Dragons begin with courage

"Liar! Absolutely a liar!" Auntie slammed her hand on the dining table, making the beautifully printed letter jump. "It's someone we know in the neighborhood! Otherwise, how would they know we have someone applying to school? And why did they specifically target Lu Mingfei?"

Her words came out like a machine gun, carrying the shrewdness and certainty unique to a common woman, her spittle almost splashing onto Lu Mingfei's lowered forehead.

"That's true... but isn't this conman going a bit too far?" The uncle's attention was completely drawn to the Nokia N96. He carefully held it in his palm, as if appraising a rare antique, his fingers repeatedly stroking the cold, smooth black casing, his eyes darting between doubt and greed. "An N96... a grey market one costs at least four thousand, and an official one is probably close to five thousand! What conman would use this as a stepping stone?" His tone unconsciously shifted towards "this might be true," the heavy metallic feel seemingly possessing a certain captivating persuasiveness.

"What Kassel College? Never even heard of it!" Lu Mingze, whose weight and height were strikingly similar, rarely showed "concern" about his cousin's future. A complex expression of disdain and jealousy flickered across his chubby face. "That Chu Zihang from our school last year, wasn't he amazing? He went to the proper University of Chicago! These fancy-sounding colleges are probably just some shady associate degree program, designed to scam people like you who are desperate to study abroad!"

His aunt's sharp analysis, his uncle's hesitant consideration, his cousin's sour "reminder"... these voices buzzed around Lu Mingfei's ears, but it was as if they were behind a layer of frosted glass, blurry and unreal.

From the moment his fingertips touched that letter, an absurd, unrealistic expectation, like bubbles rising uncontrollably from deep water, began to surface. He couldn't help but fantasize—like all teenagers feeling stifled in ordinary life, he imagined himself as the undiscovered protagonist of some sci-fi blockbuster. One day, someone would sift through the crowd, pinpoint him precisely, and tell him: Your destiny is extraordinary.

The fantasy unfolds in a vivid detail: In the school auditorium, Liu Miaomiao, a grade 10 pianist, is playing, her notes flowing, captivating the students. He, Lu Mingfei, as usual, huddles in a forgotten corner, chin in hand, like an outsider. Suddenly, the roar of a helicopter rips through the music, and men in black suits and sunglasses burst in with the cold, hard presence of special forces from a movie. Under everyone's astonished gaze, they walk straight to him and say in a deep voice, "Mr. Lu Mingfei, the party is over. Your parents sent us to pick you up. Time is of the essence; the organization needs your help."

Liu Miaomiao's piano playing abruptly stopped. All eyes, including those of the ever-proud Su Xiaoqiang, whose face was practically screaming "Holy crap!", were fixed on him. He was ushered to his feet, pulled on a sharp black trench coat, and walked towards the door amidst deathly silence and countless incredulous stares. Just before boarding the helicopter, he turned back, and through the massive vortex of the rotors, looked at the girl in the baseball cap in the crowd—Chen Wenwen—and left her, and everyone else, with a casual yet resounding statement:

"Wait for me to come back."

Amidst howling winds, a helicopter takes off, leaving behind a trail of shattered everyday life and a sense of awe.

So cool!

He knew this fantasy was cheap and ridiculous, just dopamine released by the loser's brain to numb himself. His aunt might be right: the world was full of "potential clients" like him, eager to be chosen and to prove themselves different, the fattest "pigs" in the eyes of con artists.

At this moment, Lu Mingfei did not understand that the gifts bestowed by fate often come with a price tag far exceeding imagination. Even if a man in black were to descend from the sky and take him away from the mundane, what awaited him was not necessarily the glory of being displayed in public, but more likely the chopping block to be used for execution.

===================

The argument yielded no results, instead reaching a stalemate. Lu Mingfei silently stood up and left the living room, which was filled with suspicion and calculation. No one noticed his departure; the three people's conversation remained entangled in the "authenticity of the interview notice" and the "value of the N96," as if he, as a person, was far less worthy of attention than that letter and that phone. His aunt, in particular, seemed agitated. If this stroke of luck was real, what a huge windfall it would be! How could it have fallen on Lu Mingfei's head of all places? This made a certain sense of order within her subtly waver, leaving her with a bitter taste.

Lu Mingfei returned to his cramped room, closed the door, and the world suddenly fell silent. He habitually connected to the internet, opened QQ, and his gaze immediately fell on the girl's profile picture—grayed out, silent. No message. He glanced at the clock on the wall; a full eighteen hours had passed since he cautiously asked, "Are you going to the literary society activity tomorrow?"

"Maybe girls just take that long to shower," he thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile.

As soon as I clicked on the StarCraft icon, an unfamiliar "big-faced cat" avatar popped up on QQ, with the ID "Nono".

Lu Mingfei frowned, not remembering when he had added this person. But he rarely refused interstellar challenges. He didn't have many friends, and in this rare area where he could find some confidence, he was never intimidated.

"Okay," he typed in reply, casually.

The game began. At first, it was just routine probing and strategic maneuvering, and Lu Mingfei was even somewhat distracted. But gradually, he felt the pressure. His opponent's movements were sharp and precise, carrying a sense of overwhelming pressure. He subconsciously reached for his mouse and picked up the keyboard—a sign that he was getting serious. His fingers flew across the mouse and keyboard, his mind racing, devising numerous tactics, trying to break through his opponent's defenses.

However, the screen eventually dimmed.

He silently typed "GG", and then typed "I admire you" in the chat box.

Nono didn't reply, only sending a grinning emoji with a mouthful of teeth and an arrogant laugh, before her profile picture went gray.

Almost simultaneously, he glimpsed Chen Wenwen's baseball cap avatar in the list, which briefly lit up before quickly going gray again—she had been online and then left. In the comments section, five words lay silently:

"Go ahead, see you the day after tomorrow."

After waiting for nearly nineteen hours, he finally received these five words. Strangely, the frustration of losing the game and the anxiety of the long wait suddenly vanished. He jumped onto the bed, couldn't help but whistle off-key, twisted his waist, and the gloom on his face disappeared, as if the battle he had just fought so hard to win had never happened.

What he didn't know was that he could easily forget losing to "Nono," but "Nono" could hardly forget him.

At the same moment, in the distance.

The computer screen's pale blue light illuminated a bright face tinged with a hint of arrogance. The girl had striking long, dark red hair, and silver four-leaf clover earrings swayed gently with the movement of her swivel chair. She was none other than "Nono," Chen Motong, who had just defeated Lu Mingfei.

"This Lu Mingfei," she leaned back in her chair, her tone inquisitive, "the academy's assessment of him may be wrong."