Chapter 328 — Her Again?

"What? You're one of my dad's men?" Xie Jinbiao was stunned for a moment, then a little delighted. "Since when did my dad have such a badass man working for him? That's awesome!"

Wei Zhao rolled his eyes. How was this Xie Jinbiao just as thick-headed as his old man? He gave a cold snort. "Your father as my underling — I wouldn't even take him."

"Ah..." Only now did Xie Jinbiao fully understand. The man before him was not one of his father's men after all, but a first-rate hand his father had hired to rescue him. At once his attitude turned respectful. "Big brother, I'll do whatever you say!"

Wei Zhao was amused. This kid was a classic rich brat — when he thought the man was his father's subordinate, he had been insufferably cocky; now that he knew otherwise, he was all sycophantic smiles.

But Wei Zhao could not be bothered with him. Getting him back to the country would discharge his duty; once he traded him for his father's shares, the mission would be complete.

What a simple job — not a shred of challenge to it! Wei Zhao shook his head and headed with Xie Jinbiao toward the gate of the repair shop. They had not gone far when a confused clamor of shouts reached them.

"Grab him! Don't let him get away! Kill him..."

"Bang... bang..." Several gunshots rang out, accompanied by the screams of men and women. From the sound of it, both sides must have taken casualties.

Wei Zhao frowned. Had someone else besides him broken in here? That thief from before should long since be gone, so the people being chased now could not possibly be him. And there was no way that thief was carrying a gun.

Tonight was lively enough, all right — this little repair shop had drawn three separate parties.

"Ah! Big brother, what do we do? They've found us! What do we do? They've all got guns..." Xie Jinbiao had heard the shouting too, and his legs went so weak with fright that he nearly collapsed on the spot.

"Quiet! They haven't found us — they're after someone else." Wei Zhao shot the idiot a glare and said irritably, "Just follow me. No talking, and don't go craning your neck around."

"Oh, oh! I got it, I got it!" Xie Jinbiao nodded so eagerly his head might have come off. "Big brother, you'll protect me, right?"

"Keep chattering like that and you'll give us away — then I'll run off on my own and leave you here to die!" Wei Zhao gave a cold snort and, ignoring Xie Jinbiao, walked on.

Xie Jinbiao wanted to say more, but Wei Zhao's icy words had frightened him into silence, and he followed cautiously at Wei Zhao's back.

At moments like this, the more chaos the better for Wei Zhao. Everyone's attention was fixed on the intruder, and no one paid the slightest heed to men dressed openly as Water Blue Gang members, like him and Xie Jinbiao.

So Wei Zhao led Xie Jinbiao toward the gate with perfect composure, and sure enough, no one stopped them.

Xie Jinbiao's heart was in his throat. He had none of Wei Zhao's calm; cold sweat poured off him. This was real steel and live ammunition, men killing without blinking — how could he not be afraid?

Suddenly Wei Zhao frowned. The sounds behind them were drawing closer — the intruder, it seemed, was running this way. Wei Zhao was speechless for a moment, then said to Xie Jinbiao, "Move faster — they're coming!"

"Oh... oh!" Xie Jinbiao nodded again and again, and quickened his pace alongside Wei Zhao.

"Bang..." A gunshot, a scream — and the scream was a woman's.

"You two brothers up ahead, stop that girl!"

A loud voice rang out behind Wei Zhao. He had no choice but to stop in his tracks; at a time like this, to keep walking on without a backward glance would likely earn him a bullet from behind without hesitation.

If he had been alone, Wei Zhao was absolutely certain he could dodge the bullets behind him and slip away. But now he had a dead weight at his side — he could get out, Xie Jinbiao could not. He had threatened earlier to abandon the man and run for it, but now that the moment had come, he truly could not leave him behind. To dump him here would be to give up Xie Guangbo's shares for good.

"Don't speak. Do as I do." Wei Zhao gave Xie Jinbiao this one instruction, then turned around — and saw a figure in black night-clothes collapsed not far from his feet. That would be the intruder who had been shot, then; he had not expected it to be a woman.

Wei Zhao put on the air of moving in to seize the intruder and walked over to the dark figure's side...

"Hey, brother, get a load of this girl — how's she look?" the leader of the pursuers called out to Wei Zhao, tongue flicking over his lips with a lecherous grin.

Wei Zhao crouched down, then froze dead in his tracks, cursing inwardly. Because the girl lying on the ground was none other than the cool girl he had run into that very day!

"..." Wei Zhao did not know what to say. This girl kept turning up in front of him, kept bringing him trouble every single time — and had even repaid his kindness with ingratitude.

Truth be told, Wei Zhao really wanted to leave her lying there and wash his hands of it. But she was, after all, an Easterner too, and fate had thrown them together twice now — meeting her twice in this distant little blue city was a rare thing indeed.

Wei Zhao was not a man who liked to meddle in other people's business; in fact, he was exactly the sort who stood well clear of anything that did not concern him! But this cool girl counted as someone he knew, and they shared the bond of the same school besides! If he left her here, she would be in dire straits.

One look at the gleam in the pursuers' eyes was enough to tell how much danger the cool girl was in.

"Running into you must be the rotten luck of eight lifetimes!" Wei Zhao drew a deep breath, suddenly reached out and snatched the pistol from the cool girl's hand, then took aim at the leader of the pursuers behind them and fired.

A clean hit square between the brows — no doubt about it; the leader dropped to the ground.

Wei Zhao tucked the cool girl under one arm like a parcel, seized Xie Jinbiao's collar with the other hand, and sprinted for the gate of the repair shop!

In truth, Wei Zhao had merely played a trick of timing, catching the Water Blue Gang pursuers off guard and making them take a silent loss!

Wei Zhao had pretended to be a member of the Water Blue Gang, helping the pursuers to cut off the cool girl, so in the minds of the men chasing from behind, they had naturally taken Wei Zhao for one of their own, and had lost their initial tension. In their eyes, the cool girl's capture was already a settled matter! So when they saw Wei Zhao crouch down, the pursuers naturally lowered their guns — holding them up was pointless now — a reflexive move.

They would never have imagined that Wei Zhao would suddenly explode into violence and turn into their enemy! So Wei Zhao's single shot caught them completely off guard!