Dragon Raja: Back from Tiling, My Mother Lu Mingfei

"Are you...are you serious?"

"Seriously."

"You just said Zhao Menghua isn't a hero, Liu Miaomiao isn't a hero, Su Xiaoqiang isn't a hero, Chu Zihang isn't a hero... and then you said I'm a hero?"

"right."

"How do I resemble a hero?"

Huai Xu picked up his soda and clinked it against Lu Mingfei's beer. "A hero isn't defined by how good you are at fighting, but by how much you can endure."

Lu Mingfei: "?"

"Think about it, how many times have you been ridiculed during your years at Shilan High School? How many times have you been ignored? How many times have you been treated like a lackey?"

"have no idea……"

"But you endured it. You didn't break down, you didn't turn to the dark side, you didn't take revenge on society. You ate, drank, and slept as usual every morning. What is that? That's heroism."

"Moreover," Huai Xu continued, "your greatest strength is that you never think you're anything special."

"Is that considered an advantage?"

"Of course it counts. Zhao Menghua thinks he's amazing and has become arrogant, but arrogance leads to defeat, so he won't achieve great things. Chu Zihang is indeed amazing, but he also thinks he's amazing and is also arrogant, so he won't achieve great things either. The people who can truly achieve great things are those who are clearly very capable, but don't even realize it."

"..."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I want to say, you're not useless."

"..."

"You feel inadequate because you keep measuring yourself by other people's standards. Grades, sports, appearance, family background... these are other people's standards, not yours."

"So what are my standards?"

"Your standards haven't been established yet. Because you haven't found the track that truly belongs to you."

Lu Mingfei pursed his lips, picked up a beer, and took a big gulp.

"Did you take the wrong medicine today? Why are you suddenly saying these things to me?"

"Because I'm afraid you might do something rash later."

"What's bothering you?"

"For example... matters of the heart."

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment.

"What's wrong with your love life?"

Huai Xu looked at him, thought for a moment, and decided to lay his cards on the table.

"Chen Wenwen".

Lu Mingfei froze for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.

"What happened to Chen Wenwen?"

"You like her."

"..."

"Don't deny it. I can tell."

Lu Mingfei remained silent, only drinking.

About a minute later, Lu Mingfei put down the bottle and wiped his mouth.

"Yes, I like her. Why?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to tell you, there are plenty of fish in the sea, why be hung up on just one?"

"You sound just like Zhao Menghua."

"Can Zhao Menghua compare to me?"

Lu Mingfei glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"Mingfei, I'm not trying to discourage you. I just want to tell you that feelings are something you can't force."

"I know."

"You know nothing. If you really knew, you wouldn't be secretly watching her every day."

Lu Mingfei's face turned slightly red.

It's not shyness, it's embarrassment.

How did you know?

"I'm not blind."

"I was just... looking. I didn't do anything."

"Just looking? The way you look at her is like a dog looking at a bone."

"What kind of analogy is that?"

"An accurate metaphor."

Lu Mingfei took another swig of wine.

"Huai Xu, what exactly are you trying to say? Just say it directly, stop beating around the bush."

"Chen Wenwen doesn't like you."

silence.

"I know."

"It's good that you know."

"but……"

Lu Mingfei picked up a skewer of grilled pork belly, "but I couldn't resist."

"You have to control it even if you can't."

"You make it sound so easy."

"I make it sound so easy, because I'm just an observer."

Lu Mingfei looked up at Huai Xu.

"You are not a bystander. You are also involved."

"What do you mean?"

"You think I can't tell? The way Chen Wenwen looks at you is different from how she looks at others."

That's motherly love.

"fart."

Lu Mingfei rarely swore.

Huai Xu suddenly felt like laughing.

Lu Mingfei, who is usually as timid as a quail, actually dared to curse him after drinking a few bottles of wine.

It seems that alcohol really is a good thing.

"Fine, even if it's just bullshit. So what?"

"What? So what?"

"So what if Chen Wenwen looks at me differently than she looks at others? I don't like her anyway."

Lu Mingfei stared at him for three seconds.

"You don't like her?"

"dislike."

"Then why do you write poems for her every day?"

"That's a poem my son wrote for his mother."

"Then why are you getting so close to her?"

"Because she is a mother."

"Then why...?"

"Lu Mingfei".

Huai Xu interrupted him, "Listen to me."

"Chen Wenwen is gentle, kind, talented, and beautiful. It's normal that you like her. The fact that she doesn't dislike you and even considers you a friend is already quite good. But liking someone isn't something you can get just by trying."

Lu Mingfei kept his head down and didn't say anything.

"If you write poems for her, fight for her, do this and that for her, will she like you? No. Liking is liking, and not liking is not liking. No matter how much you do, you can only move her, not make her heart flutter."

Lu Mingfei's hand tightened slightly around the wine bottle.

"I know."

"It's good that you know."

"but……"

Lu Mingfei looked up, his eyes a little red.

"But I still want to give it a try."

Huai Xu looked at him and smiled.

"Okay. You try."

"Aren't you going to stop me?"

Why should I stop you?

"Didn't you say...?"

"I'm stating the facts, but I'm not saying you can't try. If you want to try, go ahead, and if you hit a wall, just remember to turn back."

Given Chen Wenwen's current state, even if Lu Mingfei or Chu Zihang came back to confess his feelings, it wouldn't make a difference.

Lu Mingfei looked at him, his eyes reddening even more.

"Huai Xu, you're... really a strange person."

"What's strange about it?"

"If it were anyone else saying these things to me, they would have gotten impatient long ago. But you are always... very patient."

"Because I'm your mother."

"Could you please not mention this?"

"Okay, Mom."

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment.

"you're right."

"What?"

"Chen Wenwen doesn't like me. I've known that for a long time... but I still want to try."

"I know."

"What if?"

"There's no 'what if'."

"What if?"

Huai Xu sighed.

"Alright. Just in case. Go ahead and try. I won't stop you."

Lu Mingfei picked up the wine bottle and clinked it against Huai Xu's.

"Thanks."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you for thinking of me."

Huai Xu picked up a skewer of roasted chicken and handed it to Lu Mingfei, "After all, I'm your mother, so be good~ open your mouth and eat some chicken."

"what?"

"The roast chicken is delicious."

"What's the connection between this and that?"

"No, but the roast chicken is delicious."

Lu Mingfei took the roast chicken, took a bite, and said, "Huai Xu, don't you think I'm a pathetic person?"

"It's not pathetic."

Why?

"Because you still have me."

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment, then lowered his head and continued eating.

[Lu Mingfei's approval rating rises to 55%]