Chapter 321 — Meeting Wang Xinyan Again

"All right. You may as well get your things ready to bring along," Qing Bo said with a nod.

Wei Zhao was still in his school uniform, and there was no way he could board an international flight in that — it would draw far too much notice. The First High School uniform was unremarkable enough in Songshan City, but no other city had it, and foreign countries certainly did not. If Wei Zhao turned up abroad dressed like that, the local gangsters would surely take note of him.

Wei Zhao changed into a set of casual clothes he had bought that day on the night-market street and put on his sunglasses. Then he took the blade out of his shoe and tossed it into a drawer — a thing like that would never make it through airport security. Once he reached his destination, he could buy another and slip it back into his shoe.

He left even his cell phone on the desk, and came out carrying nothing at all.

"You are bringing nothing?" Qing Bo stared at Wei Zhao's getup with some astonishment.

"What is there to bring? I am only going to fetch a person back," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head.

Qing Bo said nothing more, only handed Wei Zhao a credit card and a plane ticket: "The card has a credit limit of one million US dollars. The PIN is the same as the card I gave you before."

Wei Zhao did not decline. He took the credit card and the ticket and tucked them into his pocket.

Flying was nothing new to Wei Zhao, though this was the first time he would fly under the name Wei Zhao. On missions in the past, he had always used every sort of motley alias.

Traveling light, Wei Zhao passed through security quickly and boarded the plane. Qing Bo had bought him a first-class ticket — with Gu Pengzhan's fortune, a first-class fare was nothing at all.

It was a connecting ticket; he would have to change planes in Yanjing. But no sooner had Wei Zhao boarded than he closed his eyes and prepared to sleep.

"Excuse me, may I get past..." Wei Zhao's seat was on the aisle, and the moment he boarded he had lowered his head as though he were already asleep.

In truth, Wei Zhao had not slept at all; he had only closed his eyes. Hearing someone speak, he guessed it must be the passenger with the window seat, and so he rose, but when he saw who it was, he froze: "Huh? It's you?"

"?" Wang Xinyan studied the man before her in those oversized designer sunglasses. He seemed familiar, and yet she could not place him. "You are..."

Wei Zhao was taken aback, then remembered that he still had his sunglasses on. He reached up and took them off. "And now?"

"It's you! Wei Zhao!" Wang Xinyan stared at him in surprise. "You... what are you doing here?"

The next moment, though, she realized her question was rather silly. This was an airplane; if Wei Zhao was here, then naturally he was here to fly to Yanjing — otherwise he would not be here at all.

"Ha, you are here for the same reason I am, I expect!" Wei Zhao shrugged. "Do you have luggage? Shall I put it up for you?"

"...Yes," Wang Xinyan said after a moment's hesitation, then nodded. She was dragging a suitcase, and for a girl lifting it up would be a bother; she had meant to wait for a flight attendant, but since Wei Zhao was offering, she saw no reason to stand on ceremony. "Thank you."

"It's nothing." Wei Zhao opened the overhead bin with one hand and, with the other, swung Wang Xinyan's suitcase up and set it in place, steady and secure.

Wang Xinyan's mouth fell open. The suitcase was not heavy, but to hoist it up with one hand — Wei Zhao was certainly strong enough!

Wang Xinyan settled into the inner seat, and Wei Zhao sat down as well.

"About last time — thank you..." Wang Xinyan had long wanted to say thank you to Wei Zhao. If not for him that last time, there might have been a great deal of trouble.

"That was nothing either. Think nothing of it," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head. "Besides, did you not help me once on the train as well?"

"Heh, that time?" At the mention of the train, Wang Xinyan laughed. "That time you scared me half to death — I thought you had been swindled. Who would have guessed it was those others who were out of luck! By the way, are you going to Yanjing too?"

"Yes, but only a connecting flight," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"Oh... I see..." Wang Xinyan sounded a little disappointed. She had meant to treat Wei Zhao to a meal by way of thanks, but with a connecting flight he naturally could not leave the airport... and the airport was all fast food, hardly suitable for a proper invitation.

"And you? What are you going to Yanjing for?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I... I'm going to deal with some family matters..." At this, Wang Xinyan's expression dimmed.

"Oh?" Seeing that she seemed unwilling to say more about her business, Wei Zhao did not press her.

Silence fell between them at once. It was plain that Wang Xinyan was a girl not much given to conversation, somewhat introverted — otherwise, when he had met her on the train, she could not have sat alone so quietly listening to her MP3 player.

And it was likewise because Wang Xinyan was poor with words that Wu Huiru had been able to extort and swindle her on the commercial street downtown. Had she run into a firebrand like Shen Yushu or a hellcat like Liu Xinlan, it would have been Wu Huiru, one would expect, who fled with her head in her hands.

"Your cell number is..."

The two spoke almost in the same breath, and could not help smiling at each other. Wang Xinyan blushed a little: "Give me your phone and I'll enter it for you!"

"I didn't bring mine. I'll give you the number, and you can just send me a text." Wei Zhao said, "My number is 152XXXX1234..."

"All right." Wang Xinyan nodded, took out a small, dainty cell phone, entered Wei Zhao's number, and then composed a text message and sent it.

"Is your home in Yanjing?" The journey was long, and Wang Xinyan was not fond of talking, so Wei Zhao had to find topics himself.

"It's my grandfather's house..." Here Wang Xinyan grew sorrowful: "My grandfather has passed away... I'm going to attend the funeral..."

"Ah?" Wei Zhao was taken aback, and knew he had touched on a sore subject: "My condolences! But why are you going alone?"

"My parents went on ahead of me. I'm still in school and had to ask for leave, so I'm rushing to catch up." Wang Xinyan explained: "It's nothing... my grandfather and I were never close, I only met him a few times, it's just that I feel a little bad about it inside! Back when my mother married my father, she broke with the family... my grandfather and my grandfather on the other side were enemies..."

Wei Zhao's head began to ache as he listened. This family's relations were tangled enough, and no wonder little sorrow showed on Wang Xinyan's face. Perhaps her mother had seldom gone back since the break with the family; and since her grandfather was her other grandfather's enemy, he would hardly have shown a kind face to her, a member of the Wang family bearing the Wang name...

"Every family has its own difficult scripture to read... but you're better off than I am. I'm the unlucky one — to this day I still don't know who my parents are!" Wei Zhao said, consoling Wang Xinyan.