Northstar Starship Military Academy · the ocean-themed restaurant.
Zhao Chen watched the holographic images of aquatic creatures — from who-knew-which star system — drifting freely through the air before him; the whole restaurant was done in a hushed, tranquil style.
All told, there were only a few dozen people dining.
It counted as one of Northstar's more upscale restaurants.
Only those of noble birth came to a place like this to eat; it was said that fully half its ingredients were naturally grown food.
The three beauties, large and small, walking at Zhao Chen's side drew no shortage of turned heads his way.
"Junior Zhao Chen, have you settled on what conditions you mean to put to Zhang Haoran in a little while?" Su Lan asked.
"I've got it in mind," Zhao Chen said with a smile.
Seeing this, Su Lan said no more. Her role, after all, was only that of a go-between; whether this business succeeded or not she didn't much care, and she'd stepped in to broker it only because she owed that person a favor.
"Lanlan, over here."
A voice carried over, and even from a good distance Zhao Chen could see a fair-faced young man seated at a round table by the window, waving toward Su Lan and her party.
Three people were already seated around the round table, and one of them was that Zhang Haoran; another was an unfamiliar face.
Zhang Haoran's expression was plainly none too good. His gaze met Zhao Chen's for a brief moment, but he quickly shied it away, wearing a thoroughly pitiable look.
Yet Zhao Chen sensed, all the same, the sharp edge of hatred in Zhang Haoran.
For a fellow of this sort, a single lesson would hardly be enough to make him behave.
"Say whatever's on your mind in a while. If the talks come to nothing, we'll simply go; don't feel you have to mind the rest of us," Su Lan murmured close to Zhao Chen's ear.
Zhao Chen nodded.
Zhao Wan'er trailed along at his side, a little stiff and ill at ease, casting worried glances at her brother. Fief baron he might be, but he'd never once had any dealings with a formal occasion like this.
Xue Xiaoxiao, for her part, wore a look of eager anticipation — she loved this sort of stir-things-up occasion best of all.
When Zhao Chen and the others reached the table, the senior named Han Tianwang paid no mind at all to Zhao Chen — who was, by rights, the central figure of this negotiation — but instead pulled out the seat beside him, already sitting empty. "Lanlan, come sit here."
The round table had only seven seats — which answered exactly to Han Tianwang's party of three and Zhao Chen's party of four.
And Han Tianwang had deliberately left a seat open at his own side; plainly, it was one he'd set aside expressly for Su Lan.
But Su Lan cut it a glance and merely gave Han Tianwang a smiling greeting. "It's all right, I'll sit over here."
With that, she seated herself together with Zhao Wan'er and Xue Xiaoxiao.
This left Han Tianwang a little awkward.
And now the only seat left for Zhao Chen was the one beside Han Tianwang.
At this Han Tianwang looked at the man before him and said mildly, "This must be Junior Zhao Chen. Come, please, sit."
For all that he said "please, sit," Han Tianwang had long since taken his own seat.
Now the only one still unseated was Zhao Chen.
But Zhao Chen didn't head for the seat at Han Tianwang's side. Instead he laid a hand on the chair right in front of him. "No need. I'll sit here."
In that instant, the mood in the room began to turn.
Because the chair Zhao Chen had laid his hand on was precisely the one Zhang Haoran was sitting in.
Zhang Haoran's face went ugly. He looked toward the senior Han Tianwang — and Han Tianwang moved his gaze away.
Seeing how things stood, Zhang Haoran could only, black-faced, rise to his feet, making to take the seat beside Han Tianwang.
Zhao Chen sat down in Zhang Haoran's chair — and, seeing that Zhang Haoran meant to sit, straightaway picked up a cup of water and poured it out across that other seat.
"Is there a seat here for the likes of you?"
The mood dropped toward freezing once more.
Zhang Haoran clenched his fists.
"Junior Zhao Chen, no need to be so hard-driving. In truth it was all just a misunderstanding earlier between Junior Haoran and yourself; now that we're gathered here to share a meal, let's consider the misunderstanding cleared up, and all be friends from here on. Lanlan, wouldn't you agree?" Han Tianwang stepped in just then to play the peacemaker.
