Chapter 232 — The First Act of Coquetry

But Wei Zhao did not regret it. This sort of thing was best done when both parties were willing.

When only one of them had been dosed with an aphrodisiac, there was no point to it at all. Though Wei Zhao could console himself that Tang Zhi had been the one to take the initiative, who was he fooling with such self-deception?

Wei Zhao fished out his phone and dialed Qiu Lingshan's number.

Qiu Lingshan picked up before long, sounding rather haggard: "Hello? Wei Zhao? What is it? I'm in a meeting..."

"A meeting? This late?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. He had meant to have Qiu Lingshan come collect Black Panther—he had nowhere to put the man.

"What else would it be about but Black Panther? That man is dangerous. If we don't catch him and bring him in quickly, he'll remain a hidden danger to society!" Qiu Lingshan said. "By the way, you still haven't told me what you want. If it's nothing, I'll hang up."

"Oh, then you can skip the meeting. Just tell them to disperse," Wei Zhao said after hearing him out.

"Disperse? What do you mean? Wei Zhao, what kind of joke is this?" Qiu Lingshan was stunned, unable to fathom what Wei Zhao meant.

"Black Panther's with me. Come pick him up," Wei Zhao said.

"Black Panther? With you? You found him? You haven't crossed swords with him yet, have you? Keep an eye on him for now—I'll bring men over at once!" Qiu Lingshan's first reaction was delight, but he immediately followed it with a warning.

"No rush. I've half crippled him. He's lying in the back of my car," Wei Zhao said.

"Half crippled?" Qiu Lingshan was skeptical. "Isn't he at the peak of the late Yellow Rank? How did he get crippled?"

It was not that Qiu Lingshan doubted Wei Zhao's ability—the fact that Gu Pengzhan had hired Wei Zhao to protect Gu Mengyao was proof enough that his skills were no simple matter. But no simple matter, however impressive, was not necessarily enough to deal with a fighter at the peak of the late Yellow Rank.

"No idea. Must have dropped a rank," Wei Zhao said. Naturally he would not say much about his own affairs; here, it was better to keep a low profile.

"Dropped a rank?" Qiu Lingshan opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing more. What Wei Zhao said was not without sense—if Black Panther could rapidly raise his strength to the peak of the late Yellow Rank, then he might just as easily plummet back to his original level. There was no telling. "Where are you? I'll come now."

"Let me see... I'm at the mouth of the alley across from Xiaosong Convenience Store." Wei Zhao glanced at the nearby landmark.

"Xiaosong Convenience Store?" Qiu Lingshan frowned. He was clearly not familiar with such a small shop.

But no sooner had he spoken than a colleague recognized the place. "I know Xiaosong Convenience Store. It's right downstairs from my third aunt's place..."

Seeing that someone knew it, Qiu Lingshan said to Wei Zhao, "Then wait there. I'll be right over."

"Come by yourself, and hurry—I've got other business!" With that, Wei Zhao hung up. But as he turned his head, he saw Tang Zhi staring at him with her eyes wide open! Wei Zhao jumped. When had Tang Zhi woken up? "You... you're awake?"

"Mm..." Tang Zhi was a little embarrassed and did not dare meet Wei Zhao's gaze, so she lowered her head. In truth, she had not been sleepy; she had been quite lucid before. It was only after Wei Zhao drove the drug from her body that she felt rather drained. She had dozed off for a short while and then woken up.

Hearing Wei Zhao on the phone, she had not disturbed him. She had not expected that the moment he hung up, he would look her way, which made Tang Zhi a little nervous. Thinking of what had happened before, her face instantly burned.

Zou Ruoming's drug was imported in its original packaging, the latest in modern science. Once swallowed, it stirred a certain desire but did not cloud the mind—in other words, the person remained lucid throughout.

Tang Zhi remembered every word she had said and every thing she had done. Now, recalling that she herself had done something so mortifying, she felt she had no face to meet Wei Zhao's eyes and wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled. "How are you feeling? Any discomfort?"

Hearing the concern in Wei Zhao's voice, with no mockery and no mention of what had happened before, Tang Zhi felt her heart ease. She shook her head slightly, signaling that she was fine.

"Thank you..." Tang Zhi did not know how to put her feelings into words... there was shyness, there was gratitude, and a touch of irritation as well.

She had thrown herself at him, and Wei Zhao had refused her... What did he mean by that?

Did he not like her? With such a perfect opportunity, he had done nothing to her. Was it that he truly was different from Zou Ruoming and his sort, that he did not think only of taking her body, or was it that her charms were simply not enough to attract him?

At this thought, Tang Zhi began to fret over every little gain and loss.

"You're welcome." Wei Zhao smiled. "Wait a moment, and I'll take you home."

"Mm..." Tang Zhi did not ask what Wei Zhao intended to do, though from the phone call he had just made, he was probably waiting for someone.

Silence settled over the van. Wei Zhao did not speak, and neither did Tang Zhi. The two of them simply sat there quietly.

"Wei Zhao..." Tang Zhi pursed her lips, and at last summoned the courage to voice the doubt in her heart. "Just now... why did you refuse..."

"Hm?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. Why had he refused? Tang Zhi was actually asking him such a question? Did she wish he had not refused, but accepted instead?

"I... what I mean is, don't you like me? If you hadn't refused just now, if we... if things had gone that way between us, wouldn't I have become your girlfriend?" Tang Zhi explained, her words tumbling over one another in her flustered panic.

"Ha..." Wei Zhao suddenly reached out and stroked the glossy hair on Tang Zhi's head. "You've got the order mixed up."

Tang Zhi's body tensed, but she did not pull away, letting Wei Zhao's hand rest on her head. "What do you mean..."

"Only after you become my girlfriend can we do that sort of thing." Wei Zhao smiled. "I'm actually a man of very strong principles."

"Oh..." Tang Zhi nodded, half understanding, then bumped against Wei Zhao's hand. "Stop patting my head. If I don't grow any taller, it'll be your fault."

Though she said this, a mighty storm was surging in Tang Zhi's heart. Had she been misunderstanding Wei Zhao all this time? Was he, in fact, fundamentally different from Zou Ruoming and his kind?

"Ha..." Wei Zhao chuckled. This was the first time Tang Zhi had acted coquettish before him; a day worth commemorating...

"You're tall enough already. Any taller and no one will want you," Wei Zhao teased.

"Then... aren't you still here?" Tang Zhi had no idea how such a bold thing had slipped out of her mouth. The moment the words were out, she lowered her head, not daring to look at Wei Zhao again.

Wei Zhao withdrew his hand. Did this count as Tang Zhi accepting him in a roundabout way? Wei Zhao rubbed his temples, feeling a little grateful to the cripple in the back of the van...