Dragons begin with courage

Outside the heavy soundproof doors of the screening room, Nuonuo leaned against the cold wall, her arms crossed over her chest. From inside, a hoarse yet resolute "I like you" pierced through the soundproofing material, faintly reaching her, like a pebble thrown into a deep well, creating a barely perceptible ripple in her heart.

"The courage to rebel..." she repeated softly, her gaze fixed on the deep night outside the corridor window, her eyes somewhat vacant. Rebellion against the predetermined script, against the assigned role, against those seemingly insurmountable obstacles... did she possess such courage? Looking back, it seemed she had mostly been precisely running along a set track, using flamboyance to mask a kind of habitual conformity.

She gave a self-deprecating smile, the silver four-leaf clover pendant on her earlobe swaying slightly: "Looks like my 'profiling'... is becoming less and less effective."

This Lu Mingfei has once again surprised her.

Inside the screening room, time seemed to stand still after that confession. All eyes—astonished, disdainful, or simply curious—were fixed on Lu Mingfei, as if trying to pierce through him.

How dare he?!

The atmosphere froze, awkwardness and absurdity crackling in the air. Little Fairy Su Xiaoqiang stared blankly at the lonely figure on the stage, her heart clenching as if something had violently squeezed it. She also liked Zhao Menghua, and when she learned he was going to confess to Chen Wenwen, her heart ached; she wanted to escape, to cry, to disappear. But she didn't even have the courage to leave early; she could only sit there, playing the role of a respectable, forced-smile audience member.

It wasn't just her. Many of the boys in the literary society present harbored feelings for Chen Wenwen, some overt, some covert. While Zhao Menghua meticulously planned this grand confession, they tacitly chose silence, applause, and boisterous laughter to mask their disappointment and bitterness. Because deep down, they all accepted that invisible boundary: a girl like Chen Wenwen belonged to someone like Zhao Menghua. They weren't worthy.

At this moment, stripped of the pretense of family background, academic achievements, and appearance, all of them harbored a timid "loser" inside, including the proud Su Xiaoqiang.

But Lu Mingfei stepped forward. In the midst of silence, he mustered all his strength to utter those seven simplest yet most difficult words. The suit that had originally been used to humiliate him now strangely clung to his body, as if it had become a temporary armor for a lonely battle; the hastily picked-up bunch of dandelions was no longer a shabby substitute, but rather like an unyielding, blunt sword piercing the Iron Curtain.

The shock on Zhao Menghua's face was quickly replaced by rage. He knew exactly what Lu Mingfei was thinking; he had deliberately arranged for the Xu brothers to stand nearby so that this loser could witness firsthand how he would triumphantly win the championship and how Chen Wenwen would fall into his arms. Chen Wenwen was his! This realization was etched into his heart like a territorial declaration.

But he never expected that Lu Mingfei, this mongrel who wouldn't dare to utter a sound even if kicked, would dare to let out a dying howl before the hunter pulled the trigger, and even dare to stand between him and his spoils!

How dare he?! Rage consumed Zhao Menghua's reason, his eyes so malevolent they seemed to drip with venom. His meticulously planned romantic moment had been completely ruined by this lowlife!

However, when he turned his gaze to Chen Wenwen, his rage instantly transformed into a smug sense of victory. See? What good will it do you even if you shout yourself hoarse?

A deathly silence was spreading. Every second stretched out like an eternity.

Lu Mingfei's blurry vision gradually cleared, and he finally saw Chen Wenwen standing right in front of him. Under his burning gaze, she took a half step back. It wasn't a shy lowering of her head, but an instinctive, resistant avoidance. Her hands were nervously twisted in front of her, and her face showed no surprise or emotion as expected, only clear fear, helplessness, and a hint of offended panic.

That evasive gaze was sharper than any words, like a rusty, blunt knife that stabbed into Lu Mingfei's burning chest, then began to slowly and cruelly stir it, as if to dig out and crush the heart he had just mustered all his courage to offer.

"boom--"

His mind went blank. The world spun around him. The dandelion in his hand, as light as a feather, suddenly felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, pressing down on his arm so hard it trembled and almost fell to the ground. Overwhelmed by immense shame and despair, he felt as if he were being plunged into an abyss beneath his feet, which he now only wished would split open and swallow him and his ridiculous self whole.

"Yes... resistance doesn't guarantee victory." A cold voice echoed in his mind. If speaking first meant victory, he wouldn't have had a chance to step onto this stage long ago.

Zhao Menghua's lips curled into a smile, his smugness and mockery almost undisguised. He stepped forward, adopting the posture of a protector and conqueror, and without a word, pulled the slightly trembling Chen Wenwen into his arms. He patted her back soothingly, his voice deliberately loud so everyone could hear: "Don't be afraid, Wenwen, I'm here. No one can make things difficult for you." He lowered his head, his gaze tenderly locking onto the girl in his arms, declaring ownership: "You are mine."

Feeling Zhao Menghua's firm embrace and the strength in his words, Chen Wenwen's tense body gradually relaxed. She buried her face in his shoulder, nodded almost imperceptibly, and let out a soft "Mmm." A sweet, relieved smile even appeared on her lips.

"Although there was a slight mishap," Zhao Menghua raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the stiff Lu Mingfei, and looking at the crowd below the stage, he said loudly, "I don't want to leave any regrets today. Chen Wenwen, I like you! I've liked you for a long time!"

According to the original script, Xu Yanyan and Xu Miaomiao should have led the applause and cheers, and everyone should have rushed forward, cheering and jumping for joy. But the two unfortunate brothers had just struggled to their feet from under their chairs, grimacing, clearly unable to fulfill their duties as the "atmosphere team." Meanwhile, the students below the stage, watching the bizarre three-way standoff—the embracing male and female leads, and the ashen-faced "former confessor" who hadn't yet been cleared out—exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to react. Make a scene? That seemed a bit inappropriate. Remain silent? That was too awkward.

The lighting technician seemed bewildered as well, the beams of light still shrouding the center of the stage. Under the bright lights, Zhao Menghua and Chen Wenwen, embracing each other, looked like the male and female protagonists of a love story finally getting together, while a few steps away, Lu Mingfei, holding a withered dandelion and wearing a wrinkled suit, looked like a clumsy villain who had wandered onto the set, didn't know the rules, and was hindering the plot—an eyesore and a pitiful sight.

Xu Yanyan and Xu Miaomiao finally caught their breath and limped over to Lu Mingfei, looking at him with suspicion. Xu Miaomiao gave him a shove, not with much force, but with a strong sense of insult: "What are you still standing here for? Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? Do you really think Chen Wenwen would like you? Go cool off somewhere else and don't get in her way."

Lu Mingfei stumbled from the push, and the dandelion in his hand finally gave way, scattering a few wisps of white fluff. The last bit of strength that had sustained him seemed to have vanished with it. The whole world was celebrating, smiling knowingly at the fairytale ending of the prince and princess, while he, the clown who had stumbled upon this, stood helplessly under the spotlight, waiting to be swept off the stage.

However, just as this joy (or awkwardness) seemed poised to forcibly mend all the cracks and push the farce toward a barely "satisfactory" ending—

"Bang!!!!!!"

A loud bang was heard, which could not have been made by a normal door opening. It sounded as if someone had used all their strength to kick the heavy solid wood door of the screening room!

The sound was so violent and abrupt that it instantly tore through the thick, awkward air in the room, making everyone's heart tremble.

There are always a few times in a person's life when they feel as if they have seen the gates of heaven open.

Lu Mingfei waited eighteen years for this moment, the darkest, most wretched, and utterly swallowed-up moment of his life—

The door opened.