Chapter 280 — We're Friends!

Ever since she got home, Gu Mengyao had been restless, unable to sit still. After all, that was the best friend she had grown up with, her dearest friend! How could she not worry? And then there was Wei Zhao — she had no idea whether that thing was dangerous. He was annoying most of the time, but even so, Gu Mengyao did not want anything to happen to him.

As for why, Gu Mengyao could not have said. Perhaps it was because Wei Zhao was her employee, and she did not want anything to happen to him.

Her worry did not last long, though, for Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu came back safe and sound, driven home by Liu Wangli. The moment Qiu Lingshan got back to the station, she handed the job of escorting Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu over to Liu Wangli and kept herself well out of Wei Zhao's way.

If you cannot afford to cross someone, you can at least afford to avoid them! Have the captain herself drive Wei Zhao and his shark home? Qiu Lingshan wanted no part of that.

Liu Wangli did not mind. He borrowed a van from the squad, loaded the shark aboard, and drove Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu back to the villa district. To be honest, Liu Wangli rather admired Wei Zhao — to win over the female T-rex of the police force, Qiu Lingshan, was no small feat for an ordinary man!

"Xiaoshu, you're all right? Thank goodness!" Seeing Shen Yushu home safe, Gu Mengyao was visibly overcome. She spread her arms and threw them around her.

"Yao-yao, I'm fine, I had a pretty good time!" Shen Yushu did not share Gu Mengyao's feelings at all. Gu Mengyao had been sick with worry, while Shen Yushu had eaten her fill of shark meat, played in the sand a while, and passed a thoroughly pleasant Saturday.

Wei Zhao, the shark hoisted on his shoulder, watched the two girls hugging and shook his head. Was all this really necessary? If falling into the sea and coming back warranted such a display, then back in the day he and Yang Huaijun and the rest would have been hugging each other every single day...

After hugging Shen Yushu, Gu Mengyao turned to look at Wei Zhao. She had been worried about him too, though she let nothing show on her face. She was just about to offer him a few casual words of comfort when her eyes fell on the shark slung over his shoulder, and she gave a start. "Wei Zhao, what is that you're carrying?"

"Oh, right, Yao-yao, this is the shark Brother Arrow killed. He roasted shark meat for me — it was delicious! So I told him to bring the rest back and roast some for you!" Shen Yushu hurried to explain.

Hearing this, Gu Mengyao was deeply moved. They had grown up together after all, sisters in all but blood; even in the midst of disaster, Shen Yushu had not forgotten her when there was something good to eat. She reached out and hugged her again. "Xiaoshu, thank you..."

"Hey, I'm the one carrying the shark..." Wei Zhao said with a wry smile from where he stood.

"Mm... thank you too... Wei Zhao." A little embarrassed, Gu Mengyao nodded to him. But she could hardly hug Wei Zhao the way she had hugged Shen Yushu. Suddenly something struck her, and she was startled. "Shark? Xiaoshu, did you say what Wei Zhao is carrying is a shark?"

"That's right!" Shen Yushu nodded. "A big shark. It was delicious."

"What? A shark?" Gu Mengyao's eyes went wide. "Wei Zhao, you killed a shark?"

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled. "If I hadn't killed it, it would have eaten Xiaoshu and me."

Gu Mengyao truly did not know what to say. The man before her was a walking marvel. Was that his reason for killing a shark? Plenty of people had been eaten by sharks — why hadn't they gone and killed one?

Wei Zhao made it sound easy, but Gu Mengyao could imagine how harrowing the situation must have been. In fact, she had guessed wrong this time: killing that shark really had been easy for Wei Zhao.

"Thank you for protecting Xiaoshu." Since Wei Zhao put it that way, Gu Mengyao said no more. She nodded to him.

"She's my friend. No need to thank me," Wei Zhao said, shaking his head.

At his words, Gu Mengyao suddenly felt a hollow emptiness in her heart. Wei Zhao protected her, she supposed, because she was his employer — and it was on that account that she had wanted to thank him for protecting Shen Yushu, since his job was to protect her alone, not Shen Yushu.

But with one simple sentence, Wei Zhao had made it clear: he had protected Shen Yushu not because of any connection to her, but because he and Shen Yushu were friends!

He and Shen Yushu were friends, and as for her... At the thought, Gu Mengyao felt a pang of loss. "Then what am I?"

"Heh, if we weren't, I wouldn't have saved An Jianwen today. I can't stand the sight of that creature." Wei Zhao smiled. He had not expected Gu Mengyao's thoughts to run so fine.

Only then did Gu Mengyao recall that when she had begged him for help today, Wei Zhao had indeed been reluctant — but she had called it a personal request, and he had acted all the same... Yes, a personal request; that made it a matter between friends...

Without her quite noticing, Gu Mengyao had begun to care about this man she had once so thoroughly detested.

In the villa, Gu Mengyao sat on the sofa holding Shen Yushu's hand, chatting. She had meant to comfort her; in Gu Mengyao's view, Shen Yushu must have been frightened half to death after falling into the sea. But she had miscalculated!

Shen Yushu was not frightened in the least. On the contrary, she chattered on and on about how she had built sandcastles on the beach, how she had rubbed sticks together to make fire, how she had roasted shark meat...

It was no different from a holiday in the wild, and Gu Mengyao found herself envying her. She even wondered why it hadn't been she who fell into the sea. Had she known Wei Zhao was this capable, what would she have had to fear? She would have jumped in with him — and eaten and drunk like royalty besides.

"Ah, but Yao-yao, I have to tell you some bad news!" Shen Yushu suddenly thought of the matter of Qiu Lingshan.

"Bad news? What bad news?" Gu Mengyao was still lost in the lovely picture Shen Yushu had painted: a sunlit beach, playing idly in the sand, the smell of roasting shark meat drifting from the fire nearby — what a delightful life of campfire cooking!

"Qiu Lingshan isn't Brother Arrow's woman. Brother Arrow and her — there's nothing between them!" Shen Yushu sounded disappointed. "I was hoping to make her a chamber maid and put her properly in her place, but it turns out she isn't..."

"Not Wei Zhao's woman? Well, if she isn't, she isn't... But what does that have to do with a chamber maid?" Gu Mengyao thought it was all for the better — how could that be bad news? What she hated most was him philandering about outside!

"Oh, Yao-yao, think about it. Uncle Chu wants to take Brother Arrow as a son-in-law, doesn't he?" Shen Yushu began to explain. "That makes you Brother Arrow's first wife. And me — well, we agreed on this long ago — I'm Brother Arrow's second wife. If that Qiu Lingshan wants to be with Brother Arrow, she can only be a chamber maid, lower even than me, his second wife. So can't I step on her whenever I like?"

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