A comic book journey to see the Eye of Antiquity

Yang Lei smiled and nodded, then chatted with Uncle Yi Le.

Soon, Yang Lei's ramen was served. The large bowl of ramen was quite a generous portion. Even Yang Lei, a foodie, was a little intimidated and wondered to himself, "Uncle, how many bowls of ramen is this?"

On the counter in front of Yang Lei was a large bowl, about half a meter in diameter, which was about the thickness of a person's arm.

At this moment, you can see that the huge bowl is filled with ramen, and it is also covered with a full range of toppings. At first glance, it makes you want to take a bite.

But the second glance is startling – what's with such a huge portion of ramen? How many people could this be for?

"Huh? Yang Lei?"

Just then, another person walked in through the door. He was wearing an orange outfit and had short, choppy blond hair. Who else could it be but Naruto?

Wow, what a huge portion of ramen!

Before Yang Lei could speak, Naruto ran up to him with a familiar smile and asked, "Yang Lei, you can't possibly eat all this ramen, right? Don't be shy, let me help you."

"No need."

Yang Lei didn't even bother with polite greetings and quickly blocked Naruto with his hand. Just kidding, if he had been a step slower, Naruto would probably have drooled into the bowl, and then he wouldn't have been able to eat.

But...?

"If I can't eat it all by myself, I can find someone else to eat it with."

Naruto's appearance reminded Yang Lei, who took out a thousand taels from his pocket, slapped it on the counter, picked up a large bowl, and ran outside without looking back, shouting, "Uncle Ichiraku, that money is for my meals, and also for all the money I owe you over the years. If there's anything left, please treat Naruto to a bowl of ramen."

The currency in the Naruto world has much greater purchasing power than the Japanese yen. Normally, a full bowl of ramen costs only about 100 ryo, while a regular bowl of ramen costs less than 100 ryo, around 30 to 50 ryo.

Yang Lei threw away a thousand taels of silver because he wanted to pay back the money he owed for meals over the years. He turned and ran away because he was worried about being yelled at by Uncle Yi Le.

. . . . . .

"Shall we go eat with Hinata?"

After leaving Ichiraku Ramen, Yang Lei carried a large bowl of ramen and headed towards the Hyuga family's residence.

Chapter 154

I don't know what Yang Lei was thinking. He went to the home of the dignified head of the Hyuga clan and actually planned to ask the young lady of the Hyuga clan to share ramen with him. He must have been out of his mind. I bet he'll get kicked out.

The reason he was able to enter the Hyuga clan's residence smoothly before was because Hyuga Hiashi personally brought him in. If he wants to go again today, he will have to ask someone to inform him.

Large families like these, who have their own residences, usually have dedicated patrol personnel; they can't just come and go as they please.

So, we can already imagine what kind of treatment Yang Lei would receive when he came to the patrol officers with a huge bowl of ramen and told them he wanted to share the ramen with Hinata.

"what?"

Just then, a voice suddenly called out from the side: "Yang Jun? Where are you going? Why are you running around carrying a big bowl of ramen? Have you taken on some kind of mission?"

· ·····Requesting flowers·· ····

Yang Lei turned around and found Xiao Ying standing prettily at the entrance of the bookstore on the street. At this moment, he saw that her long cherry blossom-colored hair was tied into a ponytail and hung down her back. She was wearing a red robe that made her figure look quite good, which was not particularly outstanding. She was wearing black leggings, and her long legs made Yang Lei take a few more glances.

"uh-huh."

Xiao Ying blushed slightly under Yang Lei's gaze. Seeing that he seemed lost in thought and forgot to reply, she felt a sweet warmth in her heart. However, being a shy girl, and being on the street, she quickly coughed lightly to make a sound.

"what."

Yang Lei finally snapped out of his daze and couldn't help but wonder how he could have been so distracted. Xiao Ying was still the same Xiao Ying; she wouldn't suddenly turn into a fairy or be uglier than usual. He had been looking at her for years, so why was he suddenly captivated by her today?

. ........ ...

Is this a case of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"?

"Yang Jun? What's wrong?"

Seeing that Yang Lei was about to walk in the direction of his dazed expression again, Xiao Ying quickly spoke up again, and stepped down the steps to stand in front of Yang Lei, asking with concern, "Are you feeling unwell? Should you go to the hospital?"

"Gulp."

Just then, Xiaoying's stomach suddenly let out a soft protesting growl, interrupting her and making her blush deeply.

"Gulp."

Just then, Yang Lei's stomach rumbled in perfect unison, causing the two to exchange a glance and burst into laughter.

"Little Cherry Blossom".

Yang Lei finally returned to normal, gestured to Xiao Ying with the large bowl in his hand, and said, "Do you need any help? Uncle Yi Le is too enthusiastic and won't let me leave any, so I had no choice but to run away. Luckily, I ran into you. You won't just stand by and do nothing, will you?"

