Chapter 448 - DIFFERENT (SAME) PROBLEMS

YU JIAO wanted to squirm on her seat seeing the way Luo Ren gazed down at her.  Like she was a mouse and the other was a cat.  She couldn't really describe the feeling.  And then hearing him call her 'Jiao Jiao' in that magnetic voice of his almost made her ears tingle. 

She didn't understand why he suddenly called her by her nickname.  Especially since after undergarment/nosebleed incident, he started calling her formally by her name.  She actually preferred that.  At least with that, she wouldn't feel this weird feeling just because he called her in her nickname.

She looked down, not daring to look at him.  "Mr. Luo."

For the second time since he entered this hall, Luo Ren was frozen again in place.  'Mr. Luo'?  Hearing that very formal call, he just realized that in the short time that Yu Jiao spent in their house, she had never call him in his name. 

But why would she?  He was just the older brother of her friend.  They barely knew anything about each other.  And the only memorable thing between them was that embarrassing incident which ended up with him having a nosebleed.  Wasn't he the weirder one for calling her in such a close manner?

Now he suddenly felt like some greasy uncle trying to cozy up with a younger girl.

[Mashter, Brother Ren looked like he just ate a bitter melon.]

Luo Yan also agreed with the little fox's observation.  He had been secretly watching the two since his older brother greeted Yu Jiao.  When Luo Ren greeted Yu Jiao, Luo Yan could see that his brother was genuinely happy to see her.  Albeit, very surprised, if he might add.  But Yu Jiao, on the other hand, reacted in a very Yu Jiao way – shy and reserved.  However, because of that, she appeared a bit distant and uninterested.

When she called his brother 'Mr. Luo', the look on Luo Ren's face was simply… wonderful.  He probably should help Luo Ren ease his existence to Yu Jiao.  So that she wouldn't be too shy around him anymore. 

Of course, Luo Yan wouldn't do this if his brother was a bad and perverted person.  But as luck would have it, his older brother was one of the best persons he knew.  And that's not him being bias at all.

Yu Jiao was his friend.  He wouldn't just push her to be at ease with someone with bad character and personality.  But that's the extent of what he would do in terms of the relationship between the two.  It's up to Luo Ren if he could succeed being in Yu Jiao's good graces.  His status as a friend didn't include interfering with the other's emotion.

If she ended up liking his older brother, then good for Luo Ren.  But if not, then that's fine too.

For now, it's better to ease up the situation first.

"Brother is only casually playing," Luo Yan said, answering his older cousin's question.

He sat down on Yu Jiao's right side while Eclipse jumped to the table and sat comfortably.  His seat was directly opposite Shen Ji Yun who happened to be looking at his direction.  Their eyes met and Luo Yan gave him a smile.  The other also smiled back.  It was only a slightly curving of his lips, but Luo Yan clearly saw it. 

Luo Ren, who finally recovered, sat down on the left of Yu Jiao's seat.  "Tianhua Group is planning to invest on an incoming project of Moonlight Media.  I'm the one in-charge of that.  So, I came here today to check on how things in this game work," he added to what Luo Yan said.   

"Wow.  I suddenly realized that Brother Ren is now a working adult," Bai Ze said. 

"That's a very stupid comment," Su Yuqi jibed.

Bai Ze chose to ignore that.  Primarily because it was indeed a stupid comment.  But there was no way he would admit that.  So, he could only ask, "When did Uncle Tian and Uncle Mu meet to decide on this business venture?"

"We 'coincidentally' met him and Shen Ji Yun during our vacation in Chengdu," Luo Jin answered.  He bit on the word 'coincidentally' because he still couldn't believe that Shen Ji Yun really just happened to be there at the same time as their family.

Bai Ze turned to Shen Ji Yun, feeling a bit weird.  "You went to Chengdu?"

"Yes, me and Uncle went there to relax a bit," Shen Ji Yun said with no expression on his face.

That sounded even weirder in Bai Ze's ears.  In all the years that he had known Shen Ji Yun, the other's idea of relaxation was to stay at home to either read or exercise.  When did it change to going someplace else?

Luo Yan almost couldn't resist the urge to laugh.  Shen Ji Yun was just such a bad liar that anyone who knew him well would see that he was lying.  Just look at Bai Ze's unbelieving expression.

He decided to change the topic before the people here punctured Shen Ji Yun's lie.

"By the way, Brother Ze, have you and Xiao Ye received the souvenirs I sent over?" he asked.

Just as expected, Bai Ze's attention was quickly transferred. 

"You bought us souvenirs?  Aw… Xiao Yan is so sweet," Bai Ze said looking at his younger cousin as if he's an angel.  "No package has been delivered yet.  Maybe it will arrive later this afternoon.  What did you buy for us?"

"Brother Ze should just wait until you see the package yourself or else it would lose the sense of surprise," Luo Yan said with a smile.  Then he added, looking at the only two women in the room, "I also bought one for Sister Yuqi and Jiao Jiao."

"Thank you, Luo Yan," Su Yuqi said with a small smile on her lips.  She hadn't received any package like Bai Ze.  It would probably also be sent to her house later.

"Thank you, Yan Yan," Yu Jiao said, also with a rare smile on her face.

"You're welcome."  Luo Yan turned to Yu Jiao.  "I'll give your souvenir once school starts."

Although one of the three Luo brothers were having fun discussing about souvenirs with the others, the other two were each thinking of a problem.  Their problems were different but also essentially the same.

[How should I tell Su Yuqi that I also bought her a souvenir?] – Luo Jin.

[How should I give Jiao Jiao the souvenir I bought for her?] – Luo Ren.