“Burn the boats! Tell everyone you like her, say it loudly. Bet your dignity and future on it. Do you understand girls? No girl would genuinely dislike a boy who is honest and bold enough to confess his feelings. Even if she doesn’t accept, she will remember you.”
“What if she doesn’t accept?”
“Then you fly to America with your bittersweet memories of unrequited love.”
“That sounds tragic…”
“Loving someone isn’t easy; you have to carve a bloody path through a sea of enemies! As the last dog, dodging countless dragon riders’ fire, just as you’re about to bleed out, you strike a claw that changes the tide of battle! If you die halfway, that’s also quite natural. But a dog that doesn’t charge into the fire isn’t a good dog!” Nono said.
Lu Mingfei was taken aback, sensing the killer instinct in Nono’s words. Suddenly, the image of that beautiful, aloof girl floated before his eyes. That girl, sharp as a steel knife… now she was wielding her knife, striking straight at Lu Mingfei’s heart, blood bursting forth. In that moment, Lu Mingfei made the boldest decision of his eighteen years—he would be that little dog charging into the fire. In the last three months before graduation, he would tell Chen Wenwen that he liked her for three years, no matter how weak that last strike was, whether it could breach the defenses of the girl. He was determined to be a good dog!
“Got it!” he said.
“You need to give her flowers. If you don’t know what she likes, just give her roses—deep red ones; no girl truly dislikes roses. Have some touching background music; the most important thing is to say it in front of everyone. That’s your courage!” Nono said. “Good luck, little brother!”
“Understood!” Lu Mingfei imagined himself as a valiant female general giving orders to him, her front-line soldier.
“But… once you succeed, the road to Cassell College will be forever closed to you!”
After saying this, Nono logged off directly, not giving Lu Mingfei a chance to respond.
Lu Mingfei tilted his head back and let out a long breath. He was eager to try, feeling that this bold confession would succeed; for that, not going to America to study was nothing. He would likely never see Nono again, which was a slight regret. He felt he would miss Nono; before her, no girl had ever so boldly entered his world—not even Chen Wenwen.
He looked at the gray, motionless big-faced cat avatar on the screen and suddenly felt it was a kind of magic. At the moment of his successful confession, Cassell College, Professor Guderian, and Nono would all vanish like bubbles from this world.
In the presidential suite on the executive floor of the Regal Hotel, Nono was leisurely sipping coffee.
Her Apple laptop screen still had QQ open but was set to invisible. Lu Mingfei’s last message came through, simply saying “Thank you.”
In another chat window, a person with the ID “Sonic” said, “What are you doing? Teaching him how to confess to girls? If an S-Rank student gives up the gates of Cassell for love, the principal will go crazy.”
“Are you kidding? I’m just playing with him,” Nono replied, wrinkling her delicate nose and laughing coldly. “There’s no way a confession like that would succeed! Chen Wenwen is the kind of girl who likes what she likes; if she doesn’t like it, no matter how much you give, she won’t pay attention. Do you think you can win her over with music, roses, and shouting ‘I love you’? What a joke!”
“Can you be more heartless?”
“I can’t be,” Nono shrugged. “I have to admit this is the most unethical thing I’ve ever done.”
“Why bully a freshman?”
“A freshman? He’s an S-Rank! You and I are only A-Rank. If we don’t take the opportunity to bully him now, it won’t be easy once he’s in the college,” Nono said.
“Let’s hope nothing goes wrong. If Chen Wenwen is as shy as Lu Mingfei, liking him for three years but unwilling to say it, she’s just one confession away. You might ruin everything.”
Nono stuck out her tongue. “It can’t be that unfortunate, can it?”
“The student council needs people like this—the only S-Rank! We absolutely can’t let him fall into the hands of the Lionheart Society!” Sonic said.
“Nono.” Ye Sheng poked his head in from outside. “Professor Guderian wants you to come over for a discussion.”
“Oh.” Nono slipped on her slippers and ran out, holding her coffee cup.
In the outer room, Professor Guderian, Ye Sheng, and Aki were seated around the coffee table, their expressions somewhat serious, with a freshly printed document lying on the table.
“Nono, there’s a mission that can only be assigned to you,” Professor Guderian said, picking up the document. “The college just faxed over a resume. It’s for a Russian candidate who seems to have quite a good lineage. I must fly to Beijing immediately and then transfer to Russia. Lu Mingfei’s follow-up affairs will be left to you.”
“Me?” Nono was stunned. “What about Ye Sheng and Aki?”
“The timeline for the ‘KUI Gate Project’ has been moved up; the principal is about to visit China, and Professor Mance has informed us to finish our registration in Sichuan immediately.” Ye Sheng said. “Aki and I need a little more time for training.”
“Is it really that urgent?” Nono pouted, still looking like a little girl.
“You’ll understand when it’s time for your mission. Not a minute can be wasted; some moments, once missed, are like missing out on a lifetime,” Ye Sheng patted Nono’s shoulder. “Some time points, if missed once, will never come back.”
“You should say that while patting Aki’s shoulder and then propose to her,” Nono quipped.
Aki blushed with embarrassment.
“Alright, how do we handle Lu Mingfei?” Nono looked at Professor Guderian.
Professor Guderian scratched his head. “If I were to say what I really think… even if I have to kidnap him, I want him taken to America!”
Lu Mingfei felt that Nono was like an angel who would bring good luck. Shortly after Nono logged off, Chen Wenwen suddenly spoke in the group chat, prompting the hidden members to jump out as well, all around the Muse, sharing witty comments, their spirits high and showing no signs of being in the midst of a nightmare of college entrance exams.