Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 28 Meeting the Parents

The weather has been nice these past few days.

The orange-red sunset ignited the sky, and large swaths of clouds burned, outlining a tapestry of gold and red. The setting sun cast its last rays across the landscape, scattering them through the window frames and leaving strings of light spots on the PVC floor.

With a "squeak," a patch of light was crushed by the suddenly stopped sneaker. The sharp sound of rubber rubbing against plastic hit the open field, and the echo rippled like water droplets falling.

But the lingering echo of a single ripple doesn't exist, because this is just the "whistle" of a complete workout!
The moment Lu Mingfei came to an abrupt stop, the basketball traced a mechanically precise arc, landing perfectly in his outstretched palm. The sound of the "thud" was barely audible before he started moving again.

The basketball's landing and footwork formed a perfect melody, with occasional panting as the interlude. The player and the ball moved towards the basket on his side with a rhythm that could be described as "silky smooth," and then he leaped up with the ball and delivered it with a light touch.

The ball went into the net cleanly, but before the sound of the ball hitting the ground could finish, Lu Mingfei landed with a loud thud and went back onto the stage!
He caught the falling basketball, shot it towards the center line, and then jogged over, panting.

Anyone could see that the throw was very casual; Lu Mingfei didn't "aim" at all, he didn't even look in that direction!
But the basketball continues to spin, traveling along a less fixed trajectory towards its fixed destination.

Just as it was about to arrive, Chu Zihang paused and caught it just in time.

He turned around, dribbled, took three steps to make a layup, and then turned again to shoot towards midcourt. Unlike Lu Mingfei's casual trajectories, his shots were mechanically precise, with almost the same trajectory.

Without stopping, the basketball flew into the hands of Lu Mingfei, who had come to a sudden stop.

This is definitely a high-intensity combined training session; the two of them have been practicing non-stop for more than two hours!
The incident began when Lu Mingfei discovered that he was better suited to focus on practicing the three-step layup.

In terms of difficulty alone, this technology is not actually that advanced compared to others.

However, from the perspective of "practice," he is almost irreplaceable for Lu Mingfei at present!
Because of the "Accurate Hits" feature, Lu Mingfei doesn't even need to look at shots within ten meters. This makes basketball fun at first, but it gets boring after a while.

No matter how fancy the techniques are, they are all ultimately for the purpose of hitting the basket, and as long as Lu Mingfei still has strength, his shot will not miss.

The three-step layup doesn't require much aiming and is very energy-consuming, making it perfect for training.

Chu Zihang agreed with this, and he slightly modified his usual training methods, turning them into the training process described above.

[Warning, it's time for dinner...]

"Huh, huh..."

Lu Mingfei landed after another layup, and hearing the warning sound, he stopped exhausted, panting heavily. Beads of sweat dripped from his eyelashes to the ground, bursting into small splashes.

He waved his hand, barely swallowing the metallic taste in his throat. "Senior... Senior Brother, it's almost time..."

"You've improved again."

Chu Zihang walked over slowly. Yesterday, during his free time, he read a book called "How to Improve Motivation," which mentioned that timely positive feedback can make people more likely to persevere. So he put his knowledge into practice.

As for why he would read such a book, Chu Zihang was still a little worried that Lu Mingfei would give up again. He had paid attention to Lu Mingfei for a period of time when he was still at Shilan Middle School and knew Lu Mingfei's personality.

Although it seems like they're determined to change now, what if they want to give up and go back to their old ways because things are too difficult right now?
"There is a little bit..."

Lu Mingfei glanced at the proficiency panel, which had risen to 32/200, forced a smile, and was finally able to straighten up.

He then looked at Chu Zihang.

Compared to him, Chu Zihang was much more relaxed. He wasn't panting heavily, just breathing a little faster, and he didn't even have much sweat on him.

But Chu Zihang's body hasn't fully recovered yet... How strong would he be after he fully recovers?

"Senior brother, you don't look tired at all?"

Lu Mingfei, panting, asked curiously, "What was your original complete training process like? I feel like you're practically a Saiyan!"

"..."

Chu Zihang fell silent for a moment upon hearing this. Even he, who had no interest in Dragon Ball, had heard about its popularity through conversations with his classmates. He roughly knew the origins of the Saiyans, the main characters...

