Chapter 620 — Gu Pengzhan's Phone Call

Gu Mengyao shot Shen Yushu an irritated glare, silently cursing her for meddling. If the girl wanted something to eat, couldn't she have just asked Wei Zhao to cook? Why send Su Taizao out to buy anything? And now look — this pest had planted himself here and wouldn't leave. How tiresome could one person be?

Shen Yushu knew she had made a mess of things and pursed her lips in a little pout — but she had a plan! She glanced at the clock. An Liwen had only seven minutes left to make small talk with Sister Yao Yao...

An Liwen sat before Gu Mengyao, all elegance and polish, holding forth at length, while she answered him in scattered fragments, half-hearted at best. Wei Zhao, naturally, had no patience for any of it and went straight back to his own room. In this villa, An Liwen could not possibly pull any tricks, so Wei Zhao saw no need to keep a close watch on him.

"Oh! Cartoon time!" Shen Yushu bounced up from the sofa, skipping as she went, switched on the television, and flicked the remote to a channel. Sure enough, the familiar theme music of *Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf* came drifting from the screen...

An Liwen was long accustomed to Shen Yushu's flighty ways. Pretty as she was, he thought, who on earth could withstand a temperament like that? A good thing he had set his heart on Gu Mengyao — otherwise, tied to a girl like Shen Yushu, his whole life would have been ruined.

He paid Shen Yushu's cartoons no mind and went on discoursing grandly to Gu Mengyao.

"Hey, keep it down, will you? I can't hear a thing!" Shen Yushu waved a hand at An Liwen with some impatience. "What kind of manners are those? Other people are watching TV here!"

An Liwen nearly exploded with rage. What business was it of Shen Yushu's whether he talked or not? Yet he dared not cross her, dared not talk back. First, Shen Yushu belonged to the Chen family — old-line nobility; who would dare provoke them? Even with the Fire Wolf Gang at his back, he did not speak for the Fire Wolf Gang, and he had not the nerve to make an enemy of the Chen family.

"Yao Yao, shall we talk over there?" An Liwen swallowed his temper, kept the smile fixed on his face, and gestured toward the dining room.

"I want to watch the cartoon too. I haven't seen this episode either." Gu Mengyao pointed at the television. "Why don't you watch it with us?"

"Huh?" An Liwen nearly jumped out of his skin. How old was he, to be watching cartoons? If word of this got out, he would be laughed to death! Yet he was torn — this was the first time Gu Mengyao had ever invited him to do anything together. Watching television together, that was rather like going to the movies, wasn't it? He might as well treat it as Gu Mengyao asking him out to a film!

At that thought, An Liwen's heart settled into balance. "All right, then — let's watch it together!"

Watching cartoons, naturally, meant no talking. An Liwen had never seen this series before; catching it cold, he could not much get into it, and could only sit there enduring it. Time crawled by unbearably. And what about Su Taizao? Why wasn't he back yet? Hurry back, and he could escape this predicament!

A bad miscalculation, truly. Had he known Shen Yushu meant to watch cartoons, why would he have stayed? He would have been better off leaving! When he could bear it no longer, An Liwen rose and went outside to call Su Taizao. "Where are you? Why aren't you back yet? Buying a bit of food — does it take you a year?"

"Ah? Brother An, didn't you tell me to take my time coming back?" Su Taizao had parked at the roadside and was lounging there, smoking a cigarette and enjoying the night view, when An Liwen's roar nearly startled him out of his skin.

"Enough, get back here right now! Hurry up!" An Liwen said, thoroughly disgruntled.

"See, Sister Yao Yao? Aren't I clever?" Shen Yushu said smugly.

"Ha, you're a quick one after all — otherwise he'd have bored me to death." Gu Mengyao reflected that her best friend was not the least bit foolish; on the contrary, she was quite clever. It was only that the way she went about things was somewhat peculiar.

Soon Su Taizao returned, lugging in a pile of fruit and boxed meals. Shen Yushu invited An Liwen to eat while watching TV, but he declined with a sweat-beaded embarrassment. He truly could not take any more. If he could not talk with Gu Mengyao, what was the point of staying?

"Go call Wei Zhao and tell him to come eat with us." Once An Liwen and Su Taizao had gone, Gu Mengyao opened the boxed meals Su Taizao had bought and set them out on the coffee table.

Su Taizao had bought five boxed meals in all, and not of the cheap sort — clearly they had cost a fair penny. Evidently two of them had been meant for himself and An Liwen, but those two would not be eating them.

"Oh..." Shen Yushu stared at the savory boxed meals on the coffee table, mouth watering. She did not want to get up; she wished she could stuff it all into her stomach that very instant.

Seeing that Shen Yushu made no move, Gu Mengyao gave a helpless little snort and rose to fetch Wei Zhao. She knocked twice on his door. "Wei Zhao, come out and eat!"

Gu Mengyao could not say herself why she insisted on calling Wei Zhao. Perhaps because he cooked for her and Xiaoshu every day — when she sat down to eat, she could hardly leave him out. That would be far too ungrateful.

"They've gone?" Wei Zhao had been lying on his bed, texting Tang Zhi to tell her that he had already contacted Ergoudan, that the goods would be delivered in a few days, and that she need not worry about Tang Jucheng's injuries.

"Come on, Su Taizao bought boxed meals. Are you going to eat?" Gu Mengyao pointed at the lunchboxes on the coffee table.

"I'll eat. Saves me from having to fix dinner tonight." Wei Zhao followed Gu Mengyao out. On Saturdays Uncle Qing generally didn't deliver food, so most of the time Wei Zhao had to figure something out himself.

By the time Wei Zhao sat down on the sofa, Shen Yushu had nearly finished a whole box and showed no sign of stopping.

"Eat a little less, or you'll stuff yourself sick," Wei Zhao warned.

"No more eating!" Fearing Shen Yushu would make herself ill again, Gu Mengyao put away the two remaining boxes lest she devour them too.

"Oh, fine..." Shen Yushu looked a little aggrieved, but she didn't dare disobey — and she too was afraid of stuffing herself sick again.

After the meal, Wei Zhao cleared away the boxes and put the two remaining ones in the fridge; warmed up in the morning, they would do nicely for breakfast.

Once he was done, he unexpectedly received a call from Gu Pengzhan!

"Uncle Chu?" Wei Zhao answered. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes, two things," Gu Pengzhan said. "Yao Yao isn't beside you, is she? Is this a convenient time to talk?"

Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. Did this matter really need to be kept from Gu Mengyao and the others?