Chapter 3187 — An Unexpected Encounter
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
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.