Chapter 54 [54]
Love
Luo Qingyue noticed that Luo Hanzhou was becoming increasingly indifferent to her.
Not only did she suffer a setback after complaining about Wen Ning, but she also resolved to be a dutiful and caring younger sister, showing concern and warmth. However, Luo Hanzhou remained indifferent to her.
"Brother, it's gotten really cold today, wear more clothes when you go out."
"Brother, this restaurant looks really nice. When are you free? Let's go together."
"'Starfall' won the App Store's Game of the Year award. Congratulations, brother. You're awesome!!!"
That noon, Luo Qingyue and Lu Mingxiao had lunch in the office.
Sitting on the sofa, Luo Qingyue handed him her phone: "He either sends a 'hmm' or 'oh' to brush me off, or he doesn't reply at all. My brother never used to do that."
Luo Hanzhou is a seasoned sister-obsessed man, the kind who will coax his sister anytime, anywhere.
Lu Mingxiao looked at the chat history, which was full of long messages from Luo Qingyue, while Luo Hanzhou's replies were only a few words.
In addition to what she just mentioned, there is also "thank you", which is too unfamiliar between them as siblings.
Luo Qingyue felt very aggrieved and rested her head on Lu Mingxiao's shoulder.
Anyone with eyes could see something was wrong. Lu Mingxiao had one arm around Luo Qingyue's shoulder while swiping his phone screen with the other.
The turning point was New Year's Eve, which was when people learned about their relationship.
Lu Mingxiao chuckled: "It seems we really have caused your brother psychological trauma."
"I told you so, but you didn't believe me."
Luo Qingyue picked up Lu Mingxiao's phone and found the chat interface with her brother.
The content actually still stopped at the time when Luo Hanzhou asked him if he was in a relationship. It has been about two months.
"You never talked again after that," she said in surprise.
“Your brother and I are both busy, so we only talk when we have something to say. We don’t share anything interesting with each other like you, Jingxi, and Lü Shuyi do.”
Lu Mingxiao replied, "However, on my birthday, your brother called me to send his blessings."
Luo Qingyue said thoughtfully, "Now, I'll only make a phone call if it's something extremely important."
Lu Mingxiao said “hmm”: “Just send an emoji and see if he has blocked me.”
Luo Qingyue chose love, and Lu Mingxiao was shocked: "Isn't that too ambiguous?"
She was quick and pressed send, and there was no message rejection prompt on the interface.
The childish kid has grown up.
Lu Mingxiao was thinking with relief, but in the blink of an eye, Luo Hanzhou sent him a question mark.
The one who tied the knot must untie it.
Lu Mingxiao took the phone from Luo Qingyue and said, "I'm here to ask your brother to play basketball. If he doesn't come out, I'll go directly to his house. This matter must be resolved tonight. If it's delayed any longer, I'm afraid he'll get depressed."
Luo Qingyue watched Lu Mingxiao send out the invitation.
Judging from Luo Hanzhou's current attitude towards her, there is a high possibility that she will be rejected.
Unexpectedly, Luo Hanzhou replied in seconds.
They play at the same location regularly, so I only asked about the time.
Lu Mingxiao set the time for 7:30 and asked Luo Qingyue, "Do you want to go together?"
Luo Qingyue thought about it and decided to give up: "I don't want to see my brother's cold face for the time being. I'll go find Jingxi tonight. She has a lot of new desserts, I want to try them."
Lu Mingxiao responded, glanced at his watch, stood up and walked towards the coffee corner.
As it approached the afternoon workday, he would make a cup of coffee for Luo Qingyue to take to her office, and he even bought paper cups specifically for this purpose.
Luo Qingyue followed him.
Standing outside the bar, I watched his every move.
Even though she has seen the coffee-making process many times, she never gets tired of it.
Decaffeinated coffee beans have an energizing effect and won't keep you awake.
Knowing that Luo Qingyue liked it, Lu Mingxiao specially found a supplier to customize an exclusive version, which had a mellow taste and would not turn sour.
After the coffee was extracted, Lu Mingxiao first poured it into a paper cup, then poured milk into a latte art pitcher and frothed the milk on the machine.
The milk foam was skimmed off and became silky smooth. He shook it gently, tilted the coffee cup, and slowly poured it in.
This was the part that Luo Qingyue was most looking forward to. She held her breath and didn't dare to blink.
