Dragon Clan: Avoid the College Entrance Examination to Slay the Dragon

Chapter 23 After the Dinner

The streetlights cast dim yellow spots across the asphalt, and the curled leaves of the roadside trees condensed with the lingering heat of the day. Lu Mingfei leaned his back against the cast iron shell of the fire hydrant, the toes of his canvas shoes unconsciously grinding the gravel.

The revolving door splashed golden light from the crystal chandelier onto the sidewalk. He raised his phone for the 17th time to check the time: "Why hasn't he come out yet?"

The glass curtain wall suddenly rippled, and Gu Yi's figure walked towards him through the light curtain.

"What did you talk about with Zhao Menghua?" Lu Mingfei kicked away the gravel at his feet and walked up to him.

"He didn't say anything. He said he wanted to clear up the previous misunderstanding." When Gu Yi stopped, he happened to be standing on the dividing line of the tree shadows.

"Is it solved then?"

"Is it important?" The boy asked with a sarcastic smile, "What's going on now?"

The sharp sound of tires scraping against the road ripped through the night as the matte black Bentley Mulsanne steadily cut into the gap in the sidewalk. As the passenger window rolled down, Su Xiaoqiang's carefully styled long curly hair peeked out. "Would you like me to be kind enough to give you a ride..." Her words suddenly caught in her throat, and she glanced over their shoulders.

"Excuse me—" a sticky Eastern European accent clung to the young man. A blond man emerged from the shadows, his nose high enough to hold a sparrow beneath the hood of his sweatshirt, clutching an antique Polaroid SX-70 instant camera.

"This building," he gestured at the Gothic spire, "amazing! Photo?" As he said this, he handed the camera to Gu Yi.

Gu Yi took a half step back, and the sound of his heels hitting the curb woke up the dazed Lu Mingfei.

"He wants to take a picture? Right?" He suddenly blurted out in Chinglish, snatching the camera before the other person could answer. "Chinese people are the most helpful! Where?"

The young man excitedly pointed to the building's spire, where moonlight filtered through the twelve stained-glass windows, casting a bluish-gray halo. Lu Mingfei knelt on one knee, striking a professional pose, his camera stubbornly focused on the fire hydrant three meters away. "Maybe higher?" the young man weakly reminded, pointing at the Gothic flying handle.

Su Xiaoqiang sneered and pulled out a leather cushion from the back seat of the Bentley and threw it over: "Kneel over this!"

The moment the spotlight exploded, half of a dark red birthmark slid out from the collar of the young man's sweatshirt, shaped like a broken cross.

"Perfect!" The young man stared at the slowly developing photographic paper and suddenly grabbed Lu Mingfei's hand and shook it up and down. "Friends? All three? Photo together?"

"He said he wanted to take a commemorative photo of the three of us!" When Lu Mingfei turned around to translate, he found that Su Xiaoqiang had already leaned against the front of the car to touch up her makeup, her coral lipstick glowing with pearly luster in the moonlight.

"Just apply it." The girl twirled the lipstick nonchalantly.

"Come on, Gu Yi! We don't have many photos together." As Lu Mingfei tugged at Gu Yi, he happened to step on Su Xiaoqiang's drooping skirt, sending the three of them tumbling into the frame. Su Xiaoqiang's stilettos dug deeply into Gu Yi's Air Jordans, and Lu Mingfei's frizzy hair dug into the girl's left eyelid. Before they could adjust their positions, the spotlights blazed again.

The photographic paper swished in Su Xiaoqiang's palm, leaving an afterimage. "What the hell!" she screamed, slapping Lu Mingfei's forehead. On the paper, Lu Mingfei rolled his eyes and made a scissors gesture. Gu Yi's profile was a glowing outline in the overexposure, and a strange golden spot of light hovered above Su Xiaoqiang's hair, like a crown of thorns in medieval sacred paintings.

The young man walked backwards into the night, "Good bye you three!"

Su Xiaoqiang opened the car door dejectedly: "Forget it, get in." The three of them got into the Bentley one after another.

The moment the car door closed, the air conditioning, carrying the scent of cedar, wafted over the corners of the three people's clothing. Su Xiaoqiang slung her pearl clutch to her side, the leather seat making a subtle rustling sound as she adjusted her posture. "First, tell me the address. Where do you live, Gu Yi?"

"Zidongyuan, right across from the Nanpu gas station."

Su Xiaoqiang nodded to the driver and looked to the other side. "Lu Mingfei, how about you?" Lu Mingfei sank into his seat. "I'm staying at his house tonight. It's almost time."

"You two, are you?" Su Xiaoqiang suddenly leaned over the central armrest, his mascara-smudged cat-eye liner slightly raised. "What's going on?"

Lu Mingfei sat up like a spring, "Don't let your imagination run wild! He's going to transfer to another school in the US, so I'm helping him pack his luggage and staying overnight!"

Su Xiaoqiang chuckled, with a sly curve at the corner of his lips, as if a Persian cat had discovered the trace of a ball of yarn.

She slowly tightened the lipstick cap. "Why are you so nervous? But speaking of which," she suddenly pointed the lipstick at the two of them, "you two have been like conjoined twins since junior high."

Lu Mingfei felt uncomfortable all over, "Really?"

"Isn't it? During break time, you always stand in the last row and gossip. During sports games, you two throw three-legged legs together and roll on the ground. I've never seen you two separate. Half the girls in the school are jealous of you, Lu Mingfei."

The young man straightened his back suddenly. "Does that make me a public enemy?"

"After all, you're monopolizing someone." Su Xiaoqiang turned his gaze to the figure in the shadows on the other side. "Gu Yi, what's the flight number?"

"The day after tomorrow afternoon."

The car's aromatherapy machine exhaled light blue smoke, blending Su Xiaoqiang's sigh into the scent of cedar: "Then I wish you a bright future."

She suddenly rolled down the window, and the night wind blew the neon lights of the overpass into the car, melting into a brilliant golden river in the girl's eyes.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the car felt a little off, and Lu Mingfei took the initiative to break the silence: "What a lively dinner party today! The last time there was such a scene was when Xu Miaomiao was blocked by hooligans in the alley, and the boys in our class grabbed weapons and went to join us!"

"Some people didn't participate in the collective action at that time." Su Xiaoqiang said lightly
The air suddenly froze. Lu Mingfei wanted to slap himself in the face for bringing up something that was out of context.

"That time, all the boys in the class went to a group fight. There were more people on the other side than expected, and everyone suffered some losses. But thankfully, Miaomiao was rescued." Su Xiaoqiang said, "Lu Mingfei was hit by a big electric cannon. After someone saw it, he rushed over alone and beat seven thugs so hard that they almost went to the emergency room."

Lu Mingfei wanted to squeeze into the gap between the seats. Memories flooded back like a tide: that day when Gu Yibai came back with his shirt stained with blood, his knuckles dark red. This incident had caused a big stir, but in the end, it was left unresolved.

"Sorry." Gu Yi suddenly spoke.

Su Xiaoqiang was stunned. "Who asked you to apologize?" She turned sharply toward the window. "I'm not blackmailing you."

The blue light from the car's display screen streamed across the three people's faces. The driver fumbled for the music button.

"Well, how about I apologize to everyone?" Lu Mingfei said awkwardly.

"roll!"

The double sound waves made the car windows buzz. Su Xiaoqiang angrily crunched a mint candy. Gu Yi's profile became increasingly blurred in the intersection of light and shadow. As the car entered the cross-river tunnel, three young faces appeared in the rearview mirror, like puzzle pieces temporarily held together by fate, but about to shatter.

(End of this chapter)