She glanced down at herself and sighed imperceptibly.
"Miss Cheng." The woman called out to her.
It was Wan Yi.
-
Taking the chairman's private elevator, they went up.
Cheng Buxi quietly scrutinized the woman beside her. Compared to their first meeting, she was visibly more composed and pleasant. But still, she couldn't bring herself to like her.
Proud as she was, she wouldn't easily open her heart to just anyone. Uh... but why did this woman seem more and more agreeable?
"Please sit for a moment. President Lu is still in a meeting."
Cheng Buxi nodded and casually placed her canvas bag on the leather sofa.
After leading her into the office, Wan Yi gave a standard forty-five-degree bow and consciously withdrew.
...
When Lu Tingzhou entered, she was staring blankly at a corner.
That was where the moth orchid she had killed used to be.
The TV behind her had been turned on at some point, playing *Breaking Bad*, Season 1. Apparently, it had been switched on randomly. On screen, one of the main characters, Jesse, was about to run away from the baffling chemistry lectures, but teacher White encouraged him: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."
Probably after a few minutes, she found it boring and was soon distracted by something else.
Cheng Buxi finished staring at that spot and turned her head to see her brother striding into the room with steady, commanding steps.
A custom business black suit wrapped his broad shoulders and narrow waist. The trouser creases were straight as a knife. Arm bands defined his muscular forearm lines. A silver tie pin at the collar was set with a bright black diamond—understated yet noble.
Her breath almost stopped for half a second. Her previously slouched shoulders straightened, even her fingers stood at attention, like a soldier before a parade. With reverence, she called out, "Bro."
Lu Tingzhou sat on the sofa and nodded at the sound.
As he sat down, the sofa sank in. Her book slipped from the wide-mouthed canvas bag, accidentally dropping two tickets that had been tucked inside—for a combat competition to be held in Macau.
The address on the tickets was unmistakable: Macau Galaxy Arena. Seeing this, Lu Tingzhou asked, "You're going to Macau?"
Cheng Buxi's eyes shot wide, her lashes frozen. Only after a delayed beat did she realize he meant the two UFC tickets. She immediately shook her head like a rattle, hurriedly explaining, "A classmate gave them to me. I plan to... give them away or sell them...!"
As she spoke, she lunged forward, frantically stuffing the two tickets back into the book, overly nervous, as if she didn't want him to know about it at all.
Big Brother's expression remained calm, his gaze as bland as an ordinary afternoon, yet his eyes seemed veiled like sandpaper, hazy and indistinct. He asked, "Why not go?"
As he spoke, his brow slightly lifted, the outer corners of his eyes naturally drooping into a steady curve. His pupils were pitch-black like the deep sea, unfathomable.
Cheng Buxi was baffled. "..."
"I can take leave."
"...?"
What was he... doing?
Was he saying he would accompany her to Macau to watch the competition?
Could it really be like that??????
Her mind was filled with, uh, Fang Xinyi, are you trying to kill me?
Last time it was the comic book—fine, she had already explained that. But now what? She definitely didn't want to go to Macau with her brother! She'd rather be locked in the basement to reflect!
-
Speaking of Macau, the first time Lu Tingzhou left home for business after high school graduation was to Macau. Back then, Cheng Buxi was only eleven.
In the sweltering summer, he was gone for over a month.
Cheng Buxi missed him, but she was afraid that she was insignificant and had too many trivial matters, so she didn't dare beg her foster parents to take her to Macau to find him. Instead, she secretly went to ask her second sister.
Lu Siyu was a clever imp. She treated Cheng Buxi like a live human doll, having bought over thirty skirts at a show in Italy a few days prior, and was now trying them on her one by one. Finally, she encouraged her, "Koukou, you're big enough. When I was your age, I was already flying around the world alone."
"Macau isn't far; you'll be there in a blink."
Not only that, but her second sister even thoughtfully prepared cash and the necessary endorsements and travel permits for crossing the border.
Maybe it was her second sister's encouragement, or maybe her longing was too heavy. Acting on impulse, Cheng Buxi really did go to Macau alone to find him.
She left in the early morning. The bodyguard lost her on Love Lane.
Because her phone battery died and she lost her wallet, she eventually fell asleep in the MGM building, still holding a free cup of milk tea.
At that time, Lu Tingzhou was with his uncle at the Grand Lisboa's Lotus Tower, negotiating a business deal. When he learned that she had brazenly come to Macau alone, his expression instantly darkened—almost ugly to behold.
When he later found out that the bodyguard arranged by Lu Siyu had lost her, he abandoned the negotiation without a second thought, not even observing basic etiquette. He stood up and left the entire room without looking back—and it was a multi-billion dollar deal. The counterparts were Japanese, who valued etiquette highly. His uncle's face turned livid with rage.
That very evening, Lu Tingzhou was made to kneel in the ancestral hall as punishment, while Cheng Buxi slept soundly on the soft king-sized bed in the Versace hotel suite.
...
Finding her had cost considerable manpower and effort. When he finally learned she was at MGM, Lu Tingzhou wore a cold face and went straight there with his men without a word.
His aggressive arrival startled the doormen and security guards.
Cheng Buxi had just woken up, sitting on a public sofa, unaware of anything. She was rubbing her eyes, still drowsy, when she suddenly saw the brother she had been longing for day and night right in front of her. She snapped awake instantly.