The liquid in the cup rose to its highest point, and Lu Mingxiao's hand holding the latte art pot gently shook it in front of his eyes.
A short while later, a particularly beautiful heart appeared on the surface.
Lu Mingxiao had never drawn this pattern for anyone else; only she had it.
The milk foam disappears very quickly, so Luo Qingyue usually takes a picture first, and then Lu Mingxiao puts the lid back on.
In fact, every time I take a photo, the shape of the heart is no different.
But when dozens of photos are put together in an album, they look particularly spectacular.
Many things are easy to do, but difficult to stick to.
All her heartfelt wishes were proof of Lu Mingxiao's love for her. Luo Qingyue tiptoed and kissed Lu Mingxiao's cheek.
Picking up the coffee cup, Luo Qingyue was about to leave when she suddenly remembered something.
"I can't let my game with my brother go to waste. I'm giving you a task. If you complete it, I'll treat you to a nice meal when we get home."
The small umbrellas were used up faster than expected, and someone bought a new batch of stock.
Lu Mingxiao pulled Luo Qingyue into his arms and whispered in her ear, "Okay, I'll wait."
Luo Qingyue responded quickly and looked up at him: "I haven't told you what the mission is yet."
Lu Mingxiao had already seen through everything, and smiled: "What you want to know, I also want to know."
——
Speaking of playing basketball together, it dates back to when Lu Mingxiao was still in Longhua.
Luo Hanzhou is good at socializing and has many friends. He often promotes the hotels, restaurants, gyms and other businesses they have opened in his circle of friends.
It was quite a coincidence that when Luo Hanzhou was promoting the basketball court, Lu Mingxiao saw it on social media and happened to know the owner.
Lu Mingxiao liked this status and unexpectedly received a private message from Luo Hanzhou: "He Yunliang and I are together. Are you free tonight? Come play basketball with us. We are just short of one person."
He Yunliang is the owner of the basketball hall and a mutual friend of Lu Mingxiao and Luo Hanzhou.
After finishing the project, Lu Mingxiao had some free time and used his superb skills to dominate the court.
As he participated more often, he got to know many fellow golfers, such as Han Xiao and Qiao Yan, who were both good people. Later, when he founded Mingyue, he brought Cheng Wang along to join as well.
Tonight's game is Lu Mingxiao's team.
After Luo Hanzhou agreed, he called others in the group, including Cheng Wang.
The basketball court is brightly lit, the high-ceiling space provides a wide view, and the floor reflects shiny light.
Lu Mingxiao and Cheng Wang came from Mingyue together. When they arrived, Luo Hanzhou was already there.
Luo Hanzhou was chatting enthusiastically with his fellow players on the sidelines.
Lu Mingxiao went over and greeted the others first, but his gaze finally settled on Luo Hanzhou.
Lu Mingxiao curled his lips and called out "Mr. Luo".
Luo Hanzhou did a good job of pretending and responded with "Mr. Lu".
Han Xiao stood beside Cheng Wang and looked at the two people in front of him: "If you don't know, you would think we are at a negotiation site."
The next second, he asked Cheng Wang, "The tension is so palpable, could it be a grudge over having your sister stolen?"
On the way here, Cheng Wang heard Lu Mingxiao explain the reason for organizing this gathering.
He hadn't told his fellow basketball players about his relationship with Luo Qingyue. Hearing Han Xiao's question, Cheng Wang asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Han Xiao said bluntly, "Last time we went on vacation to the island, I already saw that Mingxiao liked Xiaoyue, and Hanzhou was just a fool."
Cheng Wang couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing: "I'll remind Mingxiao to hold back a bit and let Hanzhou block a few more times. That way, the grudge of having his sister stolen can be reduced by at least 0.01%."
The basketball game is 5V5, and the groups are divided by drawing lots.
Before the lots were drawn, Cheng Wang had already placed him and Luo Hanzhou in different camps.
After listening to Cheng Wang's advice, Lu Mingxiao felt that this was actually the best way.
Given Luo Hanzhou's hostile attitude towards him, if they were in the same group, the ball would go straight into his own basket without any further ado.
He couldn't sacrifice his teammates' honor, and he didn't want to accompany Luo Hanzhou in losing this person.
Everyone was present, and Qiao Yan brought out ten playing cards.
Five spades and five hearts, facing up, are drawn one by one.
Lu Mingxiao drew spades and Cheng Wang drew hearts.
The next turn was Luo Hanzhou. Lu Mingxiao watched him turn over the card, which was a spade.
