Chapter 2: Youthful Story
Nine in the morning at the Regent Hotel.
This five-star hotel was the most luxurious establishment in this coastal city in the south, without exception. Even the humblest executive suites here cost at least four figures a night. To the locals, its prestige was the hotel equivalent of a Rolex on the wrist or a Rolls-Royce on the road—truly the fighter jet of the hospitality world.
Choosing this place as the interview venue was proof enough of Cassel College's economic might. Yet if one were to judge by the usual style of a certain Student Union president from Cassel, he would likely frown, sneer, and say: "This is the most luxurious hotel in Chu Zihang's hometown? How utterly disappointing! Have we arrived at some cave inhabited by Neanderthals?"
Then this Student Union president would most likely wave his hand grandly and, without batting an eye, buy out the entire Regent Hotel, followed by an imposing throng of people flooding in until the place was remodeled to the exacting standards of that arrogant young aristocrat.
To top it off, the young lord would probably smile and say, "Free all day, put it on my tab," before basking lavishly in the cheers and applause of the crowd.
After imagining that highly cinematic scene, Lu Mingfei smiled and shook his head. The sheer, outrageous absurdity of that Student Union president—whom he had never met—would definitely be several notches higher than that!
Through the brightly polished, floor-to-ceiling windows of the hotel, Lu Mingfei caught his own reflection. His usual messy bangs had been styled with a touch of pomace and hair gel into a slicked-back look. His physique was significantly sturdier than it had been three years ago when he first entered high school; while not yet hulking, he certainly no longer looked fragile.
More important was his bearing. Even though he wore a knock-off Loro Piana suit secretly bought from a friend by Uncle behind Aunt's back, today's Lu Mingfei showed none of the awkwardness of a child caught wearing adult clothes.
"Are you joining us for the Cassel College interview?" The attendant standing opposite the floor-to-ceiling windows opened the main door and asked with a smile.
"Yes, I am," Lu Mingfei replied with a wide grin.
"Then please let our staff guide you to the executive floor." A pretty young woman dressed in a skirt suit, black stockings, and ten-centimeter heels thoughtfully led the way for Lu Mingfei, offering a smiling service the entire journey.
"Lu Mingfei!" Su Xiaoqiang sat outside the eighth-floor executive lounge, waving enthusiastically and cheering at Lu Mingfei as if gloating that she was the first in the crowd to spot him.
"Morning, Su Xiaoqiang," Lu Mingfei replied with a smile.
Su Xiaoqiang was the proudest and most striking girl in the class, commonly nicknamed the "Little Goddess," and she had every right to be so proud. Rumor had it that her family was in the coal business. On her very first day of school, she stepped out of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class wearing DKNY, a brand most of her classmates had never even heard of. The sunlight illuminated her proudly lifted, fair neck, making her look as haughty as a pristine white swan.
Yet Lu Mingfei didn't dislike Su Xiaoqiang. In fact, almost no one in the class truly hated her; on the other hand, quite a few toad-like boys harboring ulterior motives harbored the grand delusion of one day winning her favor, willingly making themselves devoted followers of this white swan.
However, Su Xiaoqiang's vivacious personality often meant she simply became "one of the guys" to most boys after spending time together. A high school boy's budding romantic feelings usually started with a quiet, gentle girl—much like Shen Jiayi from *You Are the Apple of My Eye*.
Chen Wenwen was universally recognized in the class as the Shen Jiayi of their grade. She was the very embodiment of quiet purity. Many boys fancied themselves Ke Jingteng, lavishing secret and open attention on her, yet Chen Wenwen hadn't given a single one of them the time of day.
As luck would have it, among the seventeen seats left for them, the only empty space happened to have Chen Wenwen sitting immediately to its right, and Zhao Menghua right beside her.
Zhao Menghua went without saying—he was recognized as one of only two people in Shilan High School worthy of being called "Chu Zihang's successor," a title he was more than happy to claim and proud of.
Yet the other person granted this honor clearly hadn't given the matter a second thought, creating an intensely bitter rivalry between Zhao Menghua and him. After all, Zhao Menghua was already destined to fall short of Chu Zihang; if he even had to share the title of "second Chu Zihang" with someone else, wouldn't that mean he wasn't even worth half of Chu Zihang?
When it came to family background, Zhao Menghua was confident he could leave that boy—who couldn't even afford a decent suit—so far behind he wouldn't even see his taillights.
