Chapter 56: At The Long Table!

Chapter 56: At The Long Table!

Sure, we could have easily walked across the street to the restaurant, but the Star University campus is much bigger than most people can imagine.

Plus, it is always better to arrive at a destination without being completely tired out, and after you finish packing yourself full from a massive meal, who the hell actually wants to walk back?

As I navigated the truck into the parking lot and found a good spot, I noticed a distinct detail that showed this place strictly catered to the high-class crowd: they had dedicated parking spots designed specifically for limos. They looked like normal parking stalls, except they lacked the middle dividing line and took up two full spaces longways to accommodate the extra length.

I hopped out of the driver's seat and walked around to the passenger side, opening the higher door of the Hummer to help Linda step down. James jumped out of the back seat on his own, a cheerful smile plastered across his face. I noticed he explicitly did not race around the vehicle to open the door for Linda himself, leaving that task entirely to me. That is a foundational part of the bro-code when guys think you or a girl might actually like a bro.

James might constantly look and act like a lecherous playboy wannabe, but in reality, he is just an awkward geek trying his absolute best to live life like a cool guy. He is that always-cheerful fellow who intentionally acts goofy just to put smiles on the faces of the people around him.

If you want to know why James is my best friend, it is because out of our entire high school roster, he was the single person who actually bothered to get to know me. He did not care a shred about the other students scorning or mocking him for hanging around the school outcast. He even stepped in and got himself beat up a couple of times trying to help me out of a jam. If that does not define a loyal friend, I don't know what does.

I have mentioned it before, but he even used to flirt with Mary while we were growing up. It was never serious, though; he only did it to practice his cheesy pickup skills. Mary always shit-canned his attempts immediately, but she would always point out the exact flaws in his delivery so he could improve. Hell, James was the exact person who originally pointed out to me that I loved Mary, long before the two of us ever confessed our feelings to each other. Now, only a real brother would notice something like that.

So why am I still close friends with him after receiving my advanced skills and system knowledge? Because I am fiercely loyal to the people who showed loyalty to me when I had nothing. I will always look out for James, even when he does silly things like inviting random girls to hang out during our scheduled time.

Besides, we live in a world with a ratio of two women for every single man. For Jim to be actively looking for a second wife is completely normal. In fact, monogamous men are generally viewed as poor or lacking capability in this society. A lion with only a single mate is a total abnormality, and the exact same social logic applies here on Pangaea Earth. That is why the fractured memories I have of that other Earth confuse me so much sometimes.

James slid his sunglasses onto his face and waited patiently while I reached up to help Linda. She placed her hand firmly in mine, letting me support her weight as she stepped down onto the asphalt.

She was wearing white strapped sandals with a slight heel to them, paired with a sleeveless white dress that flowed elegantly down to her knees. She looked exactly like a proper noble lady. Her hair was pulled back neatly into a ponytail, secured by a crisp white ribbon, and she wore a few choice pearl accessories to give her a pure, clean look.

I shut the passenger door and hit the remote to lock up the truck.

James, never losing an opportunity to be funny or try to embarrass us, chimed in immediately. "Teacher Long, the twins, Linda, Tina, and you are all wearing white today like you guys explicitly planned it or something! Damn, if I would have known Monday was white-day, I would have dressed for it too. Oh well, there is always next week. Let's go, guys!"

Now that I actually thought about it, James was entirely right. Linda and I looked at each other, sharing an awkward moment of silence as we realized the coincidence.

When we stepped through the front entrance of the BBQ House, the overhead speakers were playing the top charting songs. The restaurant utilized a specialized sound system that automatically adjusted the ambient audio based on the current noise level of the guests eating. When business was slow, the volume turned down accordingly, and it dialed itself right back up whenever the main dining room got noisy and crowded, exactly like right now. It was a cool feature added purely for guest satisfaction. The management also changed the music playlist depending on the season to match the local weather and time of year.

