"Even... even if it wasn't a candid shot, what about my skirt? You still have to compensate me," the girl said, her neck stiff, after seeing the contents of the camera.
"Of course, the money for the skirt will naturally be paid by Senior Fingel..."
Cheng Sui looked at Fingel, meeting his pair of watery, wronged eyes. It was hard to imagine a burly man, 1.88 meters tall, making such an expression, his gaze seemingly saying, "Junior, save me, I don't have a single penny."
"The money for the skirt will naturally be paid by me. Just tell me the price, and I'll have norma transfer it to your card later," Cheng Sui said helplessly. He was unlucky to have run into Fingel today.
"Then my emotional distress..."
The girl still wanted to demand more compensation, but after meeting Cheng Sui's eyes, she obediently shut her mouth, huffed, and left, still muttering something as she walked away.
Cheng Sui put away his Sharingan. This was a skill he had recently developed, triggered by making eye contact with an enemy to intimidate them, a nascent form of Sharingan genjutsu.
Unfortunately, Cheng Sui wore black contact lenses, so the effect was greatly reduced, and his knowledge of genjutsu was almost zero. To develop it further, he would have to explore it himself.
Although this skill was still under development, it was more than enough to deal with girls like her.
[Under your clever intervention, Might Guy successfully cleared his name. He expressed his gratitude to you and reflected that being misunderstood must be due to not being youthful enough. So, he ran off doing a handstand, shouting something about "burning youth."]
[Mission Completion Reward: Eight Gates (First Four Gates)]
..."So you're saying Caesar arranged for you to follow me? Eat slower, you make me genuinely wonder if Cassell College has some kind of abuse for students who extend their studies. You're eating like you haven't had food in a month."
Cheng Sui propped his face with one hand, looking suspiciously at Fingel, who was wolfing down a burger opposite him.
With Caesar's personality, if there was anything, he would probably tell him directly, not have Fingel secretly follow him.
Fingel tried to explain, but he ate too fast and choked, repeatedly patting his chest.
"Are you performing some kind of gorilla chest-beating?" Cheng Sui quickly snatched the cola in front of Fingel. "Liars don't get cola, Senior Fingel. You wouldn't want your grand career of repeating grades to end by choking to death, would you?"
Fingel's face turned from red to purple, and finally, he probably couldn't hold it in anymore and nodded repeatedly at Cheng Sui.
Only then did Cheng Sui hand him the cola.
Fingel grabbed the cola and guzzled it down as if he were a person lost in the desert for three days who had found a spring.
"I might never drink such delicious cola in my life again," Fingel let out a satisfied burp, expelling the carbon dioxide from his stomach, and patted his belly contentedly.
Cheng Sui didn't respond, lightly tapping the cafeteria table with his fingertips, signaling Fingel not to change the subject.
"Hey, hey, hey, Junior Cheng Sui, I thought you were a pretty humorous guy, like the principal," Fingel combed his iron-gray hair. "But I didn't expect you to be so serious. I think you and Chu Zihang would get along especially well, after all, neither of you talks, you just sit face to face and start communicating via brainwaves."
"If you keep this up, you'll pay for that skirt yourself," Cheng Sui said expressionlessly. "Oh, and you'll pay for this burger meal too."
"No, no, no, Junior, don't, talking about money hurts feelings too much," Fingel quickly swallowed the last bit of his burger bun. "To be honest, I was entrusted by Caesar to invite you to the ball he's holding tonight at Amber Hall."
"A ball? Why would Caesar hold a ball for no reason?" Cheng Sui pointed at Fingel's camera. "And shouldn't an invitation be an invitation letter? Why are you bringing a camera to secretly photograph me?"
"Caesar, you know, I heard his family named him that because they want him to become that consul of ancient Rome, to become the emperor of the new era of Hybrids. Even his sword is called 'dictator,' which means dictator in ancient Rome."
Fingel leaned closer to Cheng Sui, lowering his voice: "But I feel he's more like Nero, that tyrant of ancient Rome who loved opera and dance. Since he's a tyrant, isn't it normal to hold a ball?"
"But I heard the reason Caesar is holding a ball at Amber Hall today is that he wants to confess to a junior he's been pursuing for a while, that red-haired junior from freshman year."
So, they confirmed their relationship from this time. Thinking about it, Lu Mingfei was really quite miserable.
Cheng Sui felt a little pity for Lu Mingfei, but otherwise, he had no emotional fluctuations.
He had no feelings for Nono, and Caesar was excellent enough.
More importantly, Cheng Sui had read the first two parts of Dragon Clan in his previous life and knew that Nono was actually Caesar's pre-destined bride by the Gattruso Family.
Caesar, who prided himself on freedom, had actually never escaped the circle his family had laid out for him.
Ordering another cola, Fingel pulled out a crumpled invitation from his embrace and placed it on the table.
The invitation was made of creamy white cardstock, with delicate gold foil patterns pressed along the edges, embossed with Cassell College's iconic dark patterned vines, feeling fine-grained to the touch.
The seal was red wax, bearing the Student Union's crest, with an embossed texture formed by firm pressure, exuding a sense of old-world ceremony.
But now, this luxurious and solemn invitation lay dryly on the table like crumpled toilet paper.
"Hehe, Senior Fingel." Cheng Sui picked up the invitation and glanced at it. It indeed had his name written on it. "You wouldn't have specifically asked Caesar for this invitation just to use it as a shield while secretly photographing me, would you?"
Fingel, exposed, showed no change in expression and said righteously, "Junior, saying that about me really hurts me. I specifically asked the President for this invitation, and you misunderstand me like this."
"Then what's in your camera...?"
"Cough, cough, that's because I admire Junior's heroic posture and couldn't help but press the shutter."
Cheng Sui rolled his eyes dramatically, picked up the invitation, and waved it in front of Fingel.
"I don't know if I'll go to the banquet tonight, but thank you for the invitation. And don't post nonsense on the Night Watchman Forum, or next time I see you, I'll smash your camera." Cheng Sui casually put the invitation into his school uniform pocket and turned to walk out of the cafeteria.
"Hey, Junior, don't go!" Fingel, exposed yet again, paused in his cola-drinking and tried to call out to Cheng Sui.
But Cheng Sui only gave him a waving back, leaving without looking back.
"Junior, you haven't paid for my burger yet!"
Fingel wailed.