Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

Chapter 627 The Real Store Manager (Part 2)

"Speaking of which, Whale, those three interview questions you asked were really impressive." Su Enxi stopped joking and, after thinking for a moment, asked seriously, "Is it really like that sumo wrestler, uh, Fujiwara Kansuke, said, that there are no standard answers? And that you rely entirely on 'reading their delicate hearts'?"

"When it comes to men's art of lovemaking, I, the humpback whale, never utter a lie." The humpback whale immediately straightened its back, its expression serious, defending its sacred belief. "My three questions truly have no so-called standard answers. I simply listened to and felt, like budding flowers waiting to bloom, from their answers."

“Oh my, you make it sound so real.” Su Enxi became interested and leaned forward. “Then tell me, what kind of flower will bloom in Caesar Gattuso’s flowery heart? A self-important nobleman, shouldn’t the flower bloom in his heart be a passionate, flamboyant, thorny rose? Or a peony? A symbol of wealth and nobility.”

“No, Susan, you’re wrong,” the humpback whale slowly shook its head, its tone firm. “Actually, the flower that Caesar Gattuso named is the same flower we gave to the cherry blossom. The flower that truly bloomed in his heart was the cherry blossom.”

"Sakura? I could barely believe you if you said Chu Zihang was a cherry blossom, his brooding and reserved demeanor is quite in line with the aesthetics of mono no aware. How is Caesar like a cherry blossom? He's so radiant and dazzling, he's clearly more like a sunflower or a fiery lily," Su Enxi said, expressing her disbelief.

"The cherry blossom, in fact, is a flower with a very masculine spirit. It is beautiful, yet incredibly steadfast," the humpback whale explained, its eyes revealing a deep fascination with beauty. "The cherry blossom's blooming period is extremely short, often only a week. In this short week, it exerts all its strength, blooming to its fullest extent and reaching the peak of its life."

"Then, overnight, it withers away without a trace of regret. Many people believe that the most beautiful moment for cherry blossoms is when they fall like snow on the night they fall. This is like those legendary generals of ancient times, who, as long as they had a breath left, lived a life of glory and brilliance; but when their lives ended and they fell, they could lay down their blood-stained swords and write a lonely and ethereal Zen poem. Basara King was such a man."

The humpback whale looked at Caesar, who was surrounded by a crowd on the other side of the glass, his smile confident and dazzling: "His answer was less an explanation of his respect and love for women, and more a display of his own nobility and determination. He was the kind of man who was born to stand on a high branch, looking down on the world with his exquisite beauty."

"He would never tolerate the defilement of beautiful things, nor would he allow himself to be tainted by dust. His persistence was as sharp as a samurai sword. His fall was destined to be like the falling of cherry blossoms, carrying a poignant and breathtaking beauty."

“That sounds ominous,” Su Enxi frowned, tapping the sofa armrest. “Why do I feel like after you said that, Caesar is already covered in flags that say ‘this person is about to die a heroic death’? Or a particularly tragic one at that?”

"So, what about Chu Zihang? What kind of flower is Ukyo Tachibana, who is so calm, composed, and eloquent when it comes to analyzing women?" She quickly changed the subject, not wanting to delve any deeper into that ominous metaphor.

“Chrysanthemum,” the humpback whale replied succinctly.

"puff!"

Before she could even swallow the mouthful of red wine, it suddenly sprayed out of Su Enxi's nostrils, creating a chaotic scene, as if she had been punched in the face and had a bloody nose.

"Boss! Are you alright?!" The humpback whale was startled and rushed forward, but dared not get too close, feeling helpless. "Is this bottle of wine not to your taste? I'll go get it replaced right away!"

Mai Shude handed over a clean white napkin with a blank expression, her tone indifferent: "It's nothing. These shut-in girls are all like that, they get excited over nothing and overthink things."

"I'm fine," Su Enxi said, taking the napkin and awkwardly covering her mouth and nose. "You, you continue, chrysanthemum?"

