Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Exciting.
Lin Mo stayed over at Wei Wei's house on Friday night, leaving Lu Yanxiao alone in his empty room. He woke up on Saturday morning feeling rather downhearted. He simply toasted two slices of bread for breakfast, which proved bland.
At this time, the cell phone rang.
Lu Yanxiao casually glanced at the screen and saw that the caller was "Lin Mo". He quickly put down the bread and picked up the phone. Just as his fingertips were about to press the answer button, he paused, swallowed the bread in his mouth, cleared his throat, and answered the phone calmly: "Hello?"
"Lu Yanxiao, are you free today?"
The girl's sweet voice rang out from the receiver, and Lu Yanxiao's lips curled up unconsciously. She had said the night before yesterday that she planned to take him to meet her friends. I wonder if it would be today?
Lu Yanxiao suppressed his anticipation and pretended to think for a few seconds before calmly saying, "Yes, what's wrong?"
"Wei Wei and I are going to the south of the city to see an exhibition this afternoon. Do you want to come with us?"
"What exhibition?"
"The environmental exhibition is quite meaningful. It seems there are several exhibition halls displaying famous works by famous artists. I'll take Wei Wei's car over there, and you can drive over yourself. We'll meet at the exhibition hall entrance. After the exhibition, we can have dinner together, and then we can go home together..."
The girl spoke slowly, and Lu Yanxiao turned on the hands-free mode of his mobile phone. When she finished speaking, she had already returned to the bedroom, opened the door of the cloakroom, and began to choose clothes and accessories.
"Two o'clock in the afternoon, is that okay?" she asked.
Lu Yanxiao: "Okay."
"Then we'll meet at two o'clock. I've already booked the tickets for you. Just bring your ID and show up."
Lu Yanxiao: "Okay."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Mo made an OK gesture to Wei Wei.
On the surface, she tried her best to remain calm, but in reality, she was afraid of the outcome being counterproductive, making it impossible to be completely free of psychological burden. Wei Wei noticed her state and drove her to the convention center early in the afternoon. She first met Chen Qi for a while, and seeing Chen Qi's relaxed and confident appearance, she finally relaxed a little.
At 1:40 PM, the three of them emerged from the exhibition hall again, pretending to have just arrived and met each other, and stood at the entrance waiting for Lu Yanxiao. At 1:50 PM, Lu Yanxiao approached from the parking lot, carrying a green paper bag.
"Here." Lin Mo waved at him.
When Lu Yanxiao came up to her, she introduced him to him with a smile, "Wei Wei, my best friend."
"Hello, I've met you before." Wei Wei said frankly, "More than ten years ago, when I was in high school."
Lu Yanxiao's eyes flashed with surprise several times. He obviously didn't expect the other party to be so straightforward. He simply didn't hide it. "Hello, senior sister, I've heard my brother mention you before." As he said that, he handed the bag in his hand to Wei Wei, "A greeting gift."
Wei Wei was stunned and panicked for a moment, so she didn't take the bag.
Lin Mo was surprised that Wei Wei knew Lu Sijian.
But come to think of it, Lu Yanxiao and Lu Sijian went to the same high school. Since Wei Wei was three years older than Lu Yanxiao, she must have been a classmate of Lu Sijian. She had never thought about it in this way.
Lin Mo tugged at Wei Wei's sleeve: "Are you classmates with Brother Jian?"
Wei Wei nodded as if waking from a dream, then took the bag from Lu Yanxiao and jokingly said, "Why, you want to bribe me?"
Lu Yanxiao smiled: "I have plans in this regard."
"That depends on how you treat my Lin Mo." As he spoke, Wei Wei took Lin Mo's arm.
This was a signal for her, and Lin Mo received it accurately. She let out a brisk "Ah," pretending to be embarrassed. "I forgot to introduce Teacher Chen Qi." She smiled apologetically at Chen Qi and introduced him to Lu Yanxiao, "He's Wei Wei's friend, Chen Qi. There's an exhibition hall inside that displays his porcelain. We just happened to run into him when we arrived at the door."
