Chapter 169 — The Shy Shen Yushu

"Arrow Bro, what were you two talking about just now?" Shen Yushu was a curious little thing. She and Gu Mengyao had been eavesdropping from upstairs, but hadn't dared get close enough for Gu Pengzhan to notice, so they hadn't heard clearly.

"Nothing much. Just shop talk," Wei Zhao said. "Uncle Chu's competitor."

"Oh..." Gu Mengyao wasn't interested in any of that. She was still too young to have brushed against the scheming and backstabbing of the business world; in her dealings with people she was still utterly naive. What she cared about was the real reason Daddy had sent Wei Zhao to her side. Since it had nothing to do with this, her interest naturally flagged.

"Arrow Bro, be honest — did Uncle Chu send you here to court Sister Yaoyao?" Shen Yushu didn't quite believe that Gu Pengzhan and Wei Zhao had only discussed company matters.

"Huh!?" Hearing Shen Yushu's words, Wei Zhao stared at her, dumbstruck.

"Oh, never mind..." Shen Yushu had only been fishing. Seeing that expression, she knew her guess had missed the mark — or at least that Wei Zhao, like Gu Mengyao, was being kept in the dark.

Wei Zhao smiled wryly and rubbed his nose. Shen Yushu's question was absurd. Was Gu Pengzhan missing a string in his head? Send him to court his own daughter? Was Gu Mengyao hideously ugly, or did she have some secret ailment, that he would have to send someone to court her?

He had to admit it — Shen Yushu's imagination ran wild. Who knew what she kept stored in that little head of hers.

"Xiaoshu, what nonsense are you spouting?" Gu Mengyao's face went red in an instant. "Why don't you ask whether my daddy sent him to court you?"

"Why would Uncle Chu send him to court me?" Shen Yushu blinked. "He's not that much of a gossip..."

Gu Mengyao rolled her eyes, furious. "Say one more word and I'll tear your mouth off."

"Oh... but a torn mouth can still talk. Unless you sew it shut, Sister Yaoyao, your logic doesn't hold." Shen Yushu retorted.

"..." Gu Mengyao turned and went upstairs. This best friend of hers was too much to handle. If she couldn't win against her, could she not at least hide from her...

"Sister Yaoyao, wait for me!" Shen Yushu turned and ran after her.

Wei Zhao watched the two receding figures and shook his head. To this day he had never been up to the second floor and had no idea what it looked like up there. Suddenly he remembered that the key to Shen Yushu's villa was still in his hand, and he called out hurriedly: "Xiaoshu."

"Hm? You called me, Arrow Bro?" Shen Yushu turned her head, looking at Wei Zhao in some puzzlement, then her mouth fell open. "Uncle Chu didn't really send you to court me, did he?"

"..." Wei Zhao nearly keeled over. "I'm returning your villa key."

"Oh, the key." Shen Yushu was a little flustered, a little embarrassed. "Ha, I was only joking..." "I know," Wei Zhao said with a very certain nod. When had Shen Yushu ever told the truth? Nine and a half out of every ten things she said were jokes.

"Hehe, that's good then..." Shen Yushu let out a breath of relief, feeling her face burn. She didn't know what had possessed her to blurt out such a thing just now. Good thing she had always played the madcap clown; otherwise, if she had finally said something sincere and someone had noticed, how mortifying that would be. "By the way, let me borrow the car for a few days, all right? Otherwise it's inconvenient for me to go out with you two," Wei Zhao asked.

"You drive it. I don't drive anyway." Shen Yushu waved a hand. "The villa key — leave it with you for now too. Didn't you want the computer? Go move it over when you have time. I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep. Bye-bye..."

Shen Yushu felt sure her face must be bright red by now, like a big crab running a fever — like that TV commercial from years ago: What's the matter, brother? Did somebody boil you?

In fact, under the dim light on the villa's second floor, Shen Yushu's complexion wasn't all that obvious, and Wei Zhao hadn't paid it much attention. "All right, then I'll come by tomorrow and move the computer back."

Amid pointing fingers and whispered commentary, Tang Yun and Liu Xinsou walked out of the school. Tang Yun felt rather depressed, sensing countless pairs of eyes fixed on her back.

Wei Zhao — you'll be the death of me! Tang Yun thought.

"Yunyun, I'll head back first, then?" Though Liu Xinsou lived very close to Tang Yun, Tang Yun had to go help out at her mother's Ma Gaisi barbecue stall every evening, so the two never walked home together.

"Mm, then be careful on the way. Drop by and see Xiaofen when you can — her mood has been unstable these past few days. When I went to her place over the weekend, she wouldn't say a word." Tang Yun urged.

"All right, I'll go see her in a bit." Liu Xinsou nodded.

Tang Yun walked alone toward the snack street behind the school. Her mother was already lighting the fire, getting ready to barbecue. Tang Yun pouted and set the barbecue recipe Wei Zhao had given her down in front of the Ma Gaisi stall. "Here, the recipe."

"Oh? You've got the recipe already?" Mother Tang's face lit up at once, and she happily took the recipe. In truth, when Wei Zhao had mentioned it yesterday, Mother Tang hadn't been sure whether he would really give her a recipe — after all, he might simply have been talking, not to be taken seriously.

But she hadn't expected Tang Yun to actually bring it back today. That meant her barbecue stall's business was about to pick up. Mother Tang was naturally delighted. "Did you thank him?"

"I thanked him." Tang Yun pursed her lips. Thank him? Thank him for giving her a love letter? For letting the whole school know?

"You child — did you really thank him or not?" No one knows a daughter like her mother. One look at Tang Yun's expression and Mother Tang knew that nine times out of ten she hadn't thanked Wei Zhao at all. She shook her head helplessly.

Her daughter was good in every way, only her temper was a little proud, a little aloof. If she had been born into a wealthy family, that temper would have served her well; but in this family... Mother Tang sighed inwardly. When Tang Yun reached her age, she would understand the hardships of life.

Hadn't she herself once been as proud as her daughter? But life's bitterness had worn away her edges and made her worldly.

"I told you I thanked him, so I thanked him!" Tang Yun twisted her body awkwardly. "Mom, let me help you..."

"No need. We'll close up early today and go home to try this recipe. Any later and the spice shop will be closed, and I won't be able to buy the things on this list." As she spoke, Mother Tang began packing up the stall, ready to go home.

Tang Yun helped her mother somewhat helplessly. Why did her mother trust Wei Zhao so much? What if the thing was just a recipe he had scribbled off at random? Then it would come out tasting awful and waste the ingredients.

But seeing how utterly her mother believed in Wei Zhao's recipe, Tang Yun could only go along with her.

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