Help him
"No, no!" Zhuang Jinghao shook his head frantically, "He definitely can't do it!"
Zuo Xiao scoffed lightly: "Liang Sirui has directly expressed his interest in your brother, so of course we should go straight for it! Even if your brother is an old-fashioned person and can't fall asleep right away, a kiss should be okay, right?"
Zhuang Jinghao tried to imagine her brother and Si Rui kissing, but it felt awkward. "No, no, my brother has never even held a girl's hand. He definitely can't do that!"
Nagging... Zuo Xiao rolled his eyes in the dark: "Then let's start with physical contact."
"Well, we can proceed step by step, starting with holding hands." Zhuang Jinghao said thoughtfully.
"Holding hands counts as that? That's too childish! Even high school students don't do that these days!"
"Uh... so the physical contact you mean is..."
"At least it should be a hug, right? Send him downstairs at night, don't say anything, just hug him."
"Ah? So direct? My brother probably can't do it..."
I’m so annoyed! Zuo Xiao said unhappily, “Whatever you want, I’m going to sleep.”
"Oh, don't be like this!" Zhuang Jinghao grabbed her arm and shook it, "Please help me think about it again..."
"If you have the time, you might as well do some ideological work on Liang Sirui." Zuo Xiao said coldly, "Let her take the initiative. Don't just say you like her and then do nothing, passively waiting for her to pursue you."
"But Si Rui looks a bit arrogant, don't you think?" Zhuang Jing showed a rare bit of insight. "Besides, she shouldn't be short of suitors, right? Why shouldn't my brother take the initiative, while she should..." After saying this, she added muttered, "She's not me..."
"That's the problem," Zuo Xiao said bluntly. "Both parties are arrogant and neither is taking the initiative, so why bother talking about it? Ultimately, they just don't like each other enough. If they really liked each other, who would care who took the initiative first?"
Zhuang Jinghao thought seriously for a while and said, "I think what you said makes sense. How about this? I'll organize a group and we'll all go out and play together. You can use your keen eyes to help analyze: Do my brother and Si Rui really like each other? Who likes them more? Then we can see how to prescribe the right remedy..."
"Are you crazy?" Zuo Xiao interrupted her with a sneer. "It's not like I have nothing to do. Why would I be a matchmaker for them? Besides, I also have to take care of you and Chen Liqing. How can I take care of so many things?"
Zhuang Jinghao hesitated for a moment and said sullenly, "Then you should give priority to my brother and Si Rui, okay? I'm still young, but my brother finally met a girl he likes, and I don't want him to miss it."
Zuo Xiao's heart trembled. She hadn't expected this cutie to put her own love life on the back burner to fulfill her brother's wish. She was undoubtedly serious about Chen Liqing; otherwise, she wouldn't have injured herself practicing badminton, a lifelong athlete, just to win his affection. Zuo Xiao was impressed by her determination and fighting spirit. Even more surprising, she was willing to prioritize solving her brother's problem under these circumstances.
Zuo Xiao thought for a moment, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Then how are you going to repay me?"
"Anything is fine!" The little cutie suddenly got excited. "What do you want me to do?"
Zuo Xiao thought about it, but couldn't think of anything he could ask her for, so he said, "Save it for now, and I'll cash it out when I think of it."
"Okay, okay!" Zhuang Jing opened the champagne in advance, looking silly. "That's great! With you here, I'm sure I'll be single soon!"
She immediately set to work the next day, planning a weekend get-together. By noon, she had come up with three plans, A, B, and C, and consulted Zuo Xiao over dinner.
"A: Go to Universal Studios; B: Come to my house for a party; C: Stay in a B&B in the suburbs for two days and one night. Xiaoxiao, baby, which one do you think is better?" After saying that, he pushed the notebook in his hand forward.
Zuo Xiao picked up the notebook, thought for a moment, and said, "A is a no-no. It's too hot, and the atmosphere isn't right. B is boring. It's hard to spark romance in a familiar place, and there's not much to do at your house. C is okay. We can plan some flirtatious activities, and at the same time, help you and Chen Liqing progress."
"Ahhh!" Zhuang Jinghao immediately shouted excitedly, "Then it's C! Choose C!"
