"Woah! Boss! Where are you going today, all dressed up?"
This was how the dormitory was. Unless it was time for room cleaning, nobody would call Lu Ze Old first. However, since Lu Ze stayed in the room most of the time, the room never became too dirty.
"I'm going out to see a client. What do you want for lunch? I'll pick it up on my way back." Lu Ze adjusted his tie and put on his wrist watch before asking Old Third, who was lying on his bed in his underpants.
This client found Lu Ze on his own. The former was introduced to him when he had just started working with the boss. It was not a private work commissioned by the designer. Therefore, Lu Ze arranged a proper meeting in a cafe to discuss the terms.
"Wow! Seeing clients, a bigshot businessman, amazing! I want an extra large bucket."
"Dabengquan!"
"I want pizza from Pizza hut! I can eat two of those by myself!"
Actually, the three roommates were quite envious of Lu Ze. After all, which boy wouldn't want a mature and steady demeanor like that? However, when they thought about his misfortunes, thinking about what to eat today seemed much better.
"Quanjude's boiled eggs. You decide the rest. When you've finally decided, text me on Wechat. I'm leaving…I'm on a clock here."
Putting his newly purchased laptop in his laptop bag, Lu Ze glanced at the time as he opened the gate with a wave of his hand. Thereupon, the explosions of Iraq again sounded in the dormitory. Old second and old fourth almost killed each other over the food.
Arriving at the academic block, he took out a Nanjing 95 cigarette. He no longer smoked low quality cigarettes, raising his cigarette expenses quite a bit.
"In the end, you still cheated, didn't you? There is no point saying anything now! Let go of me! Let go of me, now! Get lost!"
Hearing the cussing, Lu Ze turned and looked, expecting to see the usual drama between some couple. But, he discovered that it was her fighting with that boy who had almost fought him.
She slapped the boy. Perhaps the slap wounded the boy's ego, or because the surrounding people were looking at them, the boy glared at the surrounding people and walked away while panting in rage. She just sat on the roadside as she hugged her knees and buried her head within, weeping silently. The surrounding people also stopped their steps, planning to enjoy the free drama of boy cheating on a girl and the latter grieving.
Lu Ze himself didn't know why he walked over. His cab was about to arrive, and he didn't have much time left before his appointment with the client either, but he couldn't stop his feet.
In a year's time, the two hadn't spoken a word to each other outside the dining hall. Lu Ze didn't even know her name. However, some people were bound with a demonic attraction towards certain people. One couldn't not admit it.
At this moment, nervousness erupted from within him. It was nothing surprising for a greenhorn in romance, even if he currently earned well and had good looks. He could feel the moisture on his palms and the heat rising to his ears as if his life-and-death was on the line.
Arriving at her side, Lu Ze glanced at the spectators, who were enjoying a good show, before taking out a tissue paper for her. However, perhaps due to not being aware of his presence, she didn't accept it. Lu Ze's figure bending down to hand over the tissue paper paused, seeming rather awkward.
Lu Ze softly poked her elbow with his finger. When she turned around, she was instantly stunned. She remembered this face from the last time's conflict.
"Uh...you want a tissue? Your eyeliner is going all over the place."
"Eh? Oh, thank you."
Accepting the tissue, she stopped crying and heavily rubbed her eyes. However, the more she rubbed, the bigger the black patches became. She seemed a little embarrassed herself, not knowing what to do.
"Move to someplace else. People are watching, alright?"
"Ok."
The girl sniveled as she sorted out her messy hair somewhat and jumped to her feet. However, unwittingly, she began following Lu Ze.
"Where are you going?"
"Eh? I'm returning to the dormitory?"
Dormitory? Lu Ze looked around and asked with uncertainty, "This is the way to the gates. Aren't you going in a completely opposite direction?"
"Eh? Oh right! Then...see you. Thank you for today."
The girl looked around and waved her hand at Lu Ze with a red face, as if intending to escape. Funnily enough, Lu Ze did the same before her half a year ago. However, at this moment, she'd become the rat.
