Chapter 623 — The Misunderstanding That Caused a Fuss

Wei Zhao's answer offended no one. He had openly praised Gu Mengyao, yet he had also made it clear that she only won after makeup, and that before makeup the two were about the same.

But the eldest daughter of the Chu family automatically ignored the words "after makeup," and a trace of smugness rose in her heart. She shot Wei Zhao a glance, thinking, At least you have an eye, hmph!

"Oh, and me?" Shen Yushu first sent Gu Mengyao out as her vanguard, and only after asking did she bring herself up.

"You and Yaoyao are about the same." Wei Zhao could hardly answer otherwise, so that was all he said.

"Oh, oh, am I really that pretty? Wonderful! At last I've met someone whose eyes aren't blind, oh, oh!" Shen Yushu cried out in delight, and after she finished she cast a glance at Gu Mengyao.

"Xiaoshu, what are you looking at me for? Are you saying my eyes are blind?" Gu Mengyao glared at Shen Yushu.

"That's right, who told you to say I'm not as pretty as you!" Shen Yushu said, with perfect self-assurance.

"You rotten girl, when did I ever say that?" Gu Mengyao glared at Shen Yushu.

"Then what were you admitting just now..." Shen Yushu shot back.

"I wasn't admitting anything, you were the one looking at me!" Gu Mengyao was beside herself with anger — she had been drawn right into Shen Yushu's trap.

"Then why did you look guilty?" Shen Yushu asked.

"I'm not guilty, though I did say before that my figure is better proportioned than yours!" Gu Mengyao said huffily.

"Oh, people with small chests always say they're well proportioned!" Shen Yushu retorted, unconvinced.

"You rotten girl, I'll tear that mouth of yours to shreds!" Gu Mengyao reached out to pinch Shen Yushu's cheek.

"Brother Arrowhead, Sister Yaoyao's trying to murder me again!" Shen Yushu shrieked.

"All right, I need to drive." Wei Zhao was in no position to break up the fight, nor did he know whom to side with, so he changed the subject: "By the way, Yaoyao, why did you go up Twin Swallow Mountain with Zhong Yongliang back then?"

Wei Zhao remembered the task Gu Pengzhan had given him over the phone, and this was the perfect chance to ask, without it seeming too abrupt.

"Who else but that great liar Zhong Yongliang, tricking me on purpose?" Gu Mengyao still felt a little wounded whenever she thought of it. What Zhong Yongliang had deceived was not only her intelligence but her feelings — not romantic feelings for Zhong Yongliang, of course, but that longing for a loved one.

Zhong Yongliang had given Gu Mengyao hope, and then snuffed that hope out again. If he had never brought it up, Gu Mengyao would have sealed this matter away deep in her heart as an eternal sorrow, rarely letting it out.

But Zhong Yongliang had released that sorrow and then given her absolute hope again — how could Gu Mengyao not sink into despair?

Whenever she thought of it, Gu Mengyao would weep silently. What she wept for was not that she had been so easily fooled by Zhong Yongliang, but that she missed her mother. She missed her so, so much. Everyone else had a mother's love; she did not.

Though she was the treasured daughter of the Gu Group, dressed in silks and fed on delicacies, she would rather have none of it. She wanted a whole family — a happy home where she could sit down to dinner with her father and mother every single evening.

"Tricked you?" Wei Zhao was driving, so he did not notice that something in Gu Mengyao's mood had gone wrong.

"Mm..." Gu Mengyao thought of her mother, and the ache welled up again.

"Ah... Sister Yaoyao, don't cry, there, there. Fine, let's say you're pretty, you're prettier than me, all right?" Shen Yushu took Gu Mengyao's hand and comforted her.

Though Shen Yushu sometimes bickered with Gu Mengyao over meaningless trifles, she still cared about her deeply in her heart, and seeing her upset, she immediately softened her tone.

"Cry?" Wei Zhao was taken aback and glanced at Gu Mengyao in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, her eyes were rimmed with red, as if she might burst into tears at any moment. "Yaoyao, what's wrong?"

"Zhong Yongliang lied to Sister Yaoyao, telling her he had seen someone who looked very much like her — right there on Shuangyan Mountain!" Shen Yushu spoke on Gu Mengyao's behalf. "Zhong Yongliang put on such a convincing act that he fooled Sister Yaoyao completely, and in the end Sister Yaoyao and I followed him up the mountain, and then we were locked inside a cave..."

"Someone who looked like her?" Wei Zhao was even more bewildered. The young miss didn't seem that much of an idiot, did she? Simply because someone bore a resemblance, she let Zhong Yongliang trick her into going all the way to see for herself?

"Yes — Sister Yaoyao mistakenly thought the person Zhong Yongliang saw was her mother!" Shen Yushu nodded and explained. At this moment, the mischievous expression she had worn moments before had vanished entirely.

"Her mother?" Wei Zhao found this even harder to understand. "Isn't Yaoyao's mother dead?"

"Your mother's the one who's dead!" Gu Mengyao flew into a rage. It was bad enough that Wei Zhao was not trying to comfort her, but he actually had the gall to curse her mother dead?

"Uh..." Wei Zhao rubbed the back of his head, wondering whether he had misunderstood something. Could it be that Gu Mengyao's mother was not dead? Then why had Gu Pengzhan said that Gu Mengyao's mother had left them when Gu Mengyao was still very young?

Damn! Wei Zhao suddenly realized his blunder — he had misinterpreted the word "left." Ordinarily, passing away could also be described as "leaving," and in this tone and this context, "leave" would essentially carry that meaning. But the "leaving" Gu Pengzhan had spoken of might very well have been its literal sense — namely, that for some reason, Gu Mengyao's mother had walked away from home and abandoned the family!

Thinking this through, Wei Zhao broke into a cold sweat. He had made an enormous fool of himself — needlessly offending the young miss, it really was more trouble than it was worth! Still, as for her retaliation, Wei Zhao did not mind in the slightest.

"Your mother's the one who's dead" — Wei Zhao had no idea who his own mother was, nor whether she was still alive, so the words carried no psychological burden for him whatsoever. He had never met her since childhood; though he had once fantasized about what his parents looked like when he was young, over so many years he had long grown accustomed to it, and he had come to regard the old man and his master as his own flesh and blood.

"Ah, my apologies — I misunderstood. So your mother left home," Wei Zhao explained, a little sheepishly.

"What kind of attitude is that? You're still laughing? Is it funny? Are you mocking me, calling me pitiful?" Hearing that Wei Zhao was actually laughing, Gu Mengyao grew even more furious. This was the vulnerability sealed deep within her heart, and it was precisely Wei Zhao's attitude that set her off.

"Laughing at you?" Wei Zhao shrugged, a trace of helpless amusement in his voice. "Don't be so sad. If you want to talk about who's more pitiful, I'm far worse off than you. I don't even know who my own parents are — I've never seen them since the day I was born..."