Sudden Rainfall, Night of Listening to the Tide (I)

For several seconds, the scene froze. Outside the bus shelter, the rain poured down in a white wall.

"Y-you are?" Liu Miaomiao blushed faintly and tried to sound polite as she looked at Lu Mingfei, who had slicked his bangs back.

"If we're classmates from the same school, I'm sorry. I... I have a bad memory. I'm even slow at memorizing Cambridge IELTS vocabulary."

Her voice was soft and weak. She stood gracefully, the sort of girl who easily inspired harmless fondness.

Her family and Su Xiaoqiang's were both well-off. They had drivers and private cars to pick them up, but the rain was too fierce and the cars were too crowded, so the two of them had happened to be whispering together in the bus shelter.

"Lu Mingfei? You still had the leisure to style your hair into that ridiculous European slick-back in the rain?" After her initial surprise, Su Xiaoqiang recognized him quickly. She gave a cold laugh and turned her head away.

She and Lu Mingfei were known throughout the class as sworn enemies—the kind without any fondness involved. More accurately, Su Xiaoqiang was the one who liked picking fights with Lu Mingfei for no reason, while Lu Mingfei spent every day fighting Deadpools until he was dizzy and had no time to argue with her. They had formed this "grudge" twice: once when they had first entered high school, and once at the end of the second semester of their second year.

Lu Mingfei had always felt helpless about it. He admitted he had deserved it the first time, since he had made a tiny mistake. Back then, he had no emotional intelligence and praised Chen Wenwen right in front of Su Xiaoqiang. Su Xiaoqiang's nickname was Little Heavenly Maiden, a daughter favored by heaven, and her appearance truly lived up to that title...

Arguing over looks with a girl as proud as a peacock was never going to end well. That was a truth Caesar had taught him. So, during the second semester of his second year, he had taken the initiative to send Su Xiaoqiang an apology on QQ, lavishly praising her with things like, "You're ten times better than Chen Wenwen," and, "Brother, I was blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai before."

At the end of the second semester of his second year, he had been completely innocent. Even now, he did not know which sentence had offended this young lady. The relationship between them, which had been improving and nearly becoming that of normal good classmates, froze over again. He was too tired to care, and he could barely keep up with the Deadpools, much less make a habit of catering to someone who treated him coldly every day.

As Su Xiaoqiang spoke, she glanced sideways at Lu Mingfei with her ice-blue eyes and waved her hand. "No, no. Even if I did have it, I wouldn't have any reason to give it to you. Why do you want Senior Brother Chu's contact information? You're so weird."

The moment she saw Lu Mingfei, her presence became like a chariot stuffed full of gunpowder, every word barbed and loaded. Seeing her like this, Lu Mingfei only wanted to rub his forehead. He had no desire to deal with her either.

Everyone should just go their separate ways.

For some reason, Liu Miaomiao's face turned even redder, and her pale earlobes began to flush pink. "Sorry, Lu Mingfei. I didn't recognize you. You look really different without your bangs. I mean, you were already pretty delicate and good-looking before. I-I... I'll see if I can help you."

"I have that kind of photo of Senior Brother Chu... Do you want it?"

Her voice was tiny and fine, but Lu Mingfei heard her clearly.

Lu Mingfei: "???"

Holy shit, holy shit. What was wrong with this lady?

That little expression of yours made it look like we were conducting some illegal disc business at the school gate. And where exactly did you get such bizarre resources?

Senior Brother Chu's private photos? A photoshoot?

Or...

Lu Mingfei sucked in a cold breath. I really shouldn't keep thinking about this. Sister Liu's connections are terrifying. Is this the dark world of adults?

"Really? I'll take however many you have."

In an instant, Lu Mingfei grasped a crucial point and made up his mind. There was definitely gossip to dig out from behind these photos. He swept his gaze over Liu Miaomiao twice, meaningfully.

He had searched high and low in vain, only to find it without any effort.

So it was you, Liu Miaomiao.

The one who went to the movies with Senior Brother to watch a Doraemon film!

A master hid in plain sight—he could never have seen it in her normally. But how could she have intimate photos without an intimate relationship? There was no doubt about it. The real deal was right in front of him.

