Chapter 143 — They've Come Knocking at the Door

At noon, during the lunch break, Tang Yun went again to the doorway of Class Five, Senior Year Three. This time she didn't dare look for Shen Yushu; instead she found a rather frail-looking girl with glasses and asked her about Wei Zhao...

The girl was plainly the sort who heard nothing of the world beyond her window, her mind fixed on nothing but her studies. She didn't even know whether Wei Zhao had come that morning, nor had she paid him any attention at all. Only after peering into the classroom on Tang Yun's behalf did she confirm that Wei Zhao was not inside.

Tang Yun was disappointed, and at the same time rather annoyed. Was Wei Zhao deliberately playing her for a fool? He had clearly agreed with her mother to bring the formula today, and yet the whole morning there had been no sign of him. What was that supposed to mean?

Wei Zhao, for his part, walked into the classroom right on the bell for the one-thirty afternoon class. Shen Yushu poked Gu Mengyao beside her: "Yao-yao jie, Arrow Brand Bro is here."

"Oh..." Gu Mengyao looked up at Wei Zhao and found him looking her way as well; she couldn't help lowering her head, though her mind was turning over just what this thing had to do with Tang Yun.

"Yao-yao jie, you don't seem very happy?" Shen Yushu could tell that Gu Mengyao's spirits were low, a sullen look about her.

"No, it's nothing, just a little tired..." Gu Mengyao pressed a hand to her shoulder, and then... as if offhandedly: "Xiaoshu, what do you suppose Wei Zhao was running around doing all morning?"

"How would I know? Want me to ask for you?" Shen Yushu thought to herself, Gu Mengyao really does seem a little different about Arrow Brand Bro?

"Is that so... then... go ahead and ask..." Gu Mengyao hesitated a moment, then agreed.

"Oh, then should I ask Tang Yun what she wanted with him, too?" Shen Yushu took out her phone, ready to send a text. Before, when Wei Zhao had no phone, Shen Yushu could only pass him notes; but now that Wei Zhao had one, there was no need for such a primitive method.

"Ask that..." Gu Mengyao was about to say what's the point of asking that, but by some strange impulse she swallowed the words: "Suit yourself..."

"Hehe..." Shen Yushu began composing the message on her phone, then selected Wei Zhao's number and pressed send.

"In the village there's a girl named Xiaofang... beautiful and kind..."

A pleasant ringtone sounded, only the song... was really a bit too old...

Class was about to start, and the classroom was dead quiet, so the ringtone seemed rather abrupt... Everyone immediately turned their heads toward the sound.

Wei Zhao was a little embarrassed. When he'd gotten up that morning, afraid he would miss a call from Yang Huaijun, he had set his phone to standard ringtone mode, and after returning to school he'd forgotten to switch it back to vibrate.

He hurriedly took out his phone and pressed a button. Fortunately it was only a text message.

Most people merely glanced over and turned back. Gu Mengyao knew it was Shen Yushu's doing and smiled with pursed lips. Shen Yushu, however, secretly stuck out her tongue: this isn't my fault, who told you not to set your phone to vibrate?

Wei Zhao glanced at his phone and saw it was from Shen Yushu. He opened the message: "Yao-yao jie told me to ask what you were doing all morning?"

Wei Zhao shook his head with a smile. The young miss really was curious. And Shen Yushu, this girl, wasn't she throwing Gu Mengyao under the bus? Wei Zhao could guess what Gu Mengyao was thinking.

In Wei Zhao's view, the young miss was the sullen type, cold on the outside and fiery within... Though she wore an expression like he owed her several million, sometimes she did show him a bit of concern... This employer wasn't bad, all things considered.

It must be that Gu Mengyao wanted to ask what he'd done that morning but was too embarrassed to speak up, so she'd had Shen Yushu ask for her. And in the end, Shen Yushu had exposed her outright.

Wei Zhao's mischievous streak stirred, and he composed a text: "Went to the police station this morning. About Xiaohei."

But this text was not sent to Shen Yushu. It was sent to Gu Mengyao.

After Shen Yushu sent her message and Wei Zhao received it, Gu Mengyao stared fixedly at Shen Yushu's phone. But after waiting a long while, Shen Yushu's phone showed no reaction at all; her own phone, however, buzzed twice.

Gu Mengyao took out her phone, puzzled, and found it was a text message. She had assumed it was spam, some swindler after her money, but when she opened it, her face immediately darkened.

The message was actually from Wei Zhao — and he was actually telling her his whereabouts...

Was Wei Zhao ever so obedient as to report his whereabouts to her on his own? Of course Gu Mengyao didn't believe Wei Zhao was that kind of person, so there could be only one explanation... which was... Shen Yushu's earlier message had been tampered with. Otherwise, why would Wei Zhao not reply to her message, but reply to Gu Mengyao's instead?

"Xiaoshu." Gu Mengyao held the phone up in front of Shen Yushu's eyes: "What's going on here?"

"Uh... I don't know either?" Shen Yushu blinked innocently, like a little loli who understood nothing at all.

"Let me see your phone." Gu Mengyao stopped questioning her. She and Shen Yushu had played together since childhood; she knew her temperament inside out. When she put on that innocent act, she could pass for an actress.

"My phone... what's there to see..." Shen Yushu pretended not to understand: "Didn't we buy them together...? Have you forgotten? That time we went shopping, there was a China Mobile outlet running a promotion, and the poster was recommending Yu Ren Er Dai's 'Very Pure, Very Ambiguous: The Prequel'. We thought it looked fun, so we went in, and then we joined a promotion where you pay for phone credit and get a free phone..."

"Xiaoshu." Gu Mengyao heard her rambling on and on, off into the weeds entirely, and glared at her in anger: "Don't change the subject. Give me the phone."

"Oh..." Shen Yushu was actually rather afraid of Gu Mengyao. Once she got angry, Shen Yushu didn't dare make mischief, and obediently handed over the phone.

Gu Mengyao snatched it and, among the sent messages, found the one Shen Yushu had just sent. She was so angry her nose went crooked: "Xiaoshu, why did you send it to me?"

"Didn't you tell me to ask..." Shen Yushu still looked innocent.

"You..." Gu Mengyao was speechless. It was true she had told her to ask, but who asks like that? No, wait — hadn't she just said "suit yourself"?

"Xiaoshu, when did I tell you to ask? What I said was suit yourself." Gu Mengyao said angrily: "Aren't you treating a chicken feather like a general's arrow token?"

"Oh, then I'll text Arrow Brand Bro back and explain, say it was my own idea and has nothing to do with you..." Shen Yushu said.

"Forget it, I might as well say it myself..." Gu Mengyao shot Shen Yushu a look, picked up her phone, and replied: "You don't need to report to me where you go, but be careful about fooling around with girls — they've already come knocking at the door."

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