Chapter 236 – Hunger
“Sure. I’ll definitely attend it.” Wang Zhong’s reply was extremely natural as he accepted her invitation letter. There were no extragenous sparks flying when their eyes made contact.
That was it?
Some of those here that had been looking for good action felt slightly disappointed. This Surnamed Wang truly had heaven-defying luck to actually get an invitation letter personally handed over by Laura in ‘such a fashion’. If they knew that Laura, as host, would endure such an event, they would’ve long snatched away Wang Zhong’s place and rush up to the third floor that day.
Nevertheless, this personal resentment within that small number of people wasn’t enough to shake the emotions of the majority.
☀
As dusk began to set, the ‘host’s party’ was already underway.
The group of nine from Tianjing came together for the event which was located halfway up the mountain at an elevation around four thousand meters above sea level. As for the venue itself, it was a private facility owned by the Potter Clan which sat close to the edge of a cliff.
It was just as Laura had said. The night sky above them was exceedingly clear today, not a single cloud in sight. Inside this spacious outdoor area, one could clearly see the stars sparkling faintly. Although there weren’t many stars and didn’t reach the legendary level of ‘lighting up the entire sky’, each individual star could still be discerned. Partnered with this beautiful sky was a cool, refreshing evening breeze and the accompaniment of insect sounds from a man-made flower garden planted along the sides of the cliff. For the Federation which had endured through the Dark Era, such a scene truly made people feel as though they had just entered an exquisitely pretty painting.
The vast and spacious outdoor area was covered with starry balloons and various other colourful decorations. Pure white ivory tables, elm wood benches, strip dining tables with decorations and delicacies atop them. There was even a long grill at one side of the turf with a dozen chefs wearing tall, white hats working on grilling sizzling beef stacks that glistened with oil. As the fragrance of the meat spread across the space, it made everyone feel like drooling uncontrollably.
As the grounds could fit hundreds of people yet still remain quite spacious, it really was quite large in scope. The host, Laura, was currently at the entrance of the large hall within the facility and greeted the arriving guests.
The event was split into two sections. One was the large outdoor grounds for the youths to converge at. The other was the large hall where the so-called societal exchanges took place. When the event reached its climax, the interaction between the two sides would definitely occur. But for the majority of the time, the two parts remained separate. Elders would chat with elders, and youths would hang out with the other youths. If the two groups were to be forcefully placed together, then everyone would feel the atmosphere to be uneasy and unnatural.
Almost all of the young guests had already gathered outside and grouped themselves into twos and threes as they chatted and conversed. Even the group of gluttons from Austin, who sounded the most fierce before this event, ignored the food around them. No one made any attempts at the food as all of the youths knew the important point of tonight’s event.
Don’t assume that since everyone stood there exposed to the night air that they appeared happy and carefree. In fact, the majority of youths placed most of their gazes and attention on the large hall within the facility. Those celebrities and bigwigs there were what this group of young elites truly placed their interests in.
So under this state of inattentiveness, the appearance Tianjing Academy showed was completely disregarded.
“Captain Wang Zhong.” Dressed in a white-coloured western suit, Arnold Teuton walked over and sent his greetings. With a faint smile he shook hands with Wang Zhong while saying, “Welcome. Captain Laura is currently accompanying some of the elders over there and is unable to attend to us here. Please do accept our apologies.”
Arnold was really the trusted aide to Laura. Hailing from a prosperous aristocratic clan within Copperfield City, his clan had intimate ties with the Potter Clan. He was a genius long-ranged specialist. Not only could he analyse the combat situation, he could simultaneously fill in the role of combat formation analyst within the squadron. Regardless of which squadron in the Eastern Area he might be placed in, an all-rounded talent like he would definitely be the most dazzling hidden ace. He was willing to give all this up, however, and help build the Wild Beast Squadron from the ground up with Laura, becoming truly worthy of his title as vice-captain. Furthermore, to be able to receive guests on behalf of Laura showed the relationship between their two clans. It was something that Anlor, who was in the same position within the Wild Beast Squadron, couldn’t match.
With grace and courtesy, he guided Wang Zhong and the rest inside. If he were to be honest, he didn’t want to look at this group from Tianjing Academy. The primary reason, however, was actually Wang Zhong.
Just the sole matter of him having peeked at Laura bathing was enough to make Anlor and Arnold feel like burying Wang Zhong alive. This was enough to make others have an unfavourable impression of Tianjing Academy. Even if it were Scarlet and Emily of the Assassin Clan, they might possess some prestige and awe in the eyes of others but to Arnold Teuton he could completely disregard them. To greet them coureously and guide them in was already giving them his greatest level of sincerity.
Wang Zhong, however, didn’t care about that. Upon passing through the gates, he was immediately smitten by the fragrant aromas wafting within.
“Big Brother Wang Zhong! It’s hard to find Copperfield Beef in even St. Mongul. This fragrance is extremely pure! Yes! From the aroma it appears to be 5A Grade! Even I have only eaten such a grade once.” Towards gourmet food, Emily’s sense of smell was absolutely like a dog’s. Her entire person sunk into a drunken state. To be so highly revered by Emily Assassin was enough to make the eyes of others emit faint rays of light.
But can one really tell the grade by smell alone?
Seeing Emily bubbling with excitement, Wang Zhong chose not to bother about this fact.
The sound of Barran swallowing his saliva beside him was already ringing in his ears, and Wang Zhong felt similarly hungry. Alright! They all headed over here with empty stomachs for a reason. Wanting to eat now was just fundamental common sense that had been naturally built into humans.
“I’ll go with Grai. Don’t you think we’re fitted for each other today?” Hymin said with a radiant smile. Dressed in a deep-blue suit, Grai almost made her drool and salivate. She had never seen Grai look so princely and was afraid that with a slip he’d be devoured by those sisters from Copperfield participating in this event. She had heard rumours that those aristocratic ladies didn’t pay much attention to anything else when faced with a truly handsome man!
When he heard her words, a helpless smile appeared on Grai’s face. Regardless of how handsome he appeared, he really didn’t know how to properly reject others.
On the other side, Scarlet and Milami were already walking around freely away from Wang Zhong and the others. But to their captain’s irresponsibility, they had no chance of establishing communications with others.
“Alright! Everyone can go and split up!” With a huge wave of his hand and an inability to bear with the itchiness in his head, Wang Zhong brought along Barran and Emily to rush excitedly toward the long line of grills.
While parties were good to participate in, the matter of making friends was like placing a bean before a tortoise to Wang Zhong. Compared to the little baldy and Aioros, there really wasn’t any meaning in deliberately making friends here. Furthermore, he wasn’t good at doing such things. For Student Wang Zhong, such matters were far, far less important than these hot and steaming culinary delicacies.
And honestly, Barran felt extremely blessed. When he was together with senior there wasn’t any need for him to worry about acting like a fool in such a high-class gathering. Originally, such an event should have made him feel extremely uncomfortable. It was like the time he had attended the party at Scarlet’s home on the first day at Tianjing Academy. Whenever he entered such events he found he didn’t know where to properly place his hands.
It was only due to Senior Wang Zhong leading by example that he was taught what to do at such an event. The correct thing to do was, of course, eat!