Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 40: The Unsolvable Knot (3)

Dragon Raja 3

Now, the celebration was over, leaving behind the mess of trays and beer mugs, and only the two of them in the dining hall. Outside, a cuckoo was making its mating calls.

It had a kind of “companionship in solitude” feeling.

It was rare to see Chu Zihang in the dining hall at this hour. Not that he didn’t eat a midnight snack, but he would take an egg and ham sandwich from the dining hall during dinner and eat it in his dorm as a midnight snack. Chu Zihang lived his life like a precision watch, with every minute carefully planned. He had calculated that a round trip to the dining hall for a midnight snack would take eighteen minutes, which he preferred to spend in the library.

Chu Zihang nodded, acknowledging Lu Mingfei, and then poured cereal into the milk and stirred it.

Since returning from Beijing, Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang hadn’t grown any closer. Chu Zihang wasn’t close to anyone, not even Susie. This was someone who always had a deadpan expression—he’d give you his life but wouldn’t waste an extra minute to smile or chat with you. Sometimes Lu Mingfei thought back to the days when Xia Mi was around—Chu Zihang would even discuss life with him, which made him sigh at how love could really change a person.

But now Xia Mi was dead.

Or rather, perhaps Xia Mi had never truly existed.

“I heard you were here for a midnight snack, thought you might be with Finger.”

“He’s doing his internship; he’s about to graduate, after all.”

“Are you eating enough for two to remember him?”

It sounded like a joke, but when Chu Zihang said it, it wasn’t funny at all—it seemed more like a serious question.

“No, I just got really hungry all of a sudden,” Lu Mingfei had to answer.

“Your midnight snack has too much fat.”

“I’m a carnivore.”

“Less fat is better for your health.”

“Senior, are you trying to tell me that the boss and Senior Sister are getting married?” Lu Mingfei’s spoon, stirring the cereal in the milk, paused.

“Yes, but I wasn’t sure how to start the conversation.” After a few seconds of silence, Chu Zihang admitted it.

Actually, Chu Zihang was an easy person to understand. Although he was “emotionless,” and it was hard to gauge what he was thinking from his expression, his thought process was like a straight highway, with no twists or turns. Concealment and pretense weren’t Chu Zihang’s strengths—just like the arc of his blade, the faster the strike, the straighter the path.

He tried to find a subtle way to bring up the topic, but Lu Mingfei saw through him right away.

“I saw the bounty posted by the boss,” Lu Mingfei said. “Then I bet 100 dollars that the fire wouldn’t be put out by ten tonight. They say misfortune in one thing leads to fortune in another, but I still lost.”

“Have you given up?”

“Come on, Senior Brother, am I really gonna go and blow up the axles of someone’s wedding car?” Lu Mingfei laughed.

“If you decide to do it, I can be your accomplice—consider it paying back a favor.” Chu Zihang said.

“Thanks, Senior Brother. I’m really touched by what you said, truly.” Lu Mingfei scratched his head. “Thanks.”

“Are you still planning to give up?” Chu Zihang looked directly into Lu Mingfei’s eyes. “The first time Caesar submitted his marriage application, I remember you were very upset—dispirited. At that time, it seemed like… there was a beast in your eyes, ready to pounce at any moment.”

“So, Senior Brother, you’re worried about my state of mind? Came to see how I’m doing?” Chu Zihang nodded. “But now I see nothing in your eyes. Maybe I didn’t even need to come to see.”

“I’ve figured things out.”

“What did you figure out?”

Lu Mingfei was silent for a long time. “Senior Brother, do you think Senior Sister would be happier with me or with the boss?”

Chu Zihang uncharacteristically hesitated. “If you want to make someone happy, there’s always a way.”

It was difficult for him to answer because if he answered directly, the answer could only be Caesar. Caesar was Nono’s official boyfriend and treated her well. He would spend money for her, risk his life for her. In front of Nono, this Gattuso heir was as loyal as a hunting dog—Nono pointed, and he would bite. Nono said she’d had a boyfriend since kindergarten, enough exes to form two soccer teams, while Caesar was still on his first love—but he didn’t care. He believed that once he showed up, Nono’s ex-boyfriends were all background characters. He was generous to those exes because, without them, his perfection wouldn’t be highlighted.

Now, he planned to hold a grand Japanese-style royal wedding at Meiji Shrine to marry the woman who caught his eye from the start. In any romance story, this would be a match made in heaven, and anyone who tried to interfere would only be a villain destined to be defeated by the protagonists.

Lu Mingfei had no reason to crash the wedding—he just secretly admired or coveted someone else’s girlfriend.

The love of an unrequited crush had no place to stand.

“Senior Brother, have I ever told you about a book called Shanghai Fortress?”

“You have. I bought a copy and read it on the plane.”

“Do you remember the plot? A fool falls for an amazing girl, but the amazing girl is about to get married,” Lu Mingfei said softly. “The fool exchanges glances with the girl, but he doesn’t have the courage to confess. He thinks the girl’s fiancé is a loser. He often texts the girl, and she replies. He saves all her messages, thinking it means she likes him.”

Chu Zihang silently listened to Lu Mingfei retell the story whose ending he already knew. Outside, the cuckoo was calling. There are stories you never want to hear again because there’s no solution. Some stories seem inevitable, not because of coincidence or missed opportunities, but because of an unsolvable knot. If it happens to be a tragedy, its sadness is predetermined from the start.

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