The two of them discussed while eating, and soon finalized the detailed plan.
Zhuang Yu'an boarded a flight back to Beijing on Wednesday night. As the plane slowly descended over the city, he turned to look out the window.
This time I was away from Beijing for a week and a half. I spent most of my time at the factory and holding remote meetings with the team. The rest of the time was spent caring for my sister and chatting with Liang Sirui.
He increasingly felt that he and Liang Sirui were a perfect match. She possessed a stable spiritual core, a rich inner life, and a calm personality. She was also unusually gentle and slow to warm up emotionally, creating a comfortable rhythm in conversation. Furthermore, they had no shortage of common topics, ranging from music to reading, food, and sports. Liang Sirui enjoyed swimming, mountain climbing, hiking, and even played badminton. It was foreseeable that they would have plenty of things to talk about and do together in the future.
It was late at night when he got home. The lights in the living room were still on for him, and his sister rushed to the door to greet him.
After not seeing each other for ten days or so, he noticed that his sister seemed to have lost some weight. His aunt told him that his sister didn't let him come over on weekends or cook dinner during the week, presumably because she was eating all sorts of random food outside and, in the hot weather, she wasn't eating enough, so she wasn't getting enough nutrition.
Zhuang Yu'an handed her a bag of Cantonese dim sum: "Go and have a rest. I'll wash up and go to bed soon."
"No rush." Zhuang Jing said with a smile, "Brother, let's call Si Rui this weekend and go to the suburbs for a couple of days. There's a really nice B&B there, right next to a mountain and a super beautiful lake where you can swim, kayak, and paddleboard..."
Zhuang Yu'an also wanted to make an appointment with Liang Sirui, so he smiled and said, "Okay! Send me the name and I'll decide."
"Hey, I booked it a long time ago!" Zhuang Jing couldn't hide her pride. "That B&B is very popular, and it's peak season, so it's not guaranteed to be available if you book last-minute. I've booked a one-night stay for Saturday. We'll leave early Saturday morning and be back the next afternoon."
"Okay, I'll follow your arrangements."
"By the way, brother..." She was a little nervous, "I also want to invite Luffy and other friends. Do you mind?"
Zhuang Yu'an's eyes glared. He knew with a flicker of his toes who these "other friends" were. He sincerely didn't want them around, but avoiding them wasn't the answer. He'd decided to let go, but letting go meant facing it calmly and peacefully, not simply avoiding her. Besides, he could avoid her once or twice, but could he avoid all future encounters with her, at work or elsewhere?
"It's up to you. I have only one request: no drinking."
Zhuang Jinghao nodded quickly, but in her heart she thought: I'll go back to my room and drink it then, my brother won't know anyway...
The next day, before leaving get off work, Zhuang Yu'an asked his sister to pack up and go home with him. She replied, "Brother, you go home first. I have an appointment with my badminton coach."
Zhuang Yu'an stared at his phone, feeling baffled. His sister had been an avid exerciser since childhood. In middle school, she'd spent half her life running an 800-meter race. After leaving school, she'd become increasingly reluctant to move, refusing all physical activity. Strangely, if she went on a trip or a stroll, she'd walk 10,000 steps a day...
He smiled and replied, "I'm with you."
Half an hour later, the brother and sister arrived at the badminton hall. Zhuang Yu'an was amazed to see his sister meticulously learning the swing and footwork, not taking a break for more than half an hour.
While she was practicing, Zhuang Yu'an approached her coach and found out she had been practicing for almost two weeks. Not only did she study with her coach three times a week, but she also practiced at home and with friends on weekends. She'd strained her leg, but she took a three-day break before resuming her training.
At this point, Zhuang Yu'an felt something was amiss. His sister's love of exercise was a good thing, but excessive exercise could lead to serious injuries. What had caused her sudden change of heart and her eagerness for success?
During the meal, Zhuang Yu'an couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so obsessed with badminton lately? The coach said you're the most dedicated among this group of students."
Zhuang Jing had anticipated his question and confidently gave her prepared answer: "I've been playing badminton with Zuo Xiao and Zhan Jiaxin lately. They're all really good, and I'm the only one who's a complete novice... Hmph, I'm going to work hard to catch up and surpass them!"
