Chapter Fifteen: The Gates of Kassel

Lin Nian closed the private room door with a thud, as if sealing in the heated atmosphere behind it. One door separated two worlds.

He didn't head to the restroom; instead, he casually grabbed two tissues from the cabinet and walked toward the entrance of the hotpot restaurant. There, a girl was squatting, drinking. The restaurant’s speakers were playing "Quiet," with lyrics that sang, "Don’t worry too much, I’ll be fine always, you’ve already gone far away, and I will slowly walk away too." The girl listened to the song, drinking and quietly crying.

Suddenly, the crisp sound of a beer can opening rang out.

Su Xiaoqiang turned her head and saw Lin Nian holding a can of cola, his fingers fiddling with the pull tab, carbon dioxide hissing out.

“Want some?” Lin Nian asked.

Su Xiaoqiang didn’t know how to respond, staring blankly at the cola in Lin Nian’s hand.

“Not drinking?” Lin Nian saw her hesitation and brought the can back to his lips for a sip.

Whether it was the alcohol or something else, Su Xiaoqiang suddenly stood up, snatched the cola from Lin Nian’s hand, and gulped it down. She then covered her mouth and gently burped.

“Oh...” Lin Nian looked regretful at the can that had been taken away. He had just bought it himself at the front counter.

“Are you really leaving?” Su Xiaoqiang placed the empty can at her feet and asked.

“Yeah.” Lin Nian nodded.

“Why so sudden?” Upon receiving the confirmation, Su Xiaoqiang couldn’t help but ask.

“Is it sudden?” Lin Nian countered. “All the other classmates are happy for me.”

“Happy?” Su Xiaoqiang stood up, gathered herself, and suddenly slapped Lin Nian’s shoulder. One slap wasn’t enough; she gave two more heavy ones.

Lin Nian didn’t dodge or say anything. After a long silence, Su Xiaoqiang looked up and said, “Yes, it is a happy thing. I should be happy for you!”

“If your idea of happy is to burst out crying and run away, then you were quite happy indeed,” Lin Nian teased.

Su Xiaoqiang paused, then jabbed Lin Nian’s waist and turned to walk back into the hotpot restaurant. Suddenly, she stopped and asked abruptly, “Did you know all along?”

“A long time ago,” Lin Nian replied.

Su Xiaoqiang nodded silently and strode into the restaurant without looking back, saying, “Since today is all about happiness, we should celebrate properly! Let’s go back and drink some more!”

“I’ll just go buy another cola and come right back,” Lin Nian called from the restaurant’s entrance as he watched her silhouette.

“Cola’s no fun! I want to drink alcohol!” Su Xiaoqiang’s voice floated back from afar as she walked quickly away.

---

Actually, it was less walking and more like running away, as if speeding up could shake off what had just happened and start anew.

Lin Nian sighed softly, bent down to pick up the empty cola can Su Xiaoqiang had left behind, and murmured, “So young.”

“Girls learning makeup is never too early," a voice teased from behind him.

Lin Nian instinctively turned around and saw a blonde girl leaning casually against the hotpot restaurant’s doorway with a can of cola. Her face was softly illuminated by the warm yellow light inside, and the glow in her eyes was a captivating shade of gold.

“Mandy, senior,” Lin Nian straightened up and greeted her with a nod. “What a coincidence, are you here... having hotpot too?”

Since leaving the Regent Hotel, Lin Nian now addressed Mandy as “senior.”

“How did you know I was having hotpot? Just because I’m standing in front of a hotpot place holding a can of cola?” Mandy raised an eyebrow.

Lin Nian glanced at the corner of her mouth, where a trace of hotpot oil lingered. Clearly, she had just enjoyed a hearty meal here.

“Is there something dirty on my face?” Mandy noticed Lin Nian staring and quickly turned to check her reflection on the glass door.

“Right here, the corner of your mouth,” Lin Nian pointed out the spot. Mandy hurriedly grabbed a tissue and wiped it clean. Then she looked at Lin Nian with an embarrassed smile, clearly realizing her earlier attempt at looking cool had been foolish.

Lin Nian sighed and asked, “So, why are you here, senior?”

“Didn’t I say before? I wanted to try the local specialty,” Mandy sniffed the air, savoring the hotpot broth’s aroma with a blissful expression. “With Professor Manstein around, it’s all healthy meals. It’s been a while, so I wanted to treat myself.”

