Lu Mingfei: What? They're all real!

"Alright, shall we go for a walk?" He chose to invite the lovely lady beside him for a stroll.

"Ah."

Zero seemed to have been waiting for this invitation. She nodded instantly, then pressed herself against Lu Mingfei as if urging him on, pushing him downstairs with a bit of force.

The girl was undoubtedly happy inside.

This was the happiest moment for her since boarding that damned train; the girl's heart was warmed, as if she had finally survived winter...

Spring has finally arrived.

Chapter 57 If a girl with no money, no status, and no connections is smiling

The girl walking on campus was overjoyed, her steps light and quick, as if she were about to take off the mask that was stuck to her face and had grown into her flesh.

She always cursed fate as a hateful thing, but today she wanted to praise it. She didn't know what kind of good fortune had befallen the boy beside her, making him remember so many things.

But fate has been playing tricks on people for too long. In fact, Zero had long given up on certain thoughts. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been working for her boss with her head down, nor would she have always looked indifferent. So much so that even at this wonderful moment of reunion, she couldn't even smile.

That mask is still hard to take off.

"Why don't you just smile? Holding it in isn't good for your health," Lu Mingfei said abruptly.

The girl's emotions intensified after her secret was exposed. Even the mask of resentment she had just been wearing instantly fell off her face. Like any ordinary girl, she subconsciously shook her head, trying to hide her thoughts.

This person hasn't changed at all; he still loves to tease her...

"Okay then, it's my fault, it's my fault."

Lu Mingfei grinned as he apologized. He seemed happy about the reunion, his eyes narrowed into slits and his eyebrows relaxed, like some kind of small animal that had eaten its fill and was sunbathing on its back.

Zero felt embarrassed to stare at his face, but her eyes were always fixed on him, taking in his animalistic expression. Her heart pounded; she couldn't be happier, or her heart would explode...

Now she feels extremely lucky.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” she said softly. “I am…”

She ultimately couldn't bring herself to say it.

At a moment like this, simply telling him, "I'm yours, so whatever you do is fine," is just perfect, like the protagonists in those twisted romance novels... Then she can throw herself into his arms, and everything might just fall into place naturally.

She had read it in a book.

At night, she would often think about things she was too embarrassed to say aloud, but for the person involved, for him who was now an adult, these were no longer secrets.

She should have said that.

But she never had the chance to hone this skill. Even though she could analyze and replicate many things, emotions... are just so complicated...

The girl was somewhat disappointed in herself, but still held onto a sliver of hope. She thought, "He's so smart, he must know what I'm about to say..."

"Hmm?" Lu Mingfei blinked, quietly waiting for her to speak. "What do you want to say?"

The girl's heart sank again.

Although it's shameful to have unrealistic expectations and then be disappointed on your own, Zero still felt uneasy. She couldn't help but worry... In her heart, this person was omnipotent and could easily see through her thoughts. Perhaps he was pretending to be naive, or perhaps he had other ideas and was deliberately avoiding her...

"I'm so sorry." Lu Mingfei apologized again, but unlike his previous words, he became serious and stopped walking.

He also looked somewhat downcast.

Zero was no longer disappointed; she became nervous, her heart pounding in her throat.

She didn't want to see this scene. She felt that their reunion across time should be joyful, not so depressing.

She couldn't help but blame herself inwardly.

“I know you must have some unspoken words for me to guess, but there are many things I can’t remember…” Lu Mingfei said in a low voice, looking very disappointed.

Ling paused, then felt a pang of guilt. She shook her head vigorously, wanting to say something, but was gently yet firmly interrupted by Lu Mingfei.

"I remember the first half of the story very clearly. Our days in that dark place, like a prison, right? I remember it so clearly. A bunch of bad guys, you pitied me and I pitied them. But after we escaped, it gradually became less clear. I still remember some things, but I've temporarily forgotten some things. I guess something bad might have happened, right? It must be! The further I go, the more blurred my memory becomes."

Lu Mingfei spoke at length, sighed, and then wiped the sorrow off his face.

He grabbed the girl's arm and said confidently, "But don't worry, I'll remember slowly. Then I'll guess what you meant, and I'll guess again. I'm sure I'll get it right."

Ling listened quietly, then softly hummed in agreement, and then quietly moved her arm to take his hand in return.

After many years, the girl finally managed to turn up the corners of her mouth. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her platinum eyelashes trembled, and her eyes were wet, but she was undoubtedly smiling... She didn't want to think about anything now, she only felt that she was greedy. She had already had the best luck, and if she was still controlled by greed, she would definitely be punished.

“That’s right, smile.” Lu Mingfei smiled back at her, as if teaching her how to smile.

However, he was actually extremely nervous. He was a homebody, so how could he not know what was going on!

If a girl with no connections or a lack of resources smiles at you like that, the only possibilities are that she's actually a cold-blooded vampire about to bare her fangs and stab you in the throat, or she likes you!

