Dragons begin with courage

Have fun, everyone!

The last sentence drifted into the air, and she had already led Lu Mingfei to the door. Just as she was about to step out of the screening room, she seemed to suddenly remember something, her steps faltered almost imperceptibly, and she turned back.

His gaze pierced through the dim light, landing precisely and casually on Chen Wenwen's face.

That glance was brief, devoid of any intense emotion, boasting, provocation, or even deliberate intent. It was more like a collector casually glancing at an object once cherished by others, but which he had dismissed as a "fake" and discarded before leaving the display case.

Calm, indifferent, with a hint of pity... indifference.

It's as if it's saying: The glass bead you're clutching tightly might be a treasure in your eyes, but the box itself is the real treasure.

You don't want it?

Just right.

Then I'll take it.

After one glance, she showed no further interest and disappeared completely into the light of the corridor outside the door, leaving only the crisp echo of her high heels clicking on the ground as she walked away.

"..."

Dead silence.

A long, vacuum-like silence, lasting for several seconds, enveloped the vast screening room.

Everyone froze, as if they had just witnessed a dimensional attack beyond comprehension. Zhao Menghua's smug smile vanished completely, and his arm around Chen Wenwen became stiff and awkward. Chen Wenwen's face was pale; the sweetness and sense of security she had felt while being embraced by Zhao Menghua had completely disappeared, replaced by a deeper sense of bewilderment and... a vague stinging pain.

Nono's last look was like a fine ice needle, piercing a corner of her heart that she herself was not even clearly aware of. It wasn't a contest of victory or defeat; it was a complete denial of values ​​and a crushing defeat of social class.

She suddenly and absurdly recalled the story of "buying the box and returning the pearl." That dazzling red-haired girl, almost too beautiful to look at directly, was like that strange man from Chu, who in public opened the magnificent treasure box, took out the "pearl" that everyone coveted (Zhao Menghua? Or the victory of being "chosen" represented by Chen Wenwen?), and casually discarded it. Then, she carefully and solemnly picked up the dull, lifeless "wooden box" containing the pearl—Lu Mingfei, who had just been ridiculed, pitied, and seen as a loser and an obstacle by everyone.

And with an almost cruel elegance, he told her, and everyone present:

Blind to the truth.

What you're fighting over is nothing more than the scraps I've already discarded.

As for the real treasures, you don't even have the right to identify them.

The upheaval and shame brought about by this realization were far more suffocating than a simple failed confession. The previous sympathy, disdain, or schadenfreude towards Lu Mingfei now all transformed into an indescribable embarrassment and self-doubt, burning a fiery heat on everyone's faces.

In the screening room, the expensive roses seemed to have lost their fragrance instantly, the carefully arranged lighting looked vulgar and ridiculous, and even the "love" that had just come to a perfect end was shrouded in an inexplicable and cheap shadow.

And the wooden box that was "taken away"—Lu Mingfei—is being led, stumbling and staggering, towards a world that none of them could even imagine.

The door behind him slowly closed, completely sealing off the absurdity and silence that filled the room into another universe.

Outside the cinema, night had fallen. The streetlights cast a dim, yellowish glow, but all of that light seemed to be stolen by the fiery red light at the bottom of the steps.

A Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano lay there, its sleek lines reflecting a fiery, flowing quality in the light. It wasn't just stationary; it was more like a mechanical beast temporarily resting, its breath deep and poised to strike. Without any markers, its pure speed and power aesthetics were enough to make passersby stop and stare, their eyes filled with a mixture of amazement, envy, and a sense of distant awe.

Nuonuo opened the butterfly-shaped car door and got into the driver's seat with swift and decisive movements. Lu Mingfei was practically "shoved" into the passenger seat by her. The leather seats were cool and enveloping, carrying an unfamiliar air of luxury.

He glanced at the rearview mirror instinctively.

The screening room doors opened again, and the students from the literary society emerged one after another, like a group of startled groundhogs peeking out. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the fiery sports car, and the lingering embarrassment on their faces was quickly replaced by shock. Some pointed and whispered, others gasped in astonishment.

Nono inserted the key and gave it a gentle twist.

"Boom—Buzz—"

A deep, powerful engine roar suddenly broke the silence, not a roar, but more like a suppressed sigh from a prehistoric beast, instantly drowning out all the noise on the street. The sound drew more attention, and gasps of amazement rose and fell.

Lu Mingfei saw Zhao Menghua in the mirror. He stood before the crowd, his face pale under the neon lights, his lips tightly pressed together, his gaze fixed on the Ferrari, churning with resentment, anger, and a sudden, overwhelming sense of powerlessness. He came from a wealthy family, but such a vehicle remained an unattainable dream. At this moment, in this contest where he didn't even understand the rules, he had lost utterly and inexplicably.

He also saw Chen Wenwen. Her slender fingers gripped Zhao Menghua's sleeve tightly, her knuckles turning slightly white. Her gaze went past Zhao Menghua's shoulder, past the noisy crowd, and fell blankly, somewhat absentmindedly, on the passenger window of the Ferrari, trying to capture the blurry, receding figure inside.

Just then, Nono took a pair of sunglasses from the storage compartment and handed them to Lu Mingfei. The lenses gleamed with a cold, dark luster under the car's interior lights.

"Put it on." Her voice was calm and even, yet carried a certain ritualistic quality. "After you put it on, many things you see will be different. Kassel College can give you far more than you can imagine. But also," she paused, turning her head to the side, her gaze seemingly piercing through the lenses and looking into Lu Mingfei's eyes, "some things, once you see them clearly, you can never go back."

These words inexplicably reminded Lu Mingfei of the words Guanyin said to Supreme Treasure in "A Chinese Odyssey." When he watched it as a child, he thought, "Wearing the golden headband grants supernatural powers, what's wrong with that? How could it be 'unable to go back'?"

Now he understood a little. It wasn't just about what to wear; it was about making a choice. Choosing power, choosing the truth, choosing to step into another cruel yet magnificent world, and in doing so, closing the door behind him to "ordinariness."

Will the outcome be like in the movie? He puts on the golden headband, becomes the Monkey King, but also loses Zixia forever.

Lu Mingfei didn't hesitate for long. He took the cold sunglasses, feeling the coolness of the metal and glass on his fingertips. He slowly put them on.

Click.

The world was instantly filtered into a deep, dark hue. Streetlights became diffused spots of light, neon lights transformed into flowing halos of color, and the familiar faces, complex gazes, and the city street scenes he had lived in for eighteen years in the rearview mirror... all faded, blurred, and receded rapidly, as if separated by an impenetrable layer of frosted glass, accelerating their descent into the abyss of memory.

"Let's drive," he said, his voice a little hoarse.

Nono's lips curved into a barely perceptible smile, a smile that seemed both approving and a calm acceptance. She looked away, her slender fingers gripping the steering wheel.

The next second, the accelerator was decisively pressed down hard!

boom--!!!

This time, the engine roared furiously, no longer restrained! Like a beast breaking free of its shackles, the fiery Ferrari surged forward, the powerful thrust pressing Lu Mingfei firmly into his seat. The light and shadow outside the window stretched and distorted instantly, transforming into dazzling streaks of light that flew by.

He didn't look back. He knew that some distances, once they start to widen, can never be measured again.