“So, you were following me?” Lin Nian sized up Mandy seriously.

“Following you? Hahaha, don’t make me laugh, little junior brother,” Mandy waved her hand with a smile. “Are you some dangerous alchemist or a half-blood…”

She cut herself off mid-sentence, immediately shoving the cola can to her lips and gulping it down.

“What’s this alchemist thing? And half-blood?” Lin Nian glanced at Mandy again, who quickly averted her gaze, hands on her hips, showing off her figure while drinking cola.

“Nothing, just think of it as your senior talking nonsense,” Mandy coughed loudly, trying to cover her awkwardness.

Lin Nian looked at her a few more times. Seeing she wasn’t going to say more, he gave up asking. “Anything else? If not, I’m heading back.”

“Don’t you like that girl just now?” Mandy suddenly asked.

Lin Nian stopped in his tracks and looked at her. “You said you weren’t following me, but you were eavesdropping the whole time, weren’t you?”

“I was sitting near the door, and you were speaking so loudly. If I didn’t hear, it’d be an insult to my hearing,” Mandy said innocently, then smirked. “Junior brother, you’ve got stories—I can smell the scent of youth!”

---

“Alright, senior, if there’s nothing else, I’m going back to eat,” Lin Nian sighed.

“You’re not very adorable, junior brother. Compared to you, my other junior sister is smart and sensible, knows how to flatter me—though I do have something to ask you tonight,” Mandy said, leaning against the glass door with her cola, glancing sideways at Lin Nian. “Lin Nian, just think of me as meddlesome. I want to ask you something… You know that in life, every stage requires choices that determine your path? Once you choose, your future follows that one road—there’s no Save or Load option.”

“Senior, are you majoring in philosophy at Kassel Academy?” Lin Nian asked, tilting his head in surprise.

“No, though I’m a humanities student, my main research is ancient history… basically archaeology,” Mandy shook her head. “Telling you this now means I’ve had too much cola and philosophical musings tonight—I want to discuss life with you.”

Has she had too much cola? Lin Nian discreetly glanced at the can in her hand.

“As for your question, senior can only say: once you choose your path, even if you can’t turn back, you must keep going. I’ve never regretted my choices,” Lin Nian said, looking at the bustling crowd in the hotpot restaurant corridor through the glass.

“If that’s so, then you must understand that once you choose one path, another will forever slip past you,” Mandy said, lowering her head and squeezing the half-full can until the thin aluminum cracked audibly.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Lin Nian replied casually.

“Think before you speak, little junior brother,” Mandy said, tapping her temple with her index finger. “Do you truly realize how long and arduous the path you’ve chosen is, and that the path you give up might hold many tangible joys you’ll never reach? You still have a chance to reconsider—at least before you set foot on the chosen path, you always have a chance to turn back.”

Lin Nian’s hand was on the glass door, about to push it open, but Mandy’s words made him suddenly stop.

“Looks like you understand what I mean,” Mandy scratched her head.

“Why are you telling me this? Shouldn’t you be on the side of Kassel Academy’s admissions office?” Lin Nian looked at her oddly. “You always sound like a victim of some second-rate university having a guilty conscience, warning newcomers to think twice.”

Mandy rolled her eyes decisively and patted Lin Nian’s back. “Come on in, you carefree guy. It’s probably too soon to say these things to you.”

“Goodbye, senior.” Lin Nian pushed the glass door and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Mandy stood by the door, looking after Lin Nian through the glass, sighing softly to herself, “Maybe when you truly understand what I meant tonight, it’ll be too late to say these things. None of us can see far down the road when faced with choices—whether half-blood or ordinary life. Who knows which path’s end will be fulfilling?”

At this moment, no one could hear her. She drained the cola, crushed the can into a flat disc with one hand, and tossed it into a trash bin ten meters away. She slipped her hands into her pockets, pulled out her car keys, and headed toward the parking lot. Soon, a red sports car shot out, its engine roaring through the night sky.

Inside the hotpot restaurant’s private room, Lin Nian, persistently refusing to toast, seemed to feel something and glanced toward the door. But soon, his attention was pulled back by classmates enthusiastically singing a farewell song.