【Lower-tier fortune: Believes the letter is a scam, returns the letter and phone, gives up the last chance to study abroad. Ominous.】
【Mid-tier fortune: Hands the letter and phone over to Aunt and her family, attends the Kassel College interview. Neutral.】
【Upper-tier fortune: Hides the fact of receiving the Kassel College admission letter, attends the interview alone. Auspicious.】
Lu Mingfei was stunned, his mind reeling from the words before him and the N96 phone in his hand.
It was spring 2009, and Lu Mingfei, a high school senior, held a phone that cost over four thousand for a grey market version and over five thousand for an official one.
If he had to call it a scam, Lu Mingfei mostly wouldn't believe it. After all, he hadn't heard of any scammer using such an expensive phone as bait in those days.
But if he were to believe the contents of the admission letter that came with the phone, he felt uneasy.
Studying abroad was Aunt's spontaneous idea and her sole insistence. She thought Lu Mingfei's English was good, and his TOEFL scores were also good.
It wasn't easy to get into a top-tier university domestically, but studying abroad might offer an opportunity. So, she made a decision and paid several hundred dollars in application fees.
Besides, his cousin, Lu Mingze, didn't have very good grades and definitely wouldn't get into Tsinghua or Peking University. If he could study abroad, it would be a respectable thing. Now, with Lu Mingfei paving the way, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Lu Mingze to study abroad later.
It would also be more convenient, saving them a few wrong turns.
Thus, Lu Mingfei resolutely embarked on the path of studying abroad, in the name of a pioneer.
In the past few days, Lu Mingfei had already received over a dozen replies, all starting with similar phrases like, “Thank you for your interest, but unfortunately…”
So Lu Mingfei didn't hold much hope for this matter.
But sometimes, to match Aunt's disappointment, he would occasionally force out a sad expression.
This time, he didn't need to feign disappointment for Aunt.
Yet, Lu Mingfei became unsure of himself.
Today, he was ordered by Aunt to go downstairs to buy groceries and get a copy of “Novel Painting” for Lu Mingze, and he also didn't forget to check the guardhouse for his study abroad replies.
At first, everything was normal.
Inside the envelope was a thin sheet of paper, showing no sign of an admission.
But when the phrase “There is more than one path” appeared on that thin piece of paper, the nature of the letter changed.
Lu Mingfei rubbed the tip of his nose, a bit bewildered.
He didn't seem to have sent an application to the school mentioned in the letter.
Kassel College.
Looking at the words before him, and still puzzled, Lu Mingfei leaned over to look at the guard.
“Hello, is there something on my face?”
The guard looked Lu Mingfei up and down, finding the boy's face clean, his clothes from a street stall, and a bag of discounted vegetables from the supermarket in his hand. The most valuable item on him was the newly arrived N96.
After a sigh, he said somewhat impatiently, “You're not a big star, stop bothering me. If you don't go home, your vegetables will wilt.”
The rows of text disappeared at that moment.
Lu Mingfei chuckled awkwardly twice, thinking it was indeed his hallucination, and quickly left the guardhouse, running towards Aunt's house.
The afternoon sunlight streamed in from the window at the end of the stairwell, generously illuminating the entire corridor. Walking through it, one could glimpse pure white bedsheets hanging out to dry.
Outside the window, wind-blown, verdant leaves rustled, their fragmented sounds entering Lu Mingfei's ears.
He stood at the door. Inside, Aunt was complaining about Lu Mingfei studying abroad.
Lu Mingfei had parents he hadn't seen in over six years. Besides the monthly living allowance, nothing else proved they were still around.
The good news was that the allowance was generous, enough for Lu Mingfei to live comfortably for a lifetime.
The bad news was that the allowance was in Aunt's hands, used to supplement household expenses, buy cars, gold, and pay tuition fees.
Logically, Lu Mingfei should have felt resentful, as it was his money, yet others were using it to enjoy life.
But since his own parents didn't care for him, Lu Mingfei himself had also given up.
He had lived in Aunt's house all these years and gradually adapted to this kind of life.
He had a cousin named Lu Mingze, 160 centimeters tall and weighing 160 jin, a living, breathing cube warrior.
Lu Mingfei looked at the “Novel Painting” in his hand.
Aunt thought Lu Mingze reading “Novel Painting” might help him in the future youth literary scene, which was why she was so actively following its updates.
But Lu Mingfei knew that this kid had too many “meet-in-person-and-die-on-sight” experiences at school, so he needed to put some sad and melancholic sentences in his QQ space to attract young girls online.
He knew his cousin at this age was experiencing the stirrings of first love and wanted to encounter some earth-shattering romance on QQ.
So, a slightly mischievous Lu Mingfei registered a small account to play along with his cousin, always managing to make Lu Mingze run around in circles.
He always found a chance to suggest meeting up when Aunt was dragging Lu Mingze to tutoring classes.
Lu Mingze was very touched by this, always thinking it was his fault, that he was too busy and neglected the feelings of the 'sister' on the other side, so he felt indebted.
Little did he know, Lu Mingfei was often grinning in an internet cafe at this time, and when the mood struck, he'd even add a bottle of Nutri-Express for himself.
He pulled his thoughts back.
Seeing the previous text disappear, Lu Mingfei freed a hand to open the door and enter the house.
Whatever happened with the admission letter, it would just happen.
Anyway, he was used to others arranging his life.
Except when playing StarCraft, he didn't like people telling him what to do. Other times, he didn't care.
Unexpectedly, as soon as his hand touched the doorknob, those rows of text reappeared.
“It's not... a hallucination?”
Lu Mingfei murmured, feeling like he had seen a ghost.
He was, after all, an educated person, someone who had been in the Literary Club at Shilan Middle School.
He knew the simple meanings of ominous, neutral, and auspicious.
The words before him clearly told him that telling everything about Kassel College was not the best option.
However, something appearing out of thin air, just like Kassel College appearing out of thin air, was equally unbelievable.
Lu Mingfei hesitated at the doorway.
Inside, Aunt seemed to notice the movement outside the door, and the sound of her slippers slapping grew closer.
Lu Mingfei swallowed, knowing he didn't have much time left.
To hide it from Aunt, the N96 in his hand and the Kassel College reply absolutely could not be discovered.
If it were normal, Lu Mingfei would definitely report the strange incident of Kassel College completely, but today two strange things had happened consecutively.
He couldn't help but think more about it.
Especially that phrase, “There is more than one path,” which perfectly aligned with the words before him.
Lu Mingfei's heart pounded. He rarely had a choice, and he wanted to try.
Anyway, not telling Aunt about this wouldn't cause him any loss, and maybe he could even get a good phone.
He would ask other colleagues studying abroad if they had received this letter. If not, he wouldn't go. If they all had, then the safety would be guaranteed.
He decided.
It would be this upper-tier fortune.
【Upper-tier fortune: Hides the fact of receiving the Kassel College admission letter, attends the interview alone. Auspicious.】