Lu Mingfei: What? They're all real!

"Oh." The girl nodded and slowly turned her gaze back to the center.

"So why were you peeking?" Lu Mingfei grinned mischievously.

The platinum-blonde girl made an "uh-uh" sound, and black energy emanated from the top of her head.

"Alright, I have to catch my train now. I might be back tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Don't wait for me for dinner." Lu Mingfei put away his joke and waved, like a husband giving instructions to his wife before leaving.

But the girl still stayed by his side.

“Zero?” He suddenly remembered that she wasn’t the type to lie.

“I’m going to Chicago too,” Zero said.

Now it was Lu Mingfei's turn to be trembling with fear.

……

Actually, Lu Mingfei couldn't be said to be guilty; he just felt it was a bit troublesome... The petite girl sitting next to him had a stubborn personality, and she certainly wouldn't be happy to see him rushing to Chicago just to see a girl.

Although Lu Mingfei's initial goal was to meet up in person with his online friend Lao Tang, whom he had a great time chatting with, Lao Tang said he had driven all the way to Chicago in a pickup truck, and Lu Mingfei gladly accepted the invitation—

But just then, Su Xiaoqiang also sent a message, "requesting" him to pick her up from the airport like a delicate and pitiful girl. She talked at length about how she, as a girl, should be careful in a foreign country, so she begged Mr. Lu to be kind. But Lu Mingfei knew that she had spent a year in New York when she was in junior high school, so this excuse was completely invalid.

However, this was just a matter of convenience, and Lu Mingfei had no excuse to refuse. In fact, he really liked the opportunity to act as "Lu Mingfei." In other people's eyes, he always had a different image, not the kind of guy who would fall asleep in class and then be rudely woken up by the teacher and made to stand in the corridor as punishment.

Lu Mingfei was worried that one day he would no longer be "Lu Mingfei", so of course he would not refuse such a request.

But now other problems have arisen...

“You look very nervous.” Zero’s observational skills had increased tenfold. Ever since leaving Kassel, she had been staring at Lu Mingfei’s face.

"No." Lu Mingfei looked out the window, pretending to be admiring the scenery, refusing to turn back.

"But your breathing is very unnatural."

Zero, like a guy with a nasty flirting technique, shifted his position and leaned closer to Lu Mingfei, cornering him.

"I'm fine." Lu Mingfei could only turn the tables and become the questioner, "But what brings you to Chicago?"

Ling paused, somewhat hesitant. She didn't want to lie, but this was the one question she really couldn't answer honestly.

She was going to meet her "accomplices".

In fact, she had seriously considered this: if she had already achieved her goal—that she could see the person in her heart every day and that he remembered everything—would she still need to work for her "boss"? She actually wanted to be a faithless person and quit the business altogether.

But a long time ago, she heard her boss say that all of this was for Lu Mingfei's good. She cared about this, and she hoped that he could always move closer to the "good," so she still had to continue her "contract"...

However, she hadn't received any instructions or messages from her boss for a long time, as if she had suddenly been cut off from reality. This was a good thing for her, as she looked forward to spending peaceful days with the person she loved, rather than living a life of constant danger and uncertainty... But she still had to make routine contact to avoid any unexpected events.

More importantly, she needed to ask that guy who only ate potato chips all day to find out everything about "Xia Mi," leaving no stone unturned! She was determined to expose him completely!

“Going to see… friends, two girls…” Zero chose this phrase.

She didn't think it could be considered deception, although her accomplices weren't exactly good people, but they could certainly be considered her friends. She tried to describe them as clearly as possible in order to distance herself from the sin of deceiving him.

"Oh." Lu Mingfei couldn't help but sigh, "That's really rare. Although it's a bit surprising, it's good to make friends... Actually, I'm also going to meet an online friend, I call him Lao Tang. He drove here to visit me. If things aren't too urgent here, I can also meet you. Of course, if you don't agree, that's fine too."

Lu Mingfei deliberately acted very generously, deliberately "revealed" the purpose of his trip, and deliberately did not mention that he was going to pick up a girl at the airport... hoping to confuse the issue.

"Hmm." Zero nodded obediently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Of course she wouldn't agree! None of those guys are decent; what if they corrupt him?!