"Ok."

Xiaoying winked playfully and readily accepted Yang Lei's invitation. The two walked forward side by side. There was a ramen shop not far ahead where they could go and share the enormous bowl of ramen. After finishing, they could have some skewers of ramen and some hot soup, rest for a while, and then leave.

(PS: To reiterate, this is also foreshadowing, so I hope I don't forget to write it down... *cough*... I've been laying the groundwork for an upcoming big scene, so no rush...)

0145 The two's hints

"It's good."

At the dumpling shop, Xiaoying quickly finished eating. She sat down to the side, rubbing her slightly round belly, and looked at Yang Lei, who was still fighting, with a look of admiration on her face.

The two men are not much different in build, except that Yang Lei is a bit more muscular. Although he is young, he has developed a lot of solid muscles due to years of training.

Logically speaking, their appetites should be about the same.

"what?"

Just as Xiaoying was staring blankly at Yang Lei, Yang Lei, who was engrossed in eating, suddenly let out a soft "Eh," picked up a half-eaten spring roll with his chopsticks, and looked up at Xiaoying.

"That one."

Xiao Ying blushed. It was a spring roll she had bitten into halfway through. She had forgotten to eat it earlier, or perhaps there was too much food in the bowl and she couldn't find it. As a result, Yang Lei picked it up for her.

The two of them brought noodles from the "705u.com-Reading Club First Release" restaurant to eat at the meatball shop. It was already quite kind of the shop to provide them with chopsticks, let alone bowls for eating noodles.

Another point is that you don't need bowls in meatball shops. They use plates to hold skewers of meatballs and cups to hold hot soup or tea. There are really no bowls.

So, the two of them were actually eating from one big bowl. There was no other way; you could call it being forced by circumstances.

Because the two of them were eating from the same bowl, they each ingested some of each other's saliva. Before, it was fine; with noodles, you couldn't tell if you weren't paying close attention.

But now, with only half a spring roll left, there were clear little teeth marks on it. Xiaoying blushed again and didn't know how to start the conversation.

Compared to Xiaoying's hesitation, Yang Lei was much more generous. He shrugged and, at Xiaoying's soft exclamation, tossed the half-eaten spring roll into his mouth with his chopsticks.

"Um, um."

Sakura felt her heart beating faster and faster.

Why did she accept Yang Lei's invitation? It was because she had feelings for him, because she liked him, and she was so happy about it that she wouldn't refuse.

So, seeing that Yang Lei didn't look down on her at all, Xiao Ying couldn't help but wonder to herself, "Is Yang Jun hinting at something? Does he like me too? Or is it just because Yang Jun doesn't want to waste food?"

Because of Hinata's presence, Sakura didn't dare to speak easily and suddenly became somewhat anxious. She was afraid that if she misunderstood, speaking abruptly would only cause displeasure and make her lose the opportunity to get closer to Yang Lei.

But Yang Lei's actions made her think more deeply.

So, does Yang Lei actually have that idea?

Of course it exists.

He is a foodie, that's true, but he's not stupid. He invited Xiaoying to eat ramen together to test her feelings. When she readily agreed and ate from the same bowl with him without any hesitation, his meaning couldn't be clearer.

Although Yang Lei has no experience in dating, if he still can't see Xiao Ying's feelings, then he deserves to be a bachelor for life.

Chapter 155

So when Yang Lei saw that Xiao Ying only took a small bite of the spring roll to avoid affecting the instrument panel, he quietly used a few strands of ramen to bring the half-eaten spring roll over and buried it under the ramen.

In other words, it wasn't that Xiaoying forgot, but that Yang Lei hid it. No wonder Xiaoying couldn't find the half spring roll.

As for why Yang Lei did that, he actually wanted to hint at his meaning by eating the half-eaten spring roll that Xiao Ying had left in front of her. His meaning couldn't be clearer.

Just like Sakura had to consider Hinata, Yang Lei also had to consider Hinata. To him, Hinata was definitely the empress, and there was no room for discussion.

But he didn't want to let go of Xiaoying. After all, it was this girl who seduced him first. If she hadn't given him various hints from time to time, he wouldn't have been so distracted, which led him to pay more attention to her and eventually develop feelings for her.

So, it's all Sakura's fault, so we can only make her the junior.

However, Yang Lei's plan was too naive and too presumptuous.

In this day and age, there is no such thing as male superiority over females. Women can be ninjas and support their families, so why should they suffer?

Another thing, didn't you see that Sakura and Ino, these two best friends, have become enemies because of Sasuke? Why don't you see them sharing a husband?

This illustrates a point: even if Xiaoying is blinded by love, she still has her own dignity, which is that the person she likes belongs only to her and she is unwilling to share him with others.

