Chapter 982 — A Chance Encounter on the Road

"I was afraid you would not want me." Wei Zhao was telling the truth; his drifting, rootless life had left him somewhat uneasy.

"Actually... what I said just now came from the bottom of my heart!" Tang Zhi hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: "I am the kind of girl who stays true to one man to the end. If you do not want me, I will never let anyone else touch me!"

Tang Zhi was referring to the earlier matter of going to a hotel with Wei Zhao, and she trusted that he would understand.

Wei Zhao nodded and took Tang Zhi's hand. He understood her feelings now — though in truth, he had known them all along.

With her hand in Wei Zhao's, Tang Zhi felt her heart ease, and a faint smile touched the corner of her lips as she walked with him toward the school gate.

In the past, holding hands with a boy had seemed to Tang Zhi an outrageous thing, but now it made her happy.

Today Wei Zhao was still driving Shen Yushu's Beetle. Gu Mengyao's Audi S5 was a little too conspicuous — if Wei Zhao drove it to the hospital entrance every day to pick Tang Zhi up, it would surely draw a crowd.

The Beetle, though, was far more low-key, and being a small car, it was suited to Wei Zhao's quick weaving through traffic jams.

At this hour there were not many cars on the road, and the way was basically clear, though there were a fair number of traffic lights; most of the travel time was spent waiting at signals.

"Hey, brother, want to try something exciting?" Wei Zhao had stopped the car before an intersection with a long signal, waiting, when a man of about twenty with dyed yellow hair sidled up to him.

Since the weather was hot, Wei Zhao had the window open, which made it easy for the man to talk to him.

Wei Zhao glanced at him and said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"Underground bare-knuckle fights — ever been? Very exciting, all real fights, and you can bet on the winner. Interested?" The yellow-haired man launched into his pitch.

"Not interested." Having heard him out, Wei Zhao gave a faint shake of his head.

Underground bare-knuckle arena? Those were the haunts of bored rich men and underworld bosses. These days Wei Zhao went toe-to-toe with real opponents every few days himself — why would he be interested in some underground fight ring?

"Oh... here is our card. If you ever get interested, you can call the number on it!" Seeing Wei Zhao was not interested, the yellow-haired man handed him a card and turned to seek his next target.

Wei Zhao glanced at the card: nothing but some "thrilling" promotional slogans and a phone number, with no detailed address. He was about to toss it away when Tang Zhi stopped him: "What is that? Let me see. What is an underground fight ring?"

Wei Zhao handed her the card and said: "It is a privately organized boxing match, but there are generally no rules. The only rule is to beat the other man until he cannot get up, so injuries and deaths are common."

Wei Zhao had once taken part in an underground match himself, also for a mission, though there was no real challenge to it. In such places there were few skilled fighters, and for someone of Wei Zhao's caliber they were all taken down in a single blow.

"Huh? Is that not illegal?" Tang Zhi said in surprise.

"Heh heh, it is illegal to begin with," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"Oh... then how do they make money?" Tang Zhi did not quite understand this sort of thing.

"Tickets alone bring in a hefty sum, and the organizers can act as the house, letting the audience bet on which fighter will win, in how many rounds, and so on. It is a very profitable business!" Wei Zhao explained.

"Oh... then handing out these cards on the street at random, is that not easy to get caught?" Tang Zhi had no interest in violent things, and casually tossed the card into the car's storage compartment.

"These people are professional advertisement distributors — two separate groups from the actual organizers of the underground fights!" Wei Zhao said, pointing at the yellow-haired man who had given him the card. "These people hand out ads every day and have a sharp eye. See how he targets young men driving fairly nice private cars? Many of them are rich second-generation kids from well-off families, and they are the audience for the underground fights."

Wei Zhao knew this racket fairly well. The people who handed out these cards did not limit themselves to this one illegal variety; ordinarily they also distributed cards for loan sharks, revenge-for-hire outfits, ***, and the like. Anyone not quick on his feet would have been hauled off to jail long ago!

Still, even if they were caught, the police could not get anything crucial out of them, because these people were all hired hands — they simply took money to distribute advertisements and had no other connection whatsoever to the people behind it all!

"Oh... how terrifying!" Tang Zhi nodded, then suddenly asked, "How do you know so much? Have you been to watch underground fistfights?"

"No... I fought in them." Wei Zhao shrugged.

"You... fought?" Tang Zhi was startled. Instinctively she wanted to ask Wei Zhao why he would do something so dangerous, but then she thought of his strength and decided it was probably nothing to him. It was just that Wei Zhao's past experiences seemed very complicated...

Sometimes Tang Zhi very much wanted to understand Wei Zhao's past, but if Wei Zhao would not speak of it, she could not bring herself to ask. She felt that Wei Zhao must be a man with a story. Yet no matter what Wei Zhao had been like before, good or bad, once Tang Zhi had set her heart on him, she would accept all of him!

"Heh heh, that is all in the past. When things quiet down, I will tell you about my past!" Wei Zhao had no intention of hiding his past from Tang Zhi, but it had been too dangerous after all, and he feared she might not be able to accept it all at once, so he planned to let it seep out to her slowly.

"Oh... all right!" Tang Zhi nodded happily.

Wei Zhao drove Tang Zhi to the parking lot of the Pengzhan Business Hotel, then took the elevator straight up to the twelfth floor and arrived at the door of Room 1209.

Wei Zhao was just about to knock when Tang Zhi's heart tightened. She clutched his hand, her palm beaded with a faint sweat. It was impossible not to be nervous! Though she firmly believed that the love between her and Wei Zhao would surely blossom and bear fruit!

"Do not worry, I am here with you!" Wei Zhao squeezed Tang Zhi's hand to reassure her.

Tang Zhi nodded, smiled faintly, and her heart was once again filled with courage.

Wei Zhao knocked on the door, and before long Feng Tianlong's voice came from inside the room: "Who is it?"

"It is me, Wei Zhao," Wei Zhao said.

The door was opened. Seeing Wei Zhao and Tang Zhi, Feng Tianlong smiled and said warmly, "Wei Zhao, Tang Zhi, welcome! Come in, quickly!"