As they looked at each other, Lu Mingxiao originally planned to switch with Cheng Wang.
But Luo Hanzhou took the red heart from Cheng Wang's hand first and handed him the spade.
He didn't say a word, just spoke bluntly, as if he would silence Cheng Wang if he didn't, giving off a particularly domineering vibe.
"How can someone be like this? They take my things without even asking for my opinion."
Cheng Wang was almost petrified as he looked at the cards in his hand, while Lu Mingxiao looked at Luo Hanzhou's back with a bright smile.
"He's afraid I'll get there first. Come on, go change your clothes. We'll take back what we lost on the court."
Lu Mingxiao and Cheng Wang changed into the same style of white team uniforms in the locker room and returned to the court.
Luo Hanzhou's team was black, and the two camps were particularly clear because of the color contrast.
After doing pre-match warm-up exercises, Lu Mingxiao and Luo Hanzhou were in their respective halves.
Face to face, waiting for the referee to give the order to kick off.
Luo Hanzhou was the first to make a harsh statement: "If I don't teach you a lesson today, do you think I'm a pushover?"
Lu Mingxiao showed no sign of backing down: "If you have the strength, then bring it on. I'll fight you to the end."
In any competitive game, Lu Mingxiao does not advocate humility.
Let your strength speak for itself; otherwise, you are disrespecting your opponent and yourself.
Luo Hanzhou's face was cold and his aura was practically radiating tension.
Lu Mingxiao remained calm. When he heard the whistle, he jumped up and stretched out his arms to catch the ball.
Luo Hanzhou was a beat too slow, and Lu Mingxiao bypassed him, rushed to the opposite half of the court, and started coordinating with his teammates.
Luo Hanzhou was not willing to admit defeat either. He kept a close eye on Lu Mingxiao and stole several of his passes. It turned out that this amazing explosive power could only be unleashed after being stimulated.
Lu Mingxiao was aroused by his desire to win, and Gai Luo Hanzhou was ruthless in his actions.
Whenever Luo Hanzhou made a layup, Lu Mingxiao would be there without any surprises.
Cheng Wang was shocked when he saw this: Brother, that’s your wife’s brother, you are so brave.
The score was very close, and with ten seconds left, Lu Mingxiao's team was down by two points.
Luo Hanzhou was about to open the champagne bottle when Lu Mingxiao received the ball from Cheng Wang and stood on the three-point line.
Lu Mingxiao jumped, stretched out his arm, and threw the ball out in one smooth motion.
In that brief moment, Luo Hanzhou calculated the height and angle. The ball, which should have gone in precisely, missed the rim, hit the backboard, and bounced back to the ground.
The final whistle blew.
While his teammates celebrated around him, Luo Hanzhou remained expressionless, showing no joy whatsoever.
Lu Mingxiao wiped the sweat off his face with his jersey. He looked up and saw Luo Hanzhou coming over. He said straight to the point, "I'm not someone who can't stand losing. Since you won, I want to say congratulations to you. I sincerely do."
Luo Hanzhou turned to him and subconsciously asked, "Are you sure you didn't let them win the game?"
Lu Mingxiao was confused for two seconds, thinking that he was talking about the last three-pointer.
He took the bottle of mineral water handed to him by Cheng Wang, gave it to Luo Hanzhou first, then unscrewed his own bottle and asked in return.
"Why, you've been beaten by me so many times, and when you finally win, you think I did it on purpose."
"No one can shoot 100% from three-point range. I really wanted to make it too, to avenge my little Yue. What a pity."
Luo Hanzhou questioned, his voice icy: "Xiaoyue's surname is Luo, not Lu. When did she become part of your family?"
"Shouldn't you be asking me what revenge I want for her?"
Luo Hanzhou didn't say anything. Lu Mingxiao looked at him and chuckled, "You're right to feel guilty. Do you want to find a place to have a couple of drinks and have a good chat?"
Lu Mingxiao's eyes and words were too sincere, and although Luo Hanzhou had resentment, he really didn't intend to refuse.
After a pause, he heard Lu Mingxiao add, "By the way, Xiaoyue didn't give me any pocket money. If you're going, you can treat me."
Luo Hanzhou: “?”
[Author's Note]
Moon: I'll be waiting for you with my little umbrella!!!
Xiao: I guarantee the mission will be completed perfectly!!!
Brother: Am I some kind of shrew?!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
