Chapter 71: Do You Still Remember Xia by the Lake of Great Ming

Chu Zihang's face showed confusion; he was merely stating facts objectively—had he phrased something carelessly?

"I didn't expect you to observe things so carefully, Li Shixiong."

Lu Mingfei rubbed his temple, gave a helpless little smile; there was no embarrassment at being caught in an awkward moment, only a warm feeling inside.

Lu Mingfei knew Chu Zihang treated him well, and knew Chu Zihang cared about him deeply.

When the news of Nono and Caesar's engagement came out, Chu Zihang was the first to find him in the cafeteria—he was there then, turning sorrow into appetite, stuffing a buttered bun into his mouth.

Well, actually there wasn't any sorrow to begin with; they were a fine-looking couple, a match made in heaven. If he still felt sore about it, he'd be the "clown." Caesar, that big brother of his, hadn't treated him badly either—he'd just said he wanted to borrow a few thousand yuan back in middle school to go online.

It'd be even better if he didn't charge interest.

Sometimes he didn't dare look Caesar in the eye—after all, he was pining for the man's fiancée...

What could he do? That girl, at his lowest point, had been like a brilliant meteor lighting up his world.

At the graduation party where Zhao Menghua confessed to Chen Wenwen, Lu Mingfei was nothing but a lowercase "i"—a backdrop in others' eyes, a laughingstock, there to set off the beauty of someone else's youth.

For all three years of high school, the whole school knew he liked Chen Wenwen, that he'd been secretly in love with her. Only Lu Mingfei himself foolishly thought nobody knew, treating it as his own little secret.

He had no plans to confess to Chen Wenwen. He was insecure, and he was realistic.

What did he have worth her liking? His skill at StarCraft? His aim in CS: GO? A novel called Dragon Raja that cast him as the protagonist—some classic loser-male-lead archetype?

Forget it. His grades were dead last in the class. Deep down he hoped some girl would love him, but Lu Mingfei really didn't have what it took.

He used to think that maybe, at a class reunion ten-odd years from now, he'd smile and say to Chen Wenwen—now happily married—"Chen Wenwen, I used to like you."

That would be the best ending.

Lu Mingfei had never intended to reach for that untouchable moonlight—it was too far away, visible but out of grasp. Being able to look at it at night was enough; it kept the darkness from feeling so thick.

He was already this pathetic, yet some people still wouldn't leave him alone—insisting that at his once-in-a-lifetime high school graduation party, they use him as a plank to stomp into the mud.

Making him smear mud on like makeup, play the circus clown to amuse the crowd.

Sure enough, Lu Mingfei's youth—already worthless, you could even say wretched—was to be forever stained with that filth, becoming the perennial topic of conversation at every future class reunion.

Honestly, he didn't care what others thought. Really.

He just didn't have the strength to climb out of that ravine called "Loneliness," couldn't accept the reality that in his youth there hadn't been even a sliver of light.

Back then, to Lu Mingfei, Nono was like a meteor—no, a comet, a Halley's-comet kind.

The moon wouldn't give Lu Mingfei its light, so she kicked open the door of the party hall in a blaze of glory, handed him a Sui Xifu suit and a Ferrari, let him live out the script of an urban power-fantasy male lead, and ruthlessly slapped the faces of those short-sighted little punks.

Leaving behind one of Shilan Middle School's Ten Great Legends: "The God-Like Lu."

Thinking back now, it's a good thing the times restrained Nono—otherwise Lu Mingfei wouldn't doubt for a second that this crazy girl might have hired a few extra actors to stage:

"The three-year deadline has arrived! Bow and welcome the Long Wang's return!"

And then he, Lu Mingfei, would tilt his lips into a smirk.

Forget about a comeback face-slapping...

To get back on track—it was because of that incident that Lu Mingfei developed feelings for Nono, and once it started, there was no stopping it.

Sometimes he'd wonder whether it might have been better if he'd known earlier that she had a boyfriend...

Maybe not. So Lu Mingfei began to question his own moral standards.

No matter how dazzling a comet is, it streaks across the Earth and is never truly yours.

But if there's one thing worth remembering for life after entering Kassel College, one of them is making a good brother like Chu Zihang.

Just two days ago he was still planning to help him crash the wedding and chop up the car axles.

Li Shixiong is not just a senior brother—he's a true brother.

Cold on the outside, warm on the inside, and willing to offend Caesar for his sake. That was a top-tier hybrid-blood family—wealth and power beyond words. Chu Zihang surely knew what kind of trouble causing such a scene would bring, yet he would still do it for Lu Mingfei.

When life gives you a friend like that, what more is there to say? Just count your blessings in secret.

"Lu Mingfei, I don't know exactly what you've run into these past few days." Back in the room, Chu Zihang had already taken out his colored contacts; his never-dimming golden eyes were calm and commanding. "I think you can tell me—maybe I can help you sort it out."

After speaking, Chu Zihang felt his words might have come off too arrogant, a bit high-and-mighty, so he quickly added: "If you're willing, two heads are better than one, right?"

Lu Mingfei rested one arm on the wooden table, leaned his body lazily to one side, propped his head on that arm, and closed his eyes as if tired.

He felt Chu Zihang was the one who should've been the male lead—cold on the outside, kind on the inside, handsome, capable, and—crucially—driven. His personal charm and character were simply off the charts; even a Long Wang had been "bewitched" by him.

Yet someone had to write a book with him as the male lead. Sigh.

That guy Su Lin said his popularity was higher than Chu Zihang's, so one night Lu Mingfei took the new smartphone he'd mooched off Klein and surfed the web.

One search—good lord, there really was such a poll. Looking at the top-ranked anime character, with the three big characters "Lu Mingfei" tagged beside it, Lu Mingfei was so happy he couldn't sleep all night, giggling secretly under the covers in excitement.

But on second thought, what was there to be happy about?

Chu Zihang's life trajectory was actually more like a proper urban fantasy male lead—a character setup that, in a novel, would surely be adored by female readers.

Only, it would probably be like his own—tragedies at the end of every volume.

The junior sister he likes is a dragon; his rival, "nemesis"-style friend Caesar, is rumored to be a Long Wang's son; the junior brother with whom he'd share life-and-death bonds seems to be the final boss.

Good lord—this is heading straight for a ruthless-Dao-proving ending.

Lu Mingfei stayed like that, head propped up, eyes closed, thinking random thoughts, while Chu Zihang waited quietly on the side, not rushing him.

A few minutes later.

Lu Mingfei lifted his head, rested his chin on his arm, and asked Chu Zihang in a listless tone: "Li Shixiong, can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead." Chu Zihang nodded.

"Do you still think of Xia Mi?"

"..." Chu Zihang hadn't expected Lu Mingfei to ask that. He was silent for a moment, then said honestly: "Sometimes."

"Why do you ask?"

"Li Shixiong, suppose..."

Lu Mingfei paused, then continued: "Suppose I'm a dragon too—what would you do?"