Lu Mingfei doesn't want to be a superhero

To put it bluntly, it's just a matter of sending someone of high lineage and status to lend a hand.

Originally, there was a much more suitable candidate in the school than Senior Brother Chu for this job. That person's bloodline was no less than his, and he was the heir of a famous mixed-race family in Italy. He was also the student council president, and most importantly, he was very flamboyant. He was simply born to do this job.

Unfortunately, that person had other tasks and couldn't get away, so the school asked Senior Brother Chu for help.

Although Lu Mingfei didn't understand why being "outspoken" was suitable for interacting with other mixed-race forces, he still had to thank that person for giving him the opportunity to copy the Word of Power and incidentally gain credits and travel.

For this reason, Chu Zihang, as the team leader, agreed to let Lu Mingfei bring Su Xiaoqiang along.

This is a non-combat mission. As long as we keep it confidential from ordinary people along the way, it won't be considered a violation of school rules.

Ultimately, mixed-race individuals are a tiny minority in this world. Although they have formed their own small society, they cannot sever their connections with ordinary people.

Therefore, Lu Mingfei agreed to Su Xiaoqiang's request.

It didn't matter to tell her that her mother's family would cover all the expenses for this "trip".

That's definitely not the reason!

Okay, actually there is some connection.

Lu Mingfei had already asked Senior Brother Chu. Although the school was wealthy and always allocated ample funds for missions, it was never so abundant that the commissioners carrying out the missions could afford to stay in presidential suites of five-star hotels and eat a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast.

But with Su Xiaoqiang's sponsorship, things are different. According to Su Xiaoqiang, although the town of Vianaburg is not big, her mother's family is very wealthy. Her father's group is just a small to medium-sized enterprise compared to that family.

Having such a wealthy family to host us is definitely much more comfortable than relying on the meager allowance from the academy.

So Lu Mingfei shamefully gave in.

……

After agreeing to go to Vianaburg with Su Xiaoqiang, Lu Mingfei asked Senior Brother Chu what he should pay attention to on his first mission, so that he, as a newcomer, could prepare in advance.

As it turned out, Senior Brother Chu said there was no need to prepare anything. Norma would prepare everything needed in advance, and he and Susie would also take care of anything Norma didn't need to prepare.

As an intern participating in the mission for the first time, Lu Mingfei should just observe and learn from the sidelines. If he really feels bad and wants to contribute, he can help them carry their backpacks and luggage.

This gave Lu Mingfei a strange feeling—he seemed to be the kind of lazy person in a research group who just coasted along while clinging to the coattails of his seniors.

We all work together on a paper. The advisor is in charge of steering, the senior students are in charge of the experiments, the senior students are in charge of the theoretical work, and he is in charge of sweeping the floor and wiping the table. When the paper is finally published, we see—hey! We are co-first authors.

Where can you find such loyal and righteous senior brothers and sisters?

However, since Senior Brother Chu said there was no need to prepare, he decided not to make any trouble. Listening to an experienced senior brother was never a bad idea.

So, filled with sincere gratitude towards Chu Zihang and Su Xi, Lu Mingfei opened his StarCraft QQ group—

Anyone want to cut a plate?

After he popped up in the group, quite a few group members chatted with him, but not a single one responded to his "Cut a plate" comment. After all, no one has a penchant for self-torture.

It wasn't until Lao Tang came online that Lu Mingfei finally had a worthy opponent.

So he relentlessly tormented Lao Tang for several rounds until Lao Tang finally couldn't take it anymore and stopped playing.

"Old Tang, wanna play another round?" Lu Mingfei sent the message shamelessly on QQ.

Although he forced Lao Tang to surrender in just ten minutes in the last game, Lao Tang is already the most "challenging" or "fun" opponent he could find.

At least he needs to be on his toes when he plays with Lao Tang.

"I'm done playing! You freak, how come your skills have improved so fast lately? What's your secret? Share it with us!" Old Tang replied.

What secret do I have? Does giving up the red dot sight and using a mouse count? Lu Mingfei thought to himself that if he dared to say that to Lao Tang, Lao Tang would probably never agree to play StarCraft with him again in his next life.