I walked up to the front desk and spoke directly to the attractive hostess about our table. "Hello, we are a group of three arriving for the Victoria Long table."

The woman's expression brightened instantly, her friendliness readings spiking as she smiled and asked us to follow her.

She led our small group toward the rear right corner of the expansive dining area. She brought us to an automatic sliding glass door that opened into a massive private party room.

The room featured an automatic sliding door made of heavy frosted glass, providing the occupants with total privacy from the normal dining crowd outside. The fancy automatic doors were installed because they allowed the servers to carry massive trays of food and drinks in and out with total ease, on top of giving the restaurant a fresh, modern, new-age aesthetic.

It looked like we were the first ones to arrive, mostly due to me skipping the last class period while Linda and James had run straight to the parking lot the moment their lecture wrapped up. Oops.

The main table inside the private room was massive, styled exactly like the one at Linda's family home. It featured two seats positioned at both ends, with six individual seats lining each of the long sides.

"I guess we need to choose a seat," I muttered, looking over the empty space. "But I don't really know where I should sit."

Linda pointed her finger toward the farthest seat, located right between the two spots at the head of the table. "You are the teacher's official assistant, so you should probably sit right there next to her, right?"

Thinking about sitting directly next to Victoria Long for an entire lunch sounded a bit too distracting, so I chose to take the seat closest to the entrance instead. Linda looked at me funny for a second, then walked over and took the seat to my immediate left on the long side of the table.

She leaned in slightly, her voice low. "Rick, is there something wrong going on between you and the teacher?"

"Someone in her family tried to have me killed," I answered casually. "But the whole thing is over now."

Both Linda and James froze completely at my words, staring at me as if I had just remarked that the weather looked nice today. Well, to be perfectly precise, the eldest sister, Kimberly Long, had originally wanted me crippled rather than dead. But Ashley's mother had gone behind everyone's back, changing the explicit order from a crippling to a direct kill. That was the exact reason Kimberly was currently sulking; she was the only one being criminalized by the family hierarchy while her middle sister got away scot-free.

My information had already confirmed that Ashley played absolutely no part in the plot, and she had actually been entirely against her mother's extreme orders, though she was completely helpless to stop her. Because of her mother and our messy pasts, Ashley and I could never be close. We could only actively avoid each other to ensure we didn't become mortal enemies, which explained why she always looked so incredibly nervous whenever she was around me.

Was a crippling order any less severe? No, absolutely not. I still hated Kimberly Long for what she tried to do to me, but there was still a massive difference between a crippling and a death sentence. Right now, I couldn't touch Laura Long because she was hiding out deep inside the Mountain Temple. They didn't have an internet network or any digital systems out there, living like true ascetic monks.

To get to her, I would literally have to go hunt her down physically to put an end to her. And yes, she is the one specific member of the Long family that I will gladly put a sniper bullet through her head the absolute moment I see her. Even Scott hadn't gone so far as to put a literal kill order on me yet.

That past incident was the exact reason I executed that rogue monk that night. His killing intent was completely real, and whenever I feel that specific sensation going forward, I will just choose to kill. To this very day, I have not once regretted ending that monk's life.

A gentle tap on my left arm pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked over and saw Linda watching me closely. "You had that incredibly serious look in your eyes just now."

She was most likely talking about the intense look my father used to get whenever he made up his mind about a dangerous situation. I forced a smile onto my face to reassure her. "No, everything is perfectly fine. I am only thinking of a few ways to secure a happy life for us, and I just happen to look serious when I calculate things."

James, who had taken the seat to Linda's immediate left, leaned across the table to look at me. "Hey, I am really sorry about that whole Cat Woo situation, brother. I had absolutely no idea you guys had that messy of a connection. Seriously man, if I would have known about it beforehand, I would have rejected her the second she asked to come along. I only thought we would look less strange as a group if we had two girls and two dudes at the table, so nobody felt like a third wheel. Besides, anyone who messes with big sister Mary can go straight to hell!"