Zhuang Yu'an was amused by his sister's strange desire to win and said, "Are they making fun of you?"
"Not really." Zhuang Jing didn't want to betray her friend. Zuo Xiao and Zhan Jiaxin had never made fun of her. The real teasers and callers were someone else, but she couldn't tell her brother.
"I have to save my face too, okay..." she muttered, "I can't be a complete loser at anything..."
Her brother looked at her lovingly and said, "Then I'll practice with you at home from now on. This way I should be able to learn faster than if you practice alone."
Before Zhuang Jinghao could even begin to express her feelings, he added, "But you have to promise me you won't train too hard. The coach also said your physical fitness isn't as good as those girls who exercise regularly. You can't push yourself to the limit right away, or your body won't be able to handle it. Also, it's best to combine it with some basic physical training, like running and squats..."
"No!" Zhuang Jinghao quickly stopped her. "I only like badminton. I don't like other sports! Besides, just practicing badminton is tiring enough. If I have to run on top of that, I'll die!"
Her brother smiled and shook his head, then began to counsel her, saying things like, "Sharpening the knife doesn't delay the chopping of wood," "Haste makes waste," and "You need to practice your skills, and you also need to lay a solid foundation." Zhuang Jing thought to herself, "He's truly a brother. He even has to lecture me on badminton so much. Alas, if I were Si Rui, I'd probably give up."
While the brother and sister were eating, Zuo Xiao was also eating.
She rode on Luffy, wondering dizzily: How did he bring him home? Could it be that she had been feeling too empty lately?
"Um...ah!" The man suddenly came and let out a discordant scream.
"What are you thinking about?" He looked up at her with a flushed face. She shook her head, and Luffy stopped, holding her shoulders and sitting up straight.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Luffy lifted her chin with his finger, admiring every inch of her face, stained crimson with desire. Despite her passionate and unrestrained behavior, her eyes and eyebrows held a lingering innocence, a subtle shyness, and an occasional hint of confusion... A girl like this could easily turn a man into a slave to desire.
He started moving again, but at a slower pace. "Aren't you going to answer me?" he whispered in her ear. "What were you thinking about just now, huh?"
Zuo Xiao raised his hand, touched his chest, and trembled: "You seem to have grown a little stronger recently?"
Luffy chuckled, bit her earlobe and said, "Do you like it?"
"Ha..." She hummed softly, like a sigh and a laugh, "It can be a little stronger..."
The tip of his tongue explored inside, eliciting a series of trembling mewls. His voice suddenly became hoarse: "Then as a reward for my hard training, you have to be a little wilder today..."
The consequence of "being a little wilder" was that when Luffy stood up and put on his clothes, Zuo Xiao looked at his back and felt like a devil.
Raindrops hit the glass. She leaned lazily against the headboard, squinting her eyes and asked, "Do you have any strange hobbies? Are you from the Alphabet Club?"
Luffy chuckled, turned around and sat down on the edge of the bed, grabbing her right hand and examining it. Zuo Xiao lowered her eyes and saw a few traces of coagulated blood hidden between her fingernails.
"You're obviously more like her." He smiled and brought her fingers to his lips, his watery peach blossom eyes staring straight at her. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and sucked the two fingers.
Damn, he’s even more lewd than me!
Zuo Xiao's eyes widened, as if he'd been defiled. He pulled his hand away and said stiffly, "It's going to rain harder. Let's go home."
Luffy slowly buttoned up his shirt and smiled, "For your honor, I won't be in the water this weekend."
"Whatever." Zuo Xiao said as he got out of bed, "My name isn't written on it."
She walked Luffy to the living room door and bumped into Eric, who had obviously been caught in the rain, with his hair and shoulders wet.
"Hi." Luffy greeted him calmly. Eric said rudely, "Why are you still going out in such heavy rain?"
Zuo Xiao glared at him, he shrugged, chuckled and went back to his room.
"Look, even the roommates can't stand it anymore." Luffy put his arm around her waist, his eyes tender and suggestive. Zuo Xiao raised an eyebrow: "Then you're going to sleep in his room?"
Luffy smiled helplessly and left.
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