"Let's play a little longer. I'm going on vacation in two weeks, and I probably won't be able to play for a while. Why don't you take advantage of this opportunity to play a couple of rounds with your bro?" Lu Mingfei texted.

"Damn it! Why do you get to go on vacation in two weeks while I have to go to work next week?! You evil capitalist!!!" Old Tang replied instantly, the number of exclamation marks revealing the turbulent emotions within him.

Lu Mingfei retorted, "What capitalist? I'm just a high school student whose parents are both busy, okay? But you, Lao Tang, what kind of job do you do that makes so much money? I remember the last time you mentioned working was almost two months ago, right?"

"It's nothing, just some messy, dirty, and tiring work. I have to go eat now, talk to you later."

"Talk to you later."

……

On the other side of the ocean, in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, USA, in a low-rent apartment.

Old Tang closed the QQ chat window and scratched his messy hair.

He was actually quite wealthy, after all, his "jobs" were not something that ordinary people could access. Although he only chose some "jobs" that were not dangerous, the pay for each job was still more generous than most normal jobs.

The main reason I live here is because the police rarely visit places like this—in the United States, the allocation of police resources in different neighborhoods or even communities depends primarily on the amount of tax revenue in that area.

In poor neighborhoods like this, there are fewer police officers than Old Tang has a stockpile of underwear.

And coincidentally, his job required him to avoid the police.

He was a "hunter," not the kind who goes into the mountains with a shotgun and hunting dogs to hunt rabbits and deer, but a "bounty hunter" who accepts commissions from a forum called "Hunter Website" and earns money. Because he walks on the edge of the law, his nature is somewhat gray.

Of course, he was the kind of novice bounty hunter who only dared to take on low-risk missions. So, although his income was much higher than that of ordinary people, he was only at the lower-middle level among bounty hunters.

So every time he got paid for a mission, he would have a big meal, then spend some money on the game, buy some good cigarettes, and after paying the rent, the remaining money was only enough for him to stay at home and play games for two or three months.

Recently, however, his savings have started to run out.

Fortunately, he found a "bounty" on a hunter's website yesterday with a decent reward and that didn't seem too dangerous.

The only downside is that it's a bit far, and the airfare will be relatively expensive, so Lao Tang is now looking for a flight with a significant discount.

Lao Tang opened the official website of a certain airline and selected Portugal as the destination, then entered "Vianaburg".

"Oh no!" Old Tang's expression changed. "There's no airport here. The nearest airport is in a city 60 kilometers away."

He's great in every way: enthusiastic, cheerful, handsome, calm, humorous, knowledgeable, and with a big chest. He's practically full of good qualities. His only flaw is that he's occasionally bad at finding his way around.

Will I get lost on the way?

Old Tang was a little worried.

……

At Su Xiaoqiang's home.

Su Xiaoqiang ran downstairs. In the living room, Su Jiannan was sitting on the sofa with a laptop on his lap.

"Dad! Aren't you asleep yet?" Su Xiaoqiang was a little angry. It was already late at night, and her father was still working, not caring about his health at all.

"Xiaoqiang," Su Jiannan looked up, "I still have a few emails to reply to. I'll go to sleep later. You should go and get some rest."

“Dad, I need to talk to you about something,” Su Xiaoqiang said. “I want to go to Portugal to see my mom.”

“Xiaoqiang, Dad has been quite busy lately. You know about the company. We’re facing the most pressure during this transition period,” Su Jiannan shook his head. “I know you miss Mom, but Dad really can’t find the time to go with you.”

“It’s okay, Dad. You don’t have to come with me. I’m not a child anymore,” Su Xiaoqiang said. “I’m over eighteen! I’m an adult!”

Su Jiannan pondered for a moment.

Su Xiaoqiang's mother said some time ago that she had to go back home because of some family matters, but she hasn't returned yet. He called his wife before to ask when she would be back, and she only said that the family matters were still troublesome and she didn't know when they would be over, estimating that it would be another month or two.

