Chapter 268 — Fleeing at the Last Moment

"Just looking around — what's there to be so nervous about?" Wei Zhao gave a faint smile and put the rope back where it had been. Since Uncle Qing had told him not to stir up the grass and alert the snake, Wei Zhao naturally would not pick a fight with Xiao Ma at a time like this.

Still, the longer Gu Mengyao dragged things out, the more time it bought for Uncle Qing to arrive — in fact, Wei Zhao now rather hoped she would rest a while longer.

"All rested up?" Xiao Ma was getting a little anxious. "Ma'am, there's a time limit on this bungee jump. If you don't jump here, the guests behind you can't go either, can they? Sure, there are plenty of cables, but what if a crowd shows up in a bit?"

"Then... then let me try again..." Gu Mengyao was like anyone facing a first bungee jump — her heart was in her throat beforehand. Urged on by Xiao Ma, she rose to her feet, fretful.

"It's really nothing. You close your eyes, open them, and it's over..." Xiao Ma cackled inwardly. Close your eyes, don't open them — and you're dead.

"Oh..." Gu Mengyao nodded, walked to the edge of the cliff as though she had summoned enormous resolve, and looked down once more. A wave of dizziness hit her; she could not help but shut her eyes. When she opened them again, her courage had drained away entirely, and she dared not look any longer. "No, I'm still scared... I... I want a little more time to get ready..."

"This..." Xiao Ma was at his wit's end. He would have loved to kick Gu Mengyao down and be done with the waste of time! But with all these eyes on him, he dared not. A snapped rope was an accident; shoving Gu Mengyao off the edge himself would be murder.

Xiao Ma was no fool. There were plenty of other tourists nearby, and Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu were watching him closely. How could he possibly do anything so idiotic?

"Ma'am, aren't you just wasting time?" Xiao Ma said, displeased.

"Xiaoshu, why don't you go first? I... I really don't quite dare. Let me get ready a bit more!" Gu Mengyao went back to the bench where she had rested before and sat down again.

"Oh? Me first? Yaoyao, you're giving me your first time?" Shen Yushu blinked, excited.

"Don't read too much into it... I meant the bungee jump," Gu Mengyao said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Bungee jumping counts too!" Shen Yushu nodded. "Then I'll go first. Hey, you with the lumpy face, switch the rope over to me! I'm going first!"

Lumpy face? Xiao Ma nearly burst into tears at the name. What lumpy face? And whose fault is it that my face is like this — you yanked it so hard you nearly tore the skin off, and now you call me lumpy face? Is that any way to push a person around?

"That, ah, that'd be a bit of trouble... it's already tied on..." Xiao Ma naturally did not want to hand the rope to Shen Yushu. His target was Gu Mengyao; if Shen Yushu died, not only would it fail to achieve the intended effect, it might even backfire...

"Honestly, why are you so long-winded? If it's too much trouble, I'll do it myself!" Shen Yushu waved a hand. "Do it yourself and you'll have plenty to eat."

"Or maybe — you could go to another cable?" Xiao Ma saw her about to take matters into her own hands and tried to stop her.

"Another one? They're all taken, can't you see? Then I'd have to wait ages. Switching the rope is simpler!" Shen Yushu paid no heed to Xiao Ma at all.

"Then... then let me ask my supervisor for permission... You know, I'm only a staff member. If you do this, it breaks the rules. If the boss sees, he'll chew me out!" Out of options, Xiao Ma fell back on his lowly position.

"All right, all right, then go ask, and hurry!" Shen Yushu was impatient, but she did not make things hard for Xiao Ma. To her mind, there was no need to give these low-level employees a hard time; since he had put it that way, she naturally would not insist.

"Right, I'll ask right now..." Xiao Ma took out his phone and was about to step aside to make the call when he heard Shen Yushu speak again.

"Brother Arrow, I'm a bit scared too. How about we jump together?" Shen Yushu ran over to look down from the cliff — it really was frightening, and she was not at all sure she wouldn't bolt at the last moment, just like Gu Mengyao.

"Jump together?" Wei Zhao was briefly taken aback, then his heart stirred. Not, of course, at the prospect of getting close to Shen Yushu — but because he was uneasy about letting her jump alone.

When Shen Yushu had wanted to switch places with Gu Mengyao earlier, Wei Zhao had been wondering how to make her stall a little longer, or abandon the jump altogether. The jade pendant had already warned him several times, and though the signals were faint — meaning the danger was not great — one thing was certain: there was definitely something wrong with this bungee jump.

Not great danger — but that was only with regard to himself. With Shen Yushu, it was hard to say. That was why Wei Zhao was uneasy about letting her jump alone. And just as he was worrying, Shen Yushu proposed that he jump together with her.

"Yes — let's strap ourselves together and jump as one, then I won't be scared. Okay, Arrowhead?" Deep down Shen Yushu was scared too. She might be a bit braver than Gu Mengyao, but any girl leaping off a cliff that high would be afraid. Especially on a first jump — who wouldn't be scared? Not being scared would be abnormal.

Probably only that tigress Qiu Lingshan hadn't been scared on her first jump, Shen Yushu mused... So she didn't feel the least bit ashamed.

"No!" Gu Mengyao frowned at Shen Yushu's suggestion. "Xiaoshu, if you're strapped to him, isn't that just letting him take advantage of you?"

"Ah, take advantage?" Shen Yushu hadn't really thought that far before, but after hearing Gu Mengyao's words she didn't take it too seriously. "Back home, didn't he already take advantage? What's one more time... Yaoyao, I really don't dare jump alone. How about you jump together with Arrowhead instead?"

"No, you go!" Gu Mengyao gave a little huff, thinking to herself what a brainless best friend this was — taking advantage is taking advantage, how could "one more time" be nothing? Was she going to get so used to being taken advantage of that it became a habit?

But having said that, Gu Mengyao felt a little regret, and in her heart there was a faint yearning to jump together with Wei Zhao. With him beside her, she surely wouldn't be afraid, would she?

Thinking of that time at the bank when they ran into robbers, with Wei Zhao at her side, Gu Mengyao truly had felt safe and secure...

"Arrowhead, you're not allowed to take advantage of me, okay!" Shen Yushu didn't decline either, and said to Wei Zhao with a grin.

Wei Zhao was somewhat speechless. Why did Shen Yushu's tone sound like a coy refusal that was really a welcome? She said not to take advantage of her, yet it looked as though she wanted him to? Wei Zhao thought of a certain joke about being "worse than a beast"...