護花近衛 - 第501章 還剩一些 - 翰墨軒

Xiao Wangba and Wu Chengtian had once been on fairly good terms—the kind of drinking buddies who shared wine and women—so at least they were familiar faces to each other. And with Xiao Wangba fawning over him so deliberately now, Wu Chengtian did not rebuff him. He glanced at Xiao Wangba and said, "Don't even mention it. I ran into some little punk who tried to snatch my woman, and Grandfather wouldn't even stand up for me—just dragged me out of there. I don't know what's so untouchable about the brat. So what if he's with Dr. Guan?"

"Exactly. Dr. Guan is nothing. It's Divine Doctor Kang who's really formidable!" The speaker was Xiao Wangba's younger brother, Xiao Wangdao, Xiao Ben's son. The Xiao and Kang families were about to be joined by marriage, so naturally he spoke up for Divine Doctor Kang.

"Exactly!" Wu Chengtian felt an instant liking for the Xiao brothers. "What are you two up to? If you're free, come with me—drinks are on me!"

Wu Chengtian was in a foul mood and badly wanted someone to pour his heart out to. The Xiao brothers exchanged a glance and were secretly delighted. They had already been looking for a way to ingratiate themselves with Wu Chengtian, and now that he was inviting them to dinner of his own accord, how could they not be overjoyed?

"Sure! But let us treat you, Brother Chengtian. You're the elder brother and we're the younger ones—how could we let the elder brother pay?" Xiao Wangba said.

"If you put it that way, then I definitely can't let you pay. Since I'm the elder brother, it's only right that the elder brother treats!" Hearing the Xiao brothers' flattery, Wu Chengtian's earlier displeasure faded somewhat.

"All right then, but we'll have to wait a bit. Divine Doctor Kang's son, Brother Zhaolong, and his fiancée—my cousin—will be here any moment. Let's go together!" Xiao Wangba said with a nod.

"Oh? Kang Jinglong?" Wu Chengtian was slightly taken aback. "I know him. We've met. Then let's go together!"

After a short wait, a Nissan Quest minivan pulled up slowly. It was the Xiao family's car. Though the Xiao family had fallen on hard times, they had not sold the vehicle. A car like that cost a fortune to buy but would fetch far less on resale, so it was better kept to keep up appearances.

Originally, the Xiao family and Divine Doctor Kang had intended for Kang Jinglong and Wang Xinyan to attend the auction as well, but Wang Xinyan refused no matter what was said. There was no help for it—Kang Jinglong stayed home to keep her company.

All afternoon, Wang Xinyan sat quietly on the sofa listening to her MP3 and scrolling through a novel on her phone. Whatever Kang Jinglong said, her answer was either "Mm" or "Oh," leaving him utterly at a loss.

At long last evening came and the auction ended. Xiao Wangba and Xiao Wangdao invited Kang Jinglong out to dinner. At her parents' urging, Wang Xinyan had no choice but to go along with Kang Jinglong and make an appearance.

Her father had promised her that it was just one meal, a chance to spend some time together and see how things went—there was no rush to decide, and she could return to Songshan right after dinner. So it was reluctantly that Wang Xinyan came with Kang Jinglong to the auction venue.

"Brother Chengtian, do you have a car?" Xiao Wangba asked Wu Chengtian when he saw his family's vehicle arrive.

Wu Chengtian had come with Wu Gonggao, but Wu Gonggao had clearly gone off to visit friends. Wu Chengtian, still fuming that his grandfather had not stood up for him, had stayed behind alone to sulk instead of leaving with the old man—so where would he have a car now?

"Let's go. We'll ride in your family's car." Wu Chengtian did not feel that lacking a car was a loss of face. After all, at the Wu family's level, no one would believe it if he said he had no car.

"Good, wonderful. Brother Chengtian, please get in!" Xiao Wangba ushered Wu Chengtian into the car, then he and Xiao Wangdao climbed in after him.