Chapter 7: Woman, You Are Playing with Fire!

As the saying goes, one must secure provisions before mobilizing troops. Since he was embarking on a journey through the pugilistic world, Lu Mingfei’s first order of business after leaving home was to withdraw money from the bank.

There was no helping it; the cash in his wallet totaled less than fifty yuan—barely enough for half a day of internet cafe fees in the future.

After transferring the funds from his savings book to his bank card and withdrawing a thousand yuan in cash for emergencies, Lu Mingfei finally didn't have to worry about being unable to afford help if a certain photography enthusiast called him in trouble, only to find he’d have to pay in installments to redeem his hero shards.

There was a hotel next to the bank. Lu Mingfei expressed interest in checking in, successfully coaxing the location of a nearby internet cafe out of the front desk clerk.

It wasn't that his internet addiction was acting up; it was just that his phone’s data plan was limited, and if he wanted to look things up, the internet cafe was the best place to go.

Internet access required real-name registration, but few owners in this day and age were sticklers for the rules; they all had temporary cards that let you surf for as long as you wanted.

Clutching a four-yuan iced red tea, Lu Mingfei habitually found a corner obscured from the surveillance cameras, tucked away from prying eyes.

The first thing he did after booting up the computer was open StarCraft—a habit that had become etched into his very bones. However, he restrained the urge to find a match and instead opened a search engine to look up information on Cassel College.

He was genuinely curious: how did a trust institution founded by a German in the United States become a world-renowned private university?

There wasn't much information about Cassel College online, but what existed emphasized an inhuman level of wealth. It was essentially Shilan High School, plus, max.

"This clearly looks like a school for the children of the elite. Would they even look twice at someone like me?" Lu Mingfei frowned at the data on the screen. "Could it be that I'm actually a hidden scion?"

He held no expectations for his father; while not exactly a third-generation peasant, he certainly had nothing to do with the upper echelons of power.

The only possibility was his mother, Qiao Weini. In his memory, he had never met any of his mother's relatives; perhaps she was the daughter of some wealthy family who had eloped for love after being deceived by his father.

But that was just his own wild imagination. Now, like his uncle and aunt, he had no way to contact them.

More than a decade had passed; Lu Mingfei had been separated from his parents for most of his life. He certainly missed them, but a reunion wasn't exactly an imminent affair.

The only contact in his phone’s directory, "Professor Guderian," was the key to reuniting his family of three. In his previous life, the man was responsible for his living stipend, and now, he was responsible for his recruitment interview.

If it was just a coincidence, it was far too coincidental.

"I have a feeling some treacherous scoundrel is out to get me," he muttered. Still, Lu Mingfei didn't rush to contact Guderian; instead, he clicked on the Shilan High School forum.

He was more concerned about his good brother than his academics. Based on what he knew, he deduced that he and Chu Zihang shouldn't have crossed paths yet, so he decided to browse the campus forum where the latter’s fanatical admirers congregated to see if he could dig up any intel.

Chu Zihang was the campus heartthrob, a figure even more prominent than the likes of Hua Ze Lei or Duanmu Lei. Sometimes, watching those girls bicker and pull each other's hair over him, Lu Mingfei suspected he was actually living in a young adult romance novel, and Chu Zihang was the protagonist cursed with an overabundance of romantic luck.

Fortunately, the guy had gone abroad to study with his childhood sweetheart right after high school graduation, which fit the trend of the wealthy students at Shilan seeking to polish their credentials overseas. A simple search for "study abroad" brought up information related to him.

Coincidentally, the first post about studying abroad was related to Cassel College.

Someone had posted a complaint: "Just received an interview invitation from Cassel College, but I never even sent them an application."

Hmm?

Am I not "The One"?

I never heard of anyone else’s parents meeting such an untimely demise in my past life.

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow. Clicking into the post, he discovered that he wasn't the only one who had received an invitation from Cassel College.

"What a coincidence, me too."

"Count me in."

"This is the sorrow of being gold—unable to hide one's own radiance. Even prestigious foreign universities come knocking. Being too outstanding is my original sin!"

"Are you showing off? Li Ziming from Class 6, Senior Year, your mother asked me to deliver two slaps to your face. Please step forward to receive them."

These were all unknown IDs, but through their interactions with others, it was clear that those who received interview invitations were the top students of the school.

But what did this have to do with him? If not for the full set of study materials his good brother had prepared back then, he would have been destined for a vocational college.

Could it be that Cassel College had an e-sports major? Or did his parents pull some strings at the college and force him onto the interview list?

As he pondered and scrolled down, a reply caught his attention:

"Hey, Chu Zihang went to study abroad last year, and it seems he went to a partner school of the University of Chicago. Could it be this Cassel?"

