Chapter 455 — The Beginning of the Nightmare

"Haven't you heard the saying? Near vermilion one turns red, near ink one turns black." Feng Xiaoxiao said with a smile. "It doesn't matter if you won't teach me to drive—I'll just stay at your side. You'll influence me without even trying, I'll become more and more like you, and then I'll be able to drive!"

"..." Wei Zhao was struck speechless by Feng Xiaoxiao's reasoning. "Then do whatever you like. I'm going home." With that, he turned and headed for the snack street behind the school, where he had parked his car. Feng Xiaoxiao, unhurried, kept right at his side.

Wei Zhao frowned. Fearing that in a moment Tang Yun and her mother would see them and get the wrong idea, he said: "Can't you follow me tomorrow instead?"

"Isn't it nice to let me walk you home?" Feng Xiaoxiao had already resolved to follow Wei Zhao, so no matter what he said, she answered in the same soft, gentle voice.

"Aren't you going to want your car back?" Wei Zhao was somewhat at a loss for words; Feng Xiaoxiao's attitude made it truly impossible for him to get angry. If she had been the way she used to be, it would have been easy—he could simply have kicked her flying. But now, to actually raise his foot against this delicate little thing, Wei Zhao truly could not bring himself to do it.

"I'll walk you home first, then take the bus back to get it!" Feng Xiaoxiao said.

"Feng Xiaoxiao, could you please act like a normal person?" Wei Zhao had truly reached the limit of his patience. "If you keep up this craziness, I won't come tomorrow!"

"Then I won't walk you home—only don't stop coming. I still want to be at your side every day!" Feng Xiaoxiao hastily shook her head. "Isn't it enough if I don't go home with you? I'll go on ahead by myself..."

At last Wei Zhao had gotten rid of Feng Xiaoxiao. He let out a breath of relief and patted his forehead. What on earth was Feng Xiaoxiao up to? Near vermilion one turns red, near ink one turns black—he simply did not believe a word of it. There had to be something else at work, something he did not know about.

What Wei Zhao had not expected was that his nightmare had only just begun...

"Who was that girl just now?" Though Wei Zhao had been in a hurry to shoo Feng Xiaoxiao away, he had not escaped the eyes of Tang Yun, who was helping her mother at the barbecue stall.

In fact, the moment Wei Zhao arrived at the snack street, Tang Yun had seen him. But seeing that there was a girl at his side, she had hesitated to call out, pretending not to have noticed—though inside she was very nervous.

Once Feng Xiaoxiao had left, Tang Yun could no longer hold back and asked.

"My deskmate. She just transferred here," Wei Zhao said.

"Then why is she following you around?" Though Tang Yun felt that asking so many questions made her a little petty, petty it was, then—Wei Zhao was becoming more and more outstanding, and Tang Yun was more and more afraid that he might transfer his affections to another.

"She doesn't know the roads, and she couldn't find where she parked her car," Wei Zhao said offhandedly.

"I see... She drives to school too? Then her family must be quite wealthy?" Tang Yun was startled. If Feng Xiaoxiao really meant to compete with her, she was afraid she would not stand a chance.

"Who knows. She happened to see me driving once on the street and thought I was a good driver, so she wanted to learn from me. I have not had time to bother with her," Wei Zhao said.

"Oh, I see." Hearing Wei Zhao say this, Tang Yun immediately grew nervous again—so Feng Xiaoxiao had come after Wei Zhao on purpose? It gave her a faint sense of crisis. "Never mind her. How has Auntie's business been lately?" Wei Zhao did not want to talk more about Feng Xiaoxiao in front of Tang Yun, so he changed the subject.

"Not bad. The income is three or four times what it was before. By that reckoning, we can bring in over ten thousand a month."

At this point Tang Yun looked very happy—for the first time, her family could earn so much money.

"Mm. Then save a little and rent a storefront, open a barbecue restaurant, and you won't have to work so hard," Wei Zhao nodded. Though he could put up another sum of money to open a shop for Tang Yun's family, with Tang Yun's temperament, she would probably never accept it.

"That is what I think too. I don't want Mom out in the wind and sun anymore. But Mom says opening a shop is risky, and she doesn't want to lose the money we've earned." Here Tang Yun could not help blushing. "She says... she says she wants to save it up for my dowry..."

"Dowry?" Wei Zhao was startled, then smiled oddly. "Then I'll have a word with Auntie. I'm not short that little dowry—she doesn't need to save it."

"You?" Tang Yun was startled too, but then she caught on, and her face turned even redder. Her small fist lightly struck at Wei Zhao. "What nonsense are you saying? I never said I was going to marry you!"

"Heh heh!" Wei Zhao caught Tang Yun's hand. "Auntie has already agreed."

After helping Tang Yun and her mother for a while, the flow of students gradually thinned. Wei Zhao helped Tang Yun's mother push the barbecue cart to the nearby warehouse, then drove her and Tang Yun toward the shantytown.

"Xiao Yi, I hear the shantytown is going to be demolished and relocated. Do you think we should take the compensation money or a resettlement apartment?" Tang Yun's mother had been unable to decide for days. With the compensation, they said a family could get several hundred thousand; but a resettlement apartment would also get them a flat about the same size as what they had now, which counted as a fairly good deal.

"A resettlement apartment would be fine too. This isn't really my field—another day I'll find someone to ask for you." The person Wei Zhao had in mind was Fatty Lai. Wasn't that his line of work, real estate? He'd certainly know if asked.

Still, knowing Fatty Lai's style, if he learned that Tang Yun was Wei Zhao's girlfriend, he might well show up the very next day and simply give them a villa. Only, in Wei Zhao's view, Tang Yun would never accept it.

"That's fine too. But it's only a rumor—whether it will actually happen is hard to say." Tang Yun's mother sighed. "Several times before they said there would be demolition, but in the end it stalled because the developer and we couldn't agree on the compensation."

"It's all right. When the time comes, if you need anything, just tell me. I have a friend in real estate—he can definitely help," Wei Zhao said.

After dropping Tang Yun and her mother off at the shantytown, Wei Zhao did not get out of the car. He drove straight back to Gu Mengyao's villa.

As for Wei Zhao's leaving early and returning late, Gu Mengyao no longer cared to say anything. She gave him a cold glance, then went back to watching TV with Shen Yushu.

"Why are you following me? I made plans with Tang Yun to go eat." Wei Zhao had not expected that little tail Feng Xiaoxiao to have followed him again.

"I'm going to eat too!" Feng Xiaoxiao blinked. "It's a good chance to get to know your girlfriend. We'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on."

"What do you mean? You want to be there every time I go on a date?" Wei Zhao's face immediately turned green.

"Yes!" Feng Xiaoxiao nodded very seriously.

For the fastest updates, read with no pop-up windows.