He didn't think Zero was a vampire, so there was only one possibility...

“That girl—” Zero suddenly said.

Lu Mingfei instantly calmed down—a calm born of excessive tension—and held his breath, waiting.

"When should we properly thank the girl who bumped your head?" Zero finished his sentence.

After the girl finished speaking, she couldn't help but feel proud of her own cleverness. Over the years, she had been studying China, its customs, society, and marriage issues, so she knew very well that this kind of tone could only be spoken from the perspective of a certain identity—she meant a husband and wife. Although she didn't have the courage or ability to say anything passionate, she felt that this indirect approach would definitely be very effective.

At the very least, it can serve as a suggestion.

However, her research was too profound and too obscure, and Lu Mingfei failed to grasp it at all. He blinked, and then all the breath he had mustered vanished in an instant. He had thought that a girl's name would be mentioned...

"Yes, we should thank her properly."

Lu Mingfei was certain that Zero didn't mean "to take severe revenge," and he readily agreed.

Actually, he received good news from Su Xiaoqiang before boarding the plane, saying that she had passed her application and received an admission letter from the University of Chicago. The text on his phone screen was filled with joy.

She said that Lu Mingfei deserved a large share of the credit, and of that, 50% was due to his insistence on finding a letter of recommendation. The remaining 50% was because the letter of recommendation came from Guderian. Before leaving, the professor listened to Ye Sheng's report and thought that Su Xiaoqiang's performance in talking extensively about Norse mythology during the interview was outstanding. He was willing to issue this significant letter of recommendation for her, who had taken the initiative to seek him out.

However, Lu Mingfei strongly suspected that Guderian was simply using nepotism to seize every opportunity to solidify his decision to come here. For a few days, he was even afraid that the academy would issue a letter of recommendation or invitation to his cousin Lu Mingze because of this. Fortunately, this did not happen at all...

“She’s in Chicago, so maybe we’ll have a chance soon,” he told Zero.

The girl instinctively became a little wary.

Chapter 58 A Thirty-Year-Old Woman

However, compared to that, Zero still found the other guy quite despicable.

"And that person, are you... very familiar with her?" Zero paused, ultimately not revealing the name of the despicable person.

Lu Mingfei's playful attitude temporarily ceased, and his usually analytical mind began to work.

Judging from the current situation, Zero doesn't know who "Xia Mi" really is... Although Lu Mingfei had always thought they had a grudge in a way he wasn't aware of, it now seems that's not the case...

"It's alright..." Lu Mingfei began to play mind games with the girl, "Don't you like her? You seem to get along with her a lot?"

Zero desperately wanted to nod vigorously and say, "I absolutely hate her!", but she couldn't quite figure out what the boy in front of her was thinking. She'd never gathered any information like this before, but what if? What if that girl was actually the one he liked…

She can't say that.

But as soon as she hesitated, Lu Mingfei knew the truth. He was completely certain that Ling did not know Xia Mi's true identity.

This is a point worth considering. He has always felt that his memories are fragmented, mainly due to the huge differences in style. No matter how he tries to find the reason, he cannot understand how he went from being "the supreme ruler on the throne" to "a prisoner on the operating table," and then to the Lu Mingfei he is now...

In retrospect, he may have lived several fragmented parts of his life...

He decided to keep certain things to himself for the time being. It wasn't that he didn't trust the girl in front of him, but he felt that it might cause unnecessary trouble. This was a principle he had figured out from a philosophy book a few days ago, Occam's Razor: entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.

I don't know why, but he's slowly starting to enjoy reading, especially serious books.

"Although I don't like it, since things have already turned out this way, let's just bear with it. We're fellow disciples now." Lu Mingfei comforted the girl with this excuse. "At least on the surface, we should act like we love each other, right? Of course, we don't need to do that behind your back."

Ling felt a tremor in her heart. She really had a deep understanding of everything about China, including "the emperor's harem" and "women fighting each other in a mansion." She was now genuinely worried that "Xia Mi" was the girl he admired.

She disliked that guy even more!

"By the way, I have something I want to ask you." Lu Mingfei keenly sensed the girl's change in mood and tried to change the subject.

Of course, he was genuinely curious about this question—

Under the girl's expectant gaze, he leaned closer, covering his mouth with his hand to prevent anyone from overhearing this top-secret topic:

"I'd like to ask, when was the last time we met?"

Lu Mingfei felt this was very important; the timeline was something he needed to sort out, as it involved many things, including his... parents.

The girl hesitated for a moment, seemingly reluctant to answer the question, but she couldn't refuse. After a brief struggle, she gave a vague reply: "It was around... the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union."

This is much better than simply stating a specific time point, such as 18 or 19 years ago.

Lu Mingfei was stunned, then began to count on his fingers. According to the data recorded on his ID card, he was born at this time...