I grinned at Jim's blunt loyalty. Linda looked a bit strange listening to our casual guy talk, so I turned to reassure him. "James, you just keep being your normal self. I am the one who is constantly getting dragged into trouble these days, but you always support me no matter what, brother. So don't worry about it. I have plenty of solid business ideas lined up, so I will make sure you have more than enough money to support your future twenty wives, ha-ha!"

James grinned and extended his arm, giving me a long-distance high-five across the table.

Linda blinked, her face remaining entirely serious as she looked between us. "You are seriously getting twenty wives?"

I smiled at how intense this woman could be, shaking my head as I was explaining the situation to her. "Linda, whenever guys get together to talk, we always exaggerate things to sound more impressive. When I told him I was planning to get only ten wives, my friend here felt the need to immediately double the number. So I just told him he can go right ahead and try it, and I will personally give him ten dollars if he can actually satisfy that many wives at once. See? Guys are just dumb."

Linda kept her eyes locked on mine. "Rick, you are going to have ten wives?!"

Okay, my eye twitched hard upon hearing her say that. For a certified genius, she completely failed to listen to the actual context of my words! Linda caught the exasperated look on my face and let out a tiny breath.

"I was only joking with you, Rick," she said softly, the corners of her mouth twitching. "Lighten up a bit."

Looking closely at her grey eyes, I could see she was actually having a bit of fun at my expense, even though her facial expression remained completely deadpan. Sigh. I just grinned back as a waitress slid open the frosted glass door to take our opening drink orders. I ordered a cold beer, knowing that a single drink wouldn't mess with my senses or my instincts, especially while eating a heavy lunch.

The moment the waitress handed me my cold light beer, the heavy frosted glass doors slid open as a massive crowd of students poured into the private party room all at once. The distinctive clicking sound of multiple high heels striking the polished wood floor echoed sharply through the space, letting me know instantly that a small army of women had arrived.

To my complete surprise, the empty chair positioned at the head of the table to my immediate right was pulled out by none other than Victoria Long herself. She settled into the seat with an effortless, graceful poise, instantly shifting the entire dynamic of our corner.

An unamused redhead and her older blonde sister walked in directly behind her, taking the seats on Victoria’s immediate right. Right on their heels was Tina Feng, who shot me a deeply irritated look that made it glaringly obvious she was pissed off about failing to secure the seat right next to me.

Her older sister, Jill Feng, merely chuckled at her frustration and offered me a cheerful wave.

"Hey Rick, sorry that my little sister Tina is being so incredibly grumpy right now," Jill said, her voice dripping with amusement. "My lecture ran a little late and she spent the entire walk rushing me down the hallway, but at least we finally made it here, fufu. It feels like I just finished eating dinner with you last night, and now here we are having a big group lunch today. This has to be fate, right?!"

Jill was a natural trickster type, and I knew exactly what she was doing. She was explicitly dropping those details to make it seem like Tina and the Feng family were already deeply embedded in my inner circle. She was an incredibly smart, highly practical woman. Even if she lacked formal training in physical martial arts, her analytical mind meant she would undoubtedly become a formidable Head of the Feng clan in the future.

Victoria greeted Jill with a slight, polite smile, adjusting her glasses. "Hello Jill, it is good to see you again. How is your final year of university looking so far?"

"Yes, seeing you is always a pleasure, instructor," Jill replied smoothly, leaning back in her chair. "I will be spending the vast majority of my time over at the Feng Corporation handling my executive internship. It is only natural, considering I am scheduled to officially take over a large portion of our core businesses by next year."

Before the conversation could continue, the rest of the class group walked through the automatic sliding doors, led by Cat Woo and Scott. The moment Scott stepped into the private room, a deep frown marred his face as he realized the seating arrangement was already established, leaving only two separate open areas to sit on the left and right sides of the long table. Walking right alongside him was Helen Tang, Scott’s older sister and the designated next Head of the Tang family.