"Cornflowers in the snow," the humpback whale added.

"I remember the cornflower is the national flower of Germany?" Su Enxi calmed down a bit and recalled her knowledge.

"Yes. It's a simple yet resilient chrysanthemum that thrives in cold climates and possesses unparalleled vitality. You can even see it blooming tenaciously in snow-covered fields," the humpback whale described, its gaze seemingly reflecting that very scene.

"Its flower language includes: loyalty and longing, elegance and singleness, unexpected encounters, and rebirth after surviving a disaster." He looked at Chu Zihang, who was standing alone in the corner of the hall with a cold expression. "What I smelled on Ukyo was the cool and lasting fragrance of cornflowers in the snow."

“I think it’s a little different,” Su Enxi wiped her face and couldn’t help but complain, “like a cornflower with a strong sadistic streak, wielding a thorny whip, coldly lashing your guests, and then saying in a flat, monotone tone: ‘Is tonight over just like that? Why not go home and have a good cry and then go to sleep?’”

She rolled her eyes. "Hey! Stop joking! From which of his answers did you hear that he was an elegant man patiently waiting? Meeting again? Having another child? What you heard was just a sadistic, calculating scumbag, a technical paper on how to psychologically manipulate women to extract more money!"

“No, no, no, you can’t judge Ukyo just by his answer,” the humpback whale said with an extremely serious expression, almost reverent. “You only need to look into his eyes. Those eyes.”

He squinted his eyes in ecstasy, "It's been many years since I've met a man as elegant as Ukyo, yet so cold and steadfast! He's amazing! So perfect!"

Su Enxi mentally screamed: "Damn it, he's wearing colored contacts! You try looking him in the eye when he's not wearing those damn gold contacts? I guarantee you'll only see his cold, murderous glare!"

"Okay, you win." Su Enxi gave up arguing. "So, what about our little Sakura? I think he answered quite reasonably well today. He didn't talk nonsense, even though it was a bit dry."

The humpback whale's expression of ecstasy and reverence vanished when Lu Mingfei was mentioned.

“Well, uh, um. Based on my many years of professional experience,” the humpback whale sighed, looking quite troubled, “Sakura isn’t really suited to be a male escort.”

"What?" Su Enxi was taken aback.

"It was only because the two bosses specifically instructed me to keep him that I had to say a few words of praise to him against my will just now," the humpback whale said in a somber tone, as if he had made some great sacrifice. "My professional ethics have been disgraced because of this."

"Hey, hey, hey? Are you alright? Did you remember to take your medicine on time today?" Su Enxi got angry and lightly slapped the humpback whale's bald head, which was tattooed with a blue whale.

"Isn't your summary pretty good? 'Fearless, unwavering, selfless, and without expectation of reward.' If these words came from the mouth of a handsome, charming man with deep eyes, and he spoke them to me with such affection, I might actually be moved and take out my wallet to pay him a few more hours!"

"No, no, no, Susan, you didn't understand what I meant," the humpback whale waved its hands repeatedly, explaining urgently.

"The love that Sakura understands, the love given with all her might, exudes an aura of despair. It's more like a person who is extremely lonely, standing in the middle of the desert, hoarsely calling for rain to fall against the dry sky. That's not love, that's thirst, that's a hallucination before death."

His voice lowered: "Love should be sunshine and rain, a good medicine to nourish the heart, a natural giving and sharing. But the kind of love that Xiaoyinghua hides in her heart is too little, too precious. She keeps it tightly in the deepest part of her heart like the last treasure, afraid that it will be seen by others, even more afraid that it will be taken away."

“How can someone like him, who is himself emotionally impoverished, possibly generate boundless love to generously share and warm the guests who come seeking comfort?” The humpback whale rubbed his hands regretfully. “I’m afraid he won’t be very popular with the guests here. Eight hundred flower tickets will probably be an insurmountable barrier for him.”