The post derailed from this point on, focusing on the public enemy of all male students at Shilan High School—the man at the top of the "must be eliminated" list.

The subsequent content was either complaining about the damn winner-in-life Chu Zihang or girls swooning with the hope of getting into Cassel College to attend school with their idol.

They were a perfect match, a pair made in heaven; what business did you monsters have trying to muscle in?

Lu Mingfei snorted and closed the post, then took out his phone to call Professor Guderian. Since his good brother was also at Cassel and he wasn't the only one participating in the interview, there was no need to worry about any traps.

China was a society governed by law, after all, and he wasn't some delicate, frail boy who needed emergency care the moment he got a papercut.

The call was answered almost the instant the ringtone began. A voice, slightly excited but struggling to maintain composure, came from the other end:

"Hello, is this Lu Mingfei’s guardian?"

Lu Mingfei: Σ(-᷅‸-᷄๑)

Something was wrong!

I haven't even opened my mouth yet; how did you know the caller’s identity?

Alerted, Lu Mingfei deliberately deepened his voice and replied, "Yes, I am Mingfei’s uncle."

Based on his stereotypical impression of Guderian, the man shouldn't be able to see through such a perfect disguise.

And the person on the other end did not disappoint, showing no signs of suspicion: "Haha, hello, hello! I am Professor Guderian from Cassel College."

"A pleasure, a pleasure," Lu Mingfei said, fishing for information without leaving a trace. "The Professor truly lives up to his reputation from a top university; you guessed my identity before I could even introduce myself."

"Haha, you're too kind!" Guderian laughed heartily. Whether he was playing dumb or genuinely oblivious, he didn't seem to notice he was being probed.

One had to remember this was an internet cafe, where the background noise was chaotic; anyone with a little awareness would have noticed something was off.

But this professor seemed to be in a hurry. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he quickly got to the point, setting the time and place for Lu Mingfei’s interview with Cassel College:

The day after tomorrow, at ten o'clock, at the Regent Hotel.

That was the most luxurious five-star hotel in the city, part of a global chain.

Back in the day, when Lu Mingfei invited Feng-ge to visit, they had stayed at the Regent Hotel. The latter had been mocked online by others for wearing a tank top, shorts, and flip-flops down to dinner, which was why he remembered it so vividly.

Hanging up the phone, Lu Mingfei leaned back in his chair, flipping the black phone back and forth between his five fingers.

He had originally intended to browse around to see if he could find any traces of his "wife" on major gaming platforms, but that phone call made him feel something was amiss.

A man’s intuition and his experience from his past life told him that Cassel College did not seem like the kind of legitimate institution that would respect personal privacy.

Perhaps they were already secretly monitoring his computer, using the duration of his gaming sessions and whether he browsed adult websites or watched violent movies to determine if he met the college’s admission standards.

Lu Mingfei didn't suffer from paranoid delusions, but after having his life laid bare by big data in his future life, he naturally became more vigilant.

However, if they were truly that capable, his plan to use a burner phone card to impersonate his uncle certainly wouldn't have escaped Guderian.

Could he be acting as well?

How did a simple interview become as complex as a Mission: Impossible film?

Lu Mingfei consoled himself not to overthink it; perhaps it was all just a coincidence.

Looking at the forum post that had spiraled into countless pages of arguments, he naturally searched for "Chu Zihang" as a keyword, only to have a pile of miscellaneous love letters pop up.

"Limerence is truly terrifying," Lu Mingfei thought with a cringe. He added another term to the search bar—"accident"—but nothing relevant appeared.

Looking at the empty webpage, he still felt unsettled. He wanted to search whether a Maybach had appeared in the accident caused by Typhoon "Dandelion" on July 3, 2004.

But before he could act, his phone pinged with a new message.

He opened it to find a friend request from a user with a "Big-Faced Cat" avatar and the nickname "Nono," inviting him to a round of gaming.

The other party appeared to be a girl, and Lu Mingfei had no interest in bullying female players. Back then, he had nearly forced the "Empress" into retirement with his defensive and offensive maneuvers, and even Feng-ge had tried to persuade him to go easy.

"No time."

After playing StarCraft for ten years, his heart was as cold as the armor of a Tempest battleship. He refused without hesitation.

I'm busy trying to find the difference between this world and the last; what’s so fun about a stupid game?

"Nono" didn't give up, sending another message: "Are you scared?"

"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me," Lu Mingfei thought, having seen through it all.

"You wouldn't happen to be bad at this, would you?"

"..."

Woman, you are playing with fire!

Lu Mingfei sat up straight and typed two words with force:

"Log in."