"Hello." Chen Qi stretched out a hand towards Lu Yanxiao, deliberately showing the watch on his wrist.
Lu Yanxiao shook hands with him politely: "Hello, Lu Yanxiao."
"Is he the friend you are waiting for?" Chen Qi turned sideways and looked at Lin Mo.
Lin Mo nodded: "Yes."
"Now that we're here, let's go in. I have to play the role of host and serve as your guide today." Chen Qi said, extending a hand to Lin Mo, "Momo, give me all the tickets."
Lin Mo was embarrassed. How could Chen Qi act so freely? He didn't tell her to call him "Momo" during the rehearsal.
"Momo, give me the ticket." Chen Qi urged.
"Oh, here you go." Lin Mo had no choice but to accept the role. Just as she was about to catch up, her collar was grabbed from behind. She turned her head and saw Lu Yanxiao looking at her sinisterly.
"Are you familiar with him?"
Lin Mo played dumb: "With whom?"
"That butterfly."
Lin Mo followed his gaze and saw that Chen Qi had indeed dressed up carefully to match her today. He wore a shirt with a blue ink painting on the upper body and light-colored trousers on the lower body. Although his hairstyle was specially done, his overall outfit and style were normal. The word "butterfly" clearly carried personal emotions.
Lin Mo seemed to smell a hint of jealousy.
She glared at Lu Yanxiao and said, "We just met, it's rude of you to say that to me."
"We just met, and you're already calling me so affectionately. Who's being rude?" Lu Yanxiao grabbed her wrist, looking like he was going to settle the score with her. "Besides, I'm your friend?"
"Lin Mo, what are you doing? Come here quickly!" Wei Wei's voice came from a distance.
Lin Mo didn't answer Lu Yanxiao. She just said, "Hurry over there! Don't keep us waiting!" and trotted off to catch up. After catching up, Wei Wei grabbed her arm and whispered, "How's it going? How's his reaction?"
Lin Mo repeated Lu Yanxiao's original words.
Wei Wei was excited: "That's jealousy. It started well, but you have to keep trying. Try to arouse his possessiveness towards you and force him to confess to you directly and admit that he is jealous."
Lin Mo nodded and walked in the planned direction. She walked in the middle, with Wei Wei on her left and Chen Qi on her right, so she could pretend to chat with Chen Qi while walking.
Lu Yanxiao stood two or three steps away from them, his face gloomy, his eyes sharp and aggressive, scanning the man named Chen Qi, as if he wanted to see through this "butterfly".
"Junior, why are you standing there? Let's go."
Lin Mo and Wei Wei turned around and looked at him.
Lu Yanxiao temporarily suppressed his displeasure, raised the corners of his lips symbolically, quickly caught up with them, took Lin Mo's hand, and pulled her towards him. In this way, the four of them were divided into two rows, with Wei Wei and Chen Qi in the front and him and Lin Mo in the back.
Lin Mo's attention was focused on the things in the exhibition hall. She obediently let him hold her hand. He forcefully spread her fingers apart and then clasped theirs together, as if only in this way could he hold her tightly.
At this moment, Chen Qi glanced back inadvertently.
As if in a provocative move, Lu Yanxiao deliberately raised his two hands with their fingers clasped together, as if to declare his sovereignty.
Chen Qi was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned around and muttered to Wei Wei, "Jealous, jealous."
Wei Wei scolded him in a low voice: "Calm down, don't show your true colors, just continue."
As she spoke, Wei Wei turned around and gave Lin Mo a look. Lin Mo understood and asked casually, "Where is the check-in point for garbage classification?" The exhibition materials said that there was an area introducing garbage classification, where different types of garbage were made into works of art for scientific popularization, and it was a place suitable for taking photos and checking in.
