Chapter 33 — Are You Trying to Molest Us?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Only after Wei Zhao had climbed in did Uncle Qing start the engine. In the back seat Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had fallen strangely silent, whether because of what they had seen Wei Zhao do in the restroom that day or because the scene on the rooftop had stunned them. In any case neither girl said much, and, remarkably, Gu Mengyao did not tattle to Uncle Qing or greet Wei Zhao with her usual sarcasm.
"Uncle Qing, stop at the bank up ahead. Xiaoshu and I are going to open an account," Gu Mengyao instructed Uncle Qing.
Her reminder jogged Wei Zhao's memory. The school had asked every student to get a bank card, saying tuition and fees would be deducted from it from now on.
Uncle Qing asked no questions and nodded, pulling up near a bank not far ahead. It happened to be rush hour and traffic was heavy on the road, and since this was the only twenty-four-hour bank in the area, customers had left their cars parked all over the entrance to do their business, throwing traffic into confusion.
Wei Zhao got out with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, and Gu Mengyao immediately frowned. "What are you following us for?"
"Don't forget, I am a student of the school too," Wei Zhao smiled.
Only then did Gu Mengyao remember that Wei Zhao had become a member of the school that very day, so naturally he needed a bank card as well. She said nothing more and walked into the bank hand in hand with Shen Yushu.
The instant Wei Zhao stepped into the bank, the jade pendant at his neck suddenly reacted, startling him. It was the same pendant he had brought out from the cave at the foot of Xixing Mountain, only he still had not figured out what it was for, or how to use it.
Yet every time something big was about to happen, the pendant always gave a subtle response, as if passing a message to Wei Zhao. Although he never knew what it was trying to say, whenever it acted up, something was sure to follow.
It had been like that time in North Africa, when he and the man he was protecting were trapped inside an enemy encirclement, yet thanks to the pendant's repeated advance warnings he had dodged the enemy's attacks again and again and survived to be rescued in the end.
Or the pendant would give a similar warning before something good happened, like the time he had helped Old Man Wei buy a scratch-off lottery ticket and won twenty yuan.
Either way, the pendant's reaction put every nerve in Wei Zhao's body on alert.
Inside the bank, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu took numbers and sat down in the waiting area, and Wei Zhao took a number as well and sat down beside them.
With a proper sense of self-preservation he sat next to Shen Yushu, since Gu Mengyao still looked quite hostile toward him. Shen Yushu gave him a meaningful glance, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly.
While he waited for his number, Wei Zhao kept his mind in a state of high tension. Every time the pendant reacted, something happened, and he trusted this time would be no exception.
Suddenly his gaze fixed on a black Hyundai van outside the bank...
"Move!" Wei Zhao sprang to his feet, seized Shen Yushu by the hand, and said to her and Gu Mengyao.
"You... what are you doing?" Shen Yushu froze, staring at Wei Zhao in bewilderment, her small face flushing crimson in an instant. All her life she had held no young man's hand but her brother's, and with Wei Zhao suddenly gripping hers, she did not know what to do and sat there stunned.
"Get out of here now. There is no time to explain!" Wei Zhao was frantic with worry and tried to pull Shen Yushu to her feet.
"Smack!"
Gu Mengyao slapped Wei Zhao's hand, knocking his hand and Shen Yushu's apart. In truth it was more that Wei Zhao let go on instinct, for Gu Mengyao's slap alone could never have done it.
"Wei Zhao, what are you doing? Are you taking advantage of Xiaoshu?" Gu Mengyao glared at Wei Zhao, her eyes blazing with anger.