Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 238 Patting Head

The entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago was grand and quiet. Lu Mingfei held his ticket, watching the flow of people, and felt his palms getting a little sweaty.

He stole a glance at Xia Mi beside him. The girl was looking up at the towering stained glass windows of the hall. Her profile looked particularly gentle in the soft light, and her eyes were filled with curiosity, like a country girl visiting the city for the first time—if you ignored her A-grade bloodline rating.

“Senior brother,” Xia Mi suddenly turned her head, her eyes sparkling, “we should have done our homework before we came. This place is so big, where should we start?”

She waved the guide map in her hand, her tone slightly troubled.

"do not know."

Lu Mingfei answered honestly, explaining that it was his first time in such a place and he only managed to find the right door thanks to Google Maps.

He subconsciously lowered his voice, moved closer to Xia Mi, and whispered:
"Is it really a good idea for us to do back-to-school tutoring in a place like this?"

"Relax, relax," Xia Mi said. "Actually, the orientation is nothing more than those confidentiality rules, right? I already knew them in preparatory class."

"what?!"

Lu Mingfei was shocked:
"So we're not here to provide back-to-school guidance at all?"

Xia Mi waved her hand dismissively, giving off an expression that said, "I have nothing to say to you straight men."

"This is my first time abroad and my first time in Chicago. How can I waste my precious time on something like this? Today we're just having a pure vacation. Senior, you just need to keep quiet and stand next to the pretty junior like a bodyguard to protect her."

"Or……"

She deliberately drew out her words and looked Lu Mingfei up and down:

"Senior, where else would you prefer to 'tutor'? A Ferris wheel, an aquarium, or a movie theater?"

Lu Mingfei was stunned:

"What is this all about?"

Xia Mi sighed:

"The three most popular dating spots, don't you know them, senior brother?"

Lu Mingfei was even more confused:
"A date? What kind of date?"

"Senior brother, you wouldn't happen to be a lifelong single, would you?"

Xia Mi stared wide-eyed at Lu Mingfei:
"Aren't you an S-class? Shouldn't you be surrounded by beautiful women and living the life of a playboy?"

Lu Mingfei's face flushed red, and he began to argue on his own:
"So what if I'm S-rank? Do S-rank people eat your potato chips or drink your cola? Is it wrong for your senior brother to be a high-level hybrid who has transcended those low-level interests?"

Xia Mi waved her hand, interrupting his self-defense, and sighed:

"It seems that only Teacher Xia Mi can tell you."

She counted them on her fingers:

"The movie theater is dark, so girls will naturally feel dependent on boys. Plus, when watching a horror movie, it's a natural opportunity for boys to hold girls' hands! Visiting an aquarium shows you're refined and love animals, and girls like compassionate boys. Plus, in a blue underwater tunnel, there's a mysterious feeling of being alone in another world. A Ferris wheel is the perfect place to confess your feelings. No one can disturb you, and the girl can't escape. When the Ferris wheel reaches its highest point, pull out the roses you've prepared and kneel down to confess! You have a full ten minutes to use, and for a eloquent boy, ten minutes is enough to move a sea turtle to tears!"

Teacher Xia Mi's earnest teachings.

Why should I learn how to move a sea turtle to tears?

Lu Mingfei scratched his head:
"This sounds even less useful than 'Hybrid Social Etiquette and Emotional Expression Practices'! Besides, do sea turtles really cry? Who knows if you're just kidding me..."

Xia Mi was taken aback by his focus, rolled her eyes dramatically, and lightly tapped his arm with the map in exasperation:
"The key point! The key point is the atmosphere! It's the feeling! Senior, is your romantic sensitivity negative?" She turned around angrily, her ponytail drawing a playful arc in the air:

"Forget it, let's not teach anymore! Let's go look at paintings instead! Where is Monet's 'Haystacks' again?"

Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed.

The two walked through a hall filled with enormous medieval armor and entered a relatively quiet painting gallery.

After walking for a while, Xia Mi slowed down.

She stopped in front of an oil painting depicting a rural wedding, where people danced and jostle, the colors warm and vibrant, but in the corner sat an old woman with a blank expression, alone.

“It’s so lively,” Xia Mi said softly, her gaze falling on the cheerful crowd in the painting. “But it doesn’t seem like everyone is happy.”

She pointed to the old woman.

Lu Mingfei looked in the direction she was pointing:

"Maybe...she's tired, or she's thinking about something else."

"Maybe," Xia Mi nodded, then casually changed the subject, "Senior, is your family... lively during the Lunar New Year? Do you have many relatives eating together?"

Lu Mingfei didn't expect the topic to change so quickly, and mumbled:
"It's alright, my uncle, aunt and my cousin, but I live alone now and probably won't be going back this year."

Xia Mi keenly caught the evasiveness in his tone.

She didn't reply immediately, but quietly looked at the painting with him. After a few seconds, she softly said "Oh," her voice a little softer than before.
"You live alone... Won't it be a bit lonely during the Lunar New Year? Where are your parents?"

Lu Mingfei scratched his head:
"They are very busy with work and have been abroad for many years. They haven't come back."

Where Lu Mingfei couldn't see, a barely perceptible light flashed in the girl's eyes, before quickly returning to normal.

Xia Mi sighed and said:

"Then we're about the same. I thought you, senior brother, had a high bloodline and would be the kind of person who was outstanding and pampered from a young age."

Lu Mingfei shook his head:

"Absolutely not. Before I awakened my bloodline, I was a nobody who was unloved and neglected. I grew up eating food from many families. From junior high school onwards, I boarded at my uncle and aunt's house. They bleed me dry. Not only did they take 70-80% of my living expenses, but I was also constantly being ordered around to do chores and have to be subservient to my aunt."

After listening to Lu Mingfei's story, Xia Mi fell silent.

After a while, she suddenly stood on tiptoe and patted Lu Mingfei on the head.

"Sigh, pat pat, pat pat."

Her movements were gentle and a little clumsy, like comforting a puppy that had been caught in the rain.
"I never imagined you had such a miserable childhood, senior brother... even worse than mine."

Lu Mingfei was taken aback by her sudden action and instinctively tried to dodge, but her warm hands had already withdrawn.

He touched his nose somewhat awkwardly and muttered:

"Hey, who's in trouble... It's all in the past. Your senior brother is now a top-tier hybrid."

Xia Mi withdrew her hand, put it behind her back, tilted her head to look at him, and her eyes, which were always full of smiles, were filled with gentleness.

(End of this chapter)