Chapter 263 — Let's See Who Dies First

"Oh, didn't I already say? I'm her follower." Wei Zhao smiled. "And you?"

Damn you to hell! An Jianwen wanted to curse aloud, because he had taken Wei Zhao's question as a provocation, a deliberate slight against him. Even if you were Gu Mengyao's boyfriend, there was no need to flaunt it like that — and besides, you were a boyfriend who had not even won Gu Pengzhan's approval!

In An Jianwen's eyes, Gu Pengzhan would never approve of Wei Zhao. He could not imagine what kind of dog-shit luck this brat had stumbled into, to win Gu Mengyao's favor.

And that counter-question of Wei Zhao's — "And you?" — stoked the fire in An Jianwen's heart even higher. He thought back to those days when the Four Young Masters of Songshan had been at the height of their glory, known to every household, renowned far and wide.

Five years. Five years of scattering to the four winds had made the young people of Songshan forget the Four Young Masters of old — so much so that someone actually had to ask An Jianwen what he did for a living.

"I've just returned from studying abroad. I'm planning to invest in starting a company," An Jianwen said flatly, a trace of haughtiness in his tone.

"Oh, starting a company is good. I'm planning to start one too," Wei Zhao said offhandedly.

A flicker of anger crossed An Jianwen's face. You're planning to start one too? Do you think starting a company is as simple as playing house? You, start one? Do you even have the capital to start one?

"Oh? And what kind of company is Mr. Lin planning to start?" An Jianwen's words carried a hint of mockery.

"Haven't decided yet." It was not that Wei Zhao had not decided — he simply could not be bothered to tell An Jianwen. Starting a pharmaceutical company was something he had settled on long ago.

"Heh heh, well, good. If Mr. Lin wants to start any kind of company, just come to me. For Yaoyao's sake, whatever help I can give, I'll give!" An Jianwen said earnestly.

Your help? The moment you help, it's doomed to fail, isn't it? Wei Zhao curled his lip. He did not believe for a second that An Jianwen meant any good. With that, An Jianwen was about to rise and leave — there was no point in talking further with Wei Zhao here. He intended to go back and thoroughly investigate Wei Zhao's background first. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat — that had always been An Jianwen's motto in all his dealings.

He had not taken two steps from his seat when An Jianwen suddenly clutched his abdomen, his breathing turning rapid and labored. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down his face. He tried to say something, but there was no time — he collapsed to the ground, the muscles of his whole body convulsing in rhythmic spasms, his face turning blue and purple, foam spilling from his mouth...

"Jianwen!" Gu Mengyao was stunned for a moment, then rushed over in alarm. The two men sitting with An Jianwen also hurried over at once.

"Quick, call an ambulance!" The man in the white casual shirt clearly knew about An Jianwen's condition. Though tense, he did not lose his head. The man with the effeminate features swiftly took out his phone and dialed the emergency center.

Seeing the man in the white shirt approach, Gu Mengyao said hurriedly, "Brother Taizao, Jianwen's illness..."

"Where's the owner? Where's the restaurant owner? Get out here! Someone's been poisoned by the food!" This man in the white casual shirt was named Su Taizao, and he too had been one of the Four Young Masters of Songshan.

A somewhat portly man came out trembling from behind the counter, looking at Su Taizao with fear. "Sir, it's not necessarily food poisoning that this gentleman has..."

"How is it not? When we ordered, we told you — no cilantro, no celery. Did you put them in?" Su Taizao glared viciously at the restaurant owner. "If anything happens to Brother An, I'll make sure this restaurant of yours never opens again!"

"I didn't put any in. I specifically asked the kitchen — there's none of that in the dishes..." the owner said cautiously.

"There's no cilantro in the dishes, and no celery either. The owner isn't lying." By now Wei Zhao had walked over to the table where An Jianwen had been sitting, examining what the three of them had eaten. "But this vegetable soup has some crown daisy in it. If I'm not mistaken, An Jianwen should be allergic to these pungent vegetables — eating them triggers his epilepsy."

"Crown daisy?" Su Taizao was taken aback at Wei Zhao's words, and looked at the restaurant owner. "There's crown daisy in this?"

"Yes, there is crown daisy," the owner nodded. "We always add crown daisy to our soup. In summer it clears heat and relieves the summer's damp..."

Su Taizao frowned. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" But he knew it was not the restaurant owner's fault — it was he himself who had not mentioned it when ordering. In the north, however, crown daisy was rarely used in soup, not nearly as commonly added as celery or cilantro, so Su Taizao had not thought that much of it when ordering. Who would have guessed that the soup would happen to contain crown daisy after all!

Having said his piece, Wei Zhao walked back to his own seat and sat down, preparing to eat his fast food. The reason he had gone to look earlier was simply that he did not have a good impression of An Jianwen, and did not want his troubles to drag the restaurant owner down with them.

The restaurant owner cast Wei Zhao a grateful look. If Wei Zhao had not spotted the problem in time, then if his restaurant were branded with the crime of food poisoning, he would never be able to run it in peace again.

"Wei Zhao, can you save Brother Jianwen?" Gu Mengyao knew of the earlier clash between An Jianwen and Wei Zhao, but An Jianwen was, after all, the big brother of her childhood, and their family and hers had always been on good terms. If something really happened to An Jianwen right before her eyes, her conscience would never be at ease.

Hearing Wei Zhao accurately name An Jianwen's illness and its cause, she instinctively pinned her hopes on him. She did not know when it had begun, but Gu Mengyao had come to regard the Wei Zhao by her side as an omnipotent presence...

Cooking, parking, clearing out thugs and ruffians — even when Little Shu got wedged between the iron railings, she would go to Wei Zhao for help at the first moment! So long as she had a request, Wei Zhao could always fulfill it, and this had bred in Gu Mengyao a dependence on him.

"Oh, I can. But I don't want to," Wei Zhao said, glancing at An Jianwen.

"You—" Su Taizao was enraged at Wei Zhao's words. "What kind of person are you? Refusing to save a dying man? I'm telling you, do you know what An Jianwen's family does? If they find out you stood by and let him die, you can just wait to die yourself!"

"Oh, then you all wait for the ambulance. I'd say within ten minutes, this man won't die." Wei Zhao looked at Su Taizao as though he were an idiot. "In that case, I won't save him. Let's see whether he dies first, or I die first!"

"You—" Su Taizao was choked off by Wei Zhao's retort, at a loss for words. He was used to throwing his weight around, and the threat had slipped out of habit, but he had not expected Wei Zhao to refuse to play along at all.

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