She possessed long, flowing blonde hair and striking brown eyes that perfectly mirrored her brother's features. In fact, she looked almost exactly like my biological mother, with the sole exception of her eye color. The moment her brown eyes locked onto me, a soft, genuine smile spread across her face. Looking at her now, a strange realization washed over me; this woman was my direct blood cousin.

To the absolute horror of everyone in the room and my own sheer shock, Helen Tang marched straight past her brother, stepped up directly behind my chair, and wrapped her arms around me in a warm, tight hug.

"Rick, I am so incredibly sorry," Helen whispered directly into my ear, her voice thick with emotion. "If I had any actual idea that you were my biological cousin, I never would have allowed my bratty little brother to lay a single finger on you. Please, you have to forgive me."

My advanced instincts immediately kicked in, analyzing her tone and body language, and the internal readings confirmed she genuinely meant every single word. For some reason, feeling that raw sincerity touched a deeply buried part of me. I raised my hand, gently patting her arm to reassure her.

"Miss Tang, it is completely fine, really," I said softly. "How could you have possibly known the truth? Not many people in the city did. So just relax and treat me like a normal guy. I am not officially recognized as a member of the Tang family anyway."

She finally let go of the hug, stepping back with a warm smile. Without a hint of hesitation, she reached down and playfully ruffled my hair exactly like an older sister dealing with a little brother.

"What do you mean you're not a Tang?" Helen countered, her eyes flashing with a protective fire. "Our DNA is exactly the same, which makes us blood cousins. Stop listening to the absolute nonsense those old coots in the main estate spout. You are my little cousin, and that is final. Just let me know the absolute moment you need anything at all in the future. And stop calling me Miss Tang unless you want to make me sad. Just call me Helen."

Scott finally snapped out of his stunned stupor, his face flushing red as he loudly protested. "Sister, you can't seriously be doing this right now!"

Helen turned her head toward him, her warm demeanor vanishing instantly as she locked her sights on her brother. She pointed a sharp finger toward an empty seat located on the far right side of the long table, right next to the two end spots, and let out a dangerous growl.

"You will sit right over in that area and shut your worthless mouth!" Helen snapped, her voice cutting through the room like a blade. "This entire disaster is completely your fault and mother's fault, especially this latest idiotic stunt you pulled on campus. Try me right now, Scott. I dare you. My very first official act the moment I take over as Head of the family will be to permanently scrub your worthless ass completely off the clan roster."

All I could say as I watched my newly discovered cousin absolutely dismantle him was... damn. Scott looked like he was being forced to eat a steaming pile of shit right in front of his peers after receiving that public verbal slapping. I guess whenever Head Uncle Anthony isn't around to shield him, Helen completely takes charge of the family dynamics. Looking at her fierce personality, I could easily imagine that my real mother probably possessed the exact same nature.

Helen turned back to the twins, her voice smoothing out. "I am going to sit right next to sister Jill. You two can accompany your stupid husband between us. Thanks."

She patted my back gently one last time. Before she walked over to take her designated seat, she leaned down and spoke softly in a tone meant only for my ears. "Just like you did out on the dance floor, Rick. Defend yourself and put him in his place whenever he steps out of line. Just... try your best not to actually kill each other. Scotty is an absolute shit brother, but he is still my brother, okay?"

I gave her a slow, silent nod. In reality, I still hadn't fully decided how far I was going to push things with Scott. My personal philosophy on the matter was simple: bully revenge is only truly satisfying if the other guy remains alive to consciously suffer through his loss. Death is too easy; it makes the pain stop completely.

She caught my nod, acknowledging my silent stance before walking over to sit beside Tina’s older sister. Within seconds, the two future family heads were casually chatting about their shared corporate interests.

