Chapter 187 — Tang Zhi's Best Friend

Chapter 187: Tang Zhi's Best Friend

Back in the classroom, Wei Zhao was in no hurry to give Gu Mengyao the concert disc—handing it over now would be pointless, since they couldn't watch it anyway. Better to wait until they got home that evening. Shen Yushu, however, had sent him a text asking whether he'd bought the disc, and Wei Zhao replied that he had.

Just then, Shen Yushu turned her head and shot him a wink.

Tang Zhi and Liu Xinlan helped Tang's mother cart the stall to a nearby warehouse. Most of the vendors on the snack street stored their stalls there each day, paying three hundred yuan a month in storage fees. It wasn't cheap, but it beat hauling everything back and forth every single day.

Watching the excitement and joy shining on her mother's face, Tang Zhi felt happy, and yet a nagging sense of unease crept in. Who would have thought that simply changing the recipe could make the stall sell so well? The ingredients they'd prepared would have been hard to sell out even by evening, yet today, before noon was even half over, everything had sold out—and still people kept coming. And this was only the first day.

The recipe might not amount to much in Wei Zhao's eyes, but her family owed him a favor all the same, and Tang Zhi could not deny it.

"Hey, Yunyun, I never figured your Wei Zhao had it in him. With a recipe like that, business is booming." After seeing Tang's mother onto the bus, Liu Xinlan and Tang Zhi headed back toward school, and Liu Xinlan spoke in a teasing tone.

In truth, she had meant to probe Tang Zhi on purpose—she still hadn't had the chance to ask about what she'd seen yesterday morning. Though she and Tang Zhi were best friends, senior year was so hectic that it was common for the two of them not to see each other for an entire day. At noon today, Tang's mother and Tang Zhi had been too busy to cope, so Tang Zhi had called Liu Xinlan over to help.

"Ah..." At Liu Xinlan's words, Tang Zhi's face reddened for no reason, and she spat out bashfully, "What do you mean, my Wei Zhao? I have nothing to do with him, Wenwen, don't talk nonsense."

"Is that so..." Liu Xinlan gave Tang Zhi a meaningful look. "Yunyun, are we best friends or not?"

"Of course we are... Wenwen, why do you suddenly ask that?" Tang Zhi's heart tightened instinctively. Had Liu Xinlan noticed something? But surely there was nothing going on between her and Wei Zhao, was there?

"If we're best friends, then why are you still hiding things from me?" Liu Xinlan reached out and tapped Tang Zhi's forehead. "Yunyun, have you already fallen for him? Tell me the truth."

"Wenwen, fallen for what..." Tang Zhi grew more and more nervous. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Playing dumb? Still playing dumb?" Liu Xinlan looked at Tang Zhi with a hint of disappointment. "Yunyun, I always thought you and I told each other everything... and yet, ugh... I'm so disappointed."

"Wenwen, what are you talking about? I really don't know what's going on," Tang Zhi said, growing anxious. "If you have something to say, just say it."

"Yunyun, how did you get to school yesterday morning?" Liu Xinlan sighed and stared into Tang Zhi's eyes.

"I..." Tang Zhi lowered her head guiltily, not daring to look at Liu Xinlan. So she'd found out about her riding in Wei Zhao's car yesterday? But how could she have known? When Tang Zhi got out of the car, she'd deliberately checked that no one was around before hurrying away.

"Yunyun, why aren't you saying anything?" Liu Xinlan pressed.

"I... I came on Wei Zhao's car..." Tang Zhi said. "But Wenwen, let me explain—it's not what you think..."

"Oh? Then tell me, what is it?" Seeing that Tang Zhi had admitted it, Liu Xinlan actually breathed a sigh of relief. In the end, Tang Zhi still hadn't hidden it from her.

"Yesterday, Li Erlian was pestering me at the bus stop... Wei Zhao happened to be driving past, so he got out and chased Li Erlian away... and then I rode in his car to school..." Tang Zhi explained earnestly. "Wenwen, that's really all there is to it... there's nothing between him and me..."

Liu Xinlan had run into Li Erlian yesterday too, and connecting it with what Tang Zhi had said before, she found herself half-believing her. "Then why did you ride in his car?"

"At the time, I was so flustered I didn't know what to do, and Wei Zhao just pushed me into the car without my even realizing..." Tang Zhi explained, a little aggrieved. "By the time he started driving, I realized it, but it was already too late..."

"So that's how it was. You really aren't interested in him?" Liu Xinlan breathed a sigh of relief.

"I... no, I'm not..." Tang Zhi hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. How could she possibly fall for Wei Zhao? That was absolutely impossible.

"Good, that's all I needed to hear." Liu Xinlan nodded. "Oh, right—I went to Fen's house yesterday. Fen's emotions are really unstable... These past couple of days, Fen's mother says she keeps calling out that man's name, and she's even started having hallucinations..."

"Ah..." Tang Zhi couldn't help but sigh at Liu Xinlan's words. She spent every day helping her mother run the barbecue stall and had no time in the evenings to visit Fen, so she could only ask Liu Xinlan to go in her place. But from the sound of it, Fen seemed to be in serious trouble. Tang Zhi was anxious, yet there was nothing she could do. "I'll come along tonight too..."

"I suggest Aunt Cui take Fen to the hospital to see a psychiatrist..." Liu Xinlan said. "But Aunt Cui's family situation is about the same as yours and mine. All these years, treating Fen's illness has already cost them plenty. Where would they find spare money for a psychiatrist?"

"That man—hasn't he come back to see Fen?" Tang Zhi was indignant. If not for that man, how would Fen have ended up like this? Even if Fen was no longer a virgin, with her looks, what difficulty would there be in finding a better boyfriend?

"No. Expect that bastard Kang Jingming to come see Fen? Only if the sun rose in the west." Liu Xinlan gave a cold laugh, then said viciously, "If Fen hadn't stopped me back then, I would have gelded that bastard Kang Jingming myself."

"..." Tang Zhi's face flushed red. Her best friend really did have a way with words... She couldn't even think of a reply. Tang Zhi would never have dared say such a thing herself.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's head back and review." Liu Xinlan cast the unpleasant thoughts from her mind, and she and Tang Zhi walked back toward the school...

That evening he was supposed to go with Kang Xiaofeng to ask Tang Zhi about visiting her home over the weekend, so Wei Zhao couldn't walk back with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. He sent them a text saying he and Kang Xiaofeng had a few things to take care of after school. Gu Mengyao didn't seem to mind; she replied "Got it" and left with Shen Yushu.

As for Wei Zhao, he dawdled over packing his things, and only after watching Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu leave did he quicken his hands.

"Boss, why are you so slow today? Hurry up—what if they sell out again in a bit?" Kang Xiaofeng seemed anxious, afraid that if they went too late, Tang Zhi's mother would have already packed up her stall and gone.