The two, each harboring their own thoughts, parted ways at the train station. Lu Mingfei wandered around before diving into the subway, stepping onto the blue line of the dense rainbow network and heading straight for the airport; Ling, on the other hand, hailed a taxi extravagantly, hoping to get there quickly—she calculated that if she was efficient, she might still have time to return and find Lu Mingfei.

But city traffic is always congested, especially during rush hour, which is unpredictable. The incessant honking of horns kept ringing in the girl's ears, and she calculated that she might be delayed for a long time today.

The girl answered her buzzing phone, and the sound of crunching potato chips came from the other end. She said, "Hey girl, we just arrived at the airport. When are you getting there?"

Ling gazed silently into the distance. She calculated that it would probably be quite a while before she arrived.

How annoying.

Chapter 69 You're a Big Star Now

"What an honor, big star! You actually took the time to take care of a nobody like me. I thought you were so popular that you were surrounded by flowers all day long and didn't have time to care about your old classmates."

Su Xiaoqiang took off her dark blue sunglasses, revealing her white teeth, and smiled brightly.

"It's only been a little over a month since we last met, so I can't say I've aged..." Lu Mingfei said, panting. "But you guessed it, I had to shake off two girls to make time for this."

Chicago's subway system was first built in 1892, second only to London's in terms of age. With its many historical lines, it's quite... disorganized, so much so that he looked rather disheveled as he rushed over.

The girl chuckled and said, "Then I must be really guilty. Will those girls you dumped come after me with knives?" Lu Mingfei rolled his eyes, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "They probably don't kill with knives, or at the very least, with guns."

Su Xiaoqiang couldn't help but laugh, grabbing Lu Mingfei's shoulder and shaking with laughter. After a long while, she finally calmed down, nodded, and said, "That's right, this is where the Americans seek revenge, and they do use guns. You have to be careful, and I have to be careful too." Then she giggled again.

She looked very happy, even a little too happy, a little exaggerated. It wasn't just a simple emotion of "meeting an old friend in a foreign land." Her neck was quietly turning red.

Luckily, she wore a turtleneck today, she thought.

“But I really have to thank you. My parents never expected me to get such an offer, especially since I got it based on my own merit without spending a penny. They are so proud of me and brag about it to their uncles and elders all the time!” Su Xiaoqiang cleared her throat and said, “It’s all thanks to you. I’ll have to treat you to a feast when we get back.”

"Then I'll have to eat something good, like abalone and lobster." Lu Mingfei grinned mischievously.

"Eat, eat, eat! Anything is fine." The girl took her luggage off the carousel. "But we can talk about what happens when we get back. Right now, we need to eat something. I'm starving."

Lu Mingfei felt it wasn't appropriate for him to just stand there, nor was it appropriate for him to be too attentive, so he took a compromise and helped the girl carry half of her luggage. He pulled the long handle of the suitcase and walked in front of her.

The girl followed behind him. She no longer laughed so exaggeratedly, but her face was redder. It was no longer the faint red she had shown before; it was now bright red, like a flower.

She felt uneasy even before boarding the plane—to be honest, she felt that she was not nervous because she was going to a foreign country alone, and her nervousness was definitely not because of going abroad.

But she couldn't deny that her heart had been pounding all along. Now, following behind someone, she felt that feeling had finally disappeared, but it was replaced by another feeling. She felt a warm breath rising up onto her face, making her feel hot and fuzzy.

"Hey—" She tugged at the handle of her suitcase and followed behind Lu Mingfei, asking, "You didn't get taken down by some weirdo as soon as you arrived at school, did you? I've heard that some people don't keep a close eye on themselves when they go abroad, and they get corrupted in just two or three days. You have to be careful."

"But someone has to corrupt me, okay? I'm just a nobody." Lu Mingfei grumbled. "They're either descendants of nobles from some principality, or young masters from mafia families, or they're just big stars at our school, like Chu Zihang. You must know Chu Zihang, right? Okay, you're not interested in him, but anyway, he's my classmate now."

Actually, many people are curious about him, but most are just curious to see "who exactly is he to have such a high concentration of bloodline," much like watching monkeys in a zoo.

"That just proves you're excellent too, right?" The girl pressed one hand to her cheek, as if trying to suppress the heat, and tried to make her tone sound normal. "Now you're the real big star. A few days ago, a junior asked me about you."

"Then you must have given her my QQ number, right?" Lu Mingfei's voice became expectant.

