Murong... Little Stubborn Ox?
When everyone heard this nickname, their faces showed indescribable expressions. They wanted to laugh but dared not, holding it in so hard it was painful.
As for Murong Shuang, she was almost infuriated. Ever since she became a Three-Star Warlord, she had been respected wherever she went. No one had ever treated her with such disdain as Lu Ming.
However, what surprised Murong Shuang even more was that Lu Ming had actually voluntarily given up Master Zhu's painting!
In truth, Lu Ming had no knowledge of paintings, and the painting would be useless to him.
Furthermore, Lu Ming felt it was an unfair victory.
All these questions were related to Lu Ming himself. If he answered his own questions, he would naturally be more familiar with them than anyone else. What kind of skill was that?
Coupled with Murong Shuang's pitiful appearance, Lu Ming's heart was stirred with compassion.
It was only then that Lu Ming chose to give up the painting.
However, Lu Ming's good intentions were completely misunderstood by Murong Shuang. In Murong Shuang's eyes, Lu Ming was not helping her at all but was instead humiliating her!
Enraged!
Murong Shuang berated, "Lu Ming, what do you mean? You want it when you want it, and you don't want it when you don't. Do you mean you can manipulate me as you please? Are you trying to say you are much stronger than me?"
One had to admire a woman's thought process. Lu Ming's benevolent act had surprisingly garnered such a response.
To prevent the situation from worsening, Lu Ming shook his head helplessly and deliberately fabricated a lie, saying, "No, I'm not giving it to you for free. Why are you so agitated?"
Murong Shuang was stunned. "What do you mean?"
Lu Ming said, "I'm just a rough fellow. Such a valuable painting would be useless in my hands, and it would be an eyesore at home. Seeing how much you like it, how about I sell it to you at a discount? I heard Zhu You's paintings are now fetching millions. I'll give you a 20% discount and sell it to you for eight million. How about that?"
So that's how it was.
Everyone's attitude towards Lu Ming changed once again, and they cast looks of contempt his way.
"A poor wretch is a poor wretch, only money in his eyes!"
"It's a great insult to Master Zhu for someone like this to obtain his work! It would have been better to give it to General Murong from the start."
"A person who is blinded by money, pfft, a useless piece of trash."
Lu Ming paid no mind to the contempt of the crowd. He had heard such insults countless times, and he was long since numb to them.
Those who understand will understand, and it's meaningless to say more to those who don't.
Murong Shuang frowned and looked at Lu Ming very seriously. By this time, she had calmed down.
After all, she was a Three-Star Warlord, not an ordinary person. Murong Shuang was more adept at grasping situations and discerning people's thoughts than others.
At this moment, she understood Lu Ming's true intentions.
If Lu Ming were truly greedy, he could have taken it to an auction house and hyped it up. Forget eight million, with good promotion, he could have gotten eighty million.
Lu Ming's reason for selling it to Murong at a low price was singular – it satisfied Murong Shuang's needs without making her lose face.
It was rare for a man to be so considerate of a woman.
For some unknown reason, Murong Shuang's heart gave a fierce tremor. To be honest, Murong Shuang had never had many men pursue her in her life, and she had never experienced the feeling of being doted on by a man.
Although Murong Shuang came from a good family and was beautiful, she was too strong-willed.
Murong Shuang had always been ambitious and strong-willed since childhood, with agile combat skills. Ordinary men would not dare to harbor any fantasies about her.
After she became a Three-Star Warlord, she became completely estranged from ordinary people.
Compared to Murong Shuang, women like Jiang Mengxin were more favored and pursued by second-generation rich heirs.
When a woman is too strong, she also loses some things.
Therefore.
When Murong Shuang felt Lu Ming's gentleness at this moment, her heart, which had never been warmed, felt a slight stir.
For some reason, her face actually flushed slightly.
"Hmph, do I need you to sell it at a discount?" Murong Shuang suppressed her thumping heart and stubbornly said, "I, Murong Shuang, never take advantage of others. I'll buy this painting for twenty million!"
Wow, not only was she not haggling, but she doubled the price.
This kind of business practice was indeed rare.
