Chapter 730 — An Awkward Scene

"A marriage alliance is always a minor matter. Even if I marry you, when the interests of the Chen and Song families clash, I still won't be able to help you." Qiu Lingshan spoke calmly. "So although we are sworn brothers now, when that time comes, I can't speak for the Song family—but I personally will support you."

"Hearing you say that makes me very happy." Chen Yuxuan smiled.

……………………

Wei Zhao left the intensive care ward and headed straight for Tang Zhi's room. Tang's mother had risen early that day—buying a house was a major family matter, and she had nearly lost sleep over it, not dozing off until the small hours.

She opened the door for Wei Zhao, her face wreathed in smiles. "Xiaoyi, you're here!"

"Yes. Where's Tang Zhi?" Wei Zhao glanced around the ward and, seeing no sign of her, asked.

"In the bathroom. We're buying a house today, so she got up early too. She's washing up right now," Tang's mother said.

"Have you eaten breakfast? When do we set off?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Not yet. We were planning to grab a bite on the way." Tang's mother paused. "Oh, Xiaoyi, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"What is it?" Wei Zhao sat down on the sofa to wait for Tang Zhi.

"Tell me—should I use this money to buy a storefront and go into some small business with your Uncle Tang, or should I put it in the bank and live off the interest?" Tang's mother was deeply torn over the question. "Three million in the bank earns a hundred thousand a year in interest, doesn't it? With that much money, what kind of work could ever earn it back?"

"Hmm…" Wei Zhao was, in truth, financially illiterate—otherwise he would never have handed the company over to Fatty Lai to manage. "Why don't we ask my friend about it in a bit? See what he says. He's an old hand in business."

"That would be wonderful. Let's ask him, then!" Tang's mother nodded.

Tang Zhi emerged from the bathroom after finishing her wash, still in her pajamas. She hadn't expected Wei Zhao to arrive so early; she had been washing her hair in the bathroom, and with the sound of running water drowning out everything outside, she hadn't heard a thing—so Wei Zhao's arrival gave her quite a fright.

Summer pajamas are thin, and Tang Zhi wore nothing underneath. The points at her chest stood out in relief, and her lovely figure was on full display.

Catching Wei Zhao staring at her, Tang Zhi felt both embarrassed and annoyed—yet pleased at the same time. If Wei Zhao had shown no interest in her, that would have been the truly sad thing.

Still, the situation was mortifying. The two of them had not yet reached that stage, so Tang Zhi lowered her head, hurriedly grabbed her outer clothes, and dashed into the bathroom without a word to Wei Zhao.

Tang's mother, meanwhile, failed to catch on. She had no idea what had gotten into her daughter—not even greeting Wei Zhao when he arrived. What kind of spoiled-rich-girl tantrum was this now? Did she think she really was some young lady of means? Tang's mother could not help but feel annoyed. She rose, pulled open the bathroom door, and scolded, "Yun'er, what are you doing? Xiaoyi's here and you don't even say hello?"

"I… I'm getting dressed…" Tang Zhi jumped in fright. She had just stripped off her pajamas and was bare-chested when the bathroom door was suddenly pulled open. Naturally her heart leaped into her throat—only when she saw it was her mother did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"Getting dressed is getting dressed—Xiaoyi isn't an outsider. One look won't hurt anything. I don't know what goes through your head all day!" The more Tang's mother thought about it, the more she felt she had to hold on tight to this son-in-law. How long had it been? Her family had already become millionaires—and in the future, wouldn't it be tens of millions, hundreds of millions?

She had never dreamed she had the makings of a rich woman herself. Tang's mother was delighted, and her mind turned to how she might help her daughter secure Wei Zhao's heart—there must be no real breakup, or her future life of comfort would crumble to nothing.

Tang Zhi was both furious and mortified. She glared at her mother, unable to fathom what the woman was thinking. She was a young woman—did her mother not worry she might suffer for it?

"What are you staring at? Hurry up and get dressed! Up at the crack of dawn and still dawdling—by the time we get there, the good houses will be sold, and then what?" Tang's mother was anxious to go look at houses. In the past, when they had no money, she had never given such things a thought—but now that they had money, she feared all the best locations would be picked clean by others.

"All right, all right, I'm dressed!" Tang Zhi had finished putting on her clothes—an ordinary blouse and a pair of shorts she had bought new the day before, which went together quite nicely.

She came out of the bathroom with her mother, feeling somewhat sheepish and not daring to look at Wei Zhao. As for Wei Zhao, seeing Tang Zhi out of her school uniform today, he suddenly felt his eyes light up.

Flaws aside, though every stitch Tang Zhi wore was cheap market-stall stuff, on her it looked lovely.

Wei Zhao phoned Fat Lai. Fat Lai had heard the day before that Tang Zhi's family was going house-hunting today, so he had been ready since early morning, waiting for Wei Zhao and Tang Zhi to arrive.

As for Fat Lai, he had not slept a wink all night. At the pharmaceutical factory he had driven the workers relentlessly to finish the antidote to the Seven Herbs Death-Command Powder, and by a little past two that morning it was finally all done. It was rushed to the hospital without a moment's delay and administered to the unconscious students, and now every last one of them had come round. They were still weak, but the danger had passed.

It had to be said the drug's effects were striking. It was not the miraculous instant cure of legend, but in most people's eyes such results already marked it as a wonder drug, and the students' parents in particular were overflowing with gratitude toward Guan Doctor Pharmaceuticals, praising the company to the skies without stinting a single word when the reporters came calling.

As for the school and the Gu Group, their share of blame was vanishingly small. The suspect in the poisoning had turned himself in, the motive had been investigated and made clear, and since every grievance had its source and every debt its debtor, the parents naturally had no intention of blaming the school.

Besides, the students were all out of danger now, so they could hardly keep kicking up a fuss. After all, faced with the selfless spirit of Guan Doctor Pharmaceuticals, to keep haggling and clinging stubbornly to the matter would plainly make them public enemies of the whole nation.

And when Fat Lai delivered the medicine, he had made it very clear that it was purely out of personal friendship with Gu Pengzhan that he had worked through the night to rush out the wonder drug. What could the parents possibly say to that?

The parents who had previously wanted to transfer their children out had all calmed down as well. Their children had never really been involved in the first place—so why transfer them now?

The situation was perfectly clear now: the school was no biochemical terror base, nor was it guilty of lax management. Someone had deliberately and premeditatedly poisoned the place, and that could happen anywhere. Other schools were hardly guaranteed safe either.

And so the matter drew to a close, with only Gu Pengzhan's press conference left for today. Fat Lai, having wrapped up all this business, was now waiting for no other purpose than to help Wei Zhao buy a house.