"I told my junior that you've been snatched up by a rich girl from the capital. She lives in the first ring road. Tell her to stop dreaming," Su Xiaoqiang said with a snort.

"Stop spreading rumors..." Lu Mingfei said helplessly, drawing out his words.

One more thing! He was afraid that some "young lady" would have to rob people while wearing a hood to pay for her meals! It had only been a week since the start of the semester, and she had already shamelessly freeloaded, costing him a full hundred US dollars. If this continued, she would probably have to sell herself to pay it back by the end of the semester! Who would have thought that a top-A student's scholarship was so pitiful, not even a fraction of his?

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. Even if I don't say anything, plenty of people will. My classmates and even everyone in the whole school are talking about it. Also, Chen Wenwen said that you don't reply to her messages at all now. She's always crying and complaining to me, asking if I can get in touch with you. Sometimes I really don't want to talk to her."

Su Xiaoqiang said this with a hint of smugness. She felt that Chen Wenwen deserved it, having wasted so many good opportunities. What was that saying again? "If you don't seize the opportunities Heaven offers, you will suffer the consequences!"

Although she herself was only slightly stronger...

"I would definitely reply to her, okay? It's just that the time difference doesn't work out."

Lu Mingfei felt exhausted thinking about this. He had always thought that Chen Wenwen was just a little resentful, but she was too resentful. Now she stopped posting her usual literary articles on QQ Space and started typing furiously in his chat box, often saying things that were cryptic and incomprehensible. She had never written this much when she shared her reading notes before. Whenever he opened QQ, the chat box would start shaking. Sometimes she would be online at 2 a.m. in China.

He's now afraid to log on to QQ.

"Then let your young lady speak for you. Anyway, I think she's sharp-tongued. Let her make a video call and give Chen Wenwen a piece of her mind." Su Xiaoqiang said this deliberately. "Then Chen Wenwen will definitely be heartbroken, and I can finally relax."

"Please, please stop calling her 'young lady,' she's not good enough for her..."

Lu Mingfei now empathizes with Xia Mi's near-crying state when she hears the words "Jormungandr".

"Hmph~" the girl said smugly.

Lu Mingfei's reaction pleased her greatly; it was clearly a sign of disdain! It seemed he had quickly gone through the process of demystifying external halos and appearances, and wouldn't be fooled by random girls anymore.

However, her face is now burning hot and needs to be treated.

"Wait a minute, Miaomiao told me to let her know I arrived safely, I'll make a call."

The girl used another girl as a shield, and before he could respond, she quickly ran away, not daring to wait until he turned away.

Su Xiaoqiang and Liu Miaomiao had a good relationship. To be honest, Su Xiaoqiang was her only friend besides those younger sisters who only followed her because they spent money. Lu Mingfei knew this very well... He muttered as he turned around, keeping a close eye on Xiaotiannv's luggage. There were many pickpockets in this place, so he had to be careful.

As he was muttering this, he suddenly felt two wild beast-like gazes fall on his location, but when he followed the direction, he found nothing; no one was looking at him.

Chapter 70 They fell into the sea

"Potato chips, I'm not seeing things, am I? Is this the kind of character Lu Mingfei is?" The slender woman asked, grabbing the girl next to her by the neck.

"I've never even seen what Lu Mingfei looks like before, why are you asking me?" The girl, looking languid and listless, said, "Quick, call that clueless girl, she's about to get her house raided!"

"Don't rush, this news is a bit explosive, I need to calm down first." The slender woman slapped her head hard.

"What's the rush? Look at that girl's awkwardness. If we keep slowing her down, she'll turn into a 'three-no' girl (no job, no money, no connections) wet nurse. Oh, wait, she can't be a wet nurse, her 'hardware' isn't good enough." The girl with a lazy expression revealed a languid, mischievous smile.

"But that doesn't make sense. Didn't the boss say Lu Mingfei is a good-for-nothing? Is there such a good-for-nothing in the world?"

"The boss is almost dead! It's been so long, and there's been no news at all. Maybe the boss has been possessed by Lu Mingfei, or maybe the boss possessed Lu Mingfei and is now suffering a backlash. Perhaps Lu Mingfei was originally a dashing young master, but the boss stole his life."

"Can you watch less weird stuff?" The long-legged girl wouldn't tolerate anyone badmouthing her boss like that, and angrily smacked the girl on the head. "Call Sanwu right now!"