It's understandable that Su Xiaoqiang wanted to fly to Portugal to see her after not seeing her for so long.

Actually, it wasn't just Su Xiaoqiang who missed his mother; he also missed his wife, but he just couldn't get away from her.

Logically speaking, this shouldn't be a big deal. Although she's still in school, Su Jiannan knows that his daughter's grades are only good, far from outstanding, and she won't be able to get into a particularly good school if she takes the college entrance exam. So he had already decided to arrange for her to study abroad.

The reason why Su Xiaoqiang still needs to go to school is simply because going to school is much better than being idle at home or even going to some shady places.

So even if Su Xiaoqiang flies to Portugal for a period of time and doesn't go to school, it won't really have any impact, since her mother is there and there's nothing to worry about.

Besides, what she said wasn't wrong. She's eighteen years old now, and she can learn to grow up and travel far away on her own.

Thinking of this, Su Jiannan nodded: "Are you going to Portugal by yourself? Remember to tell your mother in advance and ask her to arrange for someone to pick you up at the airport."

The thought that his daughter could travel far away on her own filled Su Jiannan with a sense of relief that "his daughter has grown up." But there was also a touch of melancholy; as his daughter grew up, he grew old.

“No,” Su Xiaoqiang shook her head, “I’m going with Lu Mingfei.”

Su Jiannan's hands and legs trembled simultaneously, nearly causing him to tip his laptop to the ground.

"Who are you going with?!" Su Jiannan's heart pounded.

“Lu Mingfei,” Su Xiaoqiang said.

She said it so naturally, as if she weren't going to fly with a boy to a coastal town on another continent, but rather to take her pet dog or cat for a walk in the park.

Su Jiannan wanted to yell at her, but then he thought that if he dared to disagree, she would dare to run away secretly.

He knew his daughter all too well; she was more rebellious than anyone else.

For example, if Su Xiaoqiang brought Lu Mingfei back one night and said she wouldn't marry anyone but him, and her father dared to say no, Su Xiaoqiang could steal the household registration book that very night, and the first two people in line at the Civil Affairs Bureau the next morning would definitely be her and Lu Mingfei.

From a rational perspective, it would be a good thing for her to have Lu Mingfei with her daughter.

But just thinking about giving away my precious daughter whom I've raised for eighteen years is truly heartbreaking.

"Why don't you ask your mom first and see if it's convenient for her?" Su Jiannan decided to leave the choice to fate and his wife. "She went back because of family matters. If she's busy right now, wouldn't you just be causing her trouble if you went over there?"

"Oh, okay, I'll ask then." Su Xiaoqiang also thought it made sense, so she took out her phone and dialed her mother's number.

The call was connected a few seconds later.

"Xiaoqiang, what's wrong?" came a very standard Mandarin accent from the other end of the phone.

It's fair to say it's a bit too standard; it's like a professional announcer or host, speaking fluent and accurate Mandarin.

“Mom, I want to go to Vienna Castle to find you,” Su Xiaoqiang said.

"Xiaoqiang, Mom is a bit busy here right now, it's not convenient. I'll go back to China after I'm done with this, and then... Hey, Dad, what are you doing?!" came the exclamation from Su Xiaoqiang's mother on the phone.

"Xiaoqiang..." The voice on the other end of the phone was replaced by that of a robust old man.

"Grandpa!" Su Xiaoqiang called out sweetly.

"Haha, Xiaoqiang, come on over! Don't listen to your mother's talk about being busy!" the old man laughed. "At worst, she can do her thing while you do yours!"

"Okay, Grandpa!"

……

Viana Castle, Portugal, deep within a cluster of traditional Portuguese-style buildings.

"Dad!" The woman with long, golden curly hair snatched the phone from her father's hand, which had already been hung up. "How could you agree to let Xiaoqiang come at a time like this!"

Before her stood a tall and imposing old man. He stood there like a pine tree carved from rock, every wrinkle as if chiseled out of granite.

"It's alright, it's alright, come on over," the old man said. "Anyway, it won't affect her. Let her have a good time for a few days, and she'll go back home after she's had her fill of fun."