Dragon Raja; Chapter 49: The Dictator (11)

Dragon Raja

The students exchanged glances again, and finally one of them who seemed to be the leader made up his mind, “Okay, Finger, we are willing to trust you. Although you always owe money, this is related to your level being continuously reduced and your credit limit being reduced to the floor… Your personal integrity is still reliable, I am willing to lend you 1,000!”

“I’ll give you 500.”

“1000”

In order to get a return on their investment, the old creditors gritted their teeth and opened their pockets again. The cynical Finger was like the old seafaring swindlers in the story of Sinbad.

“Okay! The total amount is 12,500!” Fingre jumped onto the table, pointed his index finger to the sky and shouted, “How much time is left? We need to suddenly inject funds before the end.

“The power of news is immense! First, I released the news that Lu Mingfei couldn’t resonate with the dragon language, and then I opened bets on whether he’d pass the 3E,” Finger applauded himself excitedly. “Then, the mastermind behind it all bets on Lu Mingfei passing, making at least five times the profit. I am moved by my own brilliance. Are we ready to place our bet?”

“Ready,” replied a student who looked like a mathematician.

“We must place our bet just before closing, or we might give ourselves away.”

“Understood. Countdown at 34 seconds! I’ve synchronized with the Campus system time!” The member of the campus lending group opened a countdown app on his laptop, speaking with scientific precision.

“Remember, three to four seconds before closing, the betting system might lag due to a surge in last-minute bets,” someone reminded.

“The amount of money betting on Lu Mingfei not passing has increased rapidly… breaking 70,000… and the amount of money betting on him passing is also 2,000. Some people want to speculate.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be the dealer after we put in our 12,500! We’ll win 80% of the money!” Finkel said with a strong voice.

The stakes on both sides were flipping rapidly, with new bets added every second. The closing time was approaching, and everyone’s heartbeat sped up like traders on the stock exchange floor.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,” the countdown announcer licked his slightly dry lips, “Place the bet! Closing!” Finger waved his hand with an impressive air of authority.

“0!” the announcer shouted, “Bet placed successfully!” After seeing the “Injection successful” window pop up, Finger jumped up and waved his hands. His messy beard and hair fluttered in the air, making his head look like a dandelion that was about to fly away.

“The amount of money bet on him not passing exceeded 100,000 !

The biggest gamble in Campus history! We…” The leader of the loan shark group was encouraged by Finger and also clenched his fists and shouted, but he suddenly froze.

The people watching the screen fell silent, and Finger, who was jumping around over there, also felt the strange silence in the lounge.

“What’s wrong?” he turned around and asked.

“Wait a minute! The total bet on Lu Mingfei is… $39,400. In the last second, someone added $20,000…” someone’s voice trembled.

“$20,000!!” Finger was shocked, “Who is messing with the situation? Who has inside information? Want to steal food from a poor dog like me?” Finger was furious. “Log in with my admin ID, find out who it is!”

A minute later, Finger was stunned in front of his laptop. The screen clearly showed the ID of the person who added the bet—real name, open and honest, with no attempt to hide it—Gerd Rudolf Manstein. The title followed: “Professor.”

“The Discipline Committee Chairman is placing bets too…? Isn’t he supposed to be cracking down on cheating?” Finger was drenched in cold sweat.

Meanwhile, Lu Mingfei was under the lamp, copying the answers that Finger had left for him, stroke by stroke. Finger said he didn’t want to disturb his efforts, and left with a strange smile. Now, Lu Mingfei was the only one left in the empty dorm. With less than four hours left until dawn, he had to copy all eight drawings and commit them to memory. The lines in the drawings looked like a dense forest of vines, impossible to memorize.

But memorize he must, even as the exhaustion slowly rose like a tide.

What if the answers were useless? What if the $2,500 worth of answers were complete nonsense? What kind of language exam involves drawing? Why did he trust the sometimes clueless, sometimes cunning Finger? From start to finish, Finger had been taking advantage of him. His mind was in chaos. So what if he passed the 3E? In a genius college full of reptilian bloodlines, could he even crawl out alive? And if he did crawl out, then what? Run around the world hunting dragons?

At that moment, in faraway China, it would be morning. Was Chen Wenwen in her white dress holding hands with her new boyfriend, walking to an ordinary university?

On that night when Nono drove him along the elevated highway, he thought he had found a way out, but in the end, he was still just a little firefly, aimlessly following others.

Hugging his knees, he sat on the bed, thought for a long time, and whispered to himself, “Nono, I really want to see you.”

It was not about beauty or feelings, it was just that the last time he felt he had nowhere to go, the door to an unknown road opened in front of him, and the girl who looked like a princess and a witch, wearing a suit and high heels, was so beautiful, sharp and fierce, she walked up to him and settled everything.

He wanted someone to help him now, but here he shouted loudly and no one answered.