Chapter 12: The Grape Leaf Restaurant

Konelia finally found Bingzhi, who had already left the exam hall, and ran up to him, panting, "Why did you hand in your paper so quickly?"

"Huh?" Bingzhi, who had been looking at the sky, turned his head and said, "I just wanted to hand it in."

Konelia pressed her forehead and shook her head, "How can you be so careless? Don't you care at all whether you get accepted or not?"

"No, I must get into Kulantin Academy," Bingzhi said calmly but firmly.

Konelia stared at him for a moment, "Then you..."

"Hey, Konelia." Yilina ran over, out of breath, with Vien following, "Konelia, you have to talk to this guy. He handed in his paper before the exam was over."

"What happened?" Konelia asked, looking at Vien.

Vien, seeing Bingzhi, grabbed his shoulder and laughed, "You little guy, where have you been? I thought you weren't here to take the exam. Do you know, last time you fixed that knight's armor, it really impressed us. I, Kate Vien, haven't admired many people in my life. You, your skills, I'm impressed. I've decided to be your friend."

"Vien!" Konelia said, a bit angry, "Don't be so rude. Take your hand off him!"

Vien quickly removed his hand from Bingzhi's shoulder, "Sorry."

Yilina laughed, "Hmph, you big ox, only Konelia can handle you. How do you make friends like that? It's as if it's a great honor for someone to be your friend. Do you think you're some kind of genius?"

"Yilina! Hmph, how I make friends is my business, not yours," Vien said, "Konelia didn't say anything, so what right do you have to criticize me?"

"Why can't I criticize you? You..." Yilina suddenly realized, "Don't change the subject. Quickly, tell Konelia what you did wrong."

Konelia added, "Yes, she said you handed in your paper before the exam was over."

Yilina interjected, "He said he couldn't do the questions, so he didn't write them. Hmph, I wonder how you'll explain to your father and the mayor if you don't get into Kulantin."

Vien looked aggrieved, "I couldn't do them anyway. It's better to save some time for the martial arts test, which is my strong point. Don't worry, Konelia, I'll make up for the points I lost in the written test on the martial arts test. After all, both the written and martial arts tests are worth 500 points each, and you need 800 points to pass."

Yilina tapped his head, "Idiot! It's not just 800 points. If 44,000 other candidates score higher than you, you won't get in!"

"Ah, don't worry, it'll be fine. I'll definitely get in," Vien said nonchalantly.

Yilina, seeing his attitude, couldn't say anything more, "I really don't know where you get this irrational confidence from."

Konelia laughed, "Alright, since Vien says so, he must have his own plan. Let's not worry about him. We should hurry and get something to eat. The martial arts test is in a little over an hour."

"Hey, where's Bingzhi?" Vien noticed Bingzhi was gone and said to Yilina, "It's all your fault, talking so much that I couldn't even make a friend."

Yilina retorted, "It's your own fault for scaring him away with your rude way of making friends. How can you blame me?"

Konelia looked around but couldn't find Bingzhi, "Forget it, maybe he doesn't like us and left on his own. Let's eat, I'm starving."

Speaking of eating, Vien got excited and said, "Hurry up, I heard the restaurant in the academy is good. If we go too late, there won't be any seats left."

Yilina muttered, "Tsk, you get excited about food, but not about the exam."

The Grape Leaf Restaurant was a very nice place in Kulantin Academy. The dim lighting and the occasional soft, non-blinding white light created a pleasant atmosphere. The red diamond-patterned wallpaper and the colorful landscape paintings on the walls, though hard to see clearly, contributed to the ambiance that the guests enjoyed.

The glass decorations on the tables, with the slow, gentle music and the dancing light, added to the charm. Bingzhi was sitting in a corner, eating a shrimp salad and drinking a glass of light purple wine.

The wine was a complimentary drink from the restaurant, a special type of wine that wouldn't make you drunk. Bingzhi, who didn't know much about wine, drank it more like sweet juice. He sat alone, seemingly detached from the world around him, enjoying the solitude. However, his peace was interrupted when someone he knew saw him.

"Hey, Celeste Bingzhi." Big Lo, with his golden hair, seemed pleasantly surprised to find him in the corner, "It's been many days since we last met. How are you? Ah, you're here, so you must be one of the first to take the exam. How did it go?"

Bingzhi pointed to a seat for him to sit down and said calmly, "It was okay."

"What do you mean 'okay'? It seems to have gone well. Hey, waiter." Lo snapped his fingers and saw the salad Bingzhi was eating, "You have the martial arts test tonight, how can you eat this? It won't give you energy."

The waiter quickly came over, "What would you like to order?"

Lo said, "Let's start with two escargots, then chicken liver steak, wine-braised pancakes, and borscht. Two of each, okay?"

The last question was directed at Bingzhi, asking if the dishes were acceptable. Bingzhi, who had initially wanted to refuse, thought about it and accepted.

