When Lu Mingfei returned the next morning, he felt that his Uncle and Aunt were looking at him strangely. Lu Mingfei noticed it and was a bit puzzled, not understanding what kind of look that was, but since they didn't say anything, Lu Mingfei didn't take it to heart.
Inside the airport, two figures disembarked from the plane. One figure was petite, with light, almost pure white blonde hair and exquisite, doll-like features—naturally, it was Zero. The identity of the other figure was self-evident; who else could it be but Lu Mingfei?
As the two walked together, many people who saw Zero looked at her with admiration, then their gazes towards Lu Mingfei turned a bit peculiar. Lu Mingfei also noticed these looks and was somewhat puzzled. What was going on with the way these people were looking at him? Did he look strange?
Lu Mingfei even looked down at himself, and there was nothing strange about him. It wasn't until he saw Zero beside him that he suddenly understood. Oh, these guys thought he was a loli-con, didn't they? He didn't have such a fetish. Lu Mingfei was a bit indignant and helpless; he couldn't very well stop those people and explain his preferences to them.
He turned to look at Zero again. Zero's features were delicate and cute, but combined with her small stature, it was plausible that someone would believe she was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old middle school student. No wonder those people looked at Lu Mingfei strangely.
Zero seemed to sense something, turned her head, and glared at Lu Mingfei. Only then did Lu Mingfei sheepishly turn his head away.
Lu Mingfei and Zero walked out of the airport, hailed a taxi, and went directly to the hotel they had booked. On the way, the taxi driver initially asked if they were a couple, but after seeing Zero, he asked uncertainly, "You two are siblings, right? Are you here to travel together? But you really don't look alike." As soon as he asked, he felt his words were a bit foolish. The little girl's hair color and features clearly indicated she was a foreigner, while the young man was obviously Chinese. How could he ask such a question just because the little girl looked too young?
Lu Mingfei felt a bit tired. Just as he was about to speak, "We are not siblings," Zero suddenly interjected, saying only that much. The driver was also surprised. This little girl looked so young, yet she spoke Chinese so well; she must have lived in China for many years. "Oh, oh, I see." The driver responded and said no more. As for their relationship, it was none of his business, and it would be impolite to inquire further.
They soon arrived at the hotel, but Lu Mingfei felt that the driver's gaze was still a bit peculiar when he left. Lu Mingfei was also helpless. After they put away their luggage, Lu Mingfei originally wanted to lie down at the hotel, but Zero said she wanted to go out and wander around. He felt he couldn't be a spoilsport, so he got up and followed her.
Lu Mingfei followed Zero and visited many places. They bought a lot of snacks. Zero still loved delicious food; otherwise, she wouldn't have always asked Lu Mingfei to treat her to late-night snacks at the academy in her previous life.
As they wandered around, Lu Mingfei's heart stirred when they passed an internet cafe, and he stopped. Since his rebirth, he hadn't been to an internet cafe. Although he had no interest in StarCraft now, his current connection with Old Tang was only through StarCraft.
Zero sensed Lu Mingfei's thoughts, stopped as well, and proactively asked, "Want to go in and take a look?" Lu Mingfei nodded, and they went in and rented two computers.
Lu Mingfei also felt a sense of nostalgia. Although the environment and equipment here were much better than the internet cafes back home, he was all too familiar with the atmosphere here.
Logging into QQ, a large number of messages popped up, most of them from the StarCraft groups. He didn't pay much attention to them, noticing that some people from the StarCraft groups had messaged him privately, wanting to know why he hadn't been online for so long. He ignored them for now, planning to explain in the group later.
Suddenly, a familiar avatar popped up—it was a rather mischievous-looking panda avatar. "Mingming, you're finally online! I thought something happened to you after being offline for so long."
That familiar avatar belonged to Old Tang. "Mingming" was his ID, and there were many other messages above it, all from Old Tang inquiring about him after he hadn't been online for a long time. Old Tang considered himself the number one in the StarCraft channel and had a strange 'big brother' mentality towards Lu Mingfei, who was second, caring for him deeply.
"Nothing happened to me. I've been studying hard for the past six months, so I haven't been online. Isn't it a holiday now? So I thought I'd log on and take a look." Lu Mingfei felt a bit touched. He didn't have many friends, and Old Tang was one of them. Even though he was just an online friend, he was one of the few who genuinely treated him like a brother.
"You're in your second year of high school now, right? You should study hard, but you also need to relax during the holidays. It's about balancing work and rest. Want to play a round?" Since Lu Mingfei went offline, Old Tang hadn't encountered an opponent who could contend with him. Now that Lu Mingfei was online, he was naturally itching to play and quickly invited him to a match.
"Let's play one." Lu Mingfei knew Old Tang's thoughts and didn't refuse. However, this time he didn't go easy on him like before but played seriously. Old Tang lost without suspense, the game ending in just eight minutes.
"Holy cow, Mingming, you're cheating, aren't you? How are you so good?" Old Tang was a bit stunned. How could he be so much better after not playing StarCraft for half a year?
"Maybe studying made me improve." Lu Mingfei smiled and didn't explain that he had only used red dots when playing against him before. "By the way, Old Tang, you're in America, right? I plan to apply to American universities in two years. Let's meet up then."
"Studying can make you better at StarCraft? Is that true or false?" Old Tang was a bit confused and planned to buy some books to study and try it out in a couple of days. "Mingming, are you coming to America for college? That's great, you're ambitious! When you come, message me, and I'll pick you up. I can't promise anything else, but I can guarantee Greyhound and hot dogs."
"Alright, then. When the time comes, let's find an internet cafe and I'll show you what a 'Fireline Gun King' is." Lu Mingfei agreed with a smile.
"Holy cow, how did you say what I was thinking? We really have a telepathic connection."
"Old Tang, if your Chinese isn't good, use fewer idioms. You don't use 'telepathic connection' to describe two men; you should say 'good chemistry' or 'mutual understanding'."
"Sorry, sorry, my Chinese isn't too good, Mingming, you know that. So it's settled, alright? You must contact me when you come to America."
"Definitely. There's still time now, want to play another round?" Lu Mingfei invited Old Tang to play again, as he didn't know how long it would be until he could play with Old Tang again after this time.
"Come on, come on! I didn't play well in that last round; I underestimated you. This round definitely won't be as bad as the last one."
Lu Mingfei went easy on him this round, and it took Old Tang over thirty minutes to lose, which helped Old Tang regain a lot of confidence.
"Old Tang, let's play together again next time we have a chance."
Old Tang, don't worry, this time I will definitely change that damn fate.