Regarding the choice of ’eating grapes,’ Zheng Qing first read about it in Qian Zhongshu’s "Fortress Besieged": A plate of grapes, some good and some bad, would you choose to eat the good ones first, or the bad ones?

If you eat the good ones first, every grape you encounter afterward will get progressively worse; if you eat the bad ones first, every grape you encounter afterward will get progressively better. This is used to demonstrate the positive and negative attitudes in life.

But as he grew older and gained more experience, Zheng Qing gradually discovered that in this world, there are no absolute good or bad grapes. Most people’s lives only differ by ’having grapes’ or ’not having grapes.’

People without grapes will grab and eat them right away, regardless of whether they’re good or bad.

People with grapes will always choose the freshest, plumpest, most beautiful, or most characteristic grapes to eat. The other grapes, whether good or bad, will eventually become table decorations and end up in the trash.

In a very simple phrase, it’s having so many choices that choosing or not choosing becomes irrelevant.

Just like the Northern District Wizards.

Before Elena became the Great Sage, many tricksters from the North District were willing to serve as test subjects for formal wizards just to learn a trick or two of rough magic. For wizards like them, who were born without ’grapes,’ being able to have grapes was the greatest fortune— even if those grapes were rejected by the traditional wizards and considered heretical— being able to enter Edge Academy and become formal students of the First University was something they never dared to dream of.

In contrast, the elite offspring of those ancient wizarding families didn’t even need to pay attention to the different characteristics between the colleges of the First University; they could choose a college to attend according to their preferences.

But just like the anonymous statement in the last paragraph of the "Beta Town Post," the wizards ’with grapes’ would rather let the grapes on their plate spoil than share them with those ’without grapes.’

It’s hard to say whether this is a manifestation of the naturally greedy or selfish behavior of ’people with grapes.’

Zheng Qing is more inclined to believe that this is the natural selection of wizards with different talents after a long struggle under the premise of limited magical resources in the world, where resources should be prioritized for those with higher talent.

"What does the post mean by Edge Academy touching the interests of the four major colleges?"

Zheng Qing remembered a certain phrase from the report he just read and couldn’t help but glance at the newspaper again: "Can such a thing be openly stated in the report?"

"Why not?"

Xin Fat Man gave the young teaching assistant a strange look, flicked his fingers, and the feather pen lightly landed on the report, circling a few keywords: "Beta Town was originally established relying on the Alpha Fortress and is considered Alpha’s reserved area, but now Northern District Wizards are starting to provide inexpensive patrol services to Beta Town, ensuring its safety. Would you say this encroaches on Alpha’s interests? If you consider ’Northern District Wizards’ as part of North Beta Town and not outsiders... then how about the Northern District Wizards promoting ’Sage Belief’ outside the North District? It’s estimated that the religious fanatics in Atlas are being forcibly held back by the school, as they haven’t come to cause trouble yet."

"And there’s the private hunting competition."

Zhang Ji Xin snapped his fingers, adding a point: "Originally, private hunting competitions at the First University, which were informal small hunting competitions held privately by the students themselves, were essentially monopolized by Starry Sky Academy. But now Northern District Wizards seem to be planning to organize their own hunting competition, choosing the Silent Forest as the hunting ground, in collaboration with Horse-Man, Minotaur, and the Giant Tribe... Starry Sky Academy has a lot of opinions on this, and my brother’s head has gotten a lot bigger because of it."

"Why is the private hunting competition monopolized by Starry Sky Academy?" Zheng Qing suddenly remembered Jiang Hua, who attended Ancient Magic Arts Study along with him, who had also invited him to participate in the private hunting competition organized by the Starry Sky Hunting Team, and couldn’t help but curiously ask.

"Why?"

The red-faced male wizard’s expression stiffened slightly, as if he had never thought about this question, but immediately he found several appropriate reasons: "Hunting competitions without Stellarians aren’t very entertaining, which is probably the main reason... Additionally, if hunting teams were organized simultaneously, other colleges might have up to a third of the students, or even fewer wizards, participating, whereas Starry Sky Academy wouldn’t give up their chance to participate even if their students lay in the school hospital... When most of the participants in each private hunting competition are students from Starry Sky Academy, failing to secure the leading position would be rather surprising, wouldn’t it?"

"Calculating like this, Jiuyou Academy is the one with the fewest tricks." Zheng Qing pinched the piece of obsidian in his hand, feeling it seemed to have turned cat-shaped today: "At the very least, there’s no conflict with Edge Academy on the surface..."

"That’s actually the worst situation."

Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, showing a disapproving expression on his face: "As the saying goes, ’losing on one side, gaining on another,’ the other colleges have more apparent conflicts with Edge Academy, so when it comes to the internal distribution of magical resources at the First University, it’ll actually benefit them more..."

Hiss!

Zheng Qing took a deep breath, interrupting the Doctor’s analysis.

Several companions all looked at him in unison, with confusion and also dissatisfaction in their eyes. But the next second, those dissatisfactions disappeared entirely, transforming into curiosity.

Because Zheng Qing, sitting in his seat, suddenly twisted his body in a very strange posture, one hand reaching back to scratch his back, while the other hand clutched the edge of the desk tightly, veins popping on the back of his hand, his face showing an expression as if constipated, as if Balart’s yoga master was performing some kind of high-difficulty practice.

But the problem was, they were now sitting in the classroom, ready for Monday’s curse class.

And Zheng Qing normally didn’t practice yoga either.

"Is this a curse? A fan of Su Councilor?" Xin Fat Man enthusiastically took out his feather pen and notepad, seeming to intend to write a live report.

"Didn’t notice any eye contact." Zhang Ji Xin had already stood up, scanning the entire classroom and even the corridor and outside the window with his eyes, while simultaneously buttoning up the buttons on his gloves one by one.

"No abnormal magical fluctuations either." Xiao Xiao stared at the crystal ball in front of him, adding.

Whew!

Zheng Qing let out a long sigh, the grim expression on his face disappearing abruptly, returning to calm: "It’s not a curse, might not be an accident... it’s this little thing causing trouble again!"

He opened his palm, and a wood flea lay dead, squeezed by him.

"I don’t know where this little thing crawled out from, it just got into my robe... it’s really annoying." The young teaching assistant, with a look of disgust, extended his hand towards the aisle, trying to dispose of the flea’s corpse.

But Xiao Xiao stopped this action.

"Don’t throw it away yet," the diviner of the Absolution Hunting Team raised his eyebrows slightly: "My crystal ball just flashed a moment of red... it might be an illusion, but it could also mean that this little bug isn’t that simple."