When Lu Ming heard this, his eyes lit up, and he immediately said to the curator, "Curator, you don't need to give me this painting. Just pack it up for General Murong and send it to her home. I'll just wait to collect the money. Twenty million, what a profit!"
Seeing Lu Ming's smug look, others cast looks of contempt: a greedy little wretch, a small piece of trash.
Afterward, the curator packed the painting as Lu Ming had instructed and handed it over to Murong Shuang.
After receiving the painting.
Murong Shuang cast one last glance at Lu Ming. Some words were on the tip of her tongue but could not be spoken.
After a moment of silence, Murong Shuang said nothing and turned to leave.
Back in her stretched SUV, Murong Shuang opened the painting and happily gazed at the Dragon Warlord depicted within. Her thoughts once again drifted back to the past.
While joyful, there was also a pang of sadness in her heart.
Many years had passed. Since the war ended, Murong Shuang had never seen the Dragon Warlord again. She didn't know if she would ever have the chance to meet him again in this life.
The most crucial point was that Murong Shuang didn't even know what the Warlord looked like.
Back then, she had only silently watched his back from afar, never having met him face-to-face, let alone spoken a few words with him.
Her feelings for the Warlord were entirely unrequited.
This love was too bitter.
Murong Shuang looked at the Dragon Warlord in the painting, at his profile, becoming more infatuated the more she looked.
But suddenly!
Murong Shuang stared at the painting and froze.
"This..."
"How is this possible?"
"No way, impossible."
Murong Shuang was astonished to discover how identical the Dragon Warlord's profile was to Lu Ming's. It was as if it had been painted based on Lu Ming's profile!
This was stating the obvious, as Lu Ming *was* the Dragon Warlord. Zhu You had imagined Lu Ming's appearance when he painted it.
It was just that Murong Shuang didn't know.
Murong Shuang was completely dumbfounded. She kept shaking her head and muttering to herself, "Damn it, it must be because I interacted too much with that poor wretch today and lost to him, causing his image to fill my mind. How could the Warlord look like him? Wouldn't that be a great insult to the Warlord?"
Shaking her head, Murong Shuang decided to put the painting away for now, to avoid confusing the Warlord with Lu Ming any further.
However, at the same time, a doubt lingered in her heart: was it really her eyes playing tricks, an illusion?
The Warlord in the painting did indeed resemble Lu Ming. It didn't seem like an illusion; it was just that Murong Shuang was unwilling to accept reality.
Meanwhile.
Inside the museum, after the free giveaway event concluded, everyone continued to admire Zhu You's other paintings.
However, the crowd's enthusiasm was not as high as before.
Especially Jiang Mengxin. She was not only unexcited but also somewhat upset, pouting and looking dejected.
Lu Ming noticed her unhappiness and quickly asked, "What's wrong? You look very unhappy."
Jiang Mengxin shot him a glare and remained silent.
Lu Ming scratched his head. "Are you angry with me? Did I do something wrong?"
Jiang Mengxin still didn't speak.
At this moment, Xu Qin, who was beside them, couldn't stand it any longer. She shoved Lu Ming aside and scolded, "Don't you know why Mengxin is angry? Why are you pretending not to know?"
Lu Ming frowned. "Auntie, I really don't know."
"Really don't know? That's right, you're just a pig," Xu Qin said irritably. "Our Mengxin loves Master Zhu's paintings the most. You already obtained that exquisite work earlier, and instead of keeping it for Mengxin, you only thought about selling it for money. Are you that short of cash?! You scoundrel, little punk, do you know that by missing out on this painting, my daughter might never get a painting from Master Zhu in her lifetime! As Mengxin's fiancé, don't you understand this simple logic? Pfft, you're truly useless."
A mother knows her daughter best.
Xu Qin's words directly voiced Jiang Mengxin's deepest desires and frustrations.
Jiang Mengxin had loved that painting very much. She was about to get it, but Lu Ming had sold it to Murong Shuang! This plunged Jiang Mengxin's heart to the depths, making her sad and distressed.
That was why she was dejected and not speaking to Lu Ming.
"So that's how it is." Lu Ming felt that he hadn't considered Jiang Mengxin's emotions. However, he quickly thought of a way to make amends, a way that would make Jiang Mengxin happier than obtaining the painting.