Chapter 158 — Why Can't We?

Ha? Hearing Wu Chengtian's words, Sun Jingyan nearly burst out laughing inside.

You didn't bring your wallet? It's not that you didn't bring your wallet, is it? Your wallet is in Wei Zhao's hands!

But wait, wasn't Wei Zhao's wallet in Wu Chengtian's hands? How could he have no money to pay? At that thought, Sun Jingyan put on an angry tone: "Wu Chengtian, don't play the thief crying 'stop thief' and put on that clownish little act. You took Wei Zhao's wallet, didn't you? You, with no money to pay?"

"That money, that money, I tipped it to the doorman." The mere thought of it made Wu Chengtian feel utterly wronged.

"Do you think I'd believe that?" Sun Jingyan felt a surge of satisfaction. Serves you right for showing off. How about that? "I'm very busy, let's leave it there. Goodbye!"

Sun Jingyan hung up without ceremony, then switched her phone off outright, leaving Wu Chengtian to thrash about on his own.

"Jingyi... Jingyi..." Wu Chengtian called a few times, but the line had already been cut.

He hurriedly dialed again, only for the receiver to give him the recorded message: "The number you have dialed is switched off..." Wu Chengtian was beyond tears. "..."

"Master, brother, my man, you saw it yourself... my friend doesn't believe me," Wu Chengtian said with a bitter face.

"Cut the act. I don't even know whether you made that call or not, and you're telling me you tipped the doorman? Go on, keep making it up," the cab driver said with plain contempt. "I've seen plenty of swindlers like you. What, do you want to talk it over down at the station?"

"No, no, no, brother, just let me think a bit more!" Wu Chengtian waved his hands frantically. To land in a police station over a trifle like this, and let the whole world know that the young master of the Wu family couldn't even pay a cab fare, would be mortifying beyond words!

In all of Songjiang City, the only person he knew was Sun Jingyan... Suddenly Wu Chengtian remembered that his aunt and uncle seemed to have brought his grand-uncle here for medical treatment... But he had only just returned to the country and hadn't saved their cell numbers. If he had to phone home to ask about a thing like this, he'd lose face in a spectacular fashion...

At that thought, Wu Chengtian could only say: "Brother, look at this phone of mine, an iPhone 4. It cost four or five thousand when I bought it. How about I give it to you to cover the fare?"

"iPhone 4?" The cab driver glanced at Wu Chengtian's phone. "Is that thing real or fake? A knockoff is only two or three hundred, and secondhand it'd be lucky to fetch a few dozen yuan!"

"Brother, it's the genuine article, take a look if you don't believe me!" Wu Chengtian handed the phone to the cab driver...

The cab driver fiddled with it for a long while, then nodded grudgingly. "Fine, I'll take your word for it. Let's leave it at that, off you go..."

Wu Chengtian got out of the car bearing infinite humiliation. When had he ever fallen so low? Damn it, all because of that kid Wei Zhao. He had to look into him properly and teach him a lesson. Some people, when they come to grief through their own doing, insist on pinning the blame on someone else... Wu Chengtian was exactly that sort of person. He felt that if not for Wei Zhao, nothing today would have turned his relationship with Sun Jingyan so sour, and he wouldn't have forgotten his wallet because of it... Hm? No, wait. When he'd gone to the bar earlier, he'd paid for the cab himself, and his wallet had still been there then. Could he have left it in the cab in his haste?

At first, Gu Mengyao had brooded over Wei Zhao striking up a conversation with a mature woman, but after Wu Chengtian arrived, she gradually saw what was really going on.

Wei Zhao had been dragged off by that woman to serve as a temporary shield! The discovery let Gu Mengyao breathe a sigh of relief, yet at the same time left her secretly disgruntled. Why should that be? You're my shield, and now another woman has hauled you off. What was that supposed to mean?

But Gu Mengyao had no way to step forward and interfere, while Shen Yushu looked on as though watching a good show, leaving Gu Mengyao helpless to do anything but watch Wei Zhao perform...

When she saw that Wei Zhao had actually pocketed a thousand yuan in the end, she could not help cursing him inwardly as a moneygrubber!

"Yao Yao, I've discovered that Shield Bro is really something!" Shen Yushu's observation was far more meticulous than Gu Mengyao's. "That wallet in his hand, he lifted it off the man in the suit!"

"..." Gu Mengyao was somewhat speechless. "You certainly are observant. When we get home, make him hand it over to the communal pot! Confiscate the illicit gains from his side job."

"Hehe, sure!" Shen Yushu nodded in agreement.

"Then it's up to you," Gu Mengyao said. Seeing how eager Shen Yushu was, she handed the task to her.

"Huh?" Shen Yushu blinked. "I was saying, Sister Yaoyao, we haven't even ordered anything to drink yet. We've just been watching the commotion—how about we get something first?"

Once again Shen Yushu played to her strength and steered the conversation elsewhere.

"All right..." How could Gu Mengyao not know what Shen Yushu was up to? But she had only been speaking idly. Wei Zhao's paltry money was nothing Gu Mengyao would ever think twice about; she had said what she said purely out of spite.

Taking advantage of the night to protect herself with her skills, and not forgetting to earn a little extra on the side.

Shen Yushu raised a hand and summoned the waiter, ordering several drinks off the menu, all of them with baffling names. Neither of them had ever set foot in a bar before, so they had no idea whether any of it would taste good.

The waiter noted down what the two wanted, hesitating ever so slightly. It was plain enough that Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were first-timers in a bar—their order was a complete jumble, with no rhyme or reason.

"Is there something else?" Shen Yushu asked, a little puzzled. Did they have to pay up front here?

"Ladies, would you like someone to keep you company and chat?" Since the waiter had seen that this was their first time, he ventured the question on the off chance. Plenty of people came to bars looking for male escorts, after all.

"No need..."

"Yes, please..."

Shen Yushu and Gu Mengyao—one said "No need," the other said "Yes, please"—which left the waiter momentarily stunned.

"Sister Yaoyao, you—" Shen Yushu looked at Gu Mengyao in some bewilderment, unable to understand why she would summon someone to chat with them. Wasn't that what people crudely called a "duck"?

"Find us a handsome one!" Gu Mengyao ordered the waiter.

"Very well, please wait a moment." The waiter nodded and withdrew respectfully, thinking to himself that these two innocent-looking schoolgirls had indeed come for exactly that sort of thing—so one really could not judge by appearances...

Just like that ripe woman from before... and now these two refined young ladies... The waiter only regretted that he was not a little more handsome himself; otherwise he would have taken this good fortune for himself.

"Sister Yaoyao, what are you calling a handsome man for?" Once the waiter had gone, Shen Yushu grew anxious. "Sister Yaoyao, you're not thinking of trying some special service, are you? You can't! You're still young—what if you hemorrhage badly..."

"Xiaoshu!" Gu Mengyao heard Shen Yushu go further and further off the rails, more and more bawdy, and could not resist rapping her on the head. "What are you thinking? If Wei Zhao can find himself a beauty, why can't we find ourselves a handsome man?"