Dragon Raja; Chapter 50: The City of Bronze

Dragon Raja

“Good morning, lazy panda!”

Lu Mingfei, with two huge dark circles under his eyes, stumbled into the classroom on the second floor of the library. The first thing he saw was a pair of legs in jeans, wearing those familiar purple and gold Mary Jane shoes.

“You’re late.” Nono, who was sitting at the podium, said expressionlessly.

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, “Did I go the wrong way? I’m here to take the exam…”

“You’re not in the wrong place. I’m the invigilator for this exam. The invigilator is Professor Manstein from the Discipline Committee.” Nono pointed down, “Everyone is waiting for you.”

Lu Mingfei didn’t expect Nono to still initiate conversation with him, and his heart stirred with excitement. “Sorry, sorry, I don’t know how I ended up shooting your boyfriend yesterday.”

The classroom immediately filled with hisses. Lu Mingfei realized he had said something rather inappropriate.

“Why are you apologizing to me for blasting him?” Nono shrugged. “Go to your seat. It’s about to start. Professor Manstein from the Disciplinary Committee is the proctor today, and I’m collecting the answer sheets.”

Professor Manstein, dressed in a black suit, emerged from the side. He glanced at Lu Mingfei coldly through his round glasses then looked at his watch and said in a low voice, “Don’t make any mistakes. As an ‘S’-level, you have the privilege of being seven minutes late, but if you are demoted in this exam, you will lose this privilege. I am warning you.”

“Everyone is here. Now, I’ll announce the exam rules!”

“Cheating is absolutely prohibited, and rulebreakers will be disqualified! Do not attempt to peek at others’ papers; there are cameras covering the entire classroom with no blind spots! Also, do not attempt to use any electronic communication devices; radio waves in the classroom are being monitored as well! I know you are all geniuses, but I can tell you that people smarter than you have taken this exam here before. Every cheating method you can think of has already been tried…” Professor Manstein spoke with impressive cadence, brimming with authority.

Lu Mingfei seized the opportunity to slip into his seat. In front of each seat was a nameplate, and Lu Mingfei’s nameplate mentioned “Ricardo M. Lu.”

Lu Mingfei was taken aback for a moment, realizing that this was his official English name now. He looked up and saw Nono standing with her arms crossed, her head turned, staring out the window in boredom. He figured it was Nono who had set up the nameplates, and she was the first person in the world to call him “Ricardo.” It was a name Nono had casually given, and she stuck with it. She was a willful girl; once she called him Ricardo, that was his name.

He also turned to look out the window, suddenly realizing that today was a beautiful day. The rising sun had just broken through the clouds, casting light across the walnut desks and leaving the shadow of the window frames, giving the entire classroom a faint rosy hue.

Lu Mingfei felt a small stirring inside. Maybe the good weather had lifted his spirits, His mood suddenly improved. He thought it was a good sign. Maybe things were not as bad as he thought last night. From the time he bought the ice cream for Nuonuo to the time he encountered Finger at Subway, he had gone through all the troubles. He could actually sit in this classroom with these guys with dragon blood to take the exam! or maybe it was because he had an English name for the first time.

“So… Ricardo it is,” he said to himself.

He wanted to clap his hands like a real gambler and say “Lady Luck is on my side!”

He was always so heartless. Even when he was in the lowest mood, he would be happy because of a trivial matter. In the past, these trivial matters were often Chen Wen crossing several rows of desks to ask him who would be responsible for cleaning the blackboard at night. He was the type who would be happy with a little sunshine. Now he felt that even if there was a giant dragon in front of him, he would have to grab a sniper rifle and take a look, and would never lose heart in the face of battle. In this place, it seems that he can’t get by without being a hero.

This was his first official day at Cassell College, and it seemed like a good omen. Suddenly, he felt like he might be able to make it here and couldn’t help but grin.

He realized he still didn’t know anything about the new students in his class, so he stretched his neck, looking around. The students looked like they were from all over the world, with different skin colors and facial features, all wearing the Cassell College uniform. There were quite a few pretty girls, making for a pleasant sight.

“Hey! Brother! Lu? Is that you? They all say you’re great!” A black student in the front row carefully turned around and gave Lu Mingfei a thumbs up, lowered his voice, and smiled brightly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

Lu Mingfei was feeling very excited… although he didn’t know why he was so excited… he gave a thumbs up in response.

“Bradley.” The black student introduced himself.

“Lu Mingfei” Lu Mingfei tried to reach over a desk to shake hands with him.

