Chapter 710 — Common Ground

This was also why Tang Zhi felt there was a gap between herself and the young heiress, but now it seemed the heiress was truly low-key. The people here did not recognize her, and she put on no airs of being a rich man's daughter.

Although Gu Mengyao had grown up in a fabulously wealthy family, she had never developed an arrogant, domineering personality. For one thing, Gu Pengzhan's discipline had been strict; for another, the young heiress's inner world was a lonely one, and she did not make friends easily. From childhood to now, only Shen Yushu could be called a good friend; there had been no others worth mentioning. And so the heiress had never been led astray by bad company.

Both had grown up without a mother's love, yet it had produced two opposite personalities in Gu Mengyao and Feng Xiaoxiao. What they shared, however, was one trait in common: neither had many friends. Gu Mengyao had only Shen Yushu; Feng Xiaoxiao had no one at all.

What still made the heiress better off than Feng Xiaoxiao was that her mother was not dead, and so there was still hope. And with Xiaoshu's company, she was not truly lonely. But Feng Xiaoxiao had nothing, and on top of that she suffered from a terminal illness; the only way she could give her short life meaning was to squander it.

Arriving at the private room, Gu Mengyao handed Tang Zhi the menu and the ordering tablet, telling her to order. But when had Tang Zhi ever eaten at such an upscale restaurant? After flipping through two pages she was startled by the prices. How could it be so expensive? A single dish here cost more than a week's worth of groceries for her family!

What was more, this place used self-service ordering: after finding a dish on the menu, you entered its code on the tablet, and it would display whether the kitchen could prepare that dish at present. But Tang Zhi did not know how to use such a thing either.

"I don't know how to order... you do it." Tang Zhi was honest; poor was poor, and there was no need to put on a show in front of Gu Mengyao. She handed the menu and the ordering tablet back to Gu Mengyao.

Gu Mengyao had more or less guessed Tang Zhi's difficulty. She took the menu without a word and ordered several dishes directly. She did not care for things like bird's nest or shark's fin; she thought them unappetizing. But thinking of Tang Zhi, she still ordered a bird's nest porridge, then passed the menu to Shen Yushu.

Shen Yushu flipped through the entire menu and found only shark's fin, no shark meat, and was at once somewhat disappointed. "Sister Yaoyao, I suggest Uncle Chu add a shark meat dish!"

"..." Gu Mengyao was somewhat speechless. How could Daddy bother with such things? Was he expected to order the hotel's dishes himself too? She thought for a moment and asked, "You want to eat shark meat?"

"A little. But I don't know if it'd taste as good as what Brother Arrow makes," Shen Yushu said, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

Tang Zhi felt a faint discomfort in her heart. Wei Zhao made delicious food for them every day?

"Then we'll ask the waiter later if they can make it. Is there anything else you want?" Gu Mengyao asked.

"Nothing else." Shen Yushu shook her head.

"All right then. Wei Zhao, what about you?" Although Gu Mengyao was no longer as composed as before when facing Wei Zhao, that was only on the inside. Outwardly, her attitude toward him seemed to have dropped to freezing point — just as it had been when Wei Zhao first moved in.

But was it really the same? Perhaps only Gu Mengyao herself could say clearly. Or perhaps even she did not understand.

"This is enough. I'm not picky about food." Wei Zhao was telling the truth. From childhood to now, it had always been the food that was picky about him; wherever he went, he had to adapt to the local fare. And deep in the mountains there was simply no proper food at all — Wei Zhao ate whatever was available, with no room for choice whatsoever.

Gu Mengyao nodded, called the waiter over, handed him the ordering tablet, and said, "Do you have shark meat here?"

"Shark meat?" The waiter was slightly taken aback, then said, "Please wait a moment, I'll ask for you."

With that, the waiter picked up his walkie-talkie and made an inquiry. Only after getting a positive reply from the kitchen did he say, "Yes, miss. How would you like it prepared?"

"Can it be grilled? I want grilled shark meat!" Shen Yushu said.

"Certainly, I'll ask for you." The waiter then made a detailed inquiry with the kitchen before saying, "That's possible, but this dish would be a special order for you, so the charge may be somewhat higher. Would that be acceptable? It would be about six hundred yuan..."

"That's fine." Gu Mengyao nodded faintly. Price meant nothing to her; she had little concept of money. Though she would not buy a houseful of luxury goods like some materialistic girl, she would certainly never care about the price of an item.

After the waiter used the walkie-talkie to place the order for grilled shark meat, the drinks were served. Gu Mengyao had ordered juice — they were all girls, and Wei Zhao was driving, so there was no need to drink to keep up appearances.

"Tang Zhi, thank you for today." Gu Mengyao raised her glass and spoke to Tang Zhi. She hesitated, then added with some self-mockery, "Though between us, it seems we still can't be friends..."

Gu Mengyao was truly moved by Tang Zhi's decision to call Wei Zhao today, but moved or not, she would never compromise when it came to her own happiness! Tang Zhi wanted to take Wei Zhao away from the villa, and that was absolutely out of the question!

If Wei Zhao left, where would she ever find someone else who cared for her and looked after her like that? Of course, the young lady had never once believed she could fall for Wei Zhao. The man was such a flirt, how could she possibly like him?

"I understand." Tang Zhi nodded without surprise. She did not believe that a single meal between her and the young lady could dissolve the friction between them, either. "I called Wei Zhao because I did not want to defeat a rival that way!"

"Heh heh..." Gu Mengyao laughed softly, but offered no explanation. Her dependence on Wei Zhao was something Tang Zhi simply could not understand.

"Oh, Yao Yao, let's drop this subject, shall we? It's so gloomy!" Shen Yushu could not get a word in edgewise between the young lady and Tang Zhi, so she set about changing the topic.

"Heh heh, then we won't speak of it." Gu Mengyao drained the juice in her glass and gave Tang Zhi a slight nod.

Tang Zhi likewise picked up her glass and drank her juice, taking it as acceptance of Gu Mengyao's thanks. In truth, Tang Zhi had never expected Gu Mengyao to thank her so solemnly. The relationship between the two of them was far too strange; sitting together over a meal like this left her feeling rather out of place.

In truth, Tang Zhi did not understand Gu Mengyao. From the young lady's childhood to the present, precious few people had ever truly cared for her. Apart from Gu Pengzhan, Uncle Qing, Shen Yushu, and a handful of other family members, only Wei Zhao remained — and Tang Zhi's concern had moved Gu Mengyao beyond measure!