Yet Shilan High School was never short on wealthy elites. In every aspect other than family background, however, Zhao Menghua had to admit he felt a genuine sense of intimidation when compared to that person.
Nobody knew what had gotten into that guy. Before high school, he had been utterly shameless and indifferent, but the moment he entered high school, he acted as if he'd caught an infectious disease called "Chu Zihang Syndrome." Not only did he haunt the library day in and day out, but his academic grades skyrocketed like a firecracker shot straight into the sky. Moreover, he spent every single day at the municipal youth palace until closing time, almost bringing a set of bedding to move in and settle down permanently!
Consequently, Zhao Menghua's mental fortitude had been thoroughly crushed by that guy across eighteen streets!
At this very moment, that person happened to be separated from Zhao Menghua by just Chen Wenwen.
"Good morning, Lu Mingfei," Chen Wenwen said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, not daring to turn her head to look directly into his face.
"Morning," Lu Mingfei replied, looking straight ahead as he accepted a croissant and hot milk handed over by an attendant.
Chen Wenwen cautiously glanced at Lu Mingfei out of the corner of her eye. His face was half-hidden behind rising wisps of steam, and the white milk swirled in ripples within the cup he held. The boy stared fixedly at the white vortex in his cup as if deep in thought, his attention clearly not on her.
*So I'm less attractive than a cup of hot milk,* Chen Wenwen thought, feeling a wave of unexplainable desolation.
She was the president of the Literature Club. During her three-year tenure, countless boys had racked their brains trying to squeeze into the club, yet as president, she had taken the initiative to extend invitations to only two people from start to finish: one was Zhao Menghua, and the other was Lu Mingfei. However, unlike the two so-called "successors of Chu Zihang," the former readily accepted, while the latter flatly refused.
When Zhao Menghua learned of this, he felt the humiliation of someone who had paid top dollar for an outfit his arch-nemesis wouldn't even deign to glance at, only to cherish it foolishly and happily while remaining entirely oblivious.
And so, Lu Mingfei naturally became the sharpest thorn in Zhao Menghua's eye.
What made it even more exasperating was that the reason Lu Mingfei gave for rejecting Chen Wenwen left her utterly speechless and devoid of any defense.
"Sorry, but I actually prefer books with stronger literary value, things like *The Shawshank Redemption* or *One Hundred Years of Solitude*; whereas your Literature Club seems much more fond of sentimental romance novels like *The Lover*."
"I'm not belittling either side, it's just that there are already more than enough sentimental people. Someone has to shoulder the heavy banner of literature and educational development, otherwise how can society progress and the country prosper? Am I right?"
With that, Lu Mingfei clutched a thick copy of *The Count of Monte Cristo* and walked away alone, leaving a stunned Chen Wenwen and the rest of the Literature Club members wondering for a long time whether he was being completely serious or just talking nonsense.
The male members of the Literature Club had even gossiped behind his back, asking if this guy Lu Mingfei was even a normal male. Did anyone really join the Literature Club to discuss philosophy and improve their literacy rather than to get close to Chen Wenwen? Even a blind person hearing Chen Wenwen's ethereal, pure, and pitiful voice shouldn't have turned her down!
Yet that guy named Lu Mingfei not only refused, but refused so mercilessly it was practically inhumane! From then on, a saying widely circulated throughout the class: "This boy has no heart!"
This was the first time Chen Wenwen had tasted rejection, and she thought to herself that this must be the unique bitterness of youth. Yet every time she caught another glimpse of that boy, a lingering sweetness would inevitably well up in her heart.
Perhaps some people were simply born unsatisfied; the harder something was to obtain, the more one would obsess over it. If emotions could be controlled, simps would have long since gone extinct as an endangered species!
It was from that moment on that the boy who seemed completely clueless about the ways of the world planted himself like a seed deep inside Chen Wenwen's heart. Every accidental encounter watered it with sweet dew, until its increasingly thick roots anchored themselves indestructibly within her soul, and the seedling finally burst through the soil of "shyness." Only then did Chen Wenwen realize: *Could it be that I've truly fallen for Lu Mingfei?*
What Chen Wenwen did not know, however, was that three years ago, a towering tree named "Erii" had already taken root in Lu Mingfei's heart, blooming with flowers and lush with foliage, leaving not a single spare crevice to accommodate any other wild blossom.