Both Linda and Tina were staring at me with deeply curious expressions, completely thrown off by an interaction that none of us could have ever predicted. To suddenly discover that I had another living family member who seemed to unconditionally care about my well-being made a strange sense of genuine happiness bloom inside my chest.

I was so thoroughly overwhelmed by the sudden family reunion that I hadn't even noticed the final two newcomers taking their spots next to James.

Cat Woo had slid into the seat right beside him, with Ashley Hue settling in right next to her. That officially accounted for everyone in our group, bringing the total count at the table to twelve people. Looking down the length of the furniture, the two farthest seats remained completely empty, making Linda's earlier suggestion about where I should sit look pretty funny in hindsight. If I had actually sat down over there, would Victoria have still moved to sit right next to me?

Victoria cleared her throat slightly, capturing the attention of the entire room. "Please, everyone, do not worry about the final bill today. Order absolutely anything on the menu that looks good to you. This lunch is entirely my treat, a small gesture for everyone spending their time with the business class. Furthermore, I would love for our four respective houses to foster significantly better relations moving forward in the future, so let us use today as a clean starting point."

The moment her announcement finished, the servers sprang into action with high efficiency. They moved rapidly around the massive table, taking individual drink orders and immediately delivering a wide spread of premium appetizers that had been pre-selected by the management before our arrival.

Just as the food began to pile up, I looked across the table and almost completely lost my appetite when I witnessed what Nadia was doing.

While the rest of the guests were completely distracted by the arrival of the drinks, Nadia quietly pulled out the small plastic baggie containing the handkerchief from our earlier encounter in the empty classroom. With a smooth, practiced movement, she picked up Scott's clean dinner fork, slid the prongs deep inside the baggie, and swirled the metal around in our biological fluids. Once the fork was thoroughly coated, she seamlessly slipped it right back onto Scott's silverware napkin.

Oh, god. I felt a sudden wave of genuine nausea hit me. I was literally going to hurl if he actually put that thing inside his mouth.

Nadia caught sight of my suddenly pale face. Instead of showing any remorse, she just flashed me a brilliant, wicked smile, looking exactly like a twisted soldier who wanted to be praised for executing a flawless act of chemical warfare. I couldn't help but think to myself that when the day finally comes for me to tell Scott the explicit details of all the times he was tainted behind his back, the psychological realization will break his mind far worse than any normal cuckoldry ever could. How the hell did she even manage to pull that off so quickly? She must have waited for the exact moment Scott stepped out into the hallway to take a quick phone call. Damn, she was dangerous.

On the other side of the table, James was already deep in conversation with Ashley, and the two of them actually seemed to be getting along remarkably well. I wondered briefly if I told James that the quiet girl sitting next to him was destined to become the next absolute Head of the Hidden Dragons assassin network, would he still be chatting her up so smoothly?

Linda was quietly conversing with Victoria, asking her a few highly specific, class-related questions. As their voices faded into the background, I overheard Jill turning toward Helen with a dramatic sigh.

"I am honestly ready to cry, Helen," Jill said, putting on a pouty face. "Rick completely rejected my official marriage proposal. I am so incredibly sad about it. It turns out he likes my little sister Tina way more than me."

Helen grinned, her brown eyes darting between me and the two Feng women. She waited until Victoria finished answering Linda's question before turning her attention toward her rival house leader.

"Teacher Long, I have to admit I am very surprised," Helen said, her tone professional yet testing. "Are you really making Rick your official teacher's assistant? Especially considering his background with the Tang family?"

Victoria, who still fell squarely within the same age bracket as the two future family Heads, immediately straightened her posture. She raised a elegant hand, calmly pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she locked eyes with Helen.