Lu Yanxiao didn't notice the eye contact between the three people at all, and answered Lin Mo's question seriously: "It's in the area thirty meters east of the first floor lobby."
Lin Mo was surprised for two seconds. She didn't expect that Lu Yanxiao had also read the information in advance. She couldn't help but be moved, but the show had to go on.
"Really? Forget it, I'd better go ask Chen Qi. He knows this place best." Lin Mo pushed his hand down, caught up with Chen Qi in two or three steps, and asked excitedly, "Teacher Chen Qi, where is the check-in point for the science popularization of garbage sorting?"
"It's just ahead, follow me."
"Okay."
The three of them walked forward side by side, returning to the state where Lin Mo was in the middle, and Chen Qi and Wei Wei were on both sides.
Lu Yanxiao stood at the back, closed his eyes, exhaled deeply, and continued to suppress his anger. Besides accompanying Lin Mo, he had another important mission today: to leave a good impression on Lin Mo's friends. So, he had to hold back.
Soon, four people came to the garbage sorting check-in area.
The atmosphere on the scene was lively and energetic. Artists used transparent materials of different colors to make various shapes, such as stars, animals, geometric shapes, abstract shapes, etc. These shapes were filled with sorted garbage so that the audience could remember them in an interesting way.
Lin Mo spotted a large Möbius strip and ran over quickly: "Wei Wei, let's take a picture here."
The Möbius strip is dark blue with a contrasting color design inside. It is filled with "recyclable garbage" such as cans, beverage bottles, and milk cartons. There is a sentence marked next to it: Eternity in infinity.
Quite an interesting idea.
Lu Yanxiao stepped forward and naturally prepared to take pictures for them.
"Please help us take good pictures." Lin Mo handed the phone to him, but just as he reached out to take it, he suddenly paused and retracted his hand. "Oh, I forgot, you have a very straight-male aesthetic when it comes to taking pictures. It was like that when I accompanied my aunt to visit Taocheng before." Lin Mo turned her hand and handed the phone to Chen Qi, smiling, "Chen Qi, please help us take pictures."
"No problem, I guarantee you'll be satisfied." Chen Qi took the phone, adjusted the angle exaggeratedly, and taught them how to pose.
Lu Yanxiao snorted and raised his phone to take pictures.
After Chen Qi took a lot of photos, he returned the phone to Lin Mo and handed it over.
Lin Mo first glanced at the photos taken by Lu Yanxiao: "Look at you, you didn't even take a complete photo of the Möbius strip."
Lu Yanxiao was unconvinced: "It's huge, isn't the point to photograph people?"
"We have to take pictures of everything. Otherwise, why would we come here to check in?" Lin Mo looked through the photos Chen Qi had taken on her phone. "Look at what he took. Not only did he capture the whole thing, but he also made our legs look longer and our bodies look taller. You have to choose the angle."
Lu Yanxiao glanced at him and sneered disdainfully: "What a show-off."
Lin Mo glared at him.
Chen Qi pretended not to hear their conversation and eagerly leaned closer to ask, "How was it? I took the photo. Are you satisfied?"
"I'm so satisfied." Lin Mo exclaimed, "Teacher Chen Qi, you're worthy of being an artist. Your aesthetic sense is amazing."
Chen Qi pointed at Lu Yanxiao's position with his chin and said, "Compared to your friend?"
Lin Mo smiled and said, "You know his straight male aesthetic."
Lu Yanxiao: "..."
“Friends” again.
Lu Yanxiao bit his back teeth, his nose seemed to be on fire. He tried his best to remain calm, put his arms around Lin Mo's shoulders, exerted force with his palms, and pulled her into his arms.
"What are you doing?" Lin Mo was looking at photos on her phone and was caught off guard and lost her balance.
Lu Yanxiao squeezed her shoulder without responding. His gaze pierced Chen Qi fiercely, a perfunctory smile plastered on his face, but his words were devoid of warmth. He said, "Chen...?"
