rising in her heart.
Little Treasure Ghost followed her every day, so she naturally knew that unless it was giving something to Fire Fang Dog, Little Treasure Ghost's milk was never given for free...
"Ball!"
Little Ball-Puff buried its head back into its Beast Tamer's arms.
"Lit... Little Ball, hurry and take it. Treasure Ghost is just saying hello to you," Jin Feifan said with a trembling voice.
*My god, a Ghost-type pet! It's so close to her!*
"Ya."
"Ya ya."
Fire Fang Dog spoke up for its little junior.
It didn't understand; the junior was so well-behaved, so why were so many people afraid of it?
Fire Fang Dog had completely forgotten how it had looked the first time it met Little Treasure Ghost.
"Little Ball, hurry... take it!" Jin Feifan sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
*My god, Fire Fang Dog is also so close to her!*
"Ball!"
Little Ball-Puff cried, refusing to turn its head.
Seeing that both Jin Feifan and Little Ball-Puff had retreated into the corner, Qiao Sang suppressed a smile and said, "Little Treasure, come back. You probably don't have many bottles of milk left in your ring; if you give them to others, you won't have any for yourself."
Little Treasure Ghost paused upon hearing this, quickly comparing the two in its mind.
Milk and dandelions...
Eating and playing...
Hmm, eating was more important. It wouldn't do to have no milk to drink later.
Little Treasure Ghost stopped offering the milk. It opened the bottle with its paw, floated back to the top of Qiao Sang's head, and began drinking it itself.
Jin Feifan stared blankly, forgetting to speak, as if she had been stunned by the scene before her.
Are Ghost-type pets also this obedient...
...
Qiao Sang returned to her room and closed the door.
Her luggage was all inside Little Treasure Ghost's ring. Since the training camp didn't involve studying, Qiao Sang hadn't asked her mother to send any things over.
After a simple tidying of the room, Qiao Sang lay down on the bed.
A blue light emanated from Little Treasure Ghost. It extended two short paws, attempting to use telekinesis to make Fire Fang Dog float.
Being a few days shy of a full month old, Little Treasure Ghost's telekinesis wasn't yet strong enough to make Fire Fang Dog float, but about once every five attempts, it could make Fire Fang Dog's four limbs slightly leave the ground.
Whenever it managed to lift off slightly, their excited cries would ring out.
This was the benefit of having two pets; they could entertain themselves.
Otherwise, without a TV, a pet as active as Fire Fang Dog might not have been able to stay in such a small room, and she herself could have time to do other things.
Qiao Sang lay on the bed, thinking.
She had 10 bottles of F-grade Energy Recovery Fluid left, which allowed for another 10 days of high-intensity skill release training.
But now that the location had changed, some skills were inconvenient to train, such as Spark and Fire Rain.
Spark's proficiency was already at (Secret Art 14626/20000); it only needed 9 more days of normal training to reach the cap.
Whenever a pet's skill proficiency reached its peak, the corresponding attribute of that skill would become more powerful.
She wanted to see how the power of the Fire attribute within Fire Fang Dog's body would change once Spark's proficiency capped.
Unfortunately, she couldn't continue practicing for now.
The power of Spark, having reached the Secret Art level, was different from before. Without a river or a body of water nearby, she didn't dare let Fire Fang Dog release it.
The school was a public place. Even if she went to the playground at night when no one was around, she worried that the fire would destroy the ground.
Living outside was more convenient. She wondered how she could live off-campus during her studies...
Qiao Sang spent the entire night thinking about this problem.
...
The next morning, Qiao Sang walked out of her room with dark circles under her eyes.
"Qiao Sang, you're up. I bought breakfast for you," Jin Feifan called out, summoning her courage while sitting at the living room table.
Qiao Sang paused for a long while, then walked closer to look.
Pan-fried buns, soup dumplings, sticky rice rolls, crab roe soup dumplings, small wontons, shumai, fried spring rolls, porridge, tea eggs, youtiao, soy milk...
After a moment of silence, Qiao Sang couldn't help but ask, "You bought all this just for us to eat?"
"I didn't know what you liked, so I bought a bit of everything," Jin Feifan explained in a small voice.
Qiao Sang pulled out a chair and sat down, saying helplessly, "Thank you, but don't spend so much in the future. Actually, one bun and a bowl of soy milk are enough for me."
As she spoke, she picked up a shumai and began to eat.
Seeing that Qiao Sang didn't refuse, Jin Feifan said happily, "I understand."
"What do you want for lunch? I'll treat you," Qiao Sang said, taking a sip of soy milk.
"Lunch?" Jin Feifan paused, hesitating. "Don't you know? The school has prepared special collective meals for us at noon."
Qiao Sang was bewildered. "Collective meals?"
"Didn't you see the messages in the group?" Jin Feifan asked.
Qiao Sang was even more bewildered. "What group?"
"The group that everyone participating in the training camp was required to join via the Holy Water High School official website," Jin Feifan answered.
Qiao Sang: "..."
Why did this conversation feel so familiar...
(End of Chapter)