Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 92: I Need You to Save my Distant Dreams (1)

Dragon Raja 4

The sound of his uncle vomiting violently into the toilet echoed from the bathroom, while his aunt’s shrill voice vented an endless stream of anger. The banquet lasted until nearly midnight before the guests dispersed, each hailing a cab to go home. Su Xiaoqian’s driver came to pick her up, and Lu Mingfei supported the drunk young lady all the way to her car.

Su Xiaoqian had drunk too much, crying two or three times while mumbling incoherently as she leaned on Lu Mingfei’s chest. The more she spoke, the more alarmed he became, suspecting that their past might have involved more than just fleeting glances and hand-holding. He had no memory of their scandalous history and was unfairly taking the blame without any benefit.

Chen Wenwen initially didn’t want Su Xiaoqian to take advantage of the situation, but she was now Zhao Menghua’s girlfriend and had to take care of her drunk boyfriend.

Lu Mingfei had considered staying at the Regent Hotel for the night to avoid meeting his aunt, but his uncle insisted, “You’re home, why stay at a hotel? That’s not what going home means!”

Before Lu Mingfei could refuse, Finger agreed enthusiastically, “Absolutely! You’ve got to experience the warmth of home! Uncle, I’ll help you!”

As for Nono, she had already disappeared, and Lu Mingfei wasn’t particularly worried about finding her. If even Caesar couldn’t manage Nono, how could he?

Lu Mingfei had assumed his uncle now lived in a grand mansion, but surprisingly, they still lived in the same old apartment building, albeit with his uncle having bought the neighboring units and knocked down the walls to create a large flat. His uncle explained that his aunt refused to move, claiming the old place was comfortable. Moving to a villa would mean dealing with other wealthy housewives, and as a simple homemaker, she felt too much pressure. His aunt hadn’t attended the banquet, likely still holding a grudge against Lu Mingfei. On the way home, his uncle had reminded him to not take his aunt’s words to heart. From what Finger had gathered, his aunt had always been resentful of Lu Mingfei’s mother, Giovanni, and was also envious that her own son didn’t measure up to Lu Mingfei, which made her constantly nitpick at him.

When his aunt opened the door, she was dressed in a burgundy velvet robe paired with limited-edition Hermès slippers, looking very much like the lady of the house. However, upon seeing her husband in a drunken stupor, she immediately grabbed him by the ear. Then, when she saw Lu Mingfei helping carry his uncle, her expression darkened, and she slammed the door as she stormed back inside. Lu Mingfei stood there dumbfounded, still holding his uncle, unsure what to do next on this rainy evening with a passed-out man in tow. Should he leave his uncle with the driver and return to the Regent Hotel? Should he walk away from home?

Just then, the door swung open again, and his aunt shouted angrily, “Are you blind? The door’s not locked! Got legs, don’t you? Don’t know how to let yourselves in?”

Only then did Lu Mingfei realize that the middle-aged woman hadn’t intended to shut him out. She had gone to the bathroom to fetch towels to clean the vomit off his uncle.

His uncle had always understood his wife the best. “She’s fierce and money-hungry, both proud and insecure, but at heart, she’s just an ordinary housewife,” he had often said. “But don’t worry, you’re part of the Lu family. With me here, how could you not be welcome in this house? Now that I’m making money, I’ve got some say at home.” But watching his aunt forcefully pour ginger tea into his uncle’s mouth using a funnel, Lu Mingfei wasn’t so sure about that last part.

Lu Mingfei and Finger were assigned to the room that used to be shared by him and Lu Mingze. The beds were made neatly, and Lu Mingfei felt a warmth in his heart—his aunt hadn’t dismantled his bed. However, the room’s style was vastly different from what he remembered. It was now furnished with full American-style furniture, and the wardrobe was adorned with various awards the two brothers had won. On the wall hung a large photo of them together, with Lu Mingze looking like a handsome young man with sharp features, holding a classical guitar with an air of elegance. The image reminded Lu Mingfei of the poetic self that “The Sunset’s Scar” had described—damn it, in this world, even Lu Mingze had become impossibly handsome.

There was also a birthday photo of Lu Mingfei with a big cake that read, “To my dearest brother, Lu Mingfei.” It seemed that in this world, their relationship was closer than ever.

Finger rolled around on the couch like a tired pig finally finding its mud bath. “Damn, finally a place to sleep! Everywhere requires ID now, can’t risk staying in hotels!” Lu Mingfei suddenly understood why Finger had insisted on staying at his house—he really was a professional fugitive!

Sitting at the bedside, Lu Mingfei sighed, “We came all this way, but still no leads.”

Finger sat up, serious now. “No one remembers Chu Zihang, and their memories even corroborate each other, but I think something’s off.”