Chen Qi was confused: "Chen Qi, the Qi of paint."
"Oh, let me correct you. We are not friends. I am her husband and she is my wife. We have a marriage certificate and our relationship is legally recognized. Do you understand?" As he spoke, he held Lin Mo tighter without any hesitation.
When he finished speaking, the scene froze instantly.
Chen Qi subconsciously closed his mouth and swallowed. Even though he knew he was acting, he was still shocked. Although Lu Yanxiao had a smile on his face, he was clearly threatening him. His eyes and words were full of aggression.
After about three or five seconds, Chen Qi laughed dryly: "Haha, I know, it's just a joke."
"The person being joked about doesn't find it funny." Lu Yanxiao still had a smile on his face, but his eyes were cold and his attitude was unyielding.
"What are you doing?" Lin Mo whispered, reaching out and gently tugging at his sleeve.
Lu Yanxiao remained calm, holding her hand and smiling, "I don't mean anything else. I'm just trying to be nice and remind you, fearing that Teacher Chen Qi might misunderstand."
Chen Qi was unable to resist and said, "Sorry, I understand now." Then, with an awkward smile, he changed the subject: "There are many interesting things over there. Let's go over there."
Wei Wei glanced at Lu Yanxiao's hand and said, "Oh, don't show off your affection here, Junior. We're here to take pictures at the exhibition. How can we take pictures if you're hugging her like this?"
Lu Yanxiao had no choice but to let Lin Mo go, but he was no longer in the mood to watch the exhibition.
He seemed to be browsing casually, but in fact his attention was all on Lin Mo and Chen Qi.
The first and second floors were primarily focused on environmental protection. Besides exhibits of environmentally friendly art, they also featured interactive areas, lectures, and activities, making for a lively atmosphere. Chen Qi enthusiastically served as a guide, taking photos and explaining things to the two girls. Lin Mo seemed to admire him, smiling at him from time to time and praising him as a true artist and saying she was lucky to have met him today.
Lu Yanxiao clenched his phone tightly and endured it.
The third floor is a relatively quiet exhibition hall for other artworks specially designed to attract tourists.
In the oil painting exhibition hall, Chen Qi explained each painting to them. Lin Mo was surprised to discover that, like her, Chen Qi had studied art for many years as a child, and both had been asked by their teachers to copy the paintings of a certain master. It felt like they had met a kindred spirit, and they immediately added each other on WeChat, asking to share their childhood drawings.
Lu Yanxiao clenched his fists, his back teeth almost breaking. He had never seen the paintings Lin Mo drew when she was a child.
He wanted to drag Lin Mo away, but because Wei Wei was there, he had to restrain himself. But his patience was almost at its limit. If he stayed any longer, there was no guarantee he would do anything. So, when he reached the entrance to the ceramics exhibition hall, he said with forced politeness, "I'm going to go out for some fresh air. I'll meet you on the first floor," and then left on his own.
As soon as Lu Yanxiao left, the other three immediately gathered together.
Chen Qi frowned. "Apart from when he first corrected me that you two were husband and wife, he seemed to be fine after that. He didn't seem too jealous. Could it be that he was just trying to correct me?"
Wei Wei sighed in agreement, "You've both added each other on WeChat. You've both become soulmates and regret meeting each other too late. Why hasn't he shown any significant reaction?"
In order to avoid being exposed, although Lin Mo would intentionally get closer to Chen Qi during the exhibition, she did not ignore Lu Yanxiao the entire time. She would occasionally talk to him and hold his hand. From observation, apart from the initial feeling that Lu Yanxiao was angry, there seemed to be nothing particularly abnormal afterwards.
After hearing what the two said, Lin Mo was a little confused: "Maybe he wasn't jealous in the first place."
Wei Wei: "Looks like I have no choice but to use my trump card."
Chen Qi nodded and comforted Lin Mo: "I will act well in the next part, and he will definitely explode."