She had already happily won the heart of the top-ranked target on the "This Guy Must Die" list, yet she usually pretended to be a foolish, sweet girl suffering from unrequited love. Like a wolf feigning sleep to lure in its prey... No, that was wrong. A good merchant hid their treasures deeply; a gentleman of great virtue appeared plain and unassuming.

Cunning. Too cunning!

After scrolling down for a while, Liu Miaomiao pursed her lips and handed over her BlackBerry Bold 9700. "Here. If you want to save them, I can send them to you on QQ."

"I... I really love this one. Look at it from this angle—the fill lighting is great."

"...Uh."

"Just everyday photos," Lu Mingfei said, unable to hide his disappointment. The angle of the photo on the phone was perfect, but it was the kind that anyone could find on the school forum with a little effort.

He had even seen a whole pile of Chu Zihang's defeat CGs—the Genji Heavy Industries limited edition.

He had picked the wrong person and eaten the wrong melon. She was thrilled and grinning foolishly over a few everyday photos; she was so easily satisfied that she clearly had never tasted anything good. Liu Miaomiao could not possibly be that cunning junior or senior girl from the movie theater.

Who exactly was the real culprit...? Lu Mingfei racked his brains but still could not identify the target of this gossip.

"Mm. Actually, Senior Brother and I aren't that close. We usually don't even talk," Liu Miaomiao said shyly.

Blushing, she added, "If you have full-body photos of him too, we can trade equally in the future. I don't take duplicates. I secretly have six rare school-uniform editions, all premium goods obtained by professional upperclassmen from clubs."

"Trade only, not for sale." After saying that, she lowered her face.

Why did you think I had other photos of Chu Zihang...? Lu Mingfei's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to tell her, wake up, your face was so red it was about to steam—you were going to turn into a Transformer.

Where exactly had your mind gone? Look carefully, Liu Miaomiao, I'm not one of your fellow fangirls.

Feeling as if he had triggered some shady urban merchant transaction plotline, Lu Mingfei cast a pleading look toward... the roof of the bus shelter.

How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Hey." Su Xiaoqiang tucked an unruly lock of hair behind her ear, interrupting the transaction that was about to stiffen into complete awkwardness. "If you really want a way to contact Chu Zihang, find the number of a school advancement group in the QQ class group and join it."

"Senior Brother Chu is an outstanding Shilan graduate. The teachers invite him into those groups as a 'symbolic guest,' though he usually doesn't say anything in them. Try using college application advice as an excuse."

Lu Mingfei felt that method was a little unreliable, but it was barely workable.

He had thought of it before, but he figured it would be easier to get accepted if one of Chu Zihang's friends recommended him, and it would also give him more topics to talk about with Chu Zihang.

Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang were absolutely considered school beauties and prominent figures at Shilan High School. He had assumed they had at least some connection with Chu Zihang, especially Liu Miaomiao, who had performed with him. Now it seemed Big Brother Chu treated men, women, young, and old exactly the same.

"That's difficult. Senior Brother Chu's QQ is incredibly hard to add. You basically never get accepted. I have his email, but it wouldn't be appropriate to give it to you." Liu Miaomiao looked a little dejected, then explained on Chu Zihang's behalf, "Too many people add him, so he must be troubled by it too. He seems super busy. I heard foreign schools are really polarized. Some have easy graduation requirements through little channels, while others have heavy coursework and are hard to graduate from."

Chu Zihang had definitely attended the kind of school with an insanely high level of difficulty. Otherwise, that school would not have been qualified to choose him.

"...Anyway, thanks. I'll go to the internet cafe and try joining through a group. Liu Miaomiao, Su Xiaoqiang, I'll treat you to drinks when I have the chance." The watch in his backpack rang, and Lu Mingfei remembered that he had arranged to play StarCraft with Old Tang that evening. He grabbed his backpack and plunged into the torrential rain. He had to reach the internet cafe within fifteen minutes.

"Lu Mingfei, you..." Su Xiaoqiang looked at the howling wind and rain outside. The figures beyond the shelter were nearly impossible to make out. "Don't die out there. You're too proud to shelter from the rain."

"Oh, it's fine, it's fine. Someone's picking me up." Lu Mingfei's calm, surprised voice drifted back from the rain.

