Lu Zhao was silent for a moment. “I just happened to pass by and wanted to remind you to close the door when you practice. Otherwise, it would only cause noise pollution and bring trouble to others.”
Luo Ying looked hurt when she heard him say that. “I thought you came here to see me dance.”
Lu Zhao pressed his fingers together, and his expression stiffened up for an instant. “Of course, if you’re inviting me, I can always make the time to come.”
Luo Ying’s face broke into a smile within a second. She bent down and made an inviting gesture. She spoke with a Standard Broadcasting accent, “May I ask the Honorable President Lu Zhao if I may be granted the honor to invite you to come in and watch a dance?”
Lu Zhao pursed his thin lips and nodded in a reserved manner. “Sure.”
He pushed the door open and walked in. Just as he sat down on the stool, a camera was stuffed into his hand.
“It just so happens that we only have a triangular frame at home, and I’ve already used it as a front shot. If you’re free now, can you help me take a side shot and let me view the stage from multiple angles as a reference?”
Lu Zhao was speechless. “Didn’t you just say that I’m an honored guest? Why did you order the guest to do your work as soon as they were seated?”
“It’s just a small favor. You won’t deny me this little kindness, right?” Luo Ying’s eyes widened and looked at him pitifully.
Compared to the unreasonable and irrational Luo Ying from before, Lu Zhao could not deny that the current Luo Ying, who wielded her vulnerabilities like a weapon, was far more lethal to him.
Lu Zhao could not help but cover her eyes with his hand. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Luo Ying pressed the attack. She let him cover her eyes and only slightly tilted her head beneath his fingers. “Why?”
As she spoke, her eyelids were fluttering, like a fan stroking his palm. The sensation was odd.
‘Because, if you look at me like this, no matter what you say, I’ll agree. But, why am I falling for this?’
Lu Zhao grumbled in his heart, but he spoke curtly. “There’s no reason. I don’t like you looking at me like that.”
Luo Ying rolled her eyes to herself and said, “But I want to.”
Lu Zhao was once again defeated. He raised the camera out of her reach and demanded, “Do you want me to record you, or not?”
He was using the camera as leverage to get himself outside her line of fire.
Luo Ying had no choice but to compromise. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop looking.”
When she conceded so easily, Lu Zhao was not pleased. If Luo Ying didn’t look at him with such eyes, then who would she look at with such eyes? Lin Su?
At this thought, Lu Zhao instantly regretted his actions and felt like slapping himself.
Just as he was about to say something, Luo Ying had already stood up and turned on the music to prepare for a new round of practice. She even directed him. “Please, stand in that corner and shoot, okay?”
Lu Zhao tightened his grip on the camera, then obediently walked in the direction she pointed and started recording.
Luo Ying practiced a few more sessions without rest. Lu Zhao looked at her worriedly. “Aren’t you still injured? Why are you putting yourself through such high-intensity training?”
Yesterday, she had still been struggling to walk, but now, she had been jumping around for the entire session without a single cry of pain.
Luo Ying waved dismissively. “It’s common for a dancer to get injured.”
If she had been afraid of pain and injury, she would not have been able to persist in so many years of training, and she would not have earned herself the opportunity to stand on the stage to shine and become a top singer and dancer.
“You love the stage.” Lu Zhao said, with a tone of finality.
“Of course.” Luo Ying did not even hesitate.
She really loved the stage. The stage was a very magical place. When she stood on it and looked at the audience below the stage, the rush brought by the surge of adrenaline was incomparable to anything else.
Anyone who had been on stage and enjoyed the stage would develop a form of attachment to the stage.
Lu Zhao was slightly perplexed. “Since you love it so much, why didn’t you take the stage seriously before?”
Luo Ying knew that the difference between her and the original Luo Ying was striking. She had not yet dug into further details of the original’s habits, but Luo Ying did not intend to crush her feet to fit into the shoes of the original.