You Are a Wizard

Thomas was the name of Zheng Qing's interviewer.

He was a young German man with blond hair, blue eyes, a tall build, and fair skin. His eyelids drooped slightly, his eye sockets were deep-set, and his straight nose gave his entire face sharper contours. He wore a well-tailored suit, exquisitely made, paired with a dark red tie and gleaming leather shoes. He looked like a successful businessman.

After examining the admission notice, Thomas did not bother Zheng Qing's family any further. Instead, he suggested that Zheng Qing show him around the city.

Zheng Qing's parents seemed to have no suspicions at all, readily entrusting their son to this stranger.

Standing blankly on the street, Zheng Qing watched the man in front of him continuously flip through the map in hand. He quietly wiped away some sweat and asked, "Mister Thomas, where did you want to go?"

"I need to figure out how to get to the market district around here." Thomas frowned at the map in hand, counting on his fingers as he answered, "Once you get to university, you'll need to start learning to live independently, and there are many things you need to prepare. Also, just like in middle school, you'll need some basic textbooks, stationery, experimental supplies, and so on. The market district has everything, and the shops there offer discounts before the school term begins. It's a very good deal for you."

"But..." Zheng Qing glanced at the huge supermarket behind them and felt even more confused. "Aren't there stationery stores everywhere? Pingyang's largest warehouse supermarket is right behind us."

"Supermarket?" Thomas froze at once, his eyebrows shooting up. "Did you buy your school supplies at this supermarket before?"

As he spoke, he turned around and carefully examined the crowded supermarket across the street.

"I usually bought them from the stationery shop at the school gate." The ahoge atop Zheng Qing's head stood on end as he explained weakly, "What I mean is, this supermarket has a lot of things. It should have some of the stationery I need."

"Where did you attend middle school?" Thomas narrowed his eyes, still carefully studying the supermarket.

"Pingyang No. 1 High School, a provincial key school." Saying that gave Zheng Qing a little more confidence.

"No, no, no. I mean, where did you actually attend middle school?"

"Is precisely on No. 1 High School Road. We even passed the entrance to my high school just now."

"Sorry, I mean, did you ever attend any particularly special school?" Thomas finally turned back. He looked somewhat surprised, making a rather comical gesture with the hand holding the map as he muttered, "The special kind?"

"No!" Zheng Qing denied it decisively. "Unless you count a key middle school as a special school."

"Could there be a problem with the system?" Thomas put away the map, pulled something resembling a phone from his pocket, and swept it back and forth over Zheng Qing. The machine buzzed and beeped nonstop as it moved.

Zheng Qing looked awkwardly around him, at a complete loss.

"No problem!" After working at it for quite a while, Thomas carefully examined the device in hand and nodded in relief, then shook his head again. "Since there's nothing wrong with the person, then it's another troublesome matter."

"A troublesome matter?" Zheng Qing looked a little nervous as he cautiously asked, "Mister Thomas, should we tell my parents? We could tell my grandfather too."

"Oh, no need, no need." Thomas shook his head repeatedly, looked at Zheng Qing, then at the large envelope in hand, and sighed. "I just need to find somewhere to talk with you first... As expected, being an interviewer isn't an easy job... How about that tea house over there? I don't like coffee. What about you?"

"Anything is fine." Zheng Qing followed behind him suspiciously, always feeling that this sharply dressed man looked like a con artist.

"I suppose you've probably never attended a Wizard School before," Thomas asked Zheng Qing with a stern face as they walked toward the tea house.

"Wizard School?" Zheng Qing seemed stunned for a moment, and his voice involuntarily rose several pitches.

"Wizard School? Are you talking about stories from Harry Potter?" A passing girl of twelve or thirteen seemed to have heard Zheng Qing. She eagerly rushed over, her face full of excitement. "I'm a Harry fan too! What are you talking about? Fantastic Beasts? Fantastic Quidditch? A School History of Hogwarts? Or The Tales of Beedle the Bard? I have all of them."

Zheng Qing was badly startled by the sudden voice. He stared wide-eyed at the girl, who wore a pair of broad glasses on her nose, and only came back to his senses after a long while. He gave two dry laughs and shook his head vigorously. Thomas, on the other hand, looked at the girl with curiosity.

Her face flushing red, the girl muttered a few words under her breath before skipping away.

Zheng Qing closed the lid of his Pocket Watch. Twelve minutes and thirty-four seconds had already passed.

He and Thomas were currently sitting in a tea house along the middle section of Pingyang Road, with Thomas sitting opposite him, flipping through a newspaper.

The two of them had been sitting there for twelve minutes and thirty-four seconds, and Thomas had been flipping through his thick, bulging newspaper the entire time.

Zheng Qing held his teacup in both hands, sipping the pale green tea as he cautiously peeked at the newspaper across from him.

There was a small news item on the back page, with an eye-catching headline: "Witch Alliance Committee Expresses Dissatisfaction with Dark Blue Castle."

"...At the press conference, Huang Shi, spokesperson for the Witch Alliance Committee of the Wizard Alliance, revealed that during the latest special operation against Illegal Laboratories, Dark Blue Castle had been detected with abnormal dimensional fluctuations. As of the time of publication, Grand Judge Sam Marshall of the Wizard Court had signed a comprehensive search warrant against Dark Blue Castle... The Wizard Alliance reiterated its concern over Dimensional Fluctuation Experiments and stated that the alliance would continue to strictly review laboratories conducting unregistered experiments related to 'Dimensional Convergence'..."

He could not understand a single thing the newspaper was talking about.

Zheng Qing watched dejectedly as Thomas put down the newspaper, took out a pen, and began scribbling calculations.

The two sat there quietly, letting time flow by in silence. The atmosphere was a little awkward.

"What are you calculating?" Zheng Qing finally found something to talk about.

"Odds." Without looking up, Thomas explained as he calculated, "The World Cup is already halfway through. Although the Golden Star Team is still ahead in points, the Flamingo Team has strong momentum. They've already been the first to kill the Wild Demon King for three matches in a row. Every few years, a dark horse hunting team like this appears. If I bet right this time, I can turn down these annoying mundane affairs for the next two years and focus on preparing the multidimensional Magic Fluctuation Interference Experiment under Secret Garden Space conditions."

"Are you talking about betting on matches?" Zheng Qing looked at him blankly.

Thomas glanced at him, then continued burying himself in calculating his odds.

Bored, Zheng Qing blew ripples across the tea and tried hard to recall all the strange things that had happened today, attempting to piece together a suitable conclusion.

After a while, when he saw Thomas finally put away the newspaper, Zheng Qing hurriedly spoke. "I'm not very clear about the Wizard School you mentioned earlier."

Thomas lowered his head and carefully examined the few tea leaves in his cup. Then he frowned, raised his eyes, and carefully looked Zheng Qing over across the table.

Those emerald-green eyes felt somewhat familiar to Zheng Qing.

"You're a wizard," he told Zheng Qing dryly.