"So you mean, it's not a flower, but a foxtail grass? A stubborn stone? Or a moldy clump of pickles?" Su Enxi scratched her head, trying to understand the humpback whale's philosophy of flower language.

“Susan, that’s not what I meant.” The humpback whale sighed again, this time with a heavier sigh and a strong sense of foreboding. “I think Sakura is a man like a white poppy.”

“White poppy?” Su Enxi raised an eyebrow. “What kind of unlucky saying is that? Don’t keep me in suspense.”

"Actually, the poppy is an extremely beautiful flower. In China, it has an even more poetic name, 'Yu Meiren' (虞美人)," the humpback whale said slowly, its tone profound.

"But it represents a combination of ultimate beauty and the beauty of death. That kind of beauty is so dazzling that it's suffocating, like a desperate embrace wrapped in thorns. It is the embodiment of the simultaneous existence of angel wings and devil horns. Specifically, the white poppy also symbolizes first love and oblivion."

He paused, then looked at Lu Mingfei, who was still struggling with the little fish on the other side of the glass, with a complicated expression: "In my experience, all men whose flower language is determined to be poppy will involuntarily and step by step walk towards the abyss of self-destruction."

"Explain in detail?" Su Enxi raised an eyebrow.

"In the long history of Takamagahara, there have only been two men whose flower language is poppy. The former fell in love with a guest of Chinese descent, but due to the insurmountable gap in their social status, the two eventually embraced and committed suicide by burning charcoal in their rented apartment."

"Could that wretched kid Lu Mingfei really do something as artistic and aesthetically pleasing as suicide by burning charcoal, something so reminiscent of Japanese mono no aware?" Su Enxi couldn't help but laugh, finding it absurd. "And from which part of his body did you see this destructive beauty, this love amidst thorns? It couldn't be his buttocks, could it?"

Chapter 628 Please Cherish Little Cherry Blossom

"Stop, stop, stop, you shut-in girl, halt, STOP!" Mai Shude, unable to bear it any longer, interrupted the increasingly absurd flower language seminar.

"Since I've known you, I can understand your obsession with horoscopes, tarot card readings, and Zi Wei Dou Shu fortune telling. After all, a shut-in girl always needs to believe in something mystical to pass the time and also to calculate her perpetually unlucky love life. But..."

She raised her slender finger and pointed at the humpback whale with a devout expression. "Isn't it a bit too much to believe this guy's mystical theories about flower arrangement? He's just a male pimp who pimps between male prostitutes and lonely women and takes a cut of their profits."

"Shude-san! This is truly invaluable experience I've accumulated over many years in this industry and through countless encounters with people!" The humpback whale argued, its face flushed with anxiety. "With my discerning eyes, I've seen countless handsome men from Kyoto to Tokyo, and not a single one has been wrong! This is both talent and hard work!"

"You dare to claim years of experience in the industry?" Mai Shude glanced at him sideways, her eyes sparkling, and let out a soft, enigmatic laugh that was both alluring and coldly scrutinizing.

Unexpectedly, the humpback whale, who had just been flushed with anger, suddenly became somewhat embarrassed and shy after being swept by this gaze: "Well, it's not that I'm bragging about my past glory. It's just that twenty years ago, in the heyday of Kabukicho, I, the humpback whale, was also the most popular top courtesan. Women who wanted to see me had to queue up and make an appointment a month in advance."

His voice lowered, lost in distant, golden memories.

"Oh? So confident?" Mai Shude became interested and beckoned to the humpback whale with her finger. "Come here, let me take a look."

The humpback whale subconsciously swallowed. He was a man who had seen many storms and been with countless beauties, but for some reason, when he got close to this Ms. Wine Virtue, he felt a sense of tension, as if he were being scrutinized up close by a high and mighty empress, as well as an inexplicable, flattered and overwhelmed sense of happiness.

