Dragon Raja; Chapter 26: Golden Eyes

Dragon Raja

That was the pressure of that painting.

In the picture, the sky was iron blue mixed with the color of fire. A single giant tree stands there, it’s dead branches extending in all directions, weaving into a dense net that supports the cracked sky.

The wasteland was littered with dead bones. A giant black beast was rising from the depths of the bone pile, its wings full of skulls. After spreading its huge membranous wings, it spit out black flames towards the sky.

A shrill roar echoed in Lu Mingfei’s head, and he actually thought he could hear the roar of the giant beast.

Lu Mingfei stood among the bustling crowd, glanced at the train ticket in his hand, and looked up at the church-like dome of Chicago’s train station.

He had two large suitcases on either side of him, which weighed about as much as he did, and his backpack was bulging because his aunt had stuffed in a pressure cooker. A woven bag was crammed with a twelve-hole comforter, while a pillow was tied together with one of the suitcases, and his passport was clutched in his mouth.

The prodigious student, Lu Mingfei, was carrying all his study-abroad gear and boarded a United Airlines flight, crossing the ocean and landing at Chicago International Airport. According to the itinerary given by Norma, he was to take the CC1000 express train from the Chicago train station to Cassell College.

“I really wish I could send you off myself, but I have to fly to Russia,” Professor Guderian lamented over the phone. “But don’t worry, Norma will arrange everything.”

Norma was indeed an excellent secretary. Three weeks later, a large envelope arrived in Lu Mingfei’s hands, containing everything from his passport to itinerary, along with a “Fool’s Guide to Cassell College Admissions,” marked as “Lu Mingfei Edition.”

The guide, though humorously named, was quite useful, detailing what to expect before Lu Mingfei arrived at the Chicago train station.

“CC1000 express train? I haven’t heard of it… maybe it’s a branch line train? But the number you mentioned doesn’t seem right… The new train schedule includes all the information about train numbers, so check again… the ticket seems real, but I really don’t know of this train,” was the response from different staff on duty.

There was no such express train in the schedule.

“This is a huge blunder!” Lu Mingfei panicked among the crowd.

God had promised Moses that he would lead him to Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, and gave him a map. With divine power, Moses crossed the vast and turbulent sea, escaping from the Egyptians and facing near-death experiences. He saw signs along the way that read “To India,” “To China,” “To Japan,” but there was no sign for “To Canaan.” The angel under the sign, picking his nose, said, “Canaan? Does this place even exist in the world?”

In his pocket, he only had twenty dollars left, not even enough to spend a night at the cheapest motel.

Although his aunt was stingy, she had given him five hundred dollars for expenses. When passing through Chicago customs, the chubby policeman counted the dozens of pirated PS game discs that Lu Mingfei had smuggled. “Oh! Are you also a fan of the Metal Gear series? You even have Bloodborne! I guess you’re a hardcore player like me!”

While the officer admired Lu Mingfei’s taste in games, he still had to follow the rules and issued a fine of twenty dollars for each piece of game, but out of humanitarianism, he left Lu Mingfei with twenty dollars as pocket money.

At this moment, this “Moses,” who had traveled thousands of miles to America, stood in front of a Subway, clutching the only twenty-dollar bill he had left, drooling over the picture of the meatball sandwich and Coke combo.

This was his last lifeline; if he managed to stretch it to the extreme, no matter how great the $36,000 scholarship was, he only had twenty dollars now—spending six would leave him with fourteen. How many days could he stretch that? It might be enough to cover three meals at the Chicago airport, or perhaps the college would realize that this S-Rank freshman, who had traveled such a long way, failed to check in on time and would send someone to rescue him.

Maybe he should save his food budget for a phone card to call the college? He didn’t have a mobile phone; his uncle had kept that iPhone as a parting gift.

“One dollar, just one dollar…” someone said behind him.

In America, that’s a typical begging line, asking for a dollar, like an ancient beggar in China singing a tune.

“No, I’m poor! No money!” Lu Mingfei replied in plain and simple English.

He turned his head and glanced at the tall, sturdy young man behind him, whose face was buried in a scraggly beard, which could be considered quite handsome, with candle-like eyes filled with longing, wearing a dark green plaid shirt and shabby pants that looked like they hadn’t been washed in ages. It wasn’t common to meet such beggars in America; most others were dressed more decently.

“Chinese?” The young man noticed Lu Mingfei’s nationality and immediately switched to fluent Chinese, “Could you spare some change for a Coke? I’m not really a beggar, just lost my wallet while out.”

You’re so familiar with both Chinese and English begging lines; do you dare say you’re not a professional beggar? Lu Mingfei thought.

“Finger von Frings, I’m really not a beggar, just a university student.” The young man pulled out a textbook from a bag behind him, which looked like a dictionary.

The book, which seemed a bit old, had its title written in a mix of English and Latin. Lu Mingfei thought he had seen such writing somewhere before.

This guy actually spoke such fluent Chinese… a thought flashed through Lu Mingfei’s mind. He had seen this kind of writing in the admission documents from Cassell College.

“Are you waiting for the… CC1000 express train?” Lu Mingfei asked.

Both of them pulled out their train cards from their pockets, identical tickets with a pitch-black surface adorned with a silver pattern of lush trees.

“I’m a freshman, Lu Mingfei.” Lu Mingfei extended his hand to show friendliness.

“Finally, I can find someone to buy a Coke for a dollar.” Finger grabbed Lu Mingfei’s hand eagerly.

Is that all you think about with that messy hair of yours? Lu Mingfei thought.

“Brother, I really appreciate you. You seem to be a man of integrity!” Finger sat back on the bench, chomping on the sandwich and drinking Lu Mingfei’s Coke.

Together, they had only twenty-five bucks. Lu Mingfei suggested that since the Coke was refillable for free, they didn’t need to buy two; they only needed two straws and could double the refills. Finger, hailing from the developed capitalist country of Germany, showed no German restraint regarding hygiene, enthusiastically praising the Chinese student for being so resourceful.

Series Navigation

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