Chapter 97 — Unconscious Habits

Shen Yushu took three bowls from the sterilizer, and Wei Zhao briskly ladled out three bowls of porridge. He glanced at the seats around the dining table, and in the end sat down on Shen Yushu's side. Shen Yushu might be a little odd, but Wei Zhao felt she was easier to get along with than Miss Chu—and the two of them shared a secret. It was a trumped-up bit of leverage, stumbled upon by pure accident, yet it had brought the two of them much closer.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu ate their porridge with quiet decorum. Wei Zhao could not be bothered with any of that. He had studied table manners systematically, true, but at home he really could not be troubled to observe them. Back when he had been fighting in the war zones of Africa, time had been precious—who had time to eat slowly and politely? Even the women on the team had wolfed their food down in two or three bites. Otherwise, who knew from which direction the enemy's rocket launcher might come flying.

"Eating that fast, aren't you afraid you'll choke to death?" Gu Mengyao watched Wei Zhao polish off two bowls in a row and then head off toward his own room, and she pursed her lips in mild displeasure.

She and Shen Yushu had not even finished one bowl between them—barely half a bowl each, by the look of it.

"Boys, they all eat fast," Shen Yushu said, unbothered. "When my brother comes home, he eats this fast too."

Gu Mengyao nodded. She knew well enough that the army had its rules—how could they let you eat that slowly? What if you were on the battlefield and the enemy came? But Wei Zhao had never been a soldier. What was he doing eating so fast?

Wei Zhao had no time to listen to two young ladies pass judgment on his eating speed. What occupied his mind now was this: when should he deliver the Chinese medicine he had brewed for Yang Huaijun?

Originally Wei Zhao had meant to take it over today, but since Shen Yushu had asked him to accompany them shopping, plainly he could not go. Never mind—he would find time later. Yang Huaijun would not die anytime soon anyway; with the pain-relief prescription Wei Zhao had written for him last time to hold him over, he would not suffer too badly.

Back in his room, Wei Zhao took out the bank card Uncle Qing had given him. He planned to buy a laptop, which would make looking things up much more convenient. Many medical and pharmaceutical texts could be downloaded online, so Wei Zhao would not have to wear himself out rummaging through bookstores.

Before setting out, Wei Zhao changed the dressing on the wound on his leg himself, applying a layer of the healing salve he had ground up the day before. That spared him another trip to the hospital for a change of dressing—yesterday's formidable matron of a nurse had been more than he could handle. Besides, his own salve worked far better than the ordinary plasters at the hospital.

He looked around and saw nothing else worth bringing. Wei Zhao stepped out of his room, and there were Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, already dressed and made up. They were wearing identical dresses, their hair styled almost the same, carrying the same handbags. Walking side by side, they looked like a pair of sisters.

Their outfits were noticeably brighter than what they wore to school. No doubt the school had too many flies buzzing around, and the two of them had deliberately kept a low profile. But now it was the weekend, and going out shopping on their own, there was no need for such restraint.

"Hey? You're wearing that?" Shen Yushu pointed at the school uniform Wei Zhao had on and gaped in astonishment. She had seen him go back to his room after eating and assumed he was going to change. She had not expected him to come out still in his everyday school uniform.

"Is something wrong with it?" Wei Zhao thought the uniform quite good. The quality was beyond reproach—worthy of the best high school in the city. Many a high-end brand's clothing could not compare.

"Do you think your outfit matches the two of us?" Shen Yushu looked at Wei Zhao's matter-of-fact expression and covered her mouth, laughing.

Gu Mengyao, however, had thought of something else. "Wei Zhao, aside from the school uniform, didn't Uncle Qing give you any other clothes?"

"No." Wei Zhao shook his head. "Just the set I was wearing when I arrived."

"When you arrived?" Gu Mengyao immediately recalled the way Wei Zhao had looked then... a white undershirt yellowed with age... and those filthy earth-yellow trousers. The thought alone made her swoon. "Forget it, you'd better just wear this. In a bit, buy yourself two decent sets. Even if you're my follower, you ought to look the part."

Gu Mengyao resigned herself to it. She would spend her own money and buy him two sets later. This uniform was a bit odd, but it was far better than that other outfit of his.

"Fine. I'll follow far behind you. No one will be able to tell we're together." Wei Zhao nodded, ever considerate.

"..." Gu Mengyao's expression stiffened slightly. Who asked you to follow far behind? Going out together means going out together. If you trail far behind, what's the point of going at all? But her reserved nature kept her from saying it aloud. She did not know why, but ever since this Wei Zhao had barged into her life, everything connected to him turned into a mess, vexing her beyond endurance.

Outside the villa, Wei Zhao did not see Uncle Qing's Bentley. As he stood there puzzled, Gu Mengyao picked up a remote and opened the garage door beside the villa. Inside sat a little Audi S5 coupe—model A5 domestically, a bit more understated than the R8.

Wei Zhao had not expected Gu Mengyao to have a car of her own. He had always seen Uncle Qing driving her to and fro; he never would have guessed she could drive.

"You drive." Gu Mengyao tossed a set of keys into Wei Zhao's hand.

"Me? I don't even have a license..." In the past Wei Zhao had always driven without one—but that had been on missions or when killing people, and driving without a license was the least of his worries then...

Gu Mengyao frowned at once when she heard Wei Zhao's words: "Have Qing Bo get one for you. Otherwise, it will be terribly inconvenient when you come shopping with us in the future."

"Heh, Qing Bo is already seeing to it. It just has not been brought back yet." Wei Zhao smiled faintly. Gu Mengyao had, without realizing it, already accepted the fact that he would be at her side. She was no longer trying to drive him off as fiercely as she had been a few days ago, and the fact that she now spoke of things in the future proved that the resistance in her heart was no longer so strong.

"Then sit in the back," Gu Mengyao said to Wei Zhao, pointing at the rear seat.

The S5 was a sports car with a single row of doors, and one had to climb in from the front to reach the back seats, which was rather inconvenient. But with Wei Zhao's skills, it was nothing at all. He gave the front seat a light push and hopped in.

Gu Mengyao said nothing more and sat down in the driver's seat, while Shen Yushu took the seat beside her. It was plain to see that the two were not the sort of rich second-generation girls who loved to race; they were quite law-abiding instead. Only after fastening her seatbelt did Gu Mengyao start the car and slowly drive out of the villa district...