In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar

Great, now we can't say he deliberately messed with people, right?

He carried the gift box and slowly walked towards the Mo Mang Palace.

The square at the Mo Mang Palace was indeed much quieter today.

The film festival was in full swing. The directors and actors were either busy at the opera house or working on set. Most of the crowd in front of the registration point had dispersed, leaving only a few Melissas patrolling the square. When she saw Wang Yan, she nodded in a friendly manner.

Wang Yan smiled at them, exchanged few pleasantries, and walked into the corridor on the side.

He had already familiarized himself with the layout when he last came to deliver the cakes; he knew exactly which corridor led to Navelette's office.

Along the way, he encountered several clerks carrying documents who hurried past, but he politely nodded and waved them off without stopping them.

At the end of the corridor, in front of that familiar door.

Wang Yan stopped, raised his hand, and knocked three times in a proper manner.

"Go in."

Villette's voice came from inside the door, as calm as ever.

Wang Yan pushed open the door and went inside.

The office was largely unchanged from the last time I visited, with walls covered in legal documents and half-finished case files piled on the desk, and a faint smell of ink in the air.

Navellet was reviewing documents with a dip pen when he heard the noise and habitually looked up.

Then, upon seeing that it was Wang Yan, his pupils dilated slightly.

Then, his gaze moved down and landed on the gift box tied with a wine-red ribbon in Wang Yan's hand.

The pupils dilated dramatically.

Almost instinctively, Vilette put down her pen, leaned back slightly, and spoke with a wariness that Wang Yan had never seen before: "I don't need your gift, Scholar Wang Yan. Please take it back!"

That box of terrifying cookies almost killed him!

Is he continuing to deceive himself?

Wang Yan paused for a moment.

He looked at Villette's alarmed expression, then glanced down at the beautifully packaged gift box in his hand, and a speechless expression slowly crept onto his face.

"This really is a collection of desserts." He handed the gift box forward, his tone gentle and earnest.

Navelette did not respond immediately.

His gaze lingered on the gift box for a few seconds, examining it carefully.

It definitely didn't have that dry, crumbly texture.

Navilet's tense shoulders slowly relaxed a little, and he raised his hand to rub his temples: "What do you want from me?"

Wang Yan placed the gift box on the desk, pushed it towards him, and smiled kindly: "Here's the thing, I've made some progress recently and I'm going to test my results. I need to have a battle, so I'd like to ask you to fight with me."

His tone was very polite, and his posture was very humble, making it clear that he came to ask for advice.

But Vilette shook his head without even thinking.

"Do not."

“The last battle at Maple Lake already affected Maple’s water veins, which only recently fully recovered.” He looked at Wang Yan with a serious tone. “If the battle were to expand further, it would affect even more water veins and impact the lives of ordinary people, so I refuse.”

"No, please." Wang Yan moved forward a little. "I can fight somewhere further away, in the open sea."

"No."

"Then let's fight from the sky. A higher place shouldn't affect the water veins, right?"

"No."

“Then let’s go to my secret realm. It definitely won’t affect the outside world.”

“I refuse, Scholar Wang Yan, I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

Wang Yan tried to persuade Vilette with several suggestions, but Vilette was completely unmoved and wouldn't listen to reason. He was very firm in his stance.

Seeing this, and knowing that the other party was determined not to fight him, Wang Yan stopped trying to persuade him.

He lowered his head, picked up the gift box that was already on his desk, and turned to walk towards the door with a clean and decisive motion.

Vilette was dumbfounded.

In all his years of life, he had never seen anyone take a gift away halfway through because the recipient refused to accept it.

"You can take back what you gave away?" he couldn't help but ask, his tone filled with disbelief.

Wang Yan had already reached the door when she heard this. She stopped, turned around, and rolled her eyes.

"You're not going to help, and you still want a gift?"

After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave.

Then the door to the Supreme Judge's office was pushed open.

A girl in a little dress rushed in.

"Navilet, my new movie is about to be released, I'd like to invite you to see it... Hey, Director Wang Yan, you're here too?"

Chapter 382 Frinna: That Vilette, you need to be more magnanimous!

Furna glanced at Navelette, then at Wang Yan, and stared at the gift box in Wang Yan's hand for a moment before giving him an apologetic look: "Did I interrupt your conversation?"

“No, no.” Wang Yan shook his head and said with a smile, “Ms. Fu Ningna, I was just about to leave.”

“Leave?” Furna tilted her head, then remembered that Wang Yan had asked her before what Villette liked. She looked at the gift box in Wang Yan’s hand again. “Could it be that Villette rejected your gift?”

As she spoke, Fryna looked at Navelette.

She blinked her bright, watery eyes, probably having automatically filled in the whole scene in her mind, and immediately showed an "I understand" expression on her face.

"Oh dear!" she clapped her hands, her voice instantly rising a half-octave. "Villette, how could you do this!"

Just as Navellet was about to explain, Frinna walked to his desk, placed her hand on the surface, and looked very earnest.

"Director Wang Yan is so talented. He even brought people to see you, why are you turning them away?"

“I didn’t…” Navelette tried to interrupt.

“Let me finish!” Furna waved her hand, not giving him a chance to explain. “I know you are the Supreme Judge, impartial and incorruptible, and you handle matters according to the law, and that’s all true. But, that’s in court!”

She bent slightly, extended a finger, and waved it in front of Villette.

“After work, when we get back to our daily lives, how can we do everything according to the law? Director Wang Yan is from out of town. He came to Fengdan to shoot a movie and is unfamiliar with the place. He might not have done some things very well and offended you. He feels bad about it, so he specially brought gifts to apologize.”

