Chapter 46 — Well Acquainted with the Dean of Studies; Begging for Recommendation Votes, Begging for Collections

"Wow, that smells amazing — this is so good!" Shen Yushu remarked between bites.

What was the big deal? She had already eaten a bowl yesterday; one more today would hardly make a difference. Gu Mengyao gritted her teeth and headed for the dining room.

Wei Zhao took in every bit of Gu Mengyao's behavior, and smiled faintly. This Gu Mengyao was rather interesting.

"Mengyao, come and eat your noodles." To give Gu Mengyao a little more motivation, Wei Zhao threw in a word of encouragement.

"Thank you..." Gu Mengyao's voice was as faint as a mosquito's, startling both Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu. Was this really Gu Mengyao?

Sitting at the table, chopsticks in hand, gazing at the steaming bowl of noodles before her, Gu Mengyao felt like crying. Had she been too hard on Wei Zhao? Really... he was quite good... yes, at the very least a qualified nanny.

At seven o'clock sharp, Uncle Qing's car pulled up punctually at the villa gate. Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Wei Zhao came out of the house. Gu Mengyao still said little, but the hostility in her eyes when she looked at Wei Zhao had faded somewhat.

"Mr. Lin, according to the doctor's instructions yesterday, you need to go to the hospital first to have your dressing changed," Uncle Qing said. "I'll drop Miss Gu and Miss Chen at school first, then take you to the hospital for the dressing change, and after that, on to school."

"All right." Wei Zhao thought it over and nodded. The wound on his leg was really nothing serious, but he had no wish to be treated like some kind of freak.

"Miss Gu, could you help Mr. Lin ask for leave?" Uncle Qing asked in a consulting tone.

"I..." Gu Mengyao was instantly put on the spot. To be honest, she no longer disliked Wei Zhao much, but for her to ask for leave on his behalf... how could she? By then every classmate would know she was living with Wei Zhao.

Uncle Qing assumed there was still bad blood between Gu Mengyao and Wei Zhao, so he said to Shen Yushu: "Miss Chen, how about you ask for leave on Mr. Lin's behalf?"

"I don't mind, it's just that Yao Yao doesn't want anyone to know she's living together with Wei Zhao." Shen Yushu's expression was perfectly innocent, but she laid heavy stress on the words "living together."

"Ah..." Uncle Qing slapped his forehead as it dawned on him that this was Gu Mengyao's concern. And fair enough — how could a girl bring herself to say such a thing out loud?

Gu Mengyao shot Shen Yushu a glare. Thinking it was one thing; having it spoken aloud was still mortifying.

Shen Yushu stuck out her tongue and shut her mouth. The words that needed saying had been said anyway.

"It's fine. I'm well acquainted with the dean of studies at school, Wang Zhifeng. I have his number right here. In a moment I'll give him a call and have him put in a word with my homeroom teacher." Wei Zhao said with a smile.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were baffled. Wei Zhao had been at school for exactly one day — how had he already gotten so chummy with the dean of studies? That hardly seemed possible. But if he didn't know the dean, he wouldn't dare make such a boast; and then the lie would be exposed in a moment, wouldn't it?

Not only Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu — even Uncle Qing was astonished. How on earth had Wei Zhao come to know the dean of studies?

Wei Zhao saw their confusion too, and said to Uncle Qing: "Uncle Qing, may I borrow your phone for a moment?"

"Oh, of course." Uncle Qing handed him his phone.

Wei Zhao fished a scrap of paper out of his trouser pocket; it still bore some bloodstains, smeared on by accident yesterday. He dialed the number written on it, and the call connected before long.

"Hello, Director Wang?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Speaking. Who is this?" Wang Zhifeng was at that very moment hard at work atop his mistress. The ring of the phone gave him a start; when he picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number, his tone turned somewhat unfriendly.

"This is Wei Zhao, Director Wang. I hope I'm not interrupting anything good?" Wei Zhao said with a chuckle.

"Ah... no, no, not at all." Director Wang's heart lurched, and his voice turned exceedingly amiable. "Wei Zhao, is that you? Come now, what good thing could I be up to? Class is about to start."

"Heh heh, it's like this — I have a small favor to ask of you, Director Wang." Wei Zhao smiled and did not call him out on the lie. The man's tone a moment ago had been plainly nervous; anyone could tell he was up to no good.

"What is it? Let's hear it." Wang Zhifeng sighed inwardly. Ah, so his weakness had finally been seized by someone, and on the very next day that someone had come knocking with a request.

"It's like this: I have some business this morning and may be a little late to school. Could I trouble you to let my homeroom teacher know and ask for leave on my behalf? I should be there by a little after ten," Wei Zhao said.

"Oh, that's all? Yes, no problem at all." Hearing it was such a trifle, Wang Zhifeng breathed a sigh of relief. Easy enough — a single phone call.

"Then thank you, Director Wang. I won't disturb you any longer — do carry on..." Wei Zhao said, a meaningful lilt in his voice.

This kid... Wang Zhifeng was rather helpless. He hung up and went back to his plowing...

"Wei Zhao, do you really know Director Wang? And you two seem pretty close?" Shen Yushu's mouth hung open as she stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief.

"We only met yesterday. We just happened to hit it off." Wei Zhao naturally would not breathe a word about Wang Zhifeng's business, so he answered vaguely.

"Oh!" Shen Yushu cheered. "That's wonderful. From now on, whenever we need to ask for leave, we'll come to you."

Wei Zhao smiled wryly and glanced at Uncle Qing, whose face showed nothing at all. Uncle Qing, it seemed, had long since run out of ways to deal with these two young ladies and simply turned a deaf ear to their class-skipping schemes. So Wei Zhao could only say: "All right."

In his heart, Uncle Qing was once again reassessing Wei Zhao. The young man looked utterly ordinary, yet his wit and courage were beyond question, and now it appeared his social skills were formidable as well... mm, and his way with women too — even Qiu Lingshan, the police beauty...

At that thought, Uncle Qing's head began to ache. These two little princesses — surely they wouldn't fall into his clutches as well? It seemed he ought to find a time to have a proper talk with Mr. Gu about the matter of Wei Zhao.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu got out at the gate of No. 1 High School. Uncle Qing drove on, carrying Wei Zhao toward Songshan City First People's Hospital.

Along the way they passed a China Mobile outlet. Uncle Qing parked in front of it and said to Wei Zhao: "Mr. Lin, you ought to have a phone of your own. Otherwise it's inconvenient to get in touch."

Wei Zhao nodded. True enough — otherwise he couldn't keep borrowing Uncle Qing's phone.

After locking the car, Uncle Qing accompanied Wei Zhao into the outlet.

Inside, a promotional event was underway for "CMREAD" mobile novel reading, with an online writer by the name of "Yu Ren Er Dai" promoting his classic complete work, "Very Pure and Ambiguous: The Prequel." Wei Zhao read the occasional web novel himself, but seeing the crowd packed so tightly around the event, he decided not to join the crush.

It seemed this "Yu Ren Er Dai" fellow had no small number of fans. Wei Zhao decided that once he had bought his phone, he would look the book up.

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