Mai leaned forward slightly, extending two slender yet strong fingers to gently lift the humpback whale's fleshy, now aged face, and examine it closely. Her gaze, like the most precise instrument, swept over his forehead, eyebrows, nose, and lips... as if appraising an ancient, faded antique.

After looking at her for a while, she suddenly turned around and asked Su Enxi, "Potato Chips, you Chinese people have a saying, what's it again? 'What kind of knife is time?'"

“Hey, time is a cruel mistress,” Su Enxi replied instantly, gloating.

"Did you hear that?" Mai Shude turned around and gently blew a breath towards the humpback whale that was so close to her. Her breath was warm, carrying a faint aroma of sake and a uniquely feminine fragrance, as sweet as orchids.

The humpback whale froze.

"Whether the flower language of cherry blossoms is poppy or foxtail grass, whether he will commit suicide by burning charcoal or become a legendary host," Mai Shude withdrew her hand, leaned back on the sofa, and her tone returned to its previous indifference.

"In short, as long as he's in Takamagahara, you must protect him. Don't reveal their real names to any outsiders, and provide them with safe accommodations and enough food. But..."

Mai Shude emphasized, "Don't be too nice to them, don't take special care of them. Make them feel that they have earned everything through their own efforts and that it is the rule of this store. Don't let them realize that someone is deliberately protecting them behind the scenes."

She paused, then remembered something: "For Sakura to become a full-fledged male host, she needs 800 flower tickets, right?"

“Yes, according to the rules of Takamagahara, any trainee host must collect 800 flower tickets within two weeks. Customers who want to support him can buy a flower ticket for 1000 yen and put it in his ticket box,” the humpback whale answered honestly. “But given Sakura’s qualifications and current performance, it will probably be difficult for her to collect 800 flower tickets.”

"Try to get him on screen as often as possible, and have a stylist dress him up to make him look—well, as pleasing to the eye as possible, so that the guests at least don't dislike him, and we can at least collect some tickets," Mai Shude instructed clearly. "As for the remaining tickets..."

She reached into her small-looking black patent leather handbag and casually pulled out a neatly bundled stack of ten-thousand-yuan bills, nearly a hundred thick, and tossed them onto the humpback whale's chest.

“Here’s 80 yen. That’s enough for him,” Mai Shutoku said calmly, as if she were just throwing away a stack of waste paper. “Sleep quietly in the background and inflate the vote count. Don’t let him, or those other two shrewd guys, realize that someone is helping him rig the votes.”

"This, this Takamagahara is now owned by two people!" The humpback whale hurriedly caught the heavy stack of banknotes, looking extremely apprehensive. "If you want to keep Sakura, all you need to do is say one word! How could I dare to take your money?"

"Take the money, get out of here." Mai Shude waved her hand expressionlessly, as if shooing away a buzzing fly. "Be a good madam, and put on your show in front of Sakura. I don't want to see you unless it's absolutely necessary. Skip the daily greetings and reports."

The humpback whale held the stack of banknotes and stood there blankly for a few seconds.

Suddenly, as if struck by a thunderbolt, he suddenly understood something crucial. His eyes widened abruptly, and his bald head, tattooed with a blue whale, shone even brighter under the light. He abruptly turned his head, his gaze piercing through the one-way glass, staring intently at Lu Mingfei, who was still winking and making faces at the small fish on the other side of the fish tank.

His expression underwent extremely complex changes in a very short period of time. At times it showed the joy of sudden realization, at others it was deep sorrow, and at still others it was awe and sadness as if witnessing fate. His expression was unpredictable and elusive.

Watching the humpback whale's behavior, Su Enxi felt a chill run down her spine for some reason. Could this old guy really be so engrossed in his own fantasies about flower arrangement and destiny that he can't pull himself out of it?

"Ha, Jiude-san, I understand!" The humpback whale finally withdrew its gaze, turned to Jiude Mai and Su Enxi, and bowed deeply, almost at a ninety-degree angle.

