Chapter 27: Arrival at the Imperial Capital

The flight from Lu Mingfei’s hometown to the capital was about four hours long.

At first, everyone in the class was buzzing with excitement, peering through the cabin portholes to admire the sky, which looked as though it had been washed clean, and the clouds drifting beneath them. Those with SLR cameras clicked away, snapping photos of the view outside.

But once the initial excitement of boarding wore off, the cabin fell into a sudden, collective silence, as if by unspoken agreement.

The experienced travelers pulled out novels they had prepared in advance to pass the time; those with MP3 players simply plugged in their earbuds and curled up to sleep. Those who had nothing at all were left to flip through the airline’s promotional brochures tucked into the seat pockets, trying to kill the tedious hours.

The burly, bald man sitting to Lu Mingfei’s left simply spread a brochure over his face and began to snore loudly. Lu Mingfei couldn't help but think to himself that this guy was truly a master of nonchalance.

Lu Mingfei belonged to the group that had brought nothing.

Logically, having spent his previous life constantly flying all over the world, he should have had a system for killing time on planes. He had even bought a full set of *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber* specifically to read during the flight.

The problem was, his aunt had complained that the set took up too much space. Once it was in his backpack, there was no room left for the jars of Erba sauce, so she had shoved the books into his suitcase instead. By the time they reached the airport, Lu Mingfei had completely forgotten about it, and the books were now likely lying in the cargo hold beneath his feet.

To make matters worse, he had gone to bed quite early the night before, so he was wide awake and couldn't rely on the "sleeping spell" to breeze through the flight.

*Oh well, nothing to do is nothing to do,* Lu Mingfei sighed to himself. *It’s only four hours, anyway.*

However, the observant Liu Miaomiao seemed to sense his plight. She removed her left earphone and asked, "Lu Mingfei, didn't you bring anything to pass the time? A novel or something?"

Lu Mingfei was surprised that she had taken the initiative to speak to him. "I did, but I left them in my checked luggage," he answered with a dejected shrug.

"Oh."

Liu Miaomiao hesitated for a moment before saying, "Would you like to listen with me? I can share my earphones with you."

"Is that really okay? After all, between the two of us, there’s been a bit of—"

Lu Mingfei was still wary of the rumors circulating about them. He didn't mind the teasing directed at him, but Liu Miaomiao was a girl, and he felt he should be more considerate of her reputation.

Liu Miaomiao seemed to understand exactly what he was referring to, and her earlobes flushed red. She bit her lip and cast a sideways, upward glance at him, looking as if she were annoyed that he had brought it up again.

The memory of those rumors struck them both at once.

Liu Miaomiao tidied her side bangs, averted her gaze, and looked straight ahead, muttering, "What of it? If they want to gossip, let them. As long as we have a clear conscience, it doesn't matter—do you want to listen or not?"

"I do...!"

Since the "Piano Princess" Liu Miaomiao had put it that way, the "Grand Steward" Lu Mingfei had no choice but to obediently offer his hands and take the earphone from her.

He was actually quite curious about what kind of music the girl with the highest musical aptitude at Shilan High School would have on her MP3 player. Jay Chou? David Tao? Or the heartthrob Wang Leehom?

The player Liu Miaomiao was using was an iPod, which wasn't very famous in the country at the time and carried a launch price of $399. The price was secondary; the real issue was that, back in 2006, the domestic market was dominated by Sony, and iPods were hard to come by. He wondered how she had managed to get one.

The earphone she had just removed still held the warmth of her palm.

The cord was a bit short, forcing them to sit quite close together. As Lu Mingfei leaned toward her, the sophisticated scent he had noticed earlier during the group photo wafted from her hair.

*Oh no.*

...

The music flowing from the iPod was a series of soothing, pure instrumental tracks—mostly piano pieces. After listening to a few, not a single pop song had played.

But Lu Mingfei had no mind for the music now. Though he had lived two lifetimes, in this one, he was still just a hot-blooded fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy. He was becoming hopelessly flustered by the fragrance invading his senses, and he struggled to focus on anything else.

In his wandering thoughts, he suddenly recalled a scene from the TV adaptation of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, where the young Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu sleep near each other. Baoyu catches a faint, intoxicating scent from Daiyu’s sleeve. When she asks him if he has a "warm scent" to match her "cool scent," he is left bewildered.

Lu Mingfei didn't know anything about cool or warm scents, but he certainly understood the "intoxicating, bone-melting" feeling. The fragrance emanating from Liu Miaomiao was practically unfair.

Just as he was about to tell her, "Never mind, I won't listen," he felt his right shoulder sink, as if something had settled there.

Lu Mingfei turned his head.

Liu Miaomiao was leaning gently against his right shoulder, fast asleep.

"..."

*No, please, don't do this to me.*

He knew that Dramamine could cause drowsiness, but did she have to fall asleep at such a convenient moment? She could have at least taken the earphone out first. And sleeping was fine, but did she have to use his shoulder as a pillow?

As her head rested against him, the fragrance became even more pronounced.

Actually, Lu Mingfei had been in close proximity to quite a few girls.

Zero was the first. At the Christmas dance, she had invited him to dance. But there was rarely any scent to Zero; perhaps it was because Russia was too cold for flowers to bloom. She only carried a faint, icy chill, like peppermint.

The second was Nono. Although he had known her longer, their only real intimate contact had been watching fireworks on a mountaintop for her birthday, and the few times he had held her in the Three Gorges while she was wearing a bikini. Nono was a girl who changed her perfume often; every time he saw her, the scent was different, but the base was always a bold, rich floral—much like her personality.

The third girl he had been close to was a stranger he met at an auction. She wore a veil, hiding her face. He had used a cheat code from Lu Mingze to drop a hundred million dollars, snatching the "Seven Deadly Sins" from her and receiving a kiss on the cheek in exchange. When she kissed him, he smelled a mysterious, ancient fragrance.

But Liu Miaomiao’s scent was different from all of them. Perhaps because she was still a middle schooler, she didn't wear perfume or makeup. The scent was simply the warm, woody aroma of shower gel.

It was like running into the girl next door on a morning walk—the comfortable weather, the blue sky, the wind blowing her scent toward you. It was ordinary and light, making you subconsciously slow your pace, hoping the road would last just a little longer... that was the feeling.

*Damn it.*

Lu Mingfei cursed silently, feeling increasingly like a pervert. He was actually analyzing a girl’s scent while breathing in the fragrance of her body...

...

Four hours later, the flight arrived in the capital. With a rumble, the plane slowed and touched down, and the intercom crackled with new announcements.

"Are we in the capital?" Liu Miaomiao asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She wondered when she had fallen asleep, especially while listening to music. She had slept quite well the night before.

She also noticed the seat in front of her looked strange, tilted at an odd angle. And her pillow felt so hard... wait, a pillow?

Liu Miaomiao suddenly stiffened and sat up, turning to look at the "pillow" she had been leaning on—Lu Mingfei’s shoulder. Her face flushed a deep, bright red.

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry..." she apologized, pressing her palms together in embarrassment.

"It's fine," Lu Mingfei replied, having already attained a state of Zen-like, desireless meditation.