Chapter 70

Chu Zihang felt his good junior brother, good friend, good comrade Lu Mingfei was acting strange.

For these past few days, every day had been strange, especially today.

Though he showed no outward sign, he seemed burdened with some inner worry—sometimes energetic, sometimes gloomy and suppressed, and now he was quiet in a way that didn't resemble Lu Mingfei at all.

After all, this was a manga shop.

Whether it was the mix-up by the Snake-Divided Eight Families' operator, or Yabuki Sakura giving a high school delinquent a values lesson, or this manga shop with its exceptional atmosphere.

Lu Mingfei simply sat quietly to the side, smiling, and though it might be impolite to think so, Chu Zihang felt this was very un-Lu-Mingfei-like.

Even Caesar had enthusiastically immersed himself in the yakuza role, pulling out his "Yakuza Experience Card," yet Lu Mingfei rarely spoke, just watching from the side; in Chu Zihang's expectation, Lu Mingfei would be using his clumsy Japanese to tell the yakuza thug named Noda Hisashi, "You, what you doing?"

But aside from helping the shop staff bring tea and water and nodding along a few times, he just sat beside them, staring blankly.

He would one day mature, but not now—and Chu Zihang didn't believe this was maturity at all.

Raindrops pattered outside the window; the central air conditioning hummed inside; the shop staff, Asami Mako, brought coffee and tea.

The bookstore's lights were bright, contrasting with the rainy night beyond the glass door; feeling the warmth in his palms and the visual contrast, Lu Mingfei relaxed slightly.

He idly picked up a volume of *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*, revisiting the plot he'd read before.

Caesar, a cigar dangling from his lips, chatted with the head of the Genji Clan, when suddenly he spotted a model of Abelur from the childhood game *Star Ocean 3*.

"Boss, do you know Abelur?" Lu Mingfei felt like he was reciting lines; he suddenly wondered why an author from another world could write down such trivial, scattered details.

Inspiration was too mystical.

Caesar told everyone about his childhood antics outwitting his butler; Lu Mingfei thought it sounded exactly like *Home Alone* but with a fortune.

Hearing it told by a real person was far more interesting than reading a few paragraphs, Lu Mingfei thought.

"I'm sorry," Chu Zihang suddenly said after listening to Caesar's story—he was apologizing for the awkward conversation on the plane, retracting his remark that Caesar had no childhood.

Without any pretense, the two leading figures of Cassell's rival factions reached reconciliation in this manga shop, signed a cooperation agreement for the Japan operation, acknowledged each other as partners, and laid a solid foundation for tomorrow night's underwater exploration.

Under the witness of the Genji Clan head and the "S-Class Loser" Lu Mingfei, the two men spoke warmly and shook hands—a historic moment dubbed the "Manga Shop Agreement."

If someone had taken a photo of them shaking hands and locking eyes at this moment, the campus weekly's front page would surely feature this report.

In this fantasy, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt he had far more talent than Fingal; paparazzi work was never a lasting career—gossip and clickbait brought only emptiness.

He was different: this photo of their handshake and eye contact could not only serve as a layout, but the original print could be developed and sold to that group of fangirls—his earnings would match Fingal's entire semester's income from rumors.

Around 11 p. m., the group ended their day's activities and returned to the hotel arranged by the Japanese branch.

"Lu-kun, we've replaced your bed with a Swedish-imported..." Yuan Zhisheng escorted the Cassell group to the hotel entrance and said to Lu Mingfei: "I hope you have a comfortable night's sleep."

Lu Mingfei hadn't expected his offhand excuse to be taken so seriously; he immediately felt embarrassed and hurriedly thanked Yuan Zhisheng.

To ensure his comfortable sleep, Yuan Zhisheng had even rented out the entire first floor of the hotel, so no other guests could disturb him; moreover, no bōsōzoku or speeding, honking cars would appear near the hotel tonight.

"I'm truly overwhelmed..." Lu Mingfei stepped into the room, scratching his head, utterly unprepared for such an elaborate setup—now, he'd probably be unable to sleep, burdened by guilt.

He kicked off his sneakers and lay on the bed; the mattress was perfectly firm yet soft, the velvet pillow plush and comfortable, the pillowcase made of silk, and the room had been scented hours earlier with expensive incense—its lingering aroma was faint but calming and centering.

Guilt? What's that? Better just sleep well.

Lu Mingfei closed his eyes, not even checking the group chat; Su Lin was probably lazily chatting or napping on the plane right now.

?!

Lu Mingfei felt something was off—he suddenly lifted his face from the pillow.

How did that guy buy his ticket? Does he even have an ID?!

Hmm, he must've used some other method.

Knock knock

A soft knock came at the door.

Lu Mingfei slipped on the slippers by the bed and opened the door.

"Senior?"

All three were staying in a suite; Chu Zihang stood in the living room and said to Lu Mingfei: "Mind if I come in?"

"Oh, sure, come in."

The room was spacious; besides the bed, a separate ten-square-meter area had been laid with tatami, holding a small Japanese wooden table and two cushions, on which sat a Chinese-style tea set—probably placed here by the branch since they weren't sure of their preferences.

Though he didn't know why his stoic senior had come to see him so late, Lu Mingfei still invited Chu Zihang in; the two sat on the cushions.

"Tea?" Lu Mingfei pointed to the tea set; if Chu Zihang wanted tea, he'd boil some mineral water.

"No," Chu Zihang shook his head, twisting open a bottle of mineral water. "This is fine."

"Senior, why are you here so late?" Lu Mingfei sat on the cushion, hands behind him, feet upright and together, looking at Chu Zihang beside him.

Chu Zihang nodded. "You've been acting off these past two days."

It was about this...

Lu Mingfei hesitated. "Is it that obvious?"

"They think you're just tired, but I don't believe that."

Chu Zihang stared at Lu Mingfei; a few small ceiling lights cast orange glows on his face.

"At first I thought you were upset over Caesar and Chen Motong's wedding, but I've since dismissed that idea."

"Because after your gloom, you became suddenly excited."

Stop! Stop!

Lu Mingfei stared at Chu Zihang in horror, screaming inwardly: Senior, you can't say that! Thank goodness no one else is here—otherwise your straight-laced brother would destroy your reputation forever.

Lu Mingfei knew perfectly well Chu Zihang meant the two days after he'd gotten the group chat.

But saying it like this was just too strange.

"You got excited and went to the bathroom; when you came back, you carried a new kind of confidence..."

Slap—

Lu Mingfei smacked his own forehead. "Senior... junior begs you, choose your words more carefully..."