"Please, please cherish the cherry blossoms! Before they bloom and wither! This is the fate that no man of ultimate beauty can escape! They are dazzling when they bloom, but they wither so quickly, leaving only a lingering fragrance that makes people linger and heartbroken."

After uttering these dramatic words, which sounded like lines from a stage play, the humpback whale looked sorrowful. He had already foreseen Lu Mingfei's tragic end. Holding the 80 yen, he walked out of the luxurious secret room with heavy steps.

The door closed gently, shutting out Puccini's mournful aria once again.

Su Enxi let out a long sigh of relief and slumped onto the sofa: "Dealing with this kind of old guy with such a bizarre way of thinking is exhausting."

Mai Shude didn't speak, but simply picked up her glass again and looked through the scarlet liquid and the crystal glass at Lu Mingfei, who was completely unaware of what was happening in the hall.

He was still making faces at the little fish.

Chapter 629 Lu Mingfei: Frillian, where are you?

The rooftop terrace of Takamagahara is far removed from the decadent music and the smells of perfume and alcohol coming from downstairs, leaving only the cool night air.

Lu Mingfei leaned alone against the cold railing, a thin jacket provided by a waiter casually draped over his bathrobe. He didn't turn on the light, immersing himself completely in darkness and silence, with only a faint glow of scarlet light on his fingertips—the half-smoked cigarette he'd taken from the lounge. He took a drag, coughing softly, but stubbornly refused to throw it away.

His gaze pierced through the silhouettes of the low-rise buildings between the two blocks, fixing firmly on the enormous building that remained brightly lit even in the dead of night, resembling a towering structure reaching to the heavens—Genji Heavy Industries.

The heart of the Snake-Headed Eight Families, the power center of the Japanese mixed-race world, is also the root cause of their current predicament.

Looking back now, the scene in that Japanese-style room called "Shojinji" on the top floor of Genji Heavy Industries just a few days ago feels almost unreal, like a lifetime ago. Outside the window was the dazzling night view of Tokyo, and inside was the elegant fragrance of incense and exquisite kaiseki cuisine.

The young man in the kimono, looking somewhat tired, was Genjiro, the young master of the Snake-Headed Eight Families and the future head of the family. He sat opposite them and spoke earnestly about his desire to sell sunscreen on the beaches of southern France.

"Do you know Montalivi Beach? The sun is great there, the sand is white, and the sea is like sapphire... I want to open a small shop there, selling sunscreen and ice-cold beer, and just lie on a beach chair and watch girls in bikinis."

At the time, Lu Mingfei thought that the underworld prince was probably working himself to death or was talking about some profound metaphor. But now, on this cold terrace, with the night wind making his mind unusually clear, he suddenly felt that the weariness and longing in Yuan Zhisheng's eyes when he said those words might be real.

A man who wields immense power and is born with a heavy destiny harbors a simple, almost childlike dream deep in his heart: to go to the beach to sell sunscreen, sunbathe, and admire beautiful women.

How ironic, and how tragic.

Yet this same man, who had no lust for power and even considered fleeing, could turn around and, without batting an eye, abandon the three of them, along with the Trieste, in the eight-thousand-meter-deep, dark, icy, high-pressure, and deadly Japan Trench. Without hesitation, cleanly and efficiently, as if he were merely discarding a few pieces of useless trash.

Trust and betrayal, sincerity and lies, dreams and reality... all these diametrically opposed things can coexist in the same person in such a strange and non-conflicting way, even for the same period of time.

This world is fucking complicated.

It was as complex as a tangled mess that could never be untangled, like a cracked mirror, each fragment reflecting a completely different truth. And what made Lu Mingfei, an ordinary man who had lived for twenty years and whose biggest dream was simply to graduate smoothly, find a decent job, and maybe, uh, marry Frilline, see through it all?