If a Saiyan plays basketball, what would their opponent be? Ultraman?

"It's just that I've removed the 'passing the ball to the midcourt' step, and I'll play on both sides by myself. As for not being tired... it's just that I've practiced a lot before."

"Senior brother is awesome!"

Lu Mingfei immediately felt a deep sense of respect.

He received the ball at midcourt, ran back and forth across the half-court, and then made a three-step layup. After two hours of this, he was exhausted. But his senior's schedule was to run the entire court and play on both sides? That's ridiculous! If he played like that, his stamina bar would be infinite!

He quickly recalled the sound of basketballs hitting the ground, as loud as a storm, that he had heard through the door when he first met Chu Zihang here the day before yesterday. He figured that must have been Chu Zihang practicing at his peak.

“If you persevere, you can do it too,” Chu Zihang said.

Lu Mingfei felt only that he was moved.

[Emotional perception] has already taken effect. Every word Chu Zihang said received emotional feedback from him, which is basically "unwavering trust"!
Why does it feel like Senior Brother Chu trusts me even more than I trust myself?

……

Take a bath and change clothes.

The schedule is quite user-friendly in this respect. Changing clothes before playing basketball and taking a shower afterward are included in the "planned activities" and are considered necessary steps, so no warnings are issued.

Of course, deliberately delaying is another matter entirely.

Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang planned to meet for "dinner" after showering and changing, but a slight accident occurred.

"what?"

Lu Mingfei was shocked, and even a little nervous. "Are we... going to your house for dinner, senior brother?"

What's going on? Why are we suddenly fast-forwarding to the "meeting the parents" stage? He's not ready yet!

In Lu Mingfei's eyes, Chu Zihang's home was a "sacred place" level, and how could ordinary people easily overstep their bounds!

The family that could raise such an outstanding person as Chu Zihang must have had Chu's parents who were also among the elite.

Elites should have high standards. It's one thing that Senior Brother Chu is good to me, but Senior Brother Chu's parents are another matter entirely. Why should others respect me?

Do you think you can use someone else's villa and access gyms and piano lessons just because you live there and have connections with them?
Therefore, the thought of meeting him made Lu Mingfei feel a little awkward all over.

If I go to their house myself, won't Chu's parents feel like "a petty thug leading a good family astray and coming to provoke us"? They'll probably look down on me! Ignoring them would be the least I can do!
"My mom just called and asked me to come home for dinner."

Chu Zihang said that this kind of well-behaved persona is somewhat incongruous with his usual cold, aloof, and expressionless face, which is surprisingly cute.

"After dinner, we practiced Tai Chi. My family has a suitable space, so I told my mom that I would take you with me. She was very happy and even said she would cook for you herself."

Senior brother, are you sure you're happy and not angry?

It's likely that eight hundred axemen are already lying in ambush beneath that smile, just waiting for the wine cup to fall to the ground before swarming in and meticulously chopping him into minced meat over half an hour!

"Not going?"

Chu Zihang noticed that Lu Mingfei seemed conflicted, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Yes, of course I'll go!"

Lu Mingfei shuddered, and his body reacted quite honestly.

"I'm just a little embarrassed, but since you've invited me, I can only look forward to Auntie's cooking."

Lu Mingfei rubbed his hands together with a grin. He was always quick to adjust his mindset—at worst, he'd just be looked down upon or despised, something he was already used to.

Upon hearing this, Chu Zihang remained silent for a moment, his expression unusually troubled.

He finally spoke, offering his advice in a low voice.

"Mom probably only knows how to cook one dish, so just try a little bit, don't take too much..."

"I understand, I understand, don't worry, senior brother!"

Lu Mingfei was initially confused, but he quickly realized what was going on and patted his chest to assure her.

Come to think of it, a mother goes to great lengths to cook for her son, so she definitely wants him to eat it all by himself. What kind of behavior would it be if an outsider ate too much?
Lu Mingfei doesn't consider himself a foodie, so he can definitely control himself.

He has made up his mind that he will choose the dishes that will be eaten by the fewest people and will never try to make things difficult for the others or put his senior brother Chu, who is so good to him, in a difficult position!
There's one more chapter, but I didn't have time to finish writing it, so I'll post it after midnight! If you can't wait, you can go to sleep now and read it tomorrow!
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(End of this chapter)