“He didn’t come here…” Vilette’s face had already begun to darken.

“Look at you!” Furna wouldn’t listen. “They’ve already handed you the gift, and you’re still keeping a long face. You can’t go on like this, Violet.”

She sighed, looking like someone who'd been there all along.

“It’s good that you’re strict with yourself at work, and everyone admires you. But in life, being too rigid will leave you with no friends! Think about it, over the years, what kind of social life do you have besides work? You spend all your time in the office approving documents, and you don’t even have a friend to eat with.”

“…” Vilette’s lips twitched.

“Director Wang Yan is such a great guy! He’s a great filmmaker and a really interesting person. If you could make friends with him, hang out more often, chat, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Fu Ningna got more and more excited as she spoke. “He’s already taken the initiative to be polite, so just go along with it, accept the gift, everyone smiles, shakes hands, and everything will be fine, right?”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Wang Yan’s shoulders were shaking from holding back his words, and he deliberately put on a pitiful look. “Ms. Fu Ningna, you’re right. I came here specifically to apologize, but he still won’t forgive me.”

I love tea! Hahahaha.

Wang Yan laughed inwardly.

Navilett abruptly turned his head and stared intently at Wang Yan.

That look seemed to say, 'How dare you say such a thing!'

Wang Yan immediately put on a stern face and looked back at him innocently.

Furna continued, "Look, look, you've made her feel so wronged. Vilette, let me tell you, you have to accept this gift this time. Just to give me face, I finally managed to come see you!"

As she spoke, she reached out and took the gift box from Wang Yan's hand, then pushed it towards Vilette.

"Just open it and take a look. It's a token of their appreciation. Try it, and if you don't like it, then you can complain."

Navelette looked at the beautifully wrapped burgundy ribbon gift box, then at Furna's "I understand, don't explain" expression, and then at Wang Yan next to her, who was trying so hard not to laugh that he almost injured himself.

He opened his mouth.

Then it closed again.

Open it again.

In the end, he swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

The explanation is unclear.

The more you describe, the darker.

“…Thank you for your gift, Scholar Wangyan.” Vilette’s voice sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. “I…accept it, but I still can’t do what you asked me to do!”

He emphasized the words "the things you asked me to do".

It seems to be telling Fu Ningna that Wang Yan is no good!

Wang Yan didn't mind. He was already quite satisfied with just a box of snacks and the fact that Vilette was eating them so well.

"Rest assured, Your Excellency Supreme Judge, this box of snacks is merely a small token of my apology and will not ask you to do anything else," Wang Yan said.

Navellet was once again shocked by Wang Yan's 'shamelessness'.

You just said that if I don't help, I can't expect a gift!

However, Wang Yan completely ignored his gaze and looked at Fu Ningna gratefully: "Thank you, Ms. Fu Ningna. Without you, I really don't know what to do. Now that the Supreme Judge has accepted my compensation, I can finally rest easy."

Upon hearing Wang Yan's words, Fu Ningna turned around and patted his arm.

"Oh, Director Wang Yan, don't worry!" she said with a confident expression. "Villette may seem a bit serious, but he's incredibly fair at heart. He'll forget about such a small thing as soon as he turns his head and won't take it to heart at all."

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Navelite, her eyes sparkling: "Right? Navelite, you've already forgiven Director Wang Yan, haven't you?"

Navelette opened his mouth.

He glanced at Fu Ningna's expectant look, then at Wang Yan standing beside him, giving him a pure and innocent smile.

There was a two-second silence in the office.

“…Yes.” Navilet nodded slowly, a hint of helplessness in her voice. “I have already forgiven him.”

After the prophecy of Maple ended, Frinna left the Momang Palace and did not return for a long time.

Now that I've finally come back, I'm even buying myself movie tickets...

Fine, let's give Fu Ningna some face.

However, as he said this, his gaze remained fixed on Wang Yan, clearly carrying a warning tone.

Wang Yan looked back at him, her smile unwavering, even quite genuine.

Furna didn't notice the eye contact between the two. When she heard that Navelette had forgiven Wang Yan, she immediately laughed and clapped her hands: "I knew it! We're all friends, there's no problem that can't be solved."

As she spoke, she rummaged through her small handbag for a while before pulling out two movie tickets with exquisite patterns. She handed one to Wang Yan and placed the other on Villette's desk.

“Perfect timing! Our film ‘Homecoming’ will be released next week, and I’ve reserved a good seat for the premiere.”

She waved the remaining ticket stub in her hand.

"Director Wang Yan, I've seen your film, the fight scenes were amazing, I was completely engrossed. So you should come and see mine too, let's exchange ideas!"

Wang Yan reached out and took the ticket, glancing down at the seat number on it. It was quite close to the front; he wondered if he could get a seat next to it. He decided to go with his mentor later.

While he was thinking, he carefully folded the movie ticket and put it in his jacket pocket, then said, "Of course, even if Ms. Furna doesn't give me a ticket, I will still go."

Furna was amused by his words and nodded with satisfaction.

She then turned her gaze to Villette, her tone softening.

"Villet, why don't you take a break too?"

She pointed to the movie ticket on the table.

"You're always like this. Every time you go to the opera, you're either attending a trial or handling official business. You don't even have time to properly enjoy a performance. It's exhausting."

“I still have work to do…” Navilet instinctively tried to decline.

Furna immediately interrupted him: "I'm the director! Just do me a favor and take two hours to relax. You'll break down if you're always on edge."