"There are a couple of prominent Long family members who are not particularly happy with my decision," Victoria stated smoothly, her voice carrying a cold, unshakeable authority. "But I do not care about last names, and I certainly do not care about the circumstances of someone's birth. Rick is easily intelligent enough to graduate from this university right now if he wanted to, and he possesses more than enough analytical skill to run a major corporation. Allowing a talent like his to simply rot away doing nothing productive would be a massive loss for everyone involved. I choose to see his raw merit, not his background. Is that a sufficient explanation for you, Miss Tang?"

Helen stared at Victoria for a long moment before a respectful smile touched her lips. She gave a firm nod. "If Rick is happy with the arrangement, then I certainly won't object to it. It is always refreshing to meet a truly pragmatic Dragon."

Tina, unable to resist a perfect opportunity for mischief, leaned forward with a grin. "Teacher Long is even planning to have Rick take an official internship at one of her private companies next semester, fufu."

Helen's smile twitched violently upon hearing that piece of information. What the hell was this? A member of the Tang bloodline actively working directly for the Long family? No, she had to assume her ears simply weren't working properly today. She turned her head toward me immediately.

"Rick, you don't need to do that," Helen insisted. "You can easily take an internship at one of my Tang companies instead, so don't worry about it."

Victoria, clearly loving the sudden business challenge, countered Helen's offer without missing a single beat. "Rick and I already have a binding academic agreement, Miss Tang. Furthermore, it would look like blatant nepotism for him to take an internship directly inside a Tang-controlled company. There is no need to worry; it is merely an educational internship under my direct supervision, not a permanent employment contract with our house. His corporate work experience will be viewed as far more honest and meritorious this way. More importantly, his skills and knowledge will grow at a significantly faster rate under a challenging environment."

I took a quick sip of my beer before speaking up. "Thanks for the offer, cousin Helen, but Teacher Long is actually completely right on this one. I won't be working for the Long family permanently, but learning in a corporate environment that isn't naturally aligned with my best interest means I will constantly be challenged to improve. Besides, if anyone inside her companies actually tries to mess with me... heh."

Jill let out a soft laugh, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Well, if you want a neutral ground, then working for me would be absolutely perfect. I will even bypass the standard hierarchy and make you my personal executive assistant on the spot."

Tina immediately jumped into the conversation, pointing a finger at her older sister to shut her down. "You already know he can't work for the Feng family after the upcoming tournament game, Jill! So stop trying to poach him already, or I am going to call mother tonight and tell her you are actively harassing Rick!"

Jill grinned, leaning back in her chair as she threw her hands up in mock defeat. "Sorry, little brother, but sadly my grumpy sister is entirely right about that one. Phew!"

I chugged a massive gulp of my light beer, trying to wash away the sudden tension, when I caught sight of Linda out of the corner of my eye. She was giving me the most pathetic, puppy-dog sad eyes I had ever seen on her face. Watching the future Heads of the other three major families actively bidding and fighting to recruit me was absolutely killing her, mostly because she knew she didn't have the political leverage to get me to work for the Lang family. She honestly looked incredibly cute when she was looking all bullied and left out like that.

But my sudden amusement evaporated in a fraction of a second. My gaze inadvertently drifted down to the other side of the long table just as Scott walked back into the room from his phone call.

He slid back into his seat, completely oblivious to his surroundings. He reached down, picked up his dinner fork, and pierced a thick, juicy strip of grilled pork from the appetizer platter. My stomach did a violent flip as he slid the meat into his mouth, chewed it loudly, and then deliberately licked the prongs of his fork completely clean to catch the leftover sauce.

Oh, god. My throat immediately tightened up as a wave of pure, unfiltered bile rose up from my chest.

"Oh god! I will be right back!" I choked out, slamming my beer bottle down onto the table.

Before anyone could even ask me what was wrong, I pushed my chair back with a loud scrape and rushed straight out of the private party room. The automatic glass doors slid open just in time for me to bolt down the hallway, desperately searching for the nearest public bathroom to keep from violently projecting my breakfast all over the floor.

Nadia, I swear to god, you are an absolute demon!