novelhk Page 170
Page 170
All they give may never earn them a chance to stand before him, to have him take their hand and clumsily coax them into happiness, just like Su Xiaoqiang did.
Just then, Su Enxi seemed to finally sense the unusual silence beside her from the record.
She turned her head and met the eyes of Mai Shude, which appeared particularly deep in the shadows of the trees, carrying a hint of loneliness and self-reflection that she rarely showed.
"Mai?" Su Enxi was taken aback, her gossipy enthusiasm cooling slightly as she keenly noticed the emotion in her partner's eyes. "What's wrong?"
She looked in the direction Mai had been looking and instantly understood what was going on.
Wasn't she herself completely immersed in the role of "recorder" just now, deliberately ignoring the fact that she was also an "outsider"?
A similar feeling of being excluded quietly crept into my heart.
"It's nothing," Mai Shude quickly suppressed her emotions, putting on her cool and languid mask again. Her voice returned to its usual calmness, even with a hint of deliberate ease. "I was just wondering when the boss's 'equal distribution of favors' plan will reach us? We can't just stay bystanders forever, can we?"
She spoke of her deepest resentment and longing in a teasing tone, but her gaze turned to the distance again, watching Lu Mingfei gently wiping the dust off Su Xiaoqiang's doll.
Su Enxi opened her mouth and looked at the notebook in her hand filled with "Analysis of Boss's Dating Behavior".
He glanced again at Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang, who were lost in their solitude in the distance, and finally gave a complex and unreadable bitter smile, muttering to himself:
"Yeah...when will it be our turn?"
The initial enthusiasm for recording faded considerably in an instant.
She silently closed the notebook.
In front of the game booth.
Su Xiaoqiang hugged the plush rabbit doll she had won, her face beaming with pure joy.
Looking at her unguarded smile, Lu Mingfei was about to speak.
Just then, his gaze suddenly caught sight of a figure.
A haughty girl walked straight toward Erii, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.
She casually tossed her fiery red hair, wearing a neatly tailored gray wool coat, and her light blue slim-fit jeans were tucked into brown knee-high boots. Her steps were firm and composed.
Lu Mingfei's pupils suddenly contracted.
Never imagined.
He had planned to actively seek out the key figure after settling everything.
They actually showed up on their own initiative and came to our door.
Chapter 163 Chen Motong's Visit
Genji Heavy Industries, temporary meeting room.
Since Herzog was killed at the Temple of the Awakening, the original meeting room has been no longer in use, and everyone is now gathered in a new room.
Lu Mingfei, Erii, Zero, Xia Mi, Su Xiaoqiang, Liu Miaomiao, Su Enxi, Jiude Mai, and Chen Motong were all present.
Nine people sat around a long conference table.
The atmosphere is slightly subtle.
Xia Mi circled around the two of them several times, her gaze intently scrutinizing the two girls sitting on the throne.
Erii, and the uninvited visitor, Chen Motong.
They resembled a pair of exquisitely carved jade discs, their facial resemblance astonishing.
Finally, unable to contain her curiosity, Xia Mi crouched down and sidled up to Lu Mingfei, whispering in his ear:
"Hey, Lu Mingfei! I see it now! Apart from the different temperament and the slightly different age... everything else is practically a carbon copy! It's too similar!"
Lu Mingfei's gaze also fell on the two girls sitting silently in front of him, his eyes momentarily dazed.
If they weren't acquainted, the two almost identical, exquisitely beautiful faces in this still image would indeed be enough to deceive anyone. He would likely be unable to tell who was who.
But at the moment.
His gaze precisely captured that decisive difference—in their eyes.
When Erii's clear eyes looked at him, they seemed to be filled with the melting water of early spring, pure and innocent, carrying undisguised attachment and love, and every ripple of her eyes stirred his emotions.
But Chen Motong's bright eyes shone with a completely different light.
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes sharp and scrutinizing, like an experienced biologist observing some novel, rare, or even dangerous species, with a sense of inquiry, curiosity, and a hint of... distance.
A short while later, Chu Zihang and Yuan Zhisheng entered one after the other, both dressed in black kendo uniforms.
Yuan Zhisheng's gaze fell on Erii and Chen Motong sitting at the conference table, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Although he had heard about her before, it was only after seeing Chen Motong in person that he truly felt how similar she was to Erii.
The most striking feature was her deep red hair.
They look so alike, and both have red hair that no ordinary person could possibly have.
Yuan Zhisheng was certain that the Chen family, to which Chen Motong belonged, was inevitably connected with Black Swan Harbor.
Chu Zihang glanced at Chen Motong without making a sound, then looked away.
Chen Motong, however, actually took the initiative to greet Chu Zihang upon seeing him:
"I never expected that Chu Zihang, the president of the Lionheart Society, would be a 'celestial being'."
Chu Zihang did not respond. He walked straight to the conference table, slowly pulled out a chair, and sat down.
The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds inside the meeting room.
All eyes were focused on the two red-haired girls at the conference table—Eri and Chen Motong.
They are like two sides of a mirror, yet they reflect completely different lights.
