Chapter 2673: Chapter 894: His Mentor Is Very Impressive
All day Friday, the sky stayed dim and hazy, with a fine, drizzling rain.
That night, neither Zheng Qing nor Jiang Yu had any extra classes outside their timetable.
After dinner, the two of them came to Greenhill Mansion one after the other, as they’d agreed earlier. The difference was that, unlike the Witch in her pretty scarlet robe, Zheng Qing came to the mansion today in his black cat form.
He chose this form partly because of Xiao Xiao’s warning yesterday—so he wouldn’t get surrounded or provoked on the street—and also to save two Invisibility Talismans; but more than that, Zheng Qing felt that showing up in Greenhill Mansion as a cat would best preserve everyone’s dignity.
After all, it’s hard to make things difficult for a cat, isn’t it?
On top of that, once he was a cat, his black fur could hide most of his expressions; he could pretend not to see a lot of things, pretend not to hear a lot of words, and when the atmosphere turned subtle, he could even fake playing with Poseidon as an excuse to slip away.
The benefits were practically endless!
"...The downsides are what’s endless. The most important problem is that he’s about to graduate, about to walk out of the school gates!"
Jiang Yu stared hard at Su Shijun behind the desk, her expression grave. "If a scandal over Magic ethics breaks out at this critical moment, no institution or lab in the Alliance— not even the big hunting teams—will consider working with him! You know that Magic ethics are rules every Magic project must follow. Wizards drafted those ethical standards because countless historical experiences have already proved just how disastrous out-of-control Magic experiments can be for this World..."
Right now, the three of them were in the study of Greenhill Mansion.
Su Shijun sat behind the desk with her arms folded, taking her time as she watched the young Witch in front of her.
Jiang Yu’s expression stayed serious, the worry between her brows impossible to hide.
The black cat circled his tail neatly around his paws and squatted properly at the corner of the desk, staring straight ahead at the Jupiter model—at the red, spot-like Eye of Jupiter on its surface, at the pretty halo around its equator like a necklace, at its four big satellites that looped around the model once every few seconds.
The paw hidden beneath the cat’s tail couldn’t help clenching, as he forcibly suppressed the urge to pounce and swat at those four big satellites.
After all, his plan to use Poseidon to dodge risk had basically dropped to zero—because they were going to talk about serious matters, before they entered the study, the Little Fox had been handed over by Su Shijun to the three Great Elves and Su Ya to go play together in the little garden outside.
"I understand the importance of Magic ethics better than you do, and I care about it more. After all, I come from the Moon Council; any Magic experiment I do has to go through stricter ethical review than ordinary Wizards."
The mistress of Greenhill Mansion looked approvingly at the young Witch standing so forcefully before the desk, and said lightly, "...But it’s fine. With Zheng Suyi, Zheng Sushuang, and Zheng Susu living in my mansion, the biggest share of pressure naturally falls on me."
"He can’t take the rest of the pressure either!"
Jiang Yu pointed at the black cat beside her, slightly emphasizing her tone. "He’s just a Little wizard who hasn’t even graduated yet. How can his ability to bear pressure compare with yours? He’s not an Aristocratic Disciple from a clan like Zhongshan or Qingqiu. Maybe because of the school and that teacher of his, the old fossils in the Alliance won’t pursue his mistakes over something like this—but there’s still a big chance they’ll stop working with him. We both know how much people in that circle care about rules! If he offends them this early, his situation might turn out even worse than Doctor Du Zemu’s back then!"
Su Shijun lifted an eyebrow.
"If he’s my man, bearing this bit of pressure won’t be a problem." She said it bluntly right in front of Jiang Yu, then shifted the topic and looked at the black cat. "Also, you never told her who that mister of yours is? I thought you brought her to meet him last Christmas."
She looked a little surprised, but also a little pleased.
"Christmas?" Jiang Yu seemed to snort that word out through her nose—clearly not very polite behavior for a Lady.
At the same time, two sharp gazes sliced toward the black cat.
The black cat instantly felt a chill all over. The soft fur on his back stood up in unison, and the tail curled around his paws tightened reflexively.
"I... she... meow..." he muttered, trying to muddle through with cuteness.
"You never tried to find out his background either?"
The mistress of Greenhill Mansion chuckled softly, then turned her eyes back to the Witch in front of the desk. "Your family never told you? You took him to Shanglin Garden’s Spring Hunting—your family didn’t remind you of anything? I remember that Elderly Ancestor of yours even came to Buji Island last year."
"Respecting personal privacy is the most basic courtesy when two people are in a relationship." The young Witch answered stiffly. Clearly, though, at this moment she had fallen slightly on the back foot in this exchange, her momentum a bit lacking.
Back when Zheng Qing first blew up, she had seen that mister once in the bookstore. Hearing Su Shijun now, she couldn’t help trying hard to recall the old man’s face and voice, only to be startled to find everything hazy—she seemed to remember, but whenever she tried to pull up details, nothing came.
"His mister is very powerful."
Su Shijun didn’t keep pressing. She merely offered a light explanation. "As for how powerful exactly, you’ll find out slowly in the future. In short, you don’t need to worry about the attitude of those old men in the Alliance... As for that mister’s identity... like you said, there are basic courtesies in personal relationships. It’s really not appropriate for me to be the one explaining something like that to you."
Zheng Qing felt two sharp swords slam into his spine again.
His body couldn’t help shrinking even smaller.
"I thought you both already knew," the black cat whispered, not daring to look at either Witch’s expression, speaking very quickly instead. "I mean, I think mister is the principal... you know, the principal of our school."
"The principal?"
"You think?"
The two Witches spoke at the same time, but their focus was different.
Jiang Yu was shocked because this was her first time learning mister’s true identity, while Su Shijun was curious about the uncertainty in Zheng Qing’s tone.
The black cat naturally heard this subtle difference.
"He’s never directly told me who he is; I only guessed from clues." Zheng Qing quickly explained to the mistress of the mansion, then turned to the other Witch and slowed down a bit. "So I’m really not completely sure about it; I couldn’t just go around telling people... The people who know this now, like Professor Yao, like..."
He glanced at Su Shijun, coughed hard, and added, "I mean, the people who know about this now all found out on their own; I didn’t tell them... And mister doesn’t seem to like people knowing about him... I haven’t seen him for a long time either."
Though the explanation was a bit strained, it still held together.
Some of the color eased from Jiang Yu’s face.
