Chapter 152 — As If I Do Not Know? "Ah?" Shen Yushu Stared at the Grinning Gu Mengyao, Knowing She Had Been Tricked—Ordinarily Gu Mengyao Would Never Joke Like That; The Two of Them Trading Places Would Have Been More Like It

Today, however, Gu Mengyao turned contrary to all her usual ways and opened with a small joke at Shen Yushu's expense.

Which only meant that today, Gu Mengyao's mood was decidedly out of the ordinary.

Shen Yushu, strangely enough, did not argue back either. On any other day she would have had a hundred excuses waiting for Gu Mengyao, but today she nodded obediently: "All right, then. I'll drink juice!"

"Mm. That's more like it." Gu Mengyao nodded.

"Yao Yao-jie, why don't we both drink, and then take a taxi home, or call Brother Arrow to drive us back?" Shen Yushu felt the chance was too rare to waste. After finally getting out to drink, what was the fun of not drinking at all and just watching Gu Mengyao drink?

"Call him? Then what about your little yellow bug? Park it on the roadside?" Gu Mengyao turned a smile on Shen Yushu, a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Huh?" Shen Yushu's mouth dropped open in astonishment, and she stared at Gu Mengyao. "Yao Yao-jie, you... what little yellow bug are you talking about?"

"As if I really don't know?" Gu Mengyao shot her a glare. "That little scheme of yours, do you think I can't see through it? I've known you since we were little; I've seen straight through you all along. While I was changing clothes, what were you rummaging around in your bag for? You hardly ever touch that handbag of yours, do you? You weren't looking for the car keys, were you? Then you slipped out all sneaky-like and came back a moment later, and by the time we left, Wei Zhao's shoes had vanished. Did you think I really didn't notice?"

"Uh..." Shen Yushu looked a little embarrassed. She had never expected her little trick to have been discovered by Gu Mengyao long ago.

"Then you insisted on driving. When have you ever insisted on driving?" Gu Mengyao watched her with teasing eyes. "Once we were out of the villa, you made a point of honking the horn, and then a yellow bug came trailing along behind us... that wasn't yours, was it?"

"Uh... Yao Yao-jie, so you noticed all of it?" Shen Yushu was mortified. She could not help admiring how quick Gu Mengyao's mind was, working out her whole intent from a string of odd little signs like that.

"With that bastard tailing us, and it this late, would I dare set foot in a bar?" Gu Mengyao said. "But whatever you do, don't call him over later. Right now I can't stand him."

"Oh, good, then I get to drink too." Whether or not Wei Zhao was summoned, Shen Yushu did not care. Now that Wei Zhao had been found out, she had no need to hide anything or tuck anything away; with a knight to guard the flowers, the two of them naturally feared neither heaven nor earth.

"I'm in a bad mood, so I drink. What's your excuse?" Looking at Shen Yushu's smug, preening air, Gu Mengyao felt a flicker of irritation.

"I'm in a good mood. So I drink too." Shen Yushu nodded.

Gu Mengyao was speechless. Being saddled with a best friend like this was a little too much of a character-building exercise.

Shen Yushu picked out a bar called Geili Fuyun. Judging by the decor, it had to be new this year, trendy and luxurious, and lively besides. She parked the car right at the bar's entrance.

Once the car was parked, the doorman came up at once and opened the doors for Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. "Welcome to the Geili Fuyun Bar, ladies. Do you have a reservation?"

"No." Gu Mengyao locked the car and shook her head.

"Then please follow me." The doorman nodded with a smile and led Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu into the bar.

This was a classic Western-style bar, steeped in the flavor of the European and American countryside, and yet not without its luxury. Clearly the owner had sunk no small sum into the place.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu seldom came to places like this, so everything made them curious. The ground-floor hall was a song-and-dance lounge, with a bar counter and booth seating; at the very center of the hall stood a stage, where two foreign girls were singing, their outfits not especially revealing.

It was only a little past seven in the evening, still early. The hour for risqué dancing had not yet arrived, and the performances on stage were all fairly proper.

"Would you two prefer the bar or a booth?" The doorman was a seasoned hand. Seeing how curiously the two of them were sizing up the inside of the bar, he knew at once that this was their first visit. Regulars simply found their own seats when they came in and never needed a doorman to lead the way.

"Find us a quieter booth, would you?" Gu Mengyao had always rather envied those television scenes in which a few people sat around the bar drinking together, but this was her first time here, after all, and she felt a little timid.

"Very well, please come with me, ladies." The doorman handed Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu over to a host in the hall, then returned to the bar's entrance.

The waiter led Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu to a booth well off to the side and asked with a smiling face, "Will this do?"

"It's fine. We'll take it." Gu Mengyao nodded, and she and Shen Yushu sat down.

Seats in a remote booth like this were seldom chosen, save by those who wanted to drink alone and nurse a bad mood; and even then, many of them sat by themselves at the bar.

It seemed these two pretty girls really were here for the first time. The waiter sighed faintly. Girls this pure, this innocent of the world, actually walking into a bar... Did they not know how many wolves prowled in here, wolves who made a specialty of prey just like them?

As for the seasoned women who haunted bars all year round, it was anyone's guess who would end up playing whom. A man might blow a fortune and never so much as touch a hand, drawing water with a bamboo basket and coming up empty.

So the wolves all fixed their attention on green, unripe girls like Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. The moment the two of them stepped into the bar, dozens of pairs of eyes fastened onto them...

Yet seeing that Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu carried themselves with uncommon poise, some curious soul went to make inquiries and learned that the two had arrived in an Audi S5. Many of the poor wolves fell back on the spot; these girls were plainly rich young ladies, and the poor wolves felt they had no capital with which to move them.

As for the wolves with a little family standing, they might have some cash in hand, but not knowing how deep the water ran, they too dared not step forward. They all hung back and watched, waiting for the first man to run into a wall.

Wei Zhao parked the Beetle beside Gu Mengyao's Audi S5. The doorman, seeing that he had come alone, had no great deal to say: "Welcome, sir."

Young gentlemen who came here alone were a dime a dozen; there were no few of them every day. The doorman took Wei Zhao for another man out hunting for a pretty face, so naturally he offered no lengthy explanations—he simply opened the car door for Wei Zhao and saw him into the bar.

As he went in, though, Wei Zhao glanced back toward the doorway as if nothing were on his mind, and smiled a thoughtful little smile.

When he turned back and saw Gu Mengyao looking his way, Wei Zhao knew his cover was blown. There was no point in hiding any longer, so he shrugged and walked straight over toward Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, seating himself at a standalone two-person table not far from them.

Fastest updates. For pop-up-free reading, please visit.