. . . . . .

Because of Yang Lei's action, the atmosphere between the two became slightly awkward. They kept stealing glances at each other, unsure how to begin.

Yang Lei was waiting for Xiao Ying to speak, thinking that once she opened her mouth, he could smoothly lay out the words he had prepared.

For example, if Sakura confesses to him, he should first express his helplessness, and while saying that he likes Hinata, he should also hint that he likes her too. Then he can wait for Sakura to take the initiative to say that he can be her mistress, or even not have a title.

Yang Lei didn't believe that Xiao Ying could give up after falling in love with him. After all, this girl was so stubborn in the original work. Once she made up her mind, she would never turn back even if she hit a wall. So he didn't need to worry at all. As long as she asked, he was confident that he would have a chance of success.

Another point is that before Xiaoying takes the initiative to say she'll be his mistress, he can still flirt with her from time to time.

Actually, Xiaoying was also waiting for Yang Lei to speak. She wanted to confess to Yang Lei a hundred times, a thousand times, after all, she had always been a person who dared to love and hate.

No way! Putting aside the fact that there are too many people and too much gossip here, don't forget that, at least in name, Yang Lei and Hinata are a 'legitimate' couple.

What Xiaoying didn't know was that Yang Lei had already paid a visit last night. Although he hadn't managed to win over his father-in-law and finalize the marriage between him and Hinata, he had obtained his consent so that he could openly date Hinata.

In other words, her use of quotation marks to describe something truly legitimate is actually correct.

2.7 Anyway, as long as Yang Lei and Hinata don't break up, Xiaoying can't bring it up herself, otherwise what will she become? A mistress? A wicked woman who steals someone else's partner? A fickle bitch?

She definitely can't escape that last infamy. Almost all the students in her year know that she had a crush on Sasuke when she was in the Ninja Academy, and she was so infatuated with him that she almost couldn't stand it.

But fate had other plans. When she was in love with Sasuke, it was Yang Lei who brought her warmth, while Sasuke, whom she loved, never even glanced at her. Was it wrong for her to fall in love with someone else?

Xiaoying could calmly face the accusations of being fickle, but she didn't want to bear the rest of the blame. So, the two of them, lost in thought, remained silent.

"Ugh."

In the end, with a sigh from who knows who, this gathering, which had started off so well, came to a reluctant end.

0146 Chunin Selection Exam Application

A few days later, at another barbecue restaurant.

"Choji, leave me a little bit too."

At the dinner table, Yang Lei and Ding Ci were practically fighting. Their chopsticks were flying back and forth, while others rolled their eyes in exasperation, wondering who had left any for us.

Yang Lei and Ding Ci get along very well because they are both foodies.

It's precisely because they're both foodies that they're usually very close, but once they sit down at the dinner table, it's a completely different story. They start bickering and making a ruckus, having a great time.

Normally it's fine, there are only five people in Team 10, but today there were more people. The four teams of genin had another party, and the two of them couldn't even get a turn. Then other people joined in, making it even more chaotic than usual.

As mentioned before, Kakashi and Asuma, as the team leaders, almost caused significant losses to their genin during this mission, and they felt quite guilty and remorseful. Therefore, they wanted to treat everyone to a meal.

As it turned out, because Xiao Li had caused such a ruckus earlier, and Yang Lei wanted to use the gold brick he had taken to treat them to a meal, the two of them thought the meal was a bit too much. For the sake of their savings, they didn't even bother to decline or make a show of it, and just let Yang Lei pay the bill.

So, they didn't actually treat anyone; it was Yang Lei who did.

That's why we had this gathering today, a few days later.

"That's right."

Seeing Yang Lei and Choji having so much fun, Asuma couldn't stand it anymore. He decided to ignore it and turned to Kurenai, Might Guy, and Kakashi, asking, "You've all been notified, right? This year's Chunin Exams are about to begin, and they'll be held in our Konoha Village."

"Ah."

Kakashi nodded and gave a curt "Mmm" to indicate that he understood.

Metcalfe didn't even bother to say a word to Asma, simply nodding in response.

Kurenai Yuhi was quite considerate, saying, "I only received the news yesterday, and I haven't decided whether to let Hinata and the others participate yet."

"Ugh."

Upon hearing this, Asma couldn't help but sigh and said, "I would like to let them participate, but..."

Asuma pointed at Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, saying helplessly, "These three little rascals absolutely refuse to participate. Shikamaru is lazy, and Ino and Choji are scared. They're such a hassle."

Asuma even used Shikamaru's catchphrase, which shows that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio is really giving him a headache.

"Ah ha ha."

Just then, Matt Ke suddenly burst into laughter and proudly exclaimed, "My beloved students won't make things difficult for me; they've already signed the application forms!"