“Tell me!” Lu Mingfei perked up.

“If there were that many pretty girls chasing after you in high school, could you resist? That Su girl!” Finger’s eyes lit up.

“Enough already! Your lips are going to crack from all that licking. Now, talk business! I’ll ask Su Xiaoqian for her WeChat later for you!”

Finger’s expression turned grave. “If you’re really able to ignore Su Xiaoqian, then you’re a saint! But if you were a saint, could you even be friends with someone like me?”

“True! If I’d had that many girls interested in me back then, you couldn’t have dragged me to Cassell College to study dragon slaying! Am I insane?”

“Then maybe you just prefer older women, and that’s why you chased after your senior to our college.”

“Older women? She was only nineteen back then! It’s my aunt who counts as an older woman!”

“Your aunt’s got her charm too! You just don’t know how to appreciate it!” Finger glanced at the clock. “Damn, all this banter almost made me miss my ‘bridge of magpies’ moment.”

“Bridge of magpies? You’ve gotten addicted to playing the lover since Tokyo?”

Finger opened the laptop on the desk. “Bro, I’ve been roaming the world with you. I have to check in with my girlfriends, right? I’m a responsible man!”

The computer, too, had been upgraded. In Lu Mingfei’s memory, he and Lu Mingze used to share an old IBM laptop that their uncle had sneaked home from work. Now, they each had their own desk with an Apple desktop on top, a luxury model from back in the day. It seemed his aunt hadn’t been unfair to him after all.

“EVA can track us through the network!” Lu Mingfei suddenly panicked and reached to turn off the computer.

Finger stopped him. “Trust me and my tech skills! All my chats are encrypted!”

“Don’t mess this up! EVA’s serious business. She probably knows the color of every pair of underwear you’ve ever bought.”

“Haven’t you heard the saying ‘It’s the enemy inside that’s the hardest to guard against’? The system they use is airtight for others, but for me, it’s full of holes.”

Finger was a wizard with computers, so Lu Mingfei decided to trust him, at least for now.

He sat by the windowsill, watching the steady drizzle outside while Finger typed away, likely chatting merrily with his Cuban girlfriends.

Though the bedroom was now luxurious and spacious, it reminded Lu Mingfei of those summer nights back in middle school—penniless and bored, killing time on the old computer. Lu Mingze always monopolized it, chatting with girls on QQ, leaving Lu Mingfei to wait patiently until they all went off to shower. Only then could he get his hands on the keyboard and play a few rounds of StarCraft.

He found a pair of headphones in the desk drawer, put them on, and set the music to shuffle. The first song that played was Yuren Pier by Xiong Tianping:

“You drift somewhere far, With whom do you stay? My horizon and dreams, Need you to save, I can no longer turn back.”

The lyrics kept echoing in his mind, and Lu Mingfei unconsciously started singing. After just two lines, he realized something was off—Finger would definitely mock him for this. Finger was having a hot chat with some fiery Cuban girls, while he was here singing a melancholy tune? That’s the difference between a successful person and a loser. But when he turned to look, Finger was already slumped over the desk, asleep. The screen wasn’t even showing a chat window, but rather the birth records of the city’s population. Finger must have hacked into the civil affairs system.

Lu Mingfei couldn’t tell if Finger had been working while flirting with girls or if he was just bragging about his prowess. Maybe no one even cared where he was right now.

He grabbed a blanket and draped it over Finger’s shoulders, then gazed out the window at the cold spring night, with its sporadic rain and wind. The trail had gone cold, and he had no idea where to go next. Time was slipping away hour by hour, and eventually, the college would come after him.

He didn’t feel sleepy at all. Throwing on his trench coat, he thought of going for a walk. But as he grabbed the doorknob, he hesitated and let go. His aunt was probably still awake, and if he went out, she would definitely start questioning him.

This was his turf, though; a small matter like this wouldn’t stop him. He climbed out the window, finding a ledge just wide enough for a person to walk along. A few steps along the wall, and there it was—the familiar gap between two walls. Back in middle school, he could slip in and out through this gap with ease, and now he could do it even more effortlessly.

He landed lightly on the empty street. The traffic lights blinked their monotonous colors, and the street was eerily quiet.

Even the stall selling fried noodles had packed up. Now that he was out for some fresh air, aimlessly wandering didn’t seem right. There was a bustling seafood night market a couple of kilometers away, but the car keys were with Finger. Without a vehicle, was he seriously considering renting a shared bike? Standing under the traffic lights, he felt the same as he did years ago—like a stray dog, just like when his aunt scolded him so harshly that he didn’t dare go home, and he didn’t even have money for an overnight stay at an internet café.

Series Navigation

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