Liu Miaomiao covered her mouth, unable to stop laughing, while Su Xiaoqiang rolled her eyes.

Every step sent up a splash of standing water. Lu Mingfei sacrificed his clothes in exchange for speed as he ran through the rain. His pant legs were already soaked anyway.

Taking the normal route made it difficult to reach the internet cafe he frequented most, and which was also the cheapest, that quickly. The elite school was in the suburbs, so he could only take a shortcut.

In Binhai Town, the quickest shortcut was to take an overpass. There happened to be three overpass routes between the suburbs and the city center.

The sound of bronze chime bells rang out again, ancient as if it had come from an age older than antiquity itself. It was still that one indistinct word, but the emotions within it seemed even richer now.

"Fa..."

The sound of ocean tides rose and fell, mixing with the rain.

For no reason, Lu Mingfei felt his heart palpitate, and he quickened his pace.

Was it another auditory hallucination?

Once he got to the internet cafe, a cup of hot water would warm his stomach and make him feel better. Maybe he had too many dreams, was too tense, under too much pressure. He should be able to reach the internet cafe before his arranged time with Old Tang.

As he thought this, the sound soon vanished.

But the palpitations remained. A lingering sorrow clung to his heart, leaving his face somewhat pale and cold. Perhaps the torrential rain was partly to blame as well.

The distance was closing. Lu Mingfei forced aside his scattered thoughts and saw the overpass sign not far ahead.

The rain was pouring down, and the fog was thick.

Once he passed this stretch of overpass, he would reach the internet cafe immediately.

The sign read: "Zero Overpass."

Zero?

Lu Mingfei paused and stopped walking.

"There's a Zero Overpass in this city?"

Newly built... No, impossible. He had passed through here just last month. If he remembered correctly, this should have been Overpass Number Ten.

A subconscious sense of unease made Lu Mingfei remain where he was. Instead of crossing the sign, he chose to observe.

Black water flowed around his shoes. Pairs of vaguely familiar Golden Eyes lit up in the depths of the rainy night like a pack of beasts starved for a thousand years.

Familiar growls and whispers. Familiar greedy gazes.

The appearance of the Deadpools actually lessened Lu Mingfei's unease, giving his turbulent emotions some kind of buffer.

If he were in danger together with his friends, he would worry and feel sad. But when he was alone, he did not have so many negative emotions.

"Mm, so they exist in reality too?"

They were around thirty meters away. Lu Mingfei carefully surveyed the Deadpools on the overpass, and the corners of his pale lips curved upward involuntarily.

"They feel kind of familiar. A world like this is what counts as... real."

His guess had been confirmed. The world of his dreams was a preview of the real world.

From this position, he could leave whenever he wanted. Leading Deadpools on a marathon was no harder for him than eating a whole bucket meal. Even if he were surrounded, in an open space he could quickly find a breach and carve a bloody path out.

Besides... these things did not seem able to come out.

So Lu Mingfei silently stood at the entrance to the overpass, like a wise ruler making an incognito inspection of a brothel. No matter how the flamboyant fallen girls begged and enticed him, he had absolutely no intention of taking off his pants and going inside to play.

One of the abandoned cars beyond the overpass entrance caught his attention slightly.

It was a black sedan that nearly blended into the night, and it looked vaguely familiar. On the front, inside a triangular badge, two Ms overlapped to form a mountain shape. It was a top-tier sedan called the Maybach 62, its Chinese name being Maybach.

This model was even globally limited, and Lu Mingfei vaguely felt that he had seen this car somewhere before.

The Deadpool horde began moving, but they never dared, nor were they able, to leap out and hunt.

Lu Mingfei frowned. The emotion vanished from his face, and blazing Golden Eyes lit up. The torrential rain lingering around him was separated by an invisible wall of air. Rain and wind flowed around him, while the black pooled water drew a circular boundary at his side.

He faced the Deadpool horde from afar. The Deadpools feared him and desired him, but their desire outweighed their fear. Yet his attention was not on them at all. His sharp gaze passed through the gaps between them.

The clatter of a horse's hooves rang out, drowning the thunder and rain between heaven and earth. A long spear slowly cut through the rain and mist.

A tall figure appeared at the rear of the Deadpool horde, wreathed in fog and lightning.

Like a god, like a demon.