Su Lan smiled. "The three of us are only along as guests this time; we won't be speaking. It's all as Junior Zhao Chen sees fit."
"If there's a seat for him here today, then there's no seat for me, Zhao Chen. Senior — what do you say to that?" Zhao Chen, giving not an inch, looked Han Tianwang dead in the eye.
A flicker of gloom crossed the depths of Han Tianwang's eyes, but his face remained all good cheer. "True enough — an apology ought to look like an apology. Haoran, you stand, then."
"Waiter, kindly clear away this extra chair." Zhao Chen called over a waiter.
The waitstaff here weren't intelligent robots, but smartly turned-out young women — a token of the restaurant's high standing.
The chair was cleared away, and Zhang Haoran stood there like a post, planted between Zhao Chen and Han Tianwang.
"We're all seated, and you alone are left standing. Doesn't that rather make it look as though you stand a whole rank above the rest of us? It makes us all quite uncomfortable, you know." Zhao Chen looked at Zhang Haoran with a smiling squint.
Zhang Haoran ground his teeth. "You… what more do you want?"
"Kneel," said Zhao Chen, tossing off the word offhand.
The looks in the eyes of everyone present shifted.
Zhang Haoran flushed with shame and rage. "Zhao Chen, don't push it too far!"
"Too far? As I heard it, you and that pack of little brothers of yours were shouting it about in my classroom — that if you beat me in the duel, you'd have me kneel on the ground and apologize to you? You didn't think it too far then?" Zhao Chen said with a smiling squint. "Or is it that Young Master Zhang thinks himself above going on studying at Northstar?"
Zhao Chen's final jab struck straight into Zhang Haoran's heart.
He absolutely could not withdraw from Northstar.
That viscount father of his — a future count — did not have only the one son.
Northstar was one of the three finest starship military academies in the Starlight Empire, and it was only by pulling every string he had that his father had gotten him in. If he couldn't so much as manage to graduate from Northstar, then in all likelihood his title would, when the time came, be snatched away by one of his brothers.
His mother, on learning of the matter, had sent him a text outright: find a way, and whatever happens, do not withdraw from Northstar!
"Junior Zhao Chen, there's really no call for this. Junior Haoran knows his fault now; we're all classmates, and there's no need to sour things between us so badly. Give me a little face — let's eat first, and discuss over the meal how to settle this misunderstanding between you and Junior Haoran. I'll see to it you get a satisfactory answer!" Han Tianwang put in.
"Face?" Zhao Chen gave a chuckle, and eyed Han Tianwang with a narrowed gaze. "Does the senior mean that I give you face — and you kneel in his place?"
Off to the side, Zhao Wan'er drew a sharp breath. What had gotten into her brother today — had he swallowed gunpowder? Sniping at Zhang Haoran was one thing, but he'd gone and sniped at Han Tianwang too!
Su Lan and the twin-tailed Xue Xiaoxiao looked at Zhao Chen in surprise; they were finding this junior really was a bit out of the ordinary.
Han Tianwang's face darkened at this.
"Fine — I'll kneel!" Zhang Haoran roared out the words, and knelt down where the chair had been.
The height of the table came up just far enough to hide his head.
"Perfect — that way you're not in the way of our meal. Why's everyone staring at me? Aren't we here to eat? Come on, let's order up, I'm starving. Senior Han, whatever you like the look of, order away; no need to stand on ceremony." Zhao Chen raised a hand and opened the holographic ordering page.
Then, with the swiftest flurry of fingers, he jabbed away at it — so fast that even Zhao Wan'er, seated beside him, couldn't make out what he'd ordered.
"I've placed my order; the rest of you see what else you'd like. No need to be shy — we've finally got the chance to dine with Senior Han, so let's eat and be merry." Zhao Chen looked round at them all with a smile.
Xue Xiaoxiao very nearly failed to hold back a burst of laughter.