Chapter 534 — No More Tang Yun, "Phew..."

Wei Zhao lay spread-eagled on the hotel bed and let out a long breath.

He had thought that when he met the Yu family, he would be able to face them calmly. And in truth, Wei Zhao had tried hard to keep his composure. Yet once he was alone and quiet, that incomparably beautiful face rose unbidden in his mind, along with those aggrieved, resentful eyes.

Xiao Ning, are you well?

Wei Zhao shook his head with a touch of self-mockery. It was all in the past — why could he still not let it go?

When he had left back then, had he truly believed his status was unworthy of her? Or was it because he could not give her a comfortable, stable life? Or was it the recklessness of youth, unwilling to be bound by love and family? Or had he simply discovered Xiao Ning's secret and chosen to run from it?

Wei Zhao did not know; he could not explain it himself. His state of mind then and his state of mind now were two entirely different things.

Back then, every moment had been fraught with tension; now, he was carefree and at ease.

Wei Zhao climbed off the bed, went into the bathroom, turned on the shower and stepped in. In an instant he felt considerably refreshed.

Silently he began to circulate the inner-energy method of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. The mid-Yellow rank brought a faint smile to the corner of his mouth.

In a single night his strength had recovered to the mid-Yellow rank — a fast pace indeed. Only, this was nothing to celebrate, for the closer he came to his former strength, the slower his progress would be.

In fact, Wei Zhao had recovered to mid-Yellow rank in the first half of the night; in the second half he had made no progress at all.

After his shower, Wei Zhao dried his hair and glanced at the phone on the bed. He saw two missed calls. He assumed they were from Tang Yun, but they were not.

One was from Feng Xiaoxiao, the other from Kang Xiaobo.

Wei Zhao called Kang Xiaobo back first, and Kang Xiaobo picked up quickly. "Boss, why didn't you answer just now?"

"I was taking a shower. What's up?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Boss, did you have a fight with Sister-in-law Tang Yun?" Kang Xiaobo asked.

"No. Why?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. It probably did not count as a fight, did it? He had only stood her up. Tang Yun would not be that petty.

"At school today I saw Sister-in-law Tang Yun with red-rimmed eyes, like she'd been crying all night!" Kang Xiaobo said. "Could something have happened in her family?"

"Her family?" Wei Zhao paused. That was possible, he thought — something really might have gone wrong at Tang Yun's home, and he did not have her parents' numbers, nor any way to reach her. The girl had even turned off her phone, which was worrying. So he said, "Tomorrow, ask her for me — or Liu Xinwen will do — and call me back."

Since Tang Yun could still go to school, it was probably nothing too serious. But Kang Xiaobo said she seemed to have cried all night, her eyes red, and it made Wei Zhao's heart ache. He was not a man good at expressing his feelings; since childhood it had been nothing but training and missions, and the only family he had were his Master and the old man — and those two had been strict beyond measure.

"All right, I'll ask right now. I have Liu Xinwen's number here," Kang Xiaobo agreed.

After hanging up with Kang Xiaobo, Wei Zhao called Feng Xiaoxiao back. "What is it?"

"I did you such a big favor today. Aren't you going to thank me?" Feng Xiaoxiao said with a grin.

"No time, I'm busy. If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up." Wei Zhao was waiting for Kang Xiaobo to call back and had no patience for Feng Xiaoxiao's dawdling.

"Hey! What do you mean by that? You use someone and then throw them away?" Feng Xiaoxiao was incensed, berating Wei Zhao furiously for his shabbiness.

Used and thrown away? Several black lines appeared above Wei Zhao's head. The way she put it... that was a bit ambiguous, wasn't it? What did she mean, used and thrown away? As if he had done something to her.

"Then how would you like me to thank you?" Wei Zhao had no choice but to ask.

"Take me out for a big meal. I want something delicious!" Feng Xiaoxiao said.

"I can't afford seafood. Beef noodles. Take it or leave it," Wei Zhao said flatly.

"Oh... fine." Feng Xiaoxiao nodded indifferently. "It doesn't matter what we eat; what matters is who you eat it with."

"..." Wei Zhao hung up, somewhat speechless. He had no idea what had gotten into Feng Xiaoxiao's head — every day it was either hints or confessions. Wei Zhao refused to believe that after he had scolded her a few times, the girl had fallen for him. Was she a masochist or something?

Before long, Kang Xiaobo called back. "Boss, did you and Tang Yun break up? Liu Xinwen says you're ungrateful and that you've thrown Tang Yun over?"

"Huh?" Wei Zhao was stunned. "Thrown Tang Yun over? Broken up? Since when?"

"You didn't know?" Kang Xiaobo was startled too.

"I've been in Yanjing the whole time. How would I know?" Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. "Liu Xinwen isn't lying to you, is she?"

"I don't know either. Who knows what's going on. I called and Liu Xinwen just tore into me, then told me to pass on to you that Tang Yun doesn't care to be with you, that if you don't want her, there's a line of people waiting!" Kang Xiaobo was thoroughly annoyed; the call had been a waste. "Tomorrow I'll ask Xiaofen what's really going on."

"All right, ask for me tomorrow." Wei Zhao frowned. Could there be some misunderstanding? Tang Yun was not so small-minded that she would think he had abandoned her just because he stood her up once.

Less than a minute after he hung up with Kang Xiaobo, Feng Xiaoxiao called again. "Wei Zhao, why did you hang up on me? Is that how you treat a pretty girl?"

Feng Xiaoxiao was truly angry. What right did he have? Why did Wei Zhao always ignore her? Even asking him to buy her a meal, he acted so reluctant, as if she really cared about the meal.

"Is Uncle Feng back yet?" Wei Zhao did not engage with Feng Xiaoxiao's topic, because once he did it would go on forever; he simply steered the conversation elsewhere. He had learned that from Shen Yushu.

"No. Why, are you in a hurry to meet your father-in-law?" Feng Xiaoxiao teased.

Wei Zhao had not expected Feng Xiaoxiao to steer the topic right back with a single sentence. He had to admire her; this girl was truly a match for Shen Yushu — one played dumb, the other was a sly little sprite, and neither was any easy mark.

"Then call me again after Uncle Feng gets back. I'm going to sleep." Wei Zhao finished and made to hang up.

"Hey, wait. When are you taking me for beef noodles? I want a big bowl with extra meat!" Feng Xiaoxiao said urgently.

"When I have time." Wei Zhao truly could not understand what Feng Xiaoxiao was thinking. A bowl of beef noodles — was it worth all this?

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