"Oh." The girl with a languid expression sighed, hurriedly took out her phone, then suddenly stopped and quietly pointed into the distance.

"what?"

"Too late."

……

Lu Mingfei once heard a suffocating story about a guy who complained that his long-distance girlfriend wouldn't let him play games. So he waited until he said goodnight on QQ before logging on, only to see a message from his girlfriend in the game channel saying, "You're online!"

That's how he feels right now.

"You...you're picking someone up at the airport too?"

Lu Mingfei felt like he was about to laugh out loud in anger. Standing opposite him was Ling, who kept blinking, and she looked like she had a big question mark flashing on her forehead.

But before Zero could say or ask anything, he had no room to defend himself.

"Okay, I'm back."

Having regained her composure, Su Xiaoqiang returned fully refreshed. She washed her face three times in the bathroom before daring to come back. She gently nudged Lu Mingfei's back, only to find that his body was somewhat stiff.

"what's wrong?"

She peeked over to his side and noticed a petite girl standing not far away, directly opposite him. Her platinum blonde hair was eye-catching, and her appearance was impeccably beautiful.

This girl's appearance is quite intimidating... That was Su Xiaoqiang's first reaction, both in terms of temperament and appearance. Overly beautiful girls have an aura, and an aura can increase the pressure on people.

"Is she Old Tang?" Ling suddenly pointed at Su Xiaoqiang and asked.

"It's not Lao Tang, it's Lao Su," Lu Mingfei said. "He's my classmate, I'm here to pick him up from the airport."

Actually, Lu Mingfei wasn't particularly upset or scared; he just felt quite embarrassed. It seemed like the things you least want are the things that come your way, and he figured he was just unlucky today… Also, he hoped Miss Ling wouldn't lose her little pearl because of this; he remembered she used to be a crybaby…

"What kind of weird way is this, calling me 'Old Su'?!" Su Xiaoqiang reacted to the strange nickname, before suddenly realizing that the girl knew Lu Mingfei.

Judging from the tone, it's as if the wife has caught her lover red-handed!

She felt very uncomfortable and gently nudged Lu Mingfei's shoulder, mimicking his tone, "Who is she? Is she your new classmate from university?"

“Uh…” Lu Mingfei decided to continue with what he had said to Xia Mi before, “You could say she is my… childhood sweetheart.”

However, Su Xiaoqiang knew too much. She blinked, then frowned and asked, "Didn't you tell me that your childhood sweethearts were the two sisters next door when you were little? The younger sister was named Danyang, and the older sister was named Mingdang?"

Lu Mingfei truly regretted being such a foul-mouthed person!

At that time, his memory had just become clear, and he had an overwhelming urge to confide in others. Su Xiaoqiang was also willing to listen, so he poured out all his innermost thoughts without holding back.

So it wasn't just ancient "myths" that were brought up; his childhood memories of living in the research institute's family compound were also unearthed. The two sisters next door were, of course, an important part of it. In fact, he didn't only remember them after regaining his memories; he remembered the two girls before that... Lu Mingfei didn't have many girls in his life, so he remembered each one very well.

But he never expected that Su Xiaoqiang could remember it so clearly! And she even remembered the name!

He really wanted to slap himself.

“I think there is a very high chance that she is a foreigner and does not have an artistic Chinese name like Danyang or Mingdang. Although her Chinese is very good, she may also be a member of an ethnic minority, but ethnic minorities do not name their children like that.” Su Xiaoqiang added two more sentences. She was very meticulous and left room for maneuver for her fellow ethnic minority compatriots.

Don't mention those two names again, damn it... Damn little fairy, why do you have such a good memory!

“Childhood sweethearts from different periods.” Lu Mingfei meticulously added to his background.

But this excuse was too weak. Even Lu Mingfei himself couldn't figure out the truth about "reincarnation," let alone Su Xiaoqiang, an ordinary girl. She blinked, hesitated, and finally turned her head away, no longer bothered by it.

She muttered to herself that there was no point in agonizing over it; the other girl was standing opposite her like an empress, and if things really escalated, she might end up looking like a clown...

Despite thinking this, she still secretly assessed the distance between herself, the girl opposite her, and Lu Mingfei. In this respect, she had a slight advantage... Hmph~