Seeing that she was about to run away, Lu Ze somehow found his courage. It wasn't valor but impulsiveness that made him utter such uncanny sounding words.
"Hold on!"
"Is there something else...?"
"Um...I don't know your name, but I want to ask you out for dinner. No other reason except that I like you. I've liked you for a long time, and I'll...continue to do so in the future. So, I want to ask you out for dinner, ask you out for a movie, ask you for an amusement park, ask you for trips, ask you to be my girlfriend! I'm only twenty, not old at all. I hope you'll give me a chance."
The next moment, her face turned beet red. Then, she heard somebody speak from the side, "Woah, this dude is something else. That was awesome! It sounded like a dialogue. Did he have it memorized?"
"I'll...consider it."
As she spoke, she had already made up her mind to decline. It hadn't even been two months since she broke up with her previous boyfriend. However, such a bold and sudden confession made her lose her head in panic. The cheating of her boyfriend had deeply hurt her, and she was deeply skeptical of romance as of now. However, before this guy, with whom she was familiar, she was a bit incapable of refusing directly.
"Then it's settled. I'll wait for you at the eastern gate at six! I've some matters to attend to, so let's meet in the evening!"
Lu Ze walked backward with a suitcase in his right hand, waving his hand at her with a sincere smile on his face. Then, he left in a hurry.
She somewhat felt out herself zoning out of reality. She originally thought that that bearded man ought to be an uncle. He looked as old as her father. However, this man's smile was brilliant, like a child getting his hands on a candy. This…
She recalled a saying, 'If a man looks like a child upon seeing you, then he likes you without a doubt.'
"Perhaps...a dinner wouldn't hurt."
She slowly headed back while pondering this matter. Since she was not looking at the road, she hit a streetlight and began crying again. Crying and walking, she continued to ponder.
…
"Sorry, I'm late. I'm really sorry."
The client indifferently smiled. In any case, it was only a three minutes delay, and it was not worth mentioning. He was magnanimous, not fond of picking on trivial matters.
Lu Ze took out his notebook and presented his prepared CAD floor design to the client. Taking out a white paper, he began explaining the advantages and disadvantages of breaking and modifying walls, then gave the finishing touch with the numerous modifications he'd made.
After the client approved, Lu Ze opened the design he'd just rendered yesterday. Seeing that, the client's eyes immediately brightened, and the latter instantly knew that this was going well. Afterward, they talked about budget, furnishing costs, and other things for a little over an hour before finishing the deal.
The interior decoration would be handed over to Lu Ze's previous workplace, and he would receive his own cut, a total of ten thousand Yuan.
The current him had already begun to charge per square meter. Although it was expensive, rich clients didn't think that way. After all, for something as important as house, quality and satisfaction came first.
The three roommates wanted to have pizza from Pizza Hut, so Lu Ze could only buy some and carry it back to the room. The current him didn't lack money, and he was truly grateful to his three roommates, who had comforted him at his lowest in their own manly style.
"Eh? Why are you shaving your beard? Beard is so cool!"
"I'm merely twenty, I've to look a little younger. Looking so grown up suddenly feels a bit strange to me."
"Sure! Why didn't I hear you say that when you grew that goatee? Speak, is there something going on?"
The three instantly turned suspicious, looking as if they'd seen dogsh*t. Wrong...Lu Ze's metaphor seemed to have included himself as well.
"I've asked out a girl for dinner tonight."
As soon as Lu Ze spoke, the three roommates seemed as if they had seen a ghost. They immediately jumped down from their beds and rummaged through the room, digging out small trumpets and hand-clappers that they had bought at the world cup's time. Old fourth even had a garland on his head, merely lacking a flag painted on his face. The festivity seemed like that of a new year celebration.
"Go get her!! Don't come back tonight! If you come back, we won't let you in! Get her! Get her! GOGOGOGOGO! Good Luck!"
Lu Ze, "???"
"..."