Since the person being tested was not there, the three of them naturally lost interest in strolling around. They just looked around casually and then went to the first floor to meet Lu Yanxiao.
There are five rows of wooden benches in the rest area on the first floor. There is a stage directly in front of the benches. An environmental protection science promotional video is playing on the big screen on the stage. There is an open space behind the benches. In the center of the open space is a large robot made of waste cardboard, about two or three meters high. Many people are checking in below.
Lin Mo looked around but didn't see Lu Yanxiao.
She picked up her phone and was about to send a message to Lu Yanxiao when she suddenly heard someone whispering next to her, "Look, he's so handsome." She looked in the direction the person was talking and, as expected, the person being talked about was Lu Yanxiao.
When they first met, she could tell that Lu Yanxiao's outfit today was carefully coordinated.
She wore a black shirt with black wide-leg pants, and a black belt with a silver metal buckle to tighten her waist, making her legs look long and straight. She exuded a simple, elegant, and neat sense of fashion, which was both good-looking and in line with the theme of the exhibition.
At this time, Lu Yanxiao was leaning against the pillar in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass, looking down at his mobile phone.
The phone is held horizontally, and it seems that he is playing a game.
"Lu Yanxiao." Lin Mo walked over.
Lu Yanxiao put away his phone, his face expressionless as he asked casually, "Are you done shopping?"
"Well, let's go over there and rest for a while. Wei Wei and the others went to buy some drinks." Lin Mo pulled him to sit on the last row of chairs in the rest area.
"Are you in a bad mood today?" Lin Mo asked tentatively, "You'd rather play games than go shopping with us."
Lu Yanxiao glanced at her sideways: "Why do you think I'm in a bad mood?"
He didn't deny it.
Lin Mo suppressed her joy and acted confused: "I don't know. Why?"
Lu Yanxiao pinched her cheek but said nothing.
"Why? Does it have anything to do with me?" she asked persistently.
Lu Yanxiao remained silent, staring at her quietly. After a moment, he asked leisurely, "You and your friends seem to like that Chen guy very much." He paused again, his eyes dark and unclear. "Really?"
Lin Mo was slightly stunned. She stared into the man's eyes, wondering if he was jealous. But his expression was calm, even with a hint of disdainful sarcasm, making it difficult to understand for a moment.
She didn't want to keep guessing, she wanted to be sure.
Lin Mo smiled and said cheerfully, "Yes, he likes it very much. I just found out from our conversation that he studied art for more than ten years when he was young, and later even got admitted to a flight school. However, because his father was seriously ill, he gave up his dream and returned home to take over the family ceramics business. I didn't expect it to be so successful now. Many of the porcelains we just saw were painted by him. Oh, and the landscape painting on the shirt he wore today was also painted by him..."
Lin Mo observed Lu Yanxiao's reaction as she spoke. From the corner of her eye, she saw that his hand was tightening as he gripped the phone, and the veins on the back of his hand were bulging. She continued to exert force, exclaiming exaggeratedly, "He's really talented, don't you think?"
Lu Yanxiao snorted coldly, turned his head to the other side and remained silent.
Lin Mo hunched over and moved to the other side to sit down, looking into his eyes and said, "Are you jealous?"
"I'm jealous of him, what a joke." Lu Yanxiao didn't dodge anymore. He looked straight into her eyes, stretched out a hand, pinched her chin, and said through gritted teeth, "Look at me, is there anything about me that I need to be jealous of?"
"Narcissistic." Lin Mo complained and pushed his hand away.
While we were waiting, there were changes on the stage. The big screen turned into a static background picture with the words "Environmental Protection Interactive Challenge" written on it. The staff pushed up two beautiful small wooden carts with the prizes of the challenge placed on them. They were all environmental protection related peripheral products, including canvas bags, refrigerator magnets, beautiful notebooks, small art figurines, handicrafts, etc.
"Ah, I want that canvas bag." Lin Mo stood up excitedly and pointed at the stage.
