Lament of the Cod
After leaving the prep class base, the two supported each other as they headed home.
The bruised and battered handsome boy and beautiful girl naturally drew frequent stares from passersby.
"I guessed you suddenly got upset earlier because you couldn't bear to leave your family."
"It's fine. I'm in a great mood now."
"Obviously. You beat me up—how could you possibly be in a bad mood?"
Li Lin accidentally pulled at one of his wounds and shivered from the pain.
"Hey! How could you say that? I deliberately let you hit me ten extra times! You nearly ruined my face! The face of a super beautiful girl like me is much more delicate than yours!"
Xia Mi immediately retorted, baring her teeth and claws as she gestured wildly at him.
Watching Xia Mi bounce around so energetically, Li Lin felt a little envious. Although his face and body were not much different from his previous life, he had indeed grown up in an orphanage in this life.
He had heard that Mixed-Bloods were outsiders in human society. Their innate incompatibility with others, both physically and mentally, gave them a powerful sense of loneliness.
But Li Lin felt that, when it came to loneliness, he was no worse than them.
He still remembered the luxurious life of the northern family, the gentle words of the elders, and the laughter of his companions around campfires during their travels.
Yet in the blink of an eye, he had become all alone, like a cod suddenly tossed into an unfamiliar school of fish. The people around him gathered together like a school of cod, naturally forming groups, discussing topics he could not understand and caring about things he did not care about. Even though Li Lin clearly knew that he was an ordinary human just like them, he had always felt that this icy ocean did not belong to him.
So, during the summer vacation of elementary school, when Xia Mi cracked open the door to the world of "Mixed-Bloods" for him, he followed her inside without a second thought.
Li Lin's rented apartment was a very typical school-district home.
The landlord was quite old, with the typical features of an Aryan, yet he spoke fluent, authentic Mandarin. Rumor had it that he had run an antiques business in Beijing for decades and was a genuine old-money type.
Mr. Lin Fenglong often looked after Li Lin in daily life. Sometimes, he even dumped a few cages of parrots on Li Lin for him to watch, then paid him a rather generous sum.
The old man was strolling through the residential complex in a bamboo-cloth shirt, walking his bird. A plump, well-fed macaw stood on his shoulder. When it saw Li Lin limping closer, it shrieked repeatedly.
"Li Lin got beaten again! Li Lin got beaten again!"
Hearing the parrot's shrieks, Lin Fenglong smiled at Li Lin. "Oh, did you get into another fight with Xia Mi?"
"Yes."
The knee on the side Xia Mi had kicked still sent waves of piercing pain through Li Lin.
Fortunately, Xia Mi's recovery ability had been praised by the instructors. With the help of the Binding System, Li Lin's recovery ability was on par with Xia Mi's. Injuries of this severity would mostly heal after a night's sleep.
Lin Fenglong could tell that Li Lin was distracted. Recalling Li Lin's concise, clean personal file, which had been placed on the Secret Party's conference table countless times, he offered a kind reminder.
"I remember you said you were going abroad for a period of study. It should be soon, right?"
"Yeah. My flight leaves tomorrow morning."
"Then you need to get some proper rest. Oh, and there are plenty of expenses when going abroad. If you're short on money, don't force yourself. Just borrow from me. Leave me an IOU, and you can slowly pay me back once you're able to earn money."
"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle Lin, but I received a substantial scholarship after getting into Peking University High School, so I'm not worried about that for now."
At that, Lin Fenglong looked somewhat disappointed.
He was certain that once Li Lin went to Cassel College, he would never have to worry about money again. So he waved his hand. "All right, then. I'll keep walking my bird. Remember to turn off the water and electricity when you leave tomorrow, then take the key to the guardroom."
After bidding farewell to his German-looking landlord, Li Lin supported himself against the wall as he returned to his room. He picked up the Kassel College Admission Guide, which had only been mailed to his doorstep yesterday, from the coffee table and began reading it carefully.
The book had been custom-made by the artificial intelligence serving as the college secretary according to Li Lin's personal circumstances. It was practically an idiot-proof admissions guide, detailing every step needed to travel from Beijing to Cassel College.
It included, but was not limited to, passports, visas, choices of ground transportation, precautions for air travel... It even gave examples of how to handle hijackings and air disasters.
It listed recommended lines for negotiating with criminals under different circumstances, as well as emergency formulas for piloting passenger planes. The only thing it did not mention was how to efficiently and quickly kill criminals. Clearly, Cassel College had never worried about Li Lin's combat ability.
After all, he and Xia Mi fought in the prep class base every few days. Those battle recordings were sent back to the main campus, and the analysis experts of the Executive Department had gotten excited over them countless times.
At the final page, the guide finally revealed the destination of the journey.
All he had to do was go to Chicago Train Station and board the CC1000 Express to reach Cassel College, located in the distant suburbs of Chicago.
Although the school's message said they would be taking a qualification exam,
both Li Lin and Xia Mi knew perfectly well that this basically meant they would be attending college early. They would merely remain enrolled at Peking University High School as cover for their identities.
Dragon slaying was war. As long as someone was exceptionally talented, even children had to be sent to the battlefield early.
Especially since Li Lin and Xia Mi already had thousands upon thousands of real-combat recordings, Executive Department agents wrote eagerly to the principal every day, praising the sixteen-year-old boy and girl to the skies. They were practically ready to line up outside the principal's office and kowtow for them.
The principal had also been driven nearly mad by the constant pestering. In the end, he nodded and agreed to specially admit the two prep class students, whose bloodlines were estimated to be above A-Rank, into the main campus for training.
After all, it was indeed hard to feel at ease letting two children who knew the Dragon Race and Mixed-Bloods inside out, and stood on the verge of bloodline awakening, run around outside every day.
After finishing the Kassel College Admission Guide, Li Lin took out the plane ticket Norma had helped purchase from the inner pocket, then glanced at the wall clock.
It was already evening.
Feeling ravenous, he looked at the wine-red sunset squeezing in from the balcony into the living room. After checking the boarding time printed on the ticket, he planned to go next door and invite Xia Mi and her older brother out for dinner.
Li Lin had a very good impression of Xia Mi's older brother.
Though he was a hulking fool with an inborn intellectual disability, he was honest and simple-hearted. He was also good-looking, kind, and pure-hearted—the complete opposite of his lively, troublesome younger sister.
What left the deepest impression on Li Lin was probably the first time he and Xia Mi fought after school, then ran home covered in injuries together, trying to figure out how to apply medicine to each other's wounds.
They were accidentally seen by that big fellow, who seemed not even to have a name. Or perhaps he did have one, but he could never remember it.
He thought Xia Mi had fallen out with the friend she had finally managed to make. So, even if it meant going hungry that night, he secretly took out the money he had earned from selling the bottles and cans he collected as scrap and treated Li Lin and Xia Mi to ice cream.
Once Li Lin learned the whole story, he was moved to tears. Right there, he grabbed the big fellow and wanted to become sworn cousins with him, but Xia Mi stopped him with a dark expression. The matter was later forgotten.