Dragon Raja 2; Chapter 57: Dandelion (4)

Dragon Raja 2

But did he still want a place like a dog’s kennel to return to? Did he want a… home?

“Aunt Tong, remember to remind my mom to drink milk every day.” Chu Zihang opened the fridge, took out a carton of milk, and showed it to Aunt Tong. “This type—Sanyuan low-fat. She won’t drink anything else. Add a cube of sugar and heat it on low for five minutes in the microwave. Watch her drink it before she goes to bed.”

“Got it, got it, just like before,” Aunt Tong said. She didn’t really understand why Chu Zihang repeated the same routine before every trip abroad, as if it were something of utmost importance.

“I’ll leave the car at the airport parking lot. The key and parking ticket are in the glove box. Tell the driver to bring the spare key to pick it up,” Chu Zihang said. “I’m leaving.”

“Zihang, aren’t you going to tell your mom?”

“I’m not used to saying goodbye… She’d just kiss me all over when I leave…” Chu Zihang picked up his suitcase and disappeared into the rain outside.

“Sir, would you like to come over here and pick a dessert wine?” The sommelier appeared silently behind Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei thought, “You people… popping out like ghosts at a time like this, what are you doing here?” But he wasn’t sure if it was an Italian custom, so he politely nodded at Chen Wenwen. “I’ll be back soon.”

The sommelier led him to the shadows of the old ship wine rack, pointing at the golden dessert wines and lowering his voice, “Booking out the place like this is a memorable day, right? Would you like to prepare a surprise for the lady with the dessert?”

“A surprise? Extra cream?” Lu Mingfei didn’t get it.

“In Spider-Man 2, when Peter Parker proposed to his girlfriend, he had the ring put in the champagne glass…” the sommelier patiently explained.

“Oh, I get it!” Lu Mingfei suddenly understood, feeling as if he’d been enlightened.

In this elegant and slightly pretentious setting, the rainy night separated the two of them from the rest of the world. A refined Italian dinner, a little wine, Dalida’s soft singing floating in the air, candlelight spilling over the girl’s white dress—shouldn’t he be itching to… no, more like “compelled by emotion” to say something important? Wasn’t this setting practically made for a confession? The girl was looking at you, her eyes lowered, her cheeks flushed. The spotlight was on you, the mic was in your hand, and the audience was waiting to cheer. If you didn’t come up with some heart-stirring confession, it would be simply unforgivable!

“I don’t have a ring… it’s not quite at that level yet, right?” Lu Mingfei scratched his head.

“No problem, we’re here to help! How about we engrave the most important line from your time together on the cheesecake?” The sommelier gave a confident thumbs-up. “Our service is first class!”

“Oh! That’s really convenient and cost-effective!” Lu Mingfei’s eyes lit up, rubbing his hands together, eager to proceed.

“Then, what was the line that cemented your relationship?” the sommelier asked.

Lu Mingfei looked up at the ceiling. The candlelight illuminated his eyes, a faint spark flickering within them, his face blooming like peach blossoms.

The sommelier held a pen and paper, holding his breath in anticipation.

“I don’t have one,” Lu Mingfei sighed.

The sommelier covered his forehead, unsure if this distinguished guest was not very eloquent or just too shy.

“Then let’s go with the Olympic rings!” Lu Mingfei suddenly suggested.

“Oh, oh.” The sommelier nodded blankly.

When Lu Mingfei returned to the table, Chen Wenwen was playing with the floating candle, giving him a gentle smile without saying much. Lu Mingfei smiled back, tackling the last few bites of lamb chop while waiting for the cheesecake with the Olympic symbol. The sommelier had no way of understanding the twists and turns in Lu Mingfei’s heart. Lu Mingfei was thinking of the time during their second year of high school when Shilan High School held its sports day. He had signed up for the 5,000-meter run. No one had forced him; it was just that Chen Wenwen had also signed up for the 5,000-meter run, which was a mixed-gender event. Lu Mingfei thought he had decent stamina and could show off a bit in front of Chen Wenwen. But to his surprise, Chen Wenwen, who looked frail, had actually been on the track and field team in elementary school. At the sound of the starting gun, she took off like an arrow, running right behind Xu Yanyan, drafting behind her until the final lap, when she surged forward to take second place among the girls. Meanwhile, Lu Mingfei was still a whole lap behind, shuffling along in pain. He had been tripped at the start, scraping his knee on the track, and was dead last. The 5,000-meter was the last event of the day, and by the time Lu Mingfei was struggling along, the other spectators had mostly left. He was contemplating whether he should just change direction and run towards the exit when Chen Wenwen crossed the field to join him, running alongside.

“Come on, come on, no one in our literature club can fall behind!” Chen Wenwen had said. At the time, she was wearing a white T-shirt with the Olympic rings on her chest—so beautiful that it made him want to lean on her for a while.

How memorable that moment was! It could be their defining moment!

He began to fall into a state of “fate long predestined,” convinced that it was him who had been secretly flirting with Chen Wenwen all along, not Zhao Menghua. All great lovers had this potential—falling for a beautiful girl and believing it was destiny, like Jia Baoyu’s classic line, “I’ve seen this sister before.” In short, it was just infatuation.

“Lu Mingfei, that senior sister who came to pick you up last time… didn’t she come back with you this time?” Chen Wenwen suddenly asked.

It felt like a bucket of cold water poured over him, snapping him out of his infatuation. The image of the red-haired little witch floated into his mind, along with her dangling silver four-leaf clover earring.

“She went on vacation with her boyfriend, I think,” Lu Mingfei said quietly.

The little witch’s figure was still bouncing in his mind, like a puppet with a spring. Sigh, stop bouncing—this isn’t your time to play the heroine; your leading man is Caesar now… Lu Mingfei felt a mess inside.

Can a person like two girls at the same time? Lu Mingfei had read an article in a psychology journal that said no; Duan Zhengchun doesn’t exist. If someone claims to like two girls simultaneously, it means they don’t actually like either. So between Nono and Chen Wenwen, he could only truly like one, and the other was just teenage hormones getting restless. Who should he choose?

Lu Mingfei was nineteen this year, had been single for nineteen years, and really wanted to genuinely like a girl.

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