Chapter 3187 — An Unexpected Encounter

"That's good, then. If anything new comes up on my end, I'll let you know right away," Feng Shihua said.

After hanging up, Wei Zhao passed the news on to Xu Shilan, who was both startled and delighted. "So that means I'm not in danger for the time being? I can go out and about?"

"Of course you can," Wei Zhao said with a nod. He had noticed it too—Xu Shilan had been cooped up in the villa all this time and must have been bored stiff. Being able to relax a little now was a good thing.

"Then... would you take me out for a stroll? I've been in Donghai City so long and still haven't gone out to see anything!" Xu Shilan said excitedly. "Last time I was here, I ate at a restaurant called Liuwei Ju—it was absolutely delicious. Would you take me there?"

Xu Shilan had been to Donghai City before, when she did endorsement work for Lai the Fat Man's company, and she had eaten at Liuwei Ju once then; the memory had lingered with her ever since. This time, because someone wanted to do her harm, she had been forced to stay cooped up indoors, afraid to go out. Now that the danger had passed, the first thing she thought of was Liuwei Ju.

"All right." Wei Zhao knew of Liuwei Ju as well, though he had never been there himself. Uncle Qing, however, had once bought takeout from there and brought it back for them, and it really had been quite good. Liuwei Ju generally did not do takeout, but Gu Pengzhan was chairman of the Donghai Chamber of Commerce; a man of his standing was naturally a different matter. Liuwei Ju was a Donghai City establishment—however strict its rules, it could hardly refuse to bend them.

Still, Wei Zhao had heard that Liuwei Ju always had a queue and did not take reservations in advance. It was nearly noon; if they went now, they would certainly have to wait in line. There was no help for it—Wei Zhao simply called Han Xiaohu and asked him to book a table.

Now that the hidden Zhao family had fallen, the hidden Han family had become the largest clan in Donghai City, bar none. The Han family's influence in Donghai City was immense, and reserving a table at Liuwei Ju was a trifling matter for them.

Han Xiaohu called back very quickly and told Wei Zhao the table number. At Liuwei Ju there were two tables reserved exclusively for VIP guests, kept in case of need; no matter how crowded the place became, these two tables could not be used, for they were set aside solely for distinguished guests.

Of course, Liuwei Ju issued only a limited number of VIP cards, and two tables were quite enough—it was exceedingly rare for both to be filled. But today the owner of Liuwei Ju had a bit of a headache: first thing in the morning, both VIP tables had been booked by phone in succession. If another distinguished guest were to arrive, there truly would be no table left.

Rare as such a situation was, the owner of Liuwei Ju could not help but prepare for every contingency. He set aside one more ordinary table nearby, so that even if no one else made a reservation, Liuwei Ju's reputation would not suffer.

Wei Zhao drove to Liuwei Ju with Xu Shilan, Cheng Yiyi, and Shen Yushu. Shen Yushu perhaps knew what fate had in store for her, for she was no longer as enthusiastic about school as before—when nothing was going on she went, and when something came up she did not.

Wei Zhao parked the car at the entrance of Liuwei Ju and walked straight into the restaurant, only to be stopped at the door by a waiter. "Sir, please take a number from the automatic ticket machine over there and wait in line. Thank you!"

"I have a reservation—under the name Han Xiaohu," Wei Zhao said.

"Ah, a reservation made by Mr. Han! Please, come in!" The waiter had clearly been briefed by the owner beforehand; hearing that Han Xiaohu had made the booking, he immediately ushered Wei Zhao in with great warmth.

Led by the waiter, Wei Zhao brought Xu Shilan, Cheng Yiyi, and Shen Yushu to VIP Table Number Two. But he had scarcely walked over when he froze—for at VIP Table Number One he had spotted three acquaintances of his.

One was Qiu Lingshan; another was Tang Yuqi, whom he had met at the cinema; and the last one gave Wei Zhao a considerable shock, for that person was actually from Xue Gu.

At that moment, Qiu Lingshan and the others had also seen Wei Zhao come in, and Qiu Lingshan was rather dumbfounded. Ordinarily, running into Wei Zhao would have delighted her, but today he was the very last person she wanted to meet—and for good reason. The matter of Tang Zhi was something Gu Mengyao had repeatedly instructed her to keep secret, and now, of all people, Wei Zhao had stumbled right into it.

Tang Yuqi, by contrast, clearly had not yet realized that Wei Zhao was the man Qiu Lingshan held dear. He was a detective with an exceptionally good memory, and he certainly remembered Wei Zhao—he knew this was the man he had met at the cinema—so he nodded politely to Wei Zhao.

Tang's mother and Tang Jucheng, meanwhile, were suddenly rather awkward and tense. Tang Jucheng, lacking any mind of his own, could only look to Tang's mother for help, hoping she would step forward and smooth things over.

"Lingshan, you're here? Auntie Wang, what are you doing here? Aren't you that inspection monitor?" Wei Zhao was quite puzzled, but he said nothing about Xue Gu—after all, he had no idea whether Tang's mother had told Qiu Lingshan and Tang Yuqi about her identity as one of Xue Gu's people. So Wei Zhao mentioned only that strange title of hers.

Tang's mother was, after all, a shrewd and clever woman. In an instant she had worked it out: Wei Zhao did not remember Tang Zhi, nor anyone or anything connected with Tang Zhi. Every contact she had ever had with Wei Zhao had taken place with Tang Zhi at his side; she and Wei Zhao had essentially never had any memorable dealings alone. It was therefore quite impossible that Wei Zhao knew her or would be reminded of Tang Zhi. So Tang's mother relaxed.

"So it's Wei Zhao! Auntie Wang came out of Xue Gu this time on a bit of personal business. Your Auntie Wang's nephew on her husband's side has returned from overseas, and with Officer Song's help we got in touch and came out for a meal together," Tang's mother explained.

Wei Zhao nodded. He was somewhat puzzled as to how Qiu Lingshan had discovered that Tang's mother was from Xue Gu, but this was hardly the time to press the matter. He merely nodded and said, "I'm here for a meal with friends too, so I won't disturb you, Auntie Wang. I'm much obliged for your kindness to me back at Xue Gu—today's meal is on me!"

"No need—Auntie can expense it!" Tang's mother waved her hand. "Your auntie has invited them, and back at Xue Gu, your auntie does have that much authority!"

To Tang's mother, one would be a fool to pass up a bargain. Xue Gu was falling over itself to curry favor with her these days, so naturally she would not stand on ceremony.

"Well... all right then." Wei Zhao regarded Auntie Wang as an elder, so he did not refuse her words again. He nodded and sat down at Table Two with Xu Shilan, Cheng Yiyi, and Shen Yushu.