The name was like a depth charge dropped into the classroom. In an instant, everyone’s eyes shifted from Professor Manstein’s shiny forehead to Lu Mingfei’s face. Dozens of freshmen inhaled at the same time, and after a “huh” sound, the whole classroom fell silent. Professor Manstein stopped teaching, revealing an unhappy look.

A boy suddenly stood up and clapped. The applause was so deafening that Lu Mingfei suspected that he had a pair of rubber palms, so it didn’t hurt at all when he clapped. Then came the black student Bradley. The other freshmen, who had been exchanging glances with each other, stood up excitedly and clapped their hands hard. The applause was deafening.

Lu Mingfei was stunned. He was once again the focus of attention, like a kettle on the solar cooker. He stood up flattered, but felt that he would look too arrogant if he accepted the applause calmly, so he also joined in the clapping and nodded to everyone, as if he was the owner of a newly opened beef noodle restaurant, and he also sent a brilliant glance to Professor Manstein.

Manstein was so angry at this uncontrolled collective behavior that his nose almost became crooked. Nono shrugged and continued to look out the window in boredom.

As Lu Mingfei nodded to all sides, he noticed that there was still one person who didn’t applaud. It was a petite girl, sitting in a corner with her back to Lu Mingfei, wearing a white T-shirt, with her hair braided and tied into a bun, revealing her slender neck. Her skin was so pale that it felt “cold”. In this noisy occasion, she looked even more like an ice sculpture isolated from the world.

Lu Mingfei’s heart skipped a beat, and he had a lingering, strange feeling. But when he tried to figure out that feeling, it disappeared.

“I’m Kiran, president of the Freshmen Association. Lu Mingfei, nice to meet you, our S-Rank. Could I get your autograph?” The boy to his right turned around to shake his hand. He looked like an Indian with a handsome face, jet-black curly hair, and distinct black and white eyes, like a Bollywood movie star.

“Me?” Lu Mingfei was a bit shy, feeling both proud and awkward at being asked for his autograph for the first time. “My handwriting is really bad.”

Kiran handed him a pen and a notebook, and Lu Mingfei, unable to refuse his enthusiasm, scribbled his name in crab-like handwriting.

“I hope I can invite you to join the Freshmen Association. We…”

“Alright, gentlemen, now is not the time for socializing. If you can’t pass the 3E exam, there’s no need to build your social circles here,” Professor Manstein interrupted Kiran. “Before we officially start, please turn off your phones and place them along with your student IDs on the corner of your desks.”

Sounds of phones being turned off filled the classroom. Lu Mingfei was the only one with nothing to do; in his eighteen years of life, he had only briefly owned an iPhone. He sneaked a glance at the other phones, feeling a bit self-conscious. He thought that if he managed to pass this exam, he should take some money from his scholarship to buy himself a phone. At that moment, he saw a nearly transparent hand ahead pushing an expensive phone to the edge of a desk.

It was Lu Mingfei’s first time seeing such a handcrafted luxury phone in person—each one cost at least tens of thousands of yuan. He wanted to take a closer look, but his gaze was drawn to the phone’s owner.

He looked around and saw the girl, who was as silent as an ice sculpture, stretched out an almost transparent hand and pushed an expensive phone to the side of the table. He felt a little embarrassed like a country bumpkin coming to the city, and suddenly thought of the student ID card with a credit of one hundred thousand US dollars. He glanced at the student ID card on the corner of his desk and realized that it was indeed something that would change his life. Even if he couldn’t do anything else, at least he could buy any mobile phone in the world.

The black curtain noiselessly moved out from the carved wooden window frames, sealing all the windows. The wall lights in the classroom turned on, and Nono walked along the aisles, handing each new student a few A4-sized sheets and a sharpened pencil.

The test paper was completely blank.

The sound of gasps filled the classroom. The blank paper was beyond anyone’s expectations, and someone raised their hand.

“Don’t doubt it; there’s nothing wrong with your test paper. I’ll be outside the classroom if you have any questions. Discussions are allowed, as long as you don’t copy each other’s answers,” Professor Manstein said. “Good luck to all of you.”

As the classroom door slammed shut behind Nono and Professor Manstein, all the students began to exchange glances, and the two tables close together spoke in low voices, with faces full of expressions of seeing a ghost in broad daylight. Indeed, they couldn’t cheat because they didn’t even know what the test questions were? The camera on the roof silently stared at the students who were in a mess. At this damn time, they actually remembered the melodious light music.

The students all looked at each other, stunned.

Except for one person, Lu Mingfei. He was calm and confident.

“Are they playing some kind of game? Maybe I should have taken Stanford’s admission letter… They gave me a half-scholarship.” Bradley grabbed his curly hair, obviously extremely frustrated. “I heard there are no exams there.”

Series Navigation

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