Erii's pure and innocent eyes held a hint of unease, and she instinctively moved closer to Lu Mingfei;
Chen Motong calmly accepted the scrutinizing gazes, her bright pupils sparkling with curiosity, inquiry, and a sharpness bordering on provocation.
She tilted her head slightly, a half-smile curving her lips, and finally fixed her gaze on Lu Mingfei in the main seat.
"Tsk tsk tsk," Xia Mi's voice broke the silence. Like a curious kitten, she circled the conference table a little more. "Lu Mingfei, do you think they might really be long-lost sisters?"
Erii immediately looked at Lu Mingfei, her mental incantation filled with confusion:
"Sisters?" She seemed to understand the word somewhat, yet also seemed a little lost.
Lu Mingfei gently patted Erii's hand to comfort her, then met Chen Motong's gaze, regaining his usual composure.
"Miss Chen Motong, what brings you here uninvited?"
His tone was calm, but the phrase "uninvited" clearly indicated the other party's abrupt appearance.
Chen Motong didn't seem to care about the distance in Lu Mingfei's words. Instead, she leaned back against the conference table in a relaxed manner. Her neat and stylish outfit gave her a wild and unruly air amidst her languidness.
She picked up an orange that someone had left on the table and slowly peeled it, her movements as casual as if she were in her own living room.
"I wouldn't say I'm doing this for a reason." She peeled a segment of orange and popped it into her mouth, the juice leaving a glossy mark on her rosy lips. "It's just that Tokyo has been too lively lately. The 'celestial being' has graced Genji Heavy Industries with his presence, and the area outside is completely congested."
"I happened to be in Tokyo too, and I happened to be passing by last night when I saw something... very interesting."
Her gaze lingered on Lu Mingfei's face for a moment, then turned unabashedly to Erii beside him, her curiosity almost overflowing.
"Oh?" Lu Mingfei remained expressionless, gesturing for her to continue.
"Seeing you," Chen Motong gestured with his chin toward Lu Mingfei, "with a group of girls, including this one..."
Her gaze was once again fixed on Erii. "It was her. I thought I was seeing things, or that it was a prank standee someone had designed."
"I never expected it to be a living, breathing person who looks almost exactly like me."
She paused, then said with a hint of disbelief and amusement, "This world is interestingly small."
Inside the meeting room, the reactions of the participants varied:
Yuan Zhisheng's face instantly darkened, his eyes sharp as knives, and his hand was already on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Chu Zihang remained expressionless, but his body was as taut as a bowstring.
Su Enxi's eyes gleamed with shrewdness as she quickly assessed the truthfulness and potential intentions behind Chen Motong's words in her mind. At the same time, her fingers flew across the tablet computer under the table, retrieving information about Chen Motong's public schedule in Tokyo.
Mai Shude crossed her arms, her cold and beautiful face expressionless, but she had subtly adjusted her center of gravity, like a cheetah poised to pounce, locking onto all possible movements of Chen Motong.
Xia Mi blinked her big eyes, looking at this and then at that, her face showing an undisguised expression of watching a show.
Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang were both clearly wary. This girl, who was extremely similar to Erii, had a flamboyant, confident, and unpredictable temperament, which made them instinctively feel uneasy.
Ling Bing's blue eyes looked calmly at Chen Motong, as if observing a novel object, revealing little emotional fluctuation.
Erii gripped Lu Mingfei's arm tightly, her face showing a hint of unease and even more confusion. She could feel Genji's tension and the tense atmosphere that permeated the scene.
Chen Motong's strong aura also made her feel somewhat at a loss.
Chen Motong seemed to enjoy the feeling of being "attention" from everyone. She leaned forward slightly, her gaze sweeping back and forth between Lu Mingfei and Erii, full of inquiry.
"So, I'm very curious, Lu Mingfei, what kind of person are you, this 'celestial being' who has shaken Kassel and caused a sensation in Tokyo? What makes the academy's higher-ups issue such orders?"
Her tone carried an undisguised scrutiny, and then, pointing at Erii, her words became incredibly direct, "What intrigues me even more is..."
She pointed at Erii, her tone filled with undeniable doubt and intense bewilderment:
"Who is she? Why does she look so much like me? I could understand if it was just a resemblance in appearance."
She tossed her deep red hair, "But I just can't understand why even the hair color is the same."
"It can't be that God took a nap when creating humans and used the same mold, right? There has to be some explanation, right?"
Chapter 164 Chen Motong's Visit
Lu Mingfei stared at Chen Motong for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled, a smile that carried a hint of understanding and deeper meaning:
"I see. Miss Chen came here to clear up your doubts?"
He paused, leaning slightly forward, an invisible pressure subtly enveloping the entire conference room—not intimidation, but a declaration of control over the pace of the conversation:
“You’ve seen who I am now. As for her…” Lu Mingfei turned his head and looked gently at the somewhat nervous girl beside him. When he turned back, his eyes became sharp. “Her name is Erii.”
He looked directly into Chen Motong's eyes, his gaze deep and penetrating, as if he could see through appearances:
"And the fact that you and she look so alike is no coincidence; it is a huge clue in itself."