"Social balls have a very strong purpose, the Clans of the Moon are not fools; the lavish moonlit balls they hosted were not just for everyone to gather and commorate so Elder Wizard’s birthday from a few thousand years ago."
"Especially at the First University."
"The students have reached adulthood, their lineage advantages gradually manifesting, and inter-marriage between male and female wizards becos the primary goal for all Alpha students attending such balls. It’s not only their choice, but also the demand of their lineage."
Jiang Yu ticulously sliced a small piece of steak, her voice not loud but very clear as she explained her understanding of the moonlit ball to the warlock sitting opposite:
"..pared to those ssy balls outside the campus, the moonlit ball held at the First University, as the attendants, at the very least, are ordinary students of First University, has already set a benchmark above the baseline."
She drew a line in the air with a silver knife:
"This benchmark is ’registered wizard’, any graduate of the First University, at the very least, is of registered level. Far exceeding the level of most wizards in the Alliance."
"Ordinary lineage wizards ambitiously aiming for greater achievents, noble lineage wizards can look down and pick the most suitable spouse according to family requirents... and those who are neither outstanding nor lacking in qualifications and lineage, bearing the family’s future and hopes, can only at such a ball have the chance to et ’friends’ they might never be able to et under normal circumstances."
Su Shijun has never told Zheng Qing about these backgrounds and obscure matters.
The young cost student cautiously handled the food on his plate, nodding repeatedly, indicating he had gained much.
Due to his special identity, this lunch, instead of going to the pedestrian street, was held in the chief student lounge provided by Liu Fei Fei.
A few side dishes were also arranged by Jiang Yu’s private chef, a snail lady affiliated with the Zhongshan Jiang Family, helped to prepare.
This made Zheng Qing eat very uncomfortable.
Especially when the witch ntioned the word ’ambitious’, he involuntarily recalled the phrasing in a report from Beta Town Post so ti ago, feeling increasingly alard, even his breathing was lightened.
This sensation was like a hedgehog darting under his seat, making it hard for him to sit comfortably.
"Wrong!"
The witch’s sowhat abrupt voice interrupted the boy’s unease; her gaze falling on his plate, she seriously reminded: "You’ve got the fork wrong, if you can’t rember, use the fork with the most tines for roast at, and the one with the least tines for fruit."
Zheng Qing lowered his head, only then realizing he held a three-tine fork stabbing the small steak in front of him.
"Ah, oh... I just felt it was more convenient."
The young cost student tried to recall the various knowledge cramd into his mind over the few days, his eyes swiftly scanned the silver bone china plate beside him with the row of seemingly indistinguishable forks—besides size and length differences, there were also two-tines, three-tines, four-tines—he suddenly had an epiphany, revealing a hint of realization: "Oh right! Previously when buying fruit plates on the street, the plastic fork given as a gift had two tines!"
The witch nodded very reluctantly.
"And your dining spoon, the big one for soup, the small one for dessert; the bread plate is relatively small, placed at the lower left front of the main plate; the amber light wine glass placed at the lower right front of the main plate... Silverware generally don’t appear in moonlit gatherings, mostly it’s brass or porcelain, if it’s porcelain, handle it lightly, if you accidentally break it, people might secretly mock you as a crude Fishman... also, different dishes require different utensils..."
As she spoke, she adeptly used a three-tine fork to pick up a small piece of fried fish, then used a two-tine fork to pick a cherry tomato, then switched to a knife with a flat round tip to cut a small piece of butter, used another knife like a spoon to scoop it up and spread on bread; with a slightly shorter slender knife she sliced so salad, added it to the bread, and with the longest knife and four-tine fork she cut a small piece of steak for herself.
The whole process was exceedingly smooth, eating, speaking, and her hand movents didn’t interfere with each other, as if a skillful pianist was performing a beautiful musical piece, dazzling the young cost student, his hands increasingly erroneous.
The witch noticed his stiff movents, suddenly sighed gently, shook her head slightly.
"In summary,"
She put down her knife and fork, her tone softened more: "According to the basic principles of classic etiquette by old-school wizards, when in doubt, use the fork. Because the fork isn’t as violent as the knife, nor as childish as the spoon, relatively appears most courteous... so, grip tightly onto your four-tine fork, you’ll never be wrong."
Zheng Qing quietly breathed a sigh of relief, morizing this sentence firmly.
"Besides the four-tine fork, the last thing you can never do wrong with is your posture."
The witch straightened her body, chin slightly raised, signaling the boy to sit straighter with her gaze: "Even when sitting, maintain a straight posture, arms not on the table, body not touching the table, gaze not rudely fixed on any guest, yet not aimlessly unfocused either... In short, sit however feels tiring... if at any mont you feel comfortable, then definitely so aspect of your posture is slackened... For beginners, this kind of gathering is like a trial, where you must smile while accepting punishnt."
Zheng Qing sighed heavily, put down his fork, wiped his mouth.
"I really wish I were a witch."
He muttered, feeling sowhat self-defeated: "Heard witches wearing Crinoline Skirts, the hoops can help maintain posture when sitting, surely much easier..."
In fact, he did have a bit of a personal experience with this—after the school hunting party, Su Shijun rewarded the absolution with Pandora’s Magic Box containing a doll dressed in won’s clothing, unfortunately drawn by Zheng Qing, at that ti he strutted through half the academy in that voluminous skirt.
Evidently, Jiang Yu also recalled this amusing incident, couldn’t help but softly chuckle, then quickly restrained her smile, making her face stern.
"Not all witches wear Crinoline Skirts, in fact, besides the Ghost Tribe, there are few living witches who still wear those instrunts of torture."
She first corrected the boy’s misconception, then supplented: "Even if wearing a Crinoline Skirt, during dining, you should first be familiar with the power of the corset... First, you must maintain breathing within it, secondly, many witches squeeze their waist down to an apple’s size, lastly, imagine yourself taking small breaths maintaining life while trying to eat an apple."
Absolutely impossible.
Zheng Qing recalled his past ’experience’, shook his head profoundly.
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