When Lu Mingfei returned home, he inevitably got an earful from Aunt. He came back much later than usual. Lu Mingfei scratched his head. Although he had experienced many things in his previous life, in front of Aunt, our former Student Union President was still a child who would be lectured for coming home late.
"Alright, alright, it's fine as long as Mingfei is back. Come eat," Uncle started to mediate, and the chubby Lu Mingze was already used to it.
At the dinner table, Uncle, who was eating, suddenly felt something was off. He looked up at Lu Mingfei, scrutinizing him for a while before realizing the problem. "Mingfei, what's with your clothes? This isn't what you wore out this morning, is it?" Uncle's voice drew Aunt and Lu Mingze, who was busy eating, to look at Lu Mingfei.
"Oh, that, didn't I say I went to exercise yesterday? Today, a classmate said her family had a gym, so I went to her place to work out. After exercising, I showered at her house and changed clothes," Lu Mingfei said casually. He wasn't lying; everything he said was true. "Oh, and I might go exercise often from now on. You don't have to wait for me for dinner; I'll just eat at my classmate's house." Since it came up, Lu Mingfei took the opportunity to mention he wouldn't be home for dinner.
"You really went to exercise? Not to an internet cafe?" The chubby Lu Mingze was deeply suspicious. Could his cousin really have changed his ways?
"Otherwise, could I shower and change clothes at an internet cafe?" Lu Mingfei calmly ate his meal.
It seemed so. Lu Mingze thought about it and couldn't refute, only assuming his cousin had truly changed.
"Is it really okay to go to someone else's gym and eat there every day? They won't ask you for money later, will they?" Aunt's concerns were different.
"No, her family is very rich. They don't lack that bit of money. Even if I gave her money, she wouldn't take it." Lu Mingfei understood Ling very well. "Joking aside, is Her Royal Highness someone who would care about that bit of money?" "But if possible, could you increase my allowance? If I get the chance, I can treat her to something to eat."
"Alright, you better not be lying to me." Aunt didn't have much objection to this. It wasn't like he was going to an internet cafe to fool around. Since it wasn't anything bad, increasing Lu Mingfei's allowance was no problem at all. After all, the money Lu Mingfei's parents sent back from abroad was quite a lot, and she was very supportive of him exercising. However, looking at her own son's physique, she sighed. She understood her own son very well; he definitely wouldn't be willing to exercise.
Lu Mingfei ate two large bowls of rice. Exercising was very energy-consuming, and he had been hungry for a long time. After eating, Lu Mingfei returned to his room. Lu Mingze went to shower. He took out the phone Ling gave him and found a text message from Ling. She had already saved his contact. Lu Mingfei opened the message, which simply said "Good night." Lu Mingfei smiled, replied "Good night" to Ling, and then lay down on his bed to sleep. Soon, a slight snore could be heard.
Lu Mingze returned to his room after showering and saw Lu Mingfei already sleeping so soundly. He scratched his head. It seemed Lu Mingfei really hadn't lied. He fell asleep so quickly, he must have been tired. Lu Mingze thought for a moment, turned off the light, and lay down on his own bed to sleep.
——
The next morning.
Just as Lu Mingfei finished washing up, he saw the chubby Lu Mingze, who had just left, suddenly run back. "Why did you run back again? Did you forget something?" Lu Mingfei asked casually.
"No, outside... outside, there's a particularly beautiful foreign girl standing by our doorstep, she seems to be waiting for someone." The chubby boy was a bit excited, and he couldn't find anyone to share with for a while, so he ran back to Lu Mingfei. "It's my first time seeing a foreign girl this close. Lu Mingfei, hurry and go see, she might leave if you're late."
The chubby boy was quite considerate, not forgetting to call Lu Mingfei when he saw a pretty girl. Lu Mingfei knew it was Ling when he heard the words "foreign girl." "Okay, unless something unexpected happens, she should be waiting for me. I'm leaving now." Lu Mingfei walked straight out.
"Hmph, waiting for you, huh? She's right here, bragging..." The chubby boy rolled his eyes. Before he could finish his muttering, he couldn't say the rest of his words, because he saw Lu Mingfei walk up to the foreign girl, they seemed to say something, and then they walked away together. The chubby boy, watching them leave, felt a bit of existential doubt. No? Was this still the Lu Mingfei he knew?
"Good morning, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? I'll treat you to breakfast," Lu Mingfei said to Ling, who was standing at the door. "I know a place that has amazing steamed buns and fried dough sticks."
"Okay." Ling nodded.
After breakfast, the two walked towards the school. Along the way, neither of them spoke, walking all the way to school without encountering any classmates or so-called acquaintances.
"It seems I'm really not the protagonist," Lu Mingfei suddenly said after entering the school. Ling was a bit confused, not understanding why Lu Mingfei suddenly said that.
"Look, me, becoming desk-mates with a beautiful transfer student, and then walking to school together the next day, doesn't it sound like a protagonist from a novel or anime?" Lu Mingfei saw Ling's confusion and explained, "But we walked all the way to school, and nothing happened. No idiotic villains came to block our way. So, that's why I'm not the so-called protagonist."
"You were thinking about this the whole way?" Ling asked indifferently.
"Every boy has this kind of fantasy, you know. Let me tell you, when I was in my chuunibyou phase, at the school's Spring Festival Gala, I was sitting alone in a corner, fantasizing that maybe a helicopter would suddenly descend from the sky, and a group of men in black trench coats and sunglasses would walk out, find me, and then..."
Lu Mingfei coughed, and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Lu Mingfei, it's not time to watch the Spring Festival Gala, the organization needs you." As he spoke, Lu Mingfei laughed, amused by his own imitation of that tone. Lu Mingfei paused, then continued: "They would put a long black trench coat on me, and I would leave the venue surrounded by them, boarding the helicopter."
"And then?" Ling remained expressionless, but was clearly curious about what came next.
"That's it. The point isn't what I'm going to do next, but the gazes of others watching my back. Do you understand that feeling? Super cool!" Lu Mingfei looked at Ling. "But I also understand that it's just my fantasy. Reality isn't a novel; there's no such thing as a 'protagonist.' If I were still in my old state, I'd probably just go to an ordinary university, maybe fall in love there, get a mundane job after graduating, get married when it felt right, and then continue with an unchanging life."
"Everyone is the protagonist of their own story," Ling suddenly said.