Dragon Raja 2; Chapter 200: A Dead Childhood in Everyone’s Heart (1)

Dragon Raja 2

“Chu Zihang will always have a boy standing on an empty overpass during a typhoon,” Mr. KFC tapped his chest, “And perhaps each of us has such a dead kid hidden right here.”

It was Christmas 2010 in Beijing. Christmas trees adorned with twinkling lights and reindeer statues were scattered everywhere. Santa Clauses stood in front of shopping malls handing out small gifts to children, and every restaurant promoted its Christmas Eve feast. Couples strolled down the street, the girls holding roses grown in greenhouses, while even the street singers in subway stations belted out Billy Mack’s “Christmas is All Around.”

At No. 141, Qianmen West Street, Beijing’s South Cathedral stood—a brick-gray building, often claimed to be “China’s oldest Catholic church.” It was established during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty by the renowned missionary Matteo Ricci and is also called the “Church of the Immaculate Conception.”

Under the stained glass mosaic windows, girls of the choir stood in white dresses, singing hymns about the Lord’s love as the setting sun shone through, accompanied by the pipe organ:

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child

Holy infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar,

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ, the Savior is born!

Christ, the Savior is born!

Near the end of the hymn, the congregation stood up, holding hands, their faces full of piety and happiness. A pretty girl in professional attire, clearly from some international company, reached out her hand only to grab a wine bottle.

The scruffy-looking man next to her, with messy hair, gave an apologetic smile, stuffing the wine bottle into the large pocket of his jeans while, without hesitation, taking her soft hand.

“Hungry? Let’s go take communion together,” the girl responded with a warm, pretty smile, though a bit puzzled as to how this guy ended up in the chapel. Was he an alcoholic beggar? Perhaps the nuns had taken pity on him for having nowhere to go on such a cold day.

“Now, let us invite our representative from this year’s gospel class, Brother Zhao Menghua from Peking University, to speak,” the pastor said after the hymn ended.

Amidst applause, a young man in black and white robes, with a cross motif at the collar, rose from the front row and walked to the statue of the Virgin Mary. He bowed politely to the audience. He was handsome and healthy, his hair neatly trimmed, with a gentle smile and a warm glow on his face.

“Dear brothers and sisters, I am happy to stand here today and share with you my devotion. My bond with the Lord began in 2009,” Zhao Menghua glanced tenderly at the choir, “thanks to the inspiration of my girlfriend…”

The choir girls’ long dresses had wide collars, and Chen Wenwen lowered her head, but couldn’t hide the fact that even her neck had turned red.

“And then I received the teachings of Pastor Luo Siwei.” Zhao Menghua nodded toward the pastor.

President of a gaming guild and also a devout pastor, Old Luo responded with a brotherly smile. He took church activities very seriously, dressed in a white robe, and used a baseball cap to flatten his nest-like hair.

“Together with my brothers and sisters here, I was called by the Lord’s grace. In my dreams, I have walked through both heaven and hell, saved by the Lord amidst fields of bones, embraced by angels. It was at that moment that I realized my past mistakes, the life I once took for granted, and the original sin inherent in me…” Zhao Menghua spoke earnestly, his eyes slightly reddened.

“Saved by the Lord, huh? That must be you, buddy!” The scruffy-looking man whispered to the short guy beside him.

“You’re kidding, right?” The short guy’s eyes widened in shock. “What did the College do to him?”

“They couldn’t let them go around saying they had entered a dragon’s territory and witnessed the epic Chu Hero and Lu Hero slay a dragon, right? So the College sent in instructor Toyama Masashi—his real specialty is hypnosis and psychological suggestion. After some suggestion, Zhao turned out like this. Initially, he was dragged into the gospel class by Chen Wenwen, just messing around, but after escaping death, he became an enthusiastic scripture student. He’s now a star figure of the class and seems to be planning to become a pastor after graduation.” Finger paused, “Oh, by the way, pastors can get married, so I’d bet he plans to marry the passionate believer Chen Wenwen. They got back together.”

“I know,” Lu Mingfei said softly. “It’s not so bad.”

One night when he was wrapped up in a hospital bed like a mummy, Chen Wenwen called him about this. She told him that although she initially resisted it, Zhao Menghua would wait at the dormitory entrance for her, no matter the weather. When she asked why he was doing it, he couldn’t say, only that he had a nightmare where he was looking everywhere for her and only remembered her phone number. He kept calling it… Chen Wenwen said, “I think he’s serious, so I softened. Will you give us your blessing?” Lu Mingfei said, “Of course, I wish you happiness together.”

When he put down the phone, he thought of Liu Miaomiao in her tie-dyed Dai dress. Was she sad now?

When the speech ended, there was applause all around. Watching the girl in white from the choir walk hand-in-hand with Brother Zhao Menghua, some members of the congregation shed tears of blessing. Old Luo stepped back on stage, saying, “In the Gospel of John, it says, ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’ Now it is time for communion. We give thanks to the Lord for giving us His body and blood, allowing us to be saved.”

The nuns placed a piece of freshly baked bread and a small cup of red wine on trays, and the congregation passed them around in an orderly fashion. Zhao Menghua and Chen Wenwen clinked cups, smiling at each other as if they wished this could be their wedding toast. Lu Mingfei suddenly smiled, raising his cup toward them from afar.

“Congratulations,” he said quietly, in a voice that no one else could hear.