Chapter 133 — The Harassed Tang Zhi

Even now, Wei Zhao still did not know what exactly he was supposed to be doing.

Besides, when he had ridden in the car yesterday morning, Kang had noticed something and grown suspicious. Carry on like this and there would definitely be trouble. He himself did not care much, but whether those two young ladies would have objections—that was hard to say.

So after fixing breakfast for Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, Wei Zhao left them a note saying he had some business and had gone on ahead, and would not be taking Qing Bo's car.

Once out of the villa district, Wei Zhao found himself not quite knowing how to get around. He looked left and right, and surprisingly could not spot a single taxi. Wei Zhao was speechless—as expected of a villa district. Who living here did not have a few cars of their own? As if a taxi would be waiting around here for fares.

With no other choice, Wei Zhao had to go on foot. He walked a long way, and at the street corner finally managed to find a bus stop.

There was only one route here, some sort of city-sightseeing loop bus—a circular line. He checked the stop names on the sign and there was no Songshan City No. 1 Senior High. It seemed he would have to ask after boarding, and if that failed, transfer partway.

The sightseeing loop bus was actually fast; before long one arrived. Wei Zhao got on, paid, and asked the driver. Sure enough, there was no stop at Songshan No. 1 Senior High, and it was not even the same line—he would need to transfer at Jingtai Market to the No. 87 bus to reach Songshan City No. 1 Senior High.

There were not many people on the sightseeing loop bus—probably because it did not go anywhere useful, and the fare was steep. Other buses cost one yuan; this one cost three.

At Jingtai Market, Wei Zhao got off and looked at the stop. Sure enough, there was a route sign for the No. 87. Compared with the deserted villa-district stop earlier, here there were many people waiting—men and women, old and young—who all looked like commuters and students.

Every time a bus pulled in, a crowd squeezed aboard, yet even so the people on the platform did not seem to diminish. It seemed many got on, and no few new ones came to wait.

After a while, a No. 87 finally arrived. Wei Zhao followed the crowd aboard. The passengers were clearly several times as many as on the loop bus before. Wei Zhao found a spot by the door and did not push his way in—who knew if more people would get on in a moment? If he could not get off when his stop came, that would be a bit unlucky.

The bus stopped at "Shantytown." This was one of the old urban districts that had not yet been redeveloped; most who lived here were poor, and the houses were all single-story. Wei Zhao glanced out the window and unexpectedly caught sight of Tang Zhi.

Neat