Chapter 1128 — It's Not Convenient for You to Come Along. An Liwen Had Always Believed That Love Is Something Cultivated—Only After Two People Have Spent Long Enough Together Can Feelings Grow! And So He Never Stopped Creating Opportunities for Himself.

"No need to go to any trouble. We're taking a road trip." Gu Mengyao turned down An Liwen's suggestion. She had already worked it out with Xiaoshu and Wei Zhao: the very night the launch event for Wei Zhao's pharmaceutical company ended, they would set off by car for the seaside.

"A road trip..." An Liwen had not expected Gu Mengyao to choose a road trip, and his disappointment was instant. He had been turning over the idea of going abroad with her to some romantic little corner of the world, but now that was plainly impossible—a road trip could only take them somewhere near Songshan City! Still, near or not, An Liwen had no way to bend Gu Mengyao's thinking, so he could only fall in with it: "A road trip's wonderful. Nice and easy, no pressure. Count me in, all right? I'll come along with you. If there's anything you girls can't manage, just leave it to me—carrying bags, that sort of thing, I'm more than up to it!"

"No need. We've got Brother Arrow. You're too weak. You don't even have a kidney—you can't do heavy work." Shen Yushu did not care for An Liwen either, so she cut in.

"I have a kidney now! I got a new one put in—I'm a normal man again!" An Liwen rushed to defend himself, terrified that Gu Mengyao might take him for a man with failing kidneys and let it color their married life.

"I'm going with classmates. Besides me and Xiaoshu, there are others. It's not convenient for you to come along." Gu Mengyao rejected his suggestion outright.

"That..." An Liwen frowned. He had not expected Gu Mengyao to be traveling with classmates! But he had no thought of giving up; this was a good opportunity. So he said, "No matter. Here's what we'll do: Taizao and I will drive up too, and we'll each enjoy ourselves on our own. How's that?"

"Suit yourself," Gu Mengyao said coolly. Since An Liwen had put it that way, she had no grounds to refuse—was she in any position to restrict his freedom? Where he chose to go was his right; so long as he did not interfere with her, it made no difference.

"Then it's settled. When do you set out? Where are you headed? I'll make my preparations in advance!" Seeing that Gu Mengyao had agreed, An Liwen asked, his face bright with delight.

"To the seaside. We leave the evening of May First." Gu Mengyao made no secret of it; it was no secret in any case. She knew An Liwen's character—he would never stop until he got what he wanted—and if she told him nothing, he was quite capable of posting men at her front gate to follow her.

"Fine, then. The afternoon of May First, Taizao and I will be waiting at the gate of your villa!" An Liwen had not expected Gu Mengyao to be so agreeable. Could it be, he wondered, that Gu Mengyao actually welcomed his coming? He knew well enough that her nature was cold on the surface and warm beneath, so he could hardly be blamed for thinking it.

At the mere possibility, An Liwen's heart raced with excitement. He meant to go back and plot it out properly with Su Taizao—how best to carry out his grand campaign of wooing.

Having achieved his aim, An Liwen did not linger. He rose, took his leave of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, and departed the Gu family villa.

"Sister Yao Yao, why did you tell him where we're going?" Shen Yushu asked once An Liwen had gone, looking at Gu Mengyao in puzzlement.

"Isn't it so that you and Feng Xiaoxiao will have something to play with? Without a villain, what would the two of you do for fun?" Gu Mengyao smiled.

"Oh, Sister Yao Yao, so you're that wicked too!" Shen Yushu said, suddenly enlightened—so the reason Sister Yao Yao had let An Liwen come along was to add to the fun.

Hearing this, Wei Zhao could not help but smile wryly. So the Young Mistress had a scheming side to her as well.

In truth, Gu Mengyao had simply reached the end of her patience and been driven to this inferior stratagem. Ordinarily, she took no pleasure in tormenting people.

"Let's go upstairs. I'm sleepy," Gu Mengyao said, and without another word turned toward the staircase.

Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao signed each other good night, then ran up the stairs after Gu Mengyao.

Wei Zhao shook his head and went off to Uncle Qing's room; he wanted to speak with Uncle Qing about An Liwen. On this road trip, if An Liwen kept to himself, well and good—but if he was still bent on stirring up trouble, Wei Zhao had no intention of letting him off either.

The particulars, though, still had to be discussed with Uncle Qing.

When Wei Zhao pushed open the door to Uncle Qing's room, Uncle Qing was cultivating. Seeing Wei Zhao enter, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Xiaoyi, you're here!"

"Uncle Qing, how goes it? Any progress?" Wei Zhao was asking about Uncle Qing's strength.

"Though I am a single step from the Profound Rank, the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy in these parts is far too thin. True qi is absorbed with great slowness. I won't be breaking through for some time yet." Uncle Qing shook his head.

Wei Zhao had in fact guessed as much; he had only asked in passing.

This was something Wei Zhao understood well. Back then it had taken the heaped heaven-and-earth treasures of Elder Wei to push him up to the Yellow Rank, so of course he knew how thin the spiritual energy of the natural world was—a world apart from the jade pendant space!

That was also why, after more than a decade, he had reached only the Yellow Rank—and why, once he discovered the secret of the jade pendant space, he had advanced several ranks in succession.

"By the way, Uncle Qing, An Liwen came by just now." Wei Zhao changed the subject. "I keep feeling he's up to no good. What do you make of it?"

"An Liwen has long harbored a secret love for Yao Yao. He's a man who stops at nothing and never rests until he gets what he wants." Uncle Qing understood An Liwen's character well; he had struck the mark exactly.

"Then what do you suggest, Uncle Qing?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Xiaoyi, how much do you know about the Fire Wolf Gang?" Uncle Qing did not answer Wei Zhao's question, but put one of his own.

"The Fire Wolf Gang... I don't know much." Wei Zhao shook his head. "And precisely because I don't, I haven't made any rash move against An Liwen. These are troubled times, and I don't care to invite more enemies."

"Quite right!" Uncle Qing nodded. "Your thinking is correct. The Fire Wolf Gang is a gang, yes, but its power is not to be underestimated! It was established long ago. In the days when I was Young Sect Master, the name of the Fire Wolf Gang rang like thunder in the ears of hidden families and minor sects alike! You might say the Fire Wolf Gang is no weaker than a hidden family or a minor sect!"

"Oh? The Fire Wolf Gang is that formidable?" Wei Zhao was startled.

"Yes. An Liwen is one of the Fire Wolf Gang's people, but I am not clear on the An family's standing within it, so for the present it would be best not to touch him!" Uncle Qing nodded. "A lesson is permissible, but he absolutely must not be killed."

"I'll know how to keep the measure." Wei Zhao nodded. Uncle Qing's advice was much the same as his own thinking: if An Liwen did not cross Wei Zhao's bottom line, then for the time being Wei Zhao would not do anything to him.