Chapter 349 — Tang Yun's Treat

"What method?" Kang Xiaobo brightened and asked at once.

"First, tell them the truth and try to win their understanding," Wei Zhao said.

"...I'm afraid that won't work, will it?" Kang Xiaobo grimaced. "If they could be talked round, I wouldn't be worried in the first place."

"Second, then don't say Xiaofen is your girlfriend. Say she's your classmate. I won't bring Tang Yun along; I'll have Xiaofen come with me, and they shouldn't get suspicious." So said Wei Zhao.

"Now that's a good idea! But if Tang Yun isn't going, will Xiaofen be able to?" Kang Xiaobo hesitated.

"That depends on how you put it to Xiaofen!" Wei Zhao clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, into the classroom."

Zhong Yongliang seemed very downcast today. He had already learned that his uncle had left the Gu Group in disgrace, and he could not say what he felt about his uncle's failure.

Was it disappointment, or something else besides? Zhong Yongliang found that he was even a little excited! For deep down, he did not want his uncle to seize Gu Pengzhan's place. Were that to happen, then even if he won Gu Mengyao, the Zhong family would be no more than an appendage of his uncle's. But as things stood, the moment he won Gu Mengyao, the Zhong family would soar to greatness!

Gu Mengyao was Gu Pengzhan's only daughter, and once he became his only son-in-law, how could the man possibly fail to transfer a portion of the shares to him?

And so, picturing his bright future, Zhong Yongliang was at once filled with hope and fighting spirit. Yet he simply had no idea where to begin. The blood letter was out of the question; every time he wrote one, he bled profusely, and at this rate he would lose enough blood to pass out cold.

Gao Xiaofu did not dare to casually offer ideas this time either. Zhong Yongliang asked him several times, and each time he gave only vague answers about thinking up another way. And so the two of them sank into gloom again. Until they settled on their next plan, it seemed they would not be pestering Gu Mengyao anymore.

In the last class of the morning, Wei Zhao received a message from Tang Yun asking what he planned to do at noon.

Wei Zhao texted back that he had nothing on at noon, and asked whether she needed anything.

After a while, Tang Yun replied: "Shall we go to the cafeteria together at noon?"

"Ha..." Wei Zhao could not help but smile as he looked at the message Tang Yun had sent him. Had Tang Yun finally opened her heart to him? Had she taken the initiative to invite him to a meal?

True, there was the gratitude for yesterday's two hundred thousand yuan mixed into it. But if Tang Yun had not truly accepted him in her heart, then given her temperament she would never have taken the initiative to ask him to eat with her!

If Tang Yun wanted to borrow money, he was sure that she need only open her mouth, and any number of wealthy secret admirers at school would have rushed to attach themselves to her.

At noon, Kang Xiaobo had to go to the hospital to complete Xiaofen's discharge paperwork, and to mention the birthday banquet that weekend along the way. Wei Zhao, meanwhile, at Tang Yun's invitation, came to the shade of the trees beside the sports field.

Tang Yun had been too embarrassed to wait right at the school cafeteria's entrance, so she had asked Wei Zhao to wait for her here.

This was the place where the two of them had first had their date... Well, it could hardly be called a date. Yet Tang Yun felt something special about this place, for it was here, that very time, that Wei Zhao had taken her hand and, in front of Zou Ruoming and Wang Zhifeng, the Dean of Studies, declared that she was his woman...

Tang Yun was a little nervous, clutching her meal card, unable to sit still. The fifth period of the morning had been a test; Tang Yun handed in her paper first and came early to wait in the shade of the trees. She waited and waited, and still Wei Zhao did not appear.

Tang Yun glanced at her phone. Surely Wei Zhao had not sent her a text that she had failed to receive? Yet that seemed unlikely too...

Just as Tang Yun was growing anxious, she saw a boy come running quickly toward her. Tang Yun smiled and waved to Wei Zhao.

In the past, Tang Yun would never have dared to do something so bold at school; the school rules were strict beyond measure. But now those rules had become a mere scrap of paper before Tang Yun. Wang Zhifeng turned a blind eye to whatever went on between her and Wei Zhao, so what did she have to fear?

Deep down, Tang Yun even felt a touch of rebellion. After so many years as a good girl and a good student, at last she too could let herself go, just like those bad students.

"Have you been waiting long?" Wei Zhao saw that a thin sheen of sweat had already formed on Tang Yun's smooth forehead; clearly she had been waiting a while.

"Not really... the last class was a test, so I handed in my paper early..." Tang Yun said shyly, smoothing the hair at her forehead in her embarrassment.

"Then why didn't you text me? I could have come out a bit earlier." Wei Zhao was quite used to skipping class by now. He had already had a word with the Dean of Studies, and the teachers of the other subjects could not be bothered to discipline him, assuming he was some rich young master killing time at school.

"It's fine." Tang Yun shook her head. "Let me treat you to a meal?"

"You're treating me?" Wei Zhao looked at Tang Yun in surprise.

"Don't look at me like that... I can only treat you in the cafeteria..." Tang Yun held up her cafeteria card awkwardly. "All the money at home has gone to my father's surgery. There may be something left over, but there's no telling whether we'll need more later... So if you want me to treat you to something grand, that will have to wait until I've earned some money of my own..."

"Ha... no need. There's plenty of money on my cafeteria card; we may as well use mine. If it goes unused, it just goes to waste." Wei Zhao pulled the card from his pocket and pressed it into Tang Yun's hand. "How is your father's illness?"

Tang Jucheng's ailment was a disease of the bone, and it would take surgery to cure. Skilled as Wei Zhao was in both acupuncture and the compounding of medicines, he could hardly take the hospital's place and operate on Tang Jucheng himself.

"Why are you giving me your card?" Tang Yun was startled. "My mother took my father to the hospital first thing this morning... he should be there now. But he's had check-ups before as well; all that's left is the surgery."

"I don't eat in the cafeteria much anyway, and from now on, whenever I do, it will be with you, so the card is yours," Wei Zhao said. "Is there anything at the hospital you need help with?"

"I don't think so..." Tang Yun shook her head, her eyes reddening slightly. "Wei Zhao, thank you! I don't even know how I ought to thank you..."

Tang Yun was truly moved. Wei Zhao had not seized the chance to hold anything over her, nor had he made any demand that would put her in a difficult position...

"Why say such things?" Wei Zhao took Tang Yun's hand. "Come on, let's go eat..."

"Mm..." Tang Yun's little hand was caught by Wei Zhao; instinctively she wanted to pull away, but after a moment's hesitation she let him hold it.

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