Chapter 757 — A Scream in the Villa

"Ah?" Gu Mengyao stared blankly at her father. "Daddy, did you call me?"

"Hehe, Yaoyao — what are you thinking about? I'd like you to toast Xiao Yi. If it weren't for him yesterday, Daddy honestly doesn't know whether he'd ever get to see you again..." Gu Pengzhan said with a warm chuckle.

"Ah... all right..." Gu Mengyao subconsciously raised her glass, only to find it already empty of juice.

Shen Yushu hurriedly refilled it. Only then did Gu Mengyao raise her glass again. She stole a glance at Wei Zhao, thought of yesterday's events, and couldn't help feeling a little bashful. She lowered her lashes and said, "Thank you."

"You've said that several times already." Wei Zhao felt a quiet spark of admiration. He rarely got to see this bashful side of the young miss — and she was rather pretty, wasn't she? If she weren't his employer, perhaps he would have pursued her.

"Mm..." Gu Mengyao gave a soft hum, drained the juice from her glass, and then announced, "I've finished mine."

Wei Zhao drained his in one gulp as well. It was plain to see that the young miss was not well accustomed to such social occasions. Gu Pengzhan had likely seldom brought her to the banquets of prominent wealthy families before — probably the very reason the young miss had never picked up any of those vulgar habits.

In essence, the young miss was rather simple and guileless. Though she gave off an air of keeping strangers at arm's length, once she grew familiar with you, she would genuinely care about you. Sometimes she wouldn't say it aloud, but Wei Zhao could feel it.

Gu Pengzhan had not deliberately groomed Gu Mengyao to become some formidable businesswoman, and this left Wei Zhao somewhat puzzled. Was Gu Pengzhan not planning to have her take over his mantle? Or was he intending to adopt the method more popular abroad — letting Gu Mengyao hold shares in the company, serving only as a shareholder without participating in operations, leaving all management to professional executives?

Of course, such matters were not Wei Zhao's to worry about. As for his own shares in the Gu Group — he truly didn't take them seriously! He scarcely cared about the management of the pharmaceutical company, let alone the Gu Group.

The meal went by with a pleasant atmosphere. It had been some time since Gu Pengzhan last dined with Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Wei Zhao together. Now that his daughter's troubles and the company's affairs had all been resolved, Gu Pengzhan's face fairly glowed with ruddy good health!

After dinner, Gu Pengzhan still had matters to attend to, so he stepped out of the car at the company's entrance. The fallout from the poisoning incident had not yet died down, and Gu Pengzhan had to be present in person, working alongside the company's legal department to cooperate with the police in gathering evidence.

Just as on the way there, Wei Zhao drove his battered van while Uncle Qing chauffeured the Bentley carrying Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, and the two vehicles returned one after the other to the villa. Wei Zhao had not wanted to trouble Uncle Qing and had intended to let the young miss and Shen Yushu ride back in his own car, but the young miss turned him down with a single remark: "Didn't I tell you to drive the Five from now on?"

Wei Zhao smiled bitterly, even wondering whether he would need to bother buying another car once this one finally broke down.

As the two vehicles pulled up one after the other before the villa's front gate, a sudden burst of barking erupted from inside — it was General!

Wei Zhao's nerves tensed in an instant. He touched the jade pendant at his chest; it had emitted a signal, and in that very moment Wei Zhao slipped into a state of heightened alert, body coiled and ready for battle.

General would never bark for no reason, least of all when Gu Mengyao and he were returning. If it had been a stranger, it might have reacted — but right now, everyone inside was someone it knew well!

General was already more than familiar with Wei Zhao, Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and even Uncle Qing.

And so, when something out of the ordinary occurs, there must be something wrong. General's abnormal, frantic boding was surely a sign of something! Especially since the jade pendant at Wei Zhao's chest had given off a similar warning.

At this moment Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had already stepped out of the car, and upon hearing General's furious barking, they too were startled!

"Don't go in yet — there's danger," Wei Zhao said, shaking his head at Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

Uncle Qing, too, leapt down from the car. An adept of the Yellow Tier, he had also sensed that something was amiss.

But before Gu Mengyao could ask anything, another scream rang out from inside the villa — it was General's voice — and then there was silence.

"General!" Gu Mengyao startled instinctively, her heart clenching. She didn't care about anything else, flung open the villa door, and was about to charge inside.

General could be said to have grown up alongside Gu Mengyao — accompanying her through early childhood, childhood, and adolescence, all the way to the present. A deep bond had formed between them! It could be said that before Wei Zhao came to the villa, apart from Shen Yushu, the only friend Gu Mengyao had left was General.

So the mighty general's sudden scream filled Gu Mengyao with worry, and the only thought in her head was to rush inside and see what had happened to him!

That scream also changed Wei Zhao's plans. He had meant to slip into the villa first and scout out the place, but the situation had clearly taken a turn.

Gu Mengyao rushed in, and Shen Yushu naturally rushed in after her. Her feelings for the mighty general were not as deep as Gu Mengyao's, but they were by no means shallow — had the general not saved both their lives?

That time at Shuangyan Mountain, without the mighty general, how could Wei Zhao have found Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu so quickly?

The two women entered the villa, and Wei Zhao and Qing Bo did not dare to be careless either, following them inside!

Gu Mengyao flicked on the chandelier in the great hall. The mighty general lay on the floor with his limbs curled beneath him, blood all around his muzzle, and there was no telling whether he was alive or dead. Not far from the general stood a man in black!

After leaving Lai Changshan's company, Yukun had secretly slipped into Lai Changshan's villa at Qianhua Waterside. He did not believe Lai Changshan's words, and meant to search the man's residence himself for the remnant map.

Yet at Fatty Lai's place, Yukun came up with nothing. He was confident enough in his own searching skills; his sweep had even turned up the key to the safe that Fatty Lai had hidden beneath the floorboards, and still there was no sign of the remnant map. Yukun could be entirely certain now that the remnant map was not in Lai Changshan's residence.

But Yukun was not discouraged. According to the earlier investigation, there had been two other people with Lai Changshan at that auction: one was Wei Zhao, and the other was Guan Xuewen!

Wei Zhao — the young man he had run into outside the pharmacy. For some reason, Yukun felt that this Wei Zhao was even more suspicious than Fatty Lai and Guan Xuewen, and it was precisely because of Wei Zhao that his last tailing operation had been exposed!

Young as he was, Yukun reckoned that if this Wei Zhao could attend the auction alongside Fatty Lai and Guan Xuewen, he was no simple character. So after arriving in Songshan City, he had gathered up the files on Wei Zhao.