Chapter 2643 — Speechless

Could she have smeared lubricant on the glass, so that the moment he took it, it would slip from his fingers and shatter on the floor?

Had Shen Yushu not added that last remark, he might not have thought much of it. But now that she had said it, he hesitated, unsure whether he should take the thing at all.

"You don't want it?" Shen Yushu looked at Zhong Yongliang in some surprise. "Mr. Number 82, surely you're not thinking of giving up this precious chance?"

"I..." By the light of the stage lamps, Zhong Yongliang examined the surface of the glass carefully, and finding none of that greasy abnormality, he took it gingerly. "Of course not. I'm just a little excited. Standing on the same stage as the goddess of my heart for the first time, and about to kiss her—my heart is simply pounding..."

"Oh, very well then. Since that's the case, we can begin. Miss Gu Mengyao, if you would stand ready. Mr. Number 82, you may start. Would you like to kiss her cheek first, or go straight for the lips?" Shen Yushu asked.

"Oh? I can do it one step at a time?" Zhong Yongliang asked, suddenly delighted.

"Of course you can. You may kiss her cheek first, then her lips," Shen Yushu confirmed with a nod.

"Good, good! Then I'll kiss her cheek first!" Trembling with excitement, Zhong Yongliang raised the glass and held it before his mouth, about to kiss Gu Mengyao's cheek. But just as the glass was on the point of touching her face, Shen Yushu suddenly called a halt!

"Stop!" Shen Yushu cried out loudly.

"Eh?" Zhong Yongliang started, so startled that he nearly toppled off the stage. He was about to ask Shen Yushu what she was doing when he suddenly realized that his mouth seemed to be blocked by something, and he could not speak: "Oh oh... mmph mmph..."

"Mr. Number 82, what's happened to your mouth?" Shen Yushu exclaimed. "Everyone, look quick! Mr. Number 82's mouth has actually swollen up—swollen up like a sausage! What on earth is going on? Could he be a giant monster from outer space, transformed and disguised as a student?"

"What?" The guests in the hall were all stunned now. And indeed, they could see clearly that Zhong Yongliang's two lips had swollen up round and full, like sausages, completely sealing his mouth shut and rendering him speechless.

"Mr. Number 82, do you have some hidden ailment? Well, that won't do at all—you can't be kissing our school beauty now. What if she catches it? Don't you all agree?" Shen Yushu asked.

"That's right! How did his mouth suddenly swell up like that? There must be something wrong with him!"

"Exactly. I say this fellow must have some hidden disease..."

"Not a hidden disease—an acute contagious disease..."

"I say it's a venereal disease, caught from his boyfriend..."

"Venereal disease... pfft, you're wicked..."

The guests below the stage said all sorts of things, and Zhong Yongliang was frightened half to death. How had his mouth swollen up like this? What on earth was going on?

"Mr. Number 82, you're ill! Shouldn't you hurry to the hospital? Just look at you—how can you go on with the safe kiss now?" Shen Yushu asked, gazing at Zhong Yongliang with a face full of concern.

"Mmph mmph mmph... oh oh oh..." Zhong Yongliang wanted to say something, but his two lips were so swollen that they would not part, sealing his mouth shut and leaving him speechless; all that came out were meaningless sounds.

"What did you say?" Shen Yushu asked.

"Mmph mmph mmph... oh oh oh..." Zhong Yongliang tried with all his might to express his meaning—that even ill, he still wanted to kiss her. How could he give up a chance he had won with such difficulty?

"Oh, Mr. Number 82 is so noble, so full of love!" Shen Yushu said after listening. "He says that for the sake of the school beauty's personal safety, he will not kiss her—he voluntarily gives up this chance. But the money he paid for the auction will still be donated to the orphanage as usual. Please give Mr. Number 82 a round of applause for his loving heart!"

"Bravo!"

"Wonderful, how loving!"

Applause rose and fell throughout the hall. This time, no one cursed Zhong Yongliang for being ill; instead, they all felt rather sorry for him—he had spent twenty million and still had not kissed the school beauty. What timing for this illness to strike!

And so Zhong Yongliang was escorted off the stage by Shen Yushu—ostensibly supporting him, in truth shoving and dragging him—after which she returned to the stage and, together with Tai Weiliang and Zhen Huanzi, brought this auction to a close...

Wei Zhao did not know the particulars of the safe kiss, but seeing Zhong Yongliang's condition, he knew that the drug he had concocted had been kissed onto his lips. The drug had no side effects, however—at most it would leave his lips red and swollen for a while before subsiding on its own. Wei Zhao had not wanted to kill him, after all, and so make an enemy of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect too soon.

Zhong Yongliang had been driven off the stage for no reason he could fathom, and once off, he stood there rubbing his enormously swollen lips, utterly at a loss.

"Brother Liang, what's happened to you?" Gao Xiaofu had been waiting anxiously below the stage, and seeing Zhong Yongliang come down, he hurried over to ask.

"Mmph mmph mmph... oh oh oh..." Zhong Yongliang could not speak. He pointed at his mouth, on the verge of tears.

"Type it out—just type it out and tell me, Brother Liang. Use your phone to talk to me?" Gao Xiaofu suggested quickly.

"Mmph mmph!" Zhong Yongliang nodded, fished his phone from his pocket, and typed to Gao Xiaofu: "I don't know what happened either. I was just about to kiss Gu Mengyao when my mouth swelled up and I couldn't speak..."

"Eh?" Gao Xiaofu was baffled too after reading it, but as a bystander he saw more clearly, and he guessed at once: "Brother Liang, could it be that little bitch Shen Yushu who did this to you?"

Zhong Yongliang's eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh and typed on the phone: "That's it, it must be! There's something wrong with that glass!"

Zhong Yongliang was no fool. With Gao Xiaofu's reminder, he figured out what had happened. An Liwen had been duped once before, and this time Zhong Yongliang had wondered why Shen Yushu had not played any tricks—so she had tampered with the glass after all!

At this thought, Zhong Yongliang was furious. That damned little bitch—she was truly wicked, the most wicked in the entire universe, invincible and second to none! Shen Yushu's meddling had robbed him even of the chance to challenge Wei Zhao. It seemed he would have to announce his challenge some other way.

"So what do we do now, Brother Liang?" Gao Xiaofu asked.

Zhong Yongliang frowned and drew a small bottle from his pocket. It contained some common elixirs Zhang Naibiao had given him when he came down the mountain. From among them Zhong Yongliang found a first-grade antidote pill and managed to stuff it into his mouth and swallow it.

After a while, his mouth finally returned to normal—though whether from the antidote's efficacy or because Wei Zhao's poison had simply worn off on its own, he could not tell.