Dragon Raja; Chapter 5 Cassell’s Gate (3)

Dragon Raja

The old man at the newsstand downstairs really liked Lu Mingfei. He believed that all the kids nowadays were obsessed with their phones, and it was rare to see such a melancholic child who always came to buy literary magazines. He would surely amount to something great in the future.

Lu Mingfei also wished he could be engrossed in his phone, but unfortunately, he didn’t have one.

On the surface, Lu Mingfei seemed harmless, but he had a bit of a mischievous side. Lu Mingze was arrogant in front of him, but Lu Mingfei pretended not to see. Whenever Lu Mingze ordered him to do this or that, Lu Mingfei complied without complaint.

Turning his back, Lu Mingfei would sneakily access Lu Mingze’s secret QQ space that he never told anyone about. In that private QQ space, Lu Mingze had named himself “Lonely Greedy Snake” and copied down many sorrowful sentences, accompanied by his own headshots taken with his mobile phone heavily edited with beauty filters. He occasionally posted mood updates, probably saying something like this loveless world felt like a desert, and he was wandering alone in search of sweet springs. Lu Mingfei could sense the deeper meaning; his cousin must have been feeling love-struck, wanting to encounter some romance online.

Since they were brothers, he wanted to help. Lu Mingfei applied for a new QQ account, calling it “Scars of the Twilight,” uploaded a photo of a cute short-haired girl, filled in his age as sixteen, and wrote a signature saying, “Let your smiles and sadness become the scars of my life.”

While Lu Mingze was home using the internet, Lu Mingfei slipped off to the internet cafe to flirt with “Lonely Gluttonous Snake.” After a few exchanges, Lu Mingze felt he had found delicious food and was very willing to let his smiles and sadness become the scars of a girl’s life. He visibly became more spirited, recently paying special attention to his appearance, and even secretly bought hair gel, often humming some deep love songs.

On QQ, he repeatedly asked “Scars of the Twilight” to meet up and watch movies. Every time Lu Mingfei firmly agreed, but it always happened when his aunt was taking Lu Mingze to piano lessons, so Lu Mingze always missed his chance with the beautiful girl.

This was the happiest thing that has happened to Lu Mingfei in these days.

Lu Mingfei was such a person, not very good, nor does he have the ability to do bad things. He was eighteen years old and still doesn’t know where his future lies.

“Mingfei, I hear you’re going to study abroad?” The old man at the newsstand chatted with him casually.

“Not really, just applying. Who would want me?” Lu Mingfei replied, holding a bag of yogurt and squatting on the curb flipping through magazines.

“Studying abroad is great; coming back as a ‘sea turtle’ means you can earn a lot.”

“I don’t want to earn a lot. If I can’t get into university, I’ll just help you run the stand. Just give me a bit of money, enough for the internet cafe.”

“You’re not ambitious. You can’t earn money at a newsstand. I’m just too old for that.”

Lu Mingfei rolled his eyes and looked up at the sunlight filtering through the green shade above him. “It’s nice; I can soak up the sun, daydream when no one’s around, and even see the beautiful girls passing by.”

This topic made Lu Mingfei quite depressed. He indeed applied to American universities, but not because of his excellent grades.

Everyone had a different way of assessing his grades. His homeroom teacher said, “Lu Mingfei, are you like a paperweight? Do you know how much you’ve pulled our class’s average score down?” His aunt told his uncle, “It proves that our genes are better than those old Lu family genes. Mingze’s good grades are inherited from me!”

Only Lu Mingze was considerate toward him, encouraging him, “Twilight! Why worry about bad grades? I’m doing my thing; that’s what young people should do! Anyway, you’re a good girl in my eyes!”

The idea of studying abroad was strongly supported by his aunt. She not only insisted that Lu Mingfei fill out the application forms but also generously paid the application fees of dozens of dollars for each school.

Aunt had her own little calculations. Among Lu Mingfei’s various grades, only his English was decent; surprisingly, he had achieved a good TOEFL score in his second year of high school. With Lu Mingfei’s grades, it was difficult to get into a first-class undergraduate program. Nowadays, it is very popular to give up the exam for local universities and study abroad. It was uncertain if he could get into a fourth- or fifth-tier American university. If he got lucky again and got the admission notice of an American university, he wouldn’t have to apply to a local university and come home every weekend. As for the money his parents sent each month, that couldn’t be cut off; they also had to send his tuition along with it.

Series Navigation

<< Dragon Raja; Chapter 4 Cassell’s Gate (2)Dragon Raja; Chapter 6 Cassell’s Gate (4) >>