So those things were actually from a past life?

He suddenly felt a little confused. He did have memories of his childhood, although those memories were rather strange, but he was undoubtedly a child... He had also experienced the process of growing up from childhood to adulthood. In his and his cousin Lu Mingze's room, there were height markings hanging on the wall. He grew taller every year, while his cousin had remained at 1.6 meters tall for several years...

Lu Mingfei's expression became complicated. He couldn't quite make sense of it all... He had actually tried to create a timeline for himself, but now it seemed completely different!

The boy was deep in thought, while the girl grew increasingly anxious. She didn't know what he was thinking, but she suspected that his counting on his fingers... was likely calculating her age...

No! That's not how it's calculated at all!

How can you calculate someone's age from the previous time after they've been reborn? You should start from zero! That's the very meaning of the name "zero"! Besides, once the body stops developing, the usual age calculations simply don't apply anymore, okay? No matter how you calculate it, the two people are practically the same age! There's absolutely no such thing as a thirty-year-old woman!

Ling was anxious, but couldn't say it out loud. All she could do was furrow her brows deeper until Lu Mingfei finally waved his hand and said "Never mind," at which point she finally felt a little relieved.

Lu Mingfei put aside his eagerness to explore everything immediately, and suddenly remembered something else. He finally noticed the girl beside him—

"By the way! Why are you only starting university now?"

Zero was on the verge of tears. What happened to the promise to let it go? Was she just thinking about something else all along?

"Waiting for you..." Zero had been preparing for a long time before giving an answer that wasn't entirely false; she had indeed been waiting for a long time.

Actually, she didn't just find out about him on the first day. She had heard about him from her boss and her colleagues before, but at most it was just some trivial details... She couldn't come looking for him. He didn't remember anything, let alone her. What could she do?

So she really waited until now to get this opportunity.

"Zero, you're so loyal and righteous. I'm so touched." Lu Mingfei patted her shoulder, his face full of approval, as if he were seeing Zilong carrying A Dou and finally returning from Changban Slope.

I was really touched!

Zero now desperately wishes she could become the "Renata" she used to hate, so she could smear her tears and snot all over the chest of the person in front of her.

She hadn't experienced such emotional turmoil in a long time.

The two held hands and looked at each other, one with an exaggerated expression, the other trying to make her expression even more exaggerated. After a while, Lu Mingfei suddenly asked where the snack shop was, saying he was a little hungry. Ling's slight expression disappeared completely, and she suddenly became serious, pointing to the direction behind him. Lu Mingfei thought to himself, why is she unhappy about eating? Could it be that Miss Ling has some kind of phobia about eating?

It wasn't until a hand reached out from behind and landed firmly on his shoulder that Lu Mingfei realized someone was behind him. Along with the touch came a man's warm laughter. Even without turning around, Lu Mingfei could imagine what this guy looked like—he must be an old man with a hearty, fake laugh. Ordinary rich people couldn't laugh with such a wealthy feeling.

Moreover, apart from Wang Xifeng, normal people wouldn't laugh before even appearing on stage.

Lu Mingfei turned his head and was drawn to a head of dazzling golden hair. The man was a little too close to him, so Lu Mingfei instinctively took several steps back, only to be caught in Ling's arms.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lu Mingfei."

The man extended his hand in greeting, his manners and demeanor impeccable. Lu Mingfei looked him up and down, convinced that his guess was absolutely correct; this man must be a noble young master from some wealthy family.

“Hello, I am Caesar,” the man added.

Lu Mingfei's heart skipped a beat; he had only heard this name not long ago.

Oh no, someone's come knocking on our door.

Chapter 59 Beautiful Girls' Book Club

Lu Mingfei felt rather embarrassed and could only manage a couple of dry laughs before giving a shallow handshake and immediately letting go.

“Hello, I am Lu Mingfei…” he said.

The man before him had icy blue eyes and a broad, generous "heart"... Lu Mingfei glanced at him discreetly and thought that this guy's pectoral muscles were probably more exaggerated than his and the girl behind him combined. Maybe even with someone else added, they would still be hard to match. This guy was simply a king of steel with an elegant exterior...

"First of all, I want to express my gratitude to you." Caesar's first action was to express his thanks. "Thank you for helping Nono during the 'Freedom Day' event. On behalf of the student council, as well as Nono and I, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to you."

“Uh…” Lu Mingfei didn’t really want to bring this up again.

There's an old Chinese saying, "Courtesy before force," meaning that starting with nice words is usually not a good thing; once the courtesy is over, it's time to start the war... Fingel's words are still fresh in my mind...

"I must admit that although there are some discordant voices in the student council, please don't worry, those are the words of cowards, and I will not stand with cowards," Caesar said with his head held high. "I have already made a solemn statement that I will not allow anyone to discuss this matter in private, let alone cause you any trouble because of it, so rest assured."

Turns out he's a really good person!