He had a wonderful idea, but for some reason, making this dish according to Xiaomi's method was extremely tiring.

I don't know if it was because I was highly focused.

"That's quite unsportsmanlike of you, Cage. Can anyone here tell me who won?"

There was a two-second silence before everyone said in unison, "Of course, it is, Teacher Lu."

Lu Yulan's two moves were indeed extraordinary, and only those classmates who got to eat them realized how much of a bargain they had gained.

As expected, this was the outcome. Cage knew he had truly lost. He turned around to look at Julie, only to find that she had already left sometime earlier.

On second thought, he also prepared to leave.

“Wait, Cage, don’t forget our bet. I was planning to donate it to the soldiers stationed at the border. If you don’t take the initiative, I’ll have them come to you.”

Cage suddenly turned around and looked at Lu Yulan, feeling extremely angry. If it weren't for his father forbidding him from using Lu Yulan's identity as a weapon, she would have been killed long ago, given her past life. How dare she be so arrogant in front of him?

He swiped his card and left in a sorry state; he really couldn't afford to offend the military.

"Alright, let's go."

I got a fifth-tier beast meat for nothing, I'll go back and give it to Xiaozhu as a treat.

Because it's the flesh of a strange beast, it still contains a great deal of energy, unlike the original first and second tiers.

Actually, the braised dish was edible from the start, but the students couldn't handle the energy, so Lu Yulan added other ingredients to remove some of the energy and calm the volatile energy, so that the students wouldn't be harmed after consuming it.

This fifth-tier beast weighed over ten kilograms, but it only used less than two ounces in that dish. It was truly... delightful.

【After you get back, get some rest today. You're tired too. We'll make this exotic beast meat in a few days.】

It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it, because once she did, Lu Yulan felt sleepy and let out a lazy yawn.

"knew."

...

After Cage slunk away, he was about to go find Julie, but was interrupted by an unexpected phone call.

I ran to a quiet, secluded place and turned on the video call.

Good morning, Father.

"Well, how's the task I assigned you going?"

Looking at his father, who was acting very businesslike across from him, Cage was terrified. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this question.

"I have it under control; Julie has already developed feelings for me."

He had expected his father to praise him, as he always had, but for some reason, he didn't this time.

Cage wasn't surprised; he had a feeling about it too. Ever since the drug incident, Cage had felt that his father was somewhat unpredictable, and the way he looked at him always made him uneasy, though he didn't know why.

It wasn't like this before.

"Have you been in contact with that person in the academy recently? Or is there anyone who could be a replacement?"

Cage lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and pretended to look guilty and obedient.

“I’m sorry, Father, I didn’t have the chance, but…”

"Alright, that's enough. I understand. You should continue pursuing Julie."

With that, he unilaterally hung up the video call. Cage stared at the void that had suddenly appeared in front of him, no longer a holographic projection. After a moment of stunned silence, he shook his head and left blankly, his fists clenched tightly.

Suddenly, a long, slender leg appeared, dangling in mid-air from a large tree not far away.