Chapter 1729 — You Ate It Too!

"A conflict? A misunderstanding? My kidney nearly vanished?" Wei Zhao glanced at An Liwen and spoke without the slightest change in expression.

"I'm a victim in this too, you know — I lost a kidney as well..." An Liwen smiled bitterly. "You can't blame me for this!"

Wei Zhao smiled faintly and said nothing more. Both of them knew perfectly well what had really happened; it was just that Wei Zhao had stirred up too many powerful forces as of late and had no wish to tear things wide open with An Liwen for the time being. Otherwise, he would never have come to this dinner at all.

The Firewolf Gang behind An Liwen was something even Uncle Qing spoke of only in hushed, guarded tones — clearly it had deep roots. A top-tier gang with cultivators among its ranks was not something Wei Zhao would be foolish enough to provoke right now.

The group carried their plates to the buffet selection area. Since it was a self-serve buffet, how much you ate and what you chose was entirely up to you, so An Liwen began playing the guide: "This here is the Korean cuisine section... Yaoyao, what would you like? Let me get some for you..."

As he spoke, An Liwen picked up a few slices of Korean-style grilled meat and moved to place them on Gu Mengyao's plate.

"No, it's too greasy." Gu Mengyao swiftly slid her plate aside, leaving An Liwen somewhat embarrassed. But he had already picked the meat up, and putting it back hardly seemed right, so he dropped it onto his own plate instead.

An Liwen was not discouraged, though. After a couple of steps he tried again: "There's Korean cod here — it's quite good..."

"No, it's too spicy." Gu Mengyao shook her head.

An Liwen put the cod on his own plate as well.

"This grilled beef tenderloin is excellent — why don't you try some?" An Liwen asked, still refusing to give up.

"No." Gu Mengyao did not even bother to explain why this time.

An Liwen deposited the beef tenderloin onto his own plate too.

And so, along the way, An Liwen's plate piled up into a small mountain without his finding a single dish that pleased Gu Mengyao. With no other choice, he handed the plate to a waiter to carry back to the table and picked up a fresh one.

Ironically, the dishes An Liwen had not recommended were the ones Gu Mengyao casually helped herself to, which left him full of regret. It seemed Gu Mengyao's tastes really were one of a kind.

Chagrined, An Liwen decided to ask Gu Mengyao about every single dish he came across, only to be turned down each time. His plate grew fuller and fuller, filling three or four plates in no time — several of which had already been sent back to the table with waiters — and still he kept piling on more.

Eventually, though, An Liwen wised up: ask first, serve second, and skip it if she said no. But after he asked, if Gu Mengyao wanted something, she simply helped herself — there was no need for An Liwen to lift a finger at all.

This left him thoroughly exasperated. He could only keep asking, one dish at a time, yet Gu Mengyao would not eat any of it.

What consoled him somewhat was that Xiaoshu had taken some of the burden off his hands — otherwise he would have gone through several more plates. For the first time, he felt that Shen Yushu was such a kindred spirit.

They turned a corner and arrived at the dessert section. Suddenly An Liwen's eyes lit up — he had spotted the perfect thing to deepen his bond with Gu Mengyao and add a little flirtatious spark. He rushed over to a dessert stall in a few quick strides, picked up one of the sweets, and brought it before Gu Mengyao, offering it to her eagerly. "Yaoyao, this is one of the specialties here! It's a snack that's been all the rage online lately..."

"What is that?" Gu Mengyao frowned, finding it rather alarming — the thing in An Liwen's hand looked like some part of the human body.

"It's called a 'big eagle roast,' haha, very famous — why don't you give it a try?" An Liwen explained with an evil grin. "Haha, doesn't it look just like a certain body part?"

"I don't want it — take it away!" Gu Mengyao shot An Liwen a glare. What on earth was he playing at, bringing something like that over? Was he trying to ruin her appetite?

An Liwen had not expected his cleverness to backfire. Was Gu Mengyao really this innocent? The last time he had come, he had brought Su Taizao and a bunch of girls along, and those girls had queued up scrambling to eat these, joking and laughing with him and Su Taizao in a way that was flirty beyond words. How was it that with a different girl, the effect was completely different?

"Xiaoshu, do you want one?" An Liwen asked Xiaoshu, a little awkwardly.

"Oh, I'll give it a try." Shen Yushu actually found the thing rather fun — she just wondered whether it tasted any good.

An Liwen handed the big eagle roast to Xiaoshu with a sense of relief. Xiaoshu did not stand on ceremony — she picked it up and took a bite.

Gu Mengyao felt her face redden. Honestly, this Xiaoshu — she would eat absolutely anything.

"Is it good?" An Liwen asked. The question had been meant for Gu Mengyao, so that the two of them could naturally slip into a few suggestive, flirtatious words — but since Shen Yushu had eaten it, An Liwen's interest had evaporated, and he asked only for form's sake.

"It's all right, but not as good as Brother Arrowbrand's!" Shen Yushu said.

"Huh?" An Liwen froze, and Wei Zhao nearly lost his footing and took a tumble, while Tang Zhi turned to look at Wei Zhao with undisguised suspicion and doubt.

"Xiaoshu, you've eaten... Wei Zhao's?" Gu Mengyao sensed this was getting serious. The real problem was that Shen Yushu, with her famously thick skin, had blurted out such a thing in public — how could she?

"I have!" Shen Yushu nodded, utterly deadpan.

"Cough, cough..." Wei Zhao was startled. Seeing the bewilderment filling the eyes of Gu Mengyao and Tang Zhi, he hurriedly said, "Xiaoshu, when exactly did you eat it?"

"At home, of course?" Shen Yushu said.

"At home?" Gu Mengyao shot Wei Zhao a murderous glare, then asked Xiaoshu sternly, "Xiaoshu, explain yourself clearly — at home, when did you eat it? Where was I at the time? What was I doing?"

Gu Mengyao was actually turning it over in her mind: she and Xiaoshu were together almost every day, sometimes with Tang Zhi along too — so when could Xiaoshu and Wei Zhao possibly have had the chance to do anything? Could they have been sneaking around behind her back in the middle of the night?

"It was a few days ago — you were home too, and you ate it too!" Shen Yushu said.

"What? Me?" Gu Mengyao nearly dropped the plate in her hands. What kind of international joke was Xiaoshu playing? When had she ever eaten it?

This time, even Tang Zhi found it rather implausible. If she were told there was something going on between Xiaoshu and Wei Zhao, she might believe it — after all, Xiaoshu was bold, and she secretly harbored feelings for Wei Zhao, so naturally she would dare to do anything.