Chapter 541 — The Secret in the Phone

Zhong Yongliang nodded. This was also an important reason he had used incense rather than force. Even if the scheme failed, when Gu Mengyao questioned him afterward, he could deny everything cleanly, claiming the incense had knocked him out too, and that the attackers had simply taken the two girls and dumped him and Gao Xiaofu at the foot of the mountain.

It might make Gu Mengyao and Gu Pengzhan suspicious, but suspicion was only suspicion. Without evidence, they could not do anything to him, and things would not yet come to an outright rupture.

This was one of the reasons Zhong Yongliang felt so secure. If Gu Pengzhan refused to accept his relationship with Gu Mengyao, he would simply release her. He had not done anything to her, and he trusted Gu Pengzhan would not cling to the matter forever.

Once down the mountain, Zhong Yongliang had Gao Xiaofu flag down a taxi, and the two hurried back to school. As for the matter of Gu Mengyao, he would have to wait until after classes, when Qing Bo came to pick up Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, before he could make contact with Gu Pengzhan.

During evening self-study, Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu both acted as if nothing had happened, as though the disappearance of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had nothing whatsoever to do with them.

In fact, no one dared to inquire about the whereabouts of the two young ladies. If the two of them chose to leave, they simply left, and even the teachers turned a blind eye.

Bored, Zhong Yongliang decided to see whether Gu Mengyao's phone held any private photos, ideally ones without clothes, so that he could entertain a few fantasies of his own.

Unfortunately, Gu Mengyao clearly was not fond of selfies. Aside from a few casual shots of Shen Yushu, there was nothing in the album worth fantasizing about.

Zhong Yongliang pressed the power button and turned the phone off, deciding that in a little while he would quietly slip it back into the bag in Gu Mengyao's desk. Otherwise, with the thing in his possession, there would be no explaining it away.

As for Shen Yushu's phone, Zhong Yongliang neither wanted to look nor dared to. If he stumbled onto something he should not see, and Shen Yushu found out, that little firebrand would never let him off.

Heaven only knew whether Fenhua Ge and Bing Shao could handle Shen Yushu.

Before long, though, Zhong Yongliang's curiosity began to itch again. If Gu Mengyao's phone held photos of Shen Yushu, then might Shen Yushu's phone hold photos of Gu Mengyao? The two of them might well have been photographing each other.

At that thought, Zhong Yongliang could not resist. He took out Shen Yushu's phone, powered it back on, and opened the album.

"Huh?" Zhong Yongliang's eyes went wide at once, for the person in Shen Yushu's album was none other than Wei Zhao! It astonished him greatly. How could Shen Yushu's phone contain photos of Wei Zhao?

He flipped through them. There were pictures of Wei Zhao taken at school, and... pictures of Wei Zhao grilling shark... and farther back, many more of the same.

Zhong Yongliang's face darkened. Could this girl have fallen for Wei Zhao?

Considering Shen Yushu's temperament, it was quite possible! Most likely it was merely a secret crush, though; ordinarily one could not detect any particular connection between Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu.

At that thought, Zhong Yongliang actually breathed a sigh of relief. If Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu ever got tangled up together, he would truly have his hands full.

The more he looked, the more depressed he became. Zhong Yongliang shut off Shen Yushu's phone and shook his head. He never would have guessed. He wondered whether Gu Mengyao knew of Shen Yushu's secret crush on Wei Zhao.

Still, it was not his place to gossip. Zhong Yongliang had no desire to meddle in such messy affairs, especially anything involving Wei Zhao. If he got himself dragged in, what then?

He endured until school finally let out. Zhong Yongliang slipped Gu Mengyao's and Shen Yushu's phones back into their bags, then walked out of the school gate alone. This time he did not bring Gao Xiaofu; there was no need, and involving Gao Xiaofu would only create trouble.

For the past three years, Qing Bo's Bentley had almost always been parked at the mouth of the alley one street from the school, so Zhong Yongliang remembered it clearly. He found it with ease, drew a deep breath to steady himself, and only then approached to tap on the car window.

"Is something the matter?" Qing Bo knew Zhong Yongliang, and knew he was the nephew of Jin Gubang, a former shareholder of the company, as well as one of Gu Mengyao's suitors.

"Qing Bo, take me to see Uncle Chu," Zhong Yongliang ordered in a tone that brooked no doubt. With that, he pulled open the passenger door and got in.

"Oh? You want to see Mr. Gu?" Qing Bo frowned. He had not expected Zhong Yongliang to be so rude as to climb straight into the car. Even if Jin Gubang were still a shareholder, he would have no right to behave this way, and Jin Gubang was no longer a shareholder. Qing Bo therefore sensed keenly that something was out of the ordinary. Either Zhong Yongliang had lost his mind, or he had something to fall back on.

So Qing-bo did not throw the man out outright; he would first feel out Zhong Yongliang's background before deciding.

"That's right, this matter came up suddenly, and I must speak with Uncle Chu in person!" Zhong Yongliang said, emboldened by the certainty that nothing could touch him.

"Oh, then wait a while for Yao-yao. You can come along with us." Seeing Zhong Yongliang so confident, Qing-bo said no more. As for what business the man had, that was a matter for Mr. Gu's side; Qing-bo had no standing to inquire into it.

"No need to wait. Yao-yao is at my house!" Zhong Yongliang said with a touch of smugness. "From now on she is my girlfriend, so the most important thing for you right now is to take me to see Uncle Chu at once. I have things to say about me and Yao-yao!"

Qing-bo was slightly taken aback. He shot Zhong Yongliang an incredulous look, yet in his heart doubt was already stirring. Gu Mengyao, Zhong Yongliang's girlfriend? To Qing-bo's mind, that was utterly impossible!

He took out his phone and dialed Gu Mengyao's number, but the line only gave the tone of a switched-off phone. He tried Shen Yushu's number, and got the very same tone.

Without betraying a thing, Qing-bo put the phone away and said: "Since you wish to see Mr. Gu, let us be on our way."

"I told you to hurry, and you wouldn't believe me!" Zhong Yongliang was rather pleased with himself. Judging by Qing-bo's attitude, the man seemed to have accepted the fact? He wondered whether things would go so smoothly on Gu Pengzhan's side.