Lu Yanxiao followed her gaze and asked, "How do you win?"
"I heard from Chen Qi that we have to participate in the challenge. It seems that if we win, we can get a prize."
"Leave it to me." Lu Yanxiao looked determined to win.
As the two chatted, the host began his opening remarks: "This interactive challenge is designed to promote environmental awareness and enhance public awareness of environmental protection. Each challenge consists of three parts, requiring teams of two to complete. We will invite six audience groups to participate on stage. The top three winning groups will receive today's surprise gifts, which include..."
The background music and the host's voice sounded, and the atmosphere on the scene was instantly ignited. Many people raised their hands and were eager to try.
Host: "Anyone who wants to participate can raise their hands to signal me."
Lin Mo looked anxiously into the distance: "Why haven't Wei Wei and Chen Qi come back yet?"
"What are we waiting for them to do?" Lu Yanxiao snorted and raised his right hand.
Lin Mo was surprised: "What are you going to do?"
Lu Yanxiao remained noncommittal: "Don't you want a prize?"
Lin Mo suddenly became nervous. She looked around vigilantly and quickly pulled the man's arm down: "Put your hand down, quickly."
Lu Yanxiao: “?”
"It's the weekend, so there are a lot of people here. It's easy to explain if we run into acquaintances offstage, but what if we go on stage together and get seen by colleagues hanging out here? You better keep a low profile."
Lin Mo craned her neck as she spoke, looking into the distance until she finally saw Chen Qi's shadow. She stood on tiptoe and waved at him, signaling him to hurry up. Chen Qi, holding three bottles of drinks, ran over quickly.
Lin Mo took two of the bottles and looked behind him: "Where's Wei Wei?"
"I ran into someone I know and he said he'd come over later."
Lin Mo was frustrated: "I still want to participate in the challenge with her."
The corners of Lu Yanxiao's lips twitched, and he silently rolled up his sleeves, rubbing his hands together and preparing to raise his hand again.
But Chen Qi proudly pointed at himself with his thumb and said, "Me? Isn't this a ready-made candidate? I've watched this competition several times, I know everything. I guarantee you'll take first place."
"Okay, then let's team up." Lin Mo and Chen Qi hit it off and handed two bottles of water to Lu Yanxiao.
Chen Qi also gave him his own water: "Brother, please help me get it."
Lu Yanxiao: "..."
Without waiting for Lu Yanxiao to reply, Chen Qi actively raised his hand towards the stage. The two were quickly selected by the host and walked towards the stage side by side. The host's voice spread throughout the lounge area through the speakers.
"Let's welcome this group of contestants. Wow, what a talented couple! They're a perfect match!"
The man is talented and the woman is beautiful, they are a perfect match?
Lu Yanxiao sneered silently. As he watched the two men depart, his hands unconsciously tightened, gripping the bottle until it crackled. Anger, sadness, or perhaps self-mockery—he couldn't pinpoint the specific emotion that overwhelmed him, but at that moment, he was certain his patience had reached its limit. If he didn't do something, he'd go mad.
The host continues to select audience members to participate in the challenge.
Lin Mo and Chen Qi walked around to the right side of the stage. They needed to get the props for the challenge from the staff before going on stage. The first part was a quick-answer question, and the prop was a plastic palm used to indicate raising a hand.
Each of them received one.
One prop consisted of three plastic palms put together, which could make clapping sounds when shaken back and forth. It was the first time that Lin Mo saw this novel toy, and she walked towards the stage while shaking it.
However, when she stepped onto the stairs, a tall figure suddenly rushed to the side, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She was caught off guard and lost her footing, falling into the man's arms.
The familiarity of the body and breath made her happy. It was Lu Yanxiao.
She raised her head and met the man's eyes.
Lu Yanxiao's face was stern, the anger in his eyes almost overflowing, and he uttered two cold words between his lips and teeth: "Go home."
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