Lo added, "And a glass of juice, that's it."

"Please wait a moment." The waiter noted down the orders.

Lo, seeing that Bingzhi still didn't talk much, said, "Hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you still like this? When we first met, you didn't talk unless I started the conversation."

Bingzhi looked at him for a long time and said, "Hello."

Lo facepalmed, "You really get me."

"These dishes must be expensive."

"Ha! You finally spoke." Lo seemed delighted, "It's fine, it doesn't cost much. I always help out around the academy and earn a bit of money."

Bingzhi said this and then fell silent again.

After a while, the appetizer escargots arrived, steaming and fragrant with garlic. The strong garlic flavor was the reason Lo asked if the dishes were okay.

Lo used a small tongs to pick up a large escargot and a small knife to extract the meat. After eating the meat, he sucked the delicious broth from the shell and sighed, "This is my favorite dish. Try it."

Bingzhi, who seemed to have never eaten this before, followed Lo's method and ate it, looking quite natural.

Soon, the other main dishes arrived one by one.

Lo noticed that Bingzhi wasn't very interested in the other dishes but seemed to like the wine-braised pancakes. He offered his portion, "If you like it, you can have mine too."

Bingzhi looked at him and said without hesitation, "Thank you."

Lo smiled, "The pancakes here are really good. The flour, eggs, milk, and the wine used for flavoring are all top-quality."

Bingzhi didn't respond, just continued eating. Lo shook his head helplessly and focused on his meal.

Midway through the meal, Bingzhi went to the restroom and didn't return. When Big Lo paid the bill, he realized Bingzhi had already paid. Lo grumbled as he left the restaurant, "What's wrong with this guy? He was more friendly when we first met. Why didn't he even smile today? Did he do poorly on the exam?"

Bingzhi walked through the magic garden in front of the Grape Leaf Restaurant. Leaving without saying goodbye was impolite, but he didn't care. His face showed no concern for how Lo might feel. To him, it seemed that others' feelings didn't matter at all. In his world, there was only himself.

He sat on a bench in the garden, leaning back with his large magic hat covering his face. The cool evening air felt refreshing.

After a while, a boy and a girl, both around 15 or 16 years old, came over. They saw that the only bench in the garden was occupied, and the person was sitting in the middle. The girl, who was quite pretty, looked at the boy, asking what to do.

The boy said rudely to Bingzhi, "Hey, get up, don't sit in the middle. Move over, did you hear me?"

Bingzhi didn't react for a long time.

The girl, seeing him leaning back with a hat, said, "Is he asleep?"

The boy cursed, "What a jerk, sleeping here! If we weren't in the academy, I'd beat him up. Let's go sit somewhere else, Gerti."

The girl, Gerti, rubbed her sore legs, "My feet are tired. Since he's asleep, let's sit next to him."

The boy, still unhappy, glanced at the person on the bench, "Fine."

The bench could only seat three people, so the boy and girl had to sit on either side of Bingzhi.

The girl, Gerti, said, "Sibyl, continue what you were saying. What did you say about dragons?"

"Um." Sibyl seemed excited when talking about dragons, "My father promised me that if I get into Kulantin, he'll give me a Spineback Dragon. It looks like I'll definitely get the dragon, as I've already been selected to enter Kulantin."

"Really impressive!" Gerti thought for a moment, "A Spineback Dragon? Is it a ground dragon, not a giant flying dragon?"

Sibyl laughed loudly, "Giant flying dragons, there are very few people in the world who can control them. And it takes a lot of effort and luck to get one. The dragon riders of the empire, which are not the flying dragons you imagine, are actually Spineback Dragons, Ironback Dragons, and the like. The empire has only seven true dragon riders, and they are all famous nobles."

"Only seven!" Gerti was surprised, "I thought the empire's 3,000 dragon riders were all giant flying dragons."

Sibyl laughed, "If the empire had 3,000 dragon riders, the whole world would belong to the empire. But even Spineback Dragons are very rare. The empire has spent countless resources to get the current 3,000 dragon riders. Each of these dragons is much more powerful than ordinary magical beasts. Their massive bodies, powerful destructive force, and incredibly tough skin make everyone tremble at their might."

"Wow, really?" Gerti was delighted, "Then promise me, you'll let me ride on the dragon's back too."

Sibyl said proudly, "Of course, when I ride my dragon around the academy, everyone will be envious. You know, even the five major families of the empire can't easily get such dragons."

The boy and girl chatted happily, as if the person in the middle didn't exist.

Bingzhi felt it was time and suddenly stood up, "You're so annoying!" He didn't even look at them and walked away.

"You..." Sibyl was stunned, then wanted to curse, but the person was already far away. With the noise around, he had to hold his breath and continue chatting with Gerti, but they sat much closer than before.

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