Chapter 19 — How Much Can She Possibly Love to Eat?

"Hey, Xiaoshu says the noodles you cooked for us were delicious." Shen Yushu turned around, took the glass of water Wei Zhao was holding out, and shot him a glare — meaning, don't you go flapping your mouth off.

"Oh..." Wei Zhao nodded woodenly, understanding what Shen Yushu meant. In his heart he thought: I haven't even eaten my fill yet. I should have cooked a bit more.

"What are you standing there for? I can't eat a thing with you standing there." Gu Mengyao had not noticed the little exchange between Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu; seeing him planted there and making no move to leave, she frowned at once. Gu Mengyao was not yet in the habit of letting a man watch her eat.

Wei Zhao turned and left the dining room, heading for his own room. There was no point in losing his temper at this sort of pampered young miss. By comparison, Shen Yushu, for all her sly cleverness, was far easier to talk to than Gu Mengyao.

Wei Zhao meant to go tidy up his schoolbag. He had long since taught himself the whole high school curriculum, but it was his first day of school after all — he ought to at least put on a show, oughtn't he?

"So good! Is there any more?" Gu Mengyao had finished the entire big bowl of yangchun noodles, not leaving so much as a drop of broth.

"That's all. If you want more, get Wrigley to make you some." Shen Yushu was bewildered — how was it that Gu Mengyao ate and ate and never grew fat? Every time she ate more than Shen Yushu, yet she weighed several jin less.

In truth, Shen Yushu was not fat either; she was simply not as tall as Gu Mengyao, which made her look a shade plumper. Fortunately, the surplus flesh had gone to her chest and hips, and this gave her a small private smugness.

"Don't mention him." Still greedy, Gu Mengyao licked the noodle broth from her chopsticks, regretful. Ask Wei Zhao for more? In her dreams.

At this display, several more black lines sprouted across Shen Yushu's brow. In her heart she thought: Yaoyao, oh Yaoyao, why are you so fond of Wei Zhao's saliva?

Once the two had finished their noodles, they ran upstairs to wash up and change. Wei Zhao, meanwhile, went to the dining room to clear the bowls and chopsticks from the table. Of course, he did not yet know that he need not have done it — every day, Uncle Qing sent servants to clean the villa. But Wei Zhao was used to doing such things at home, and saw nothing amiss in it.

While Wei Zhao was washing the dishes, General Mighty slipped into the kitchen. Catching sight of Wei Zhao, he widened his eyes with a measure of hostility and watched him warily. Wei Zhao simply could not be bothered with him. Seeing that Wei Zhao paid him no mind, General Mighty, having made a fool of himself, glared a while longer and then turned and left.

It must be said that dogs are remarkably sensitive creatures; they can keenly sense dangerous beings stronger than themselves. Only, Wei Zhao made no aggressive move, and so General Mighty did not dare provoke him lightly.

He quickly washed the bowls and chopsticks clean and put them in the sterilizer. By then Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had finished washing up and changed out of their house clothes into pretty outfits.

Although the school rules held that, barring special circumstances, students ought to wear uniforms, few actually observed the rule — high schoolers especially, who had minds of their own and were not so obedient as primary school children.

There were exceptions, of course — Wei Zhao, for one. Fingering the fabric of the uniform, Wei Zhao was delighted: this clothing was really fine quality, much better than the few garments he had brought with him. So for Wei Zhao, this was currently the best piece of clothing he owned.

It was true that Wei Zhao had worn plenty of fine clothes when he went out training with Old Man Wei, but Old Man Wei always said those clothes were rented, and they were returned afterward.

At seven sharp, Uncle Qing's car appeared at the villa gate. Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu came out carrying their cute little schoolbags, with Wei Zhao following behind them.

Wei Zhao again took the passenger seat; Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu sat in the back. Uncle Qing slowly started the car, then asked Wei Zhao beside him, "Well? Getting used to things?"

"Not bad," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"He's fine — I'm not." Before Uncle Qing could speak, Gu Mengyao had already objected: "I'm calling Daddy right now."

"Mr. Gu went to Xingang City for a meeting this morning; he's on the plane now," Uncle Qing said. "Miss Gu, when Mr. Gu left he gave instructions. He said that while he is away, Wei Zhao is to be responsible for looking after you."

"Him? Looking after me?" Gu Mengyao's eyes went wide. "Uncle Qing, look at him — how could he possibly look after me?"

"I am only relaying what Mr. Gu said. Mr. Gu trusts Mr. Wei Zhao a great deal." Uncle Qing himself could not quite work out what was so special about Wei Zhao, but as one of Gu Pengzhan's trusted men, he would support Gu Pengzhan's decisions unconditionally.

Gu Mengyao pursed her lips. She knew Uncle Qing was merely her father's mouthpiece and would never do anything contrary to her father's decisions. And her father was on a plane now and certainly could not take a call. At that thought, Gu Mengyao could only swallow it for the time being. She would put up with this bastard for a few days, and wait until her father returned to say anything more.

When the time came, she would unleash her own coquettish wiles, and she had no doubt she could drive Wei Zhao away. At this thought, Gu Mengyao's heart felt a little lighter.

As it happened, Wei Zhao had long wanted to experience campus life for himself, but in the small mountain village where he had lived there was no school at all, and scarcely even any literate folk.

Apart from Old Man Wei, there was only Ah Hu in the village, and even Ah Hu's reading and writing had been taught by Wei Zhao himself. Thinking of Ah Hu, Wei Zhao found he genuinely missed him. He wondered how the boy was getting on now.

The car pulled up before the gates of the No. 1 Municipal Middle School. Qing Bo parked, and Wei Zhao was just about to get out when Gu Mengyao stopped him: "Wait."

"Hm?" Wei Zhao blinked, looking at her in puzzlement. It was rare indeed for Gu Mengyao to speak to him of her own accord.

"Don't get out yet. Wait until Xiaoshu and I have gone into the school, then you can get out — otherwise people will get the wrong idea," Gu Mengyao said, with considerable imperiousness.

"Fine." Wei Zhao saw nothing unreasonable in her demand. You are the young miss; whatever you say, I do.

"Heh, the young miss has always had a temper like that — very willful. Please don't take offense, Mr. Lin." Qing Bo was rather helpless about how things stood, and he too could see that Gu Mengyao bore Wei Zhao considerable hostility.

"It's nothing." Wei Zhao shook his head. "Qing Bo, let's not beat around the bush between us. The truth is, I've noticed it too — my presence here is utterly dispensable, and Gu Mengyao has no need of a companion tutor like me. Can you tell me honestly: what exactly did Mr. Gu hire me for, at such great expense? Surely he didn't really bring me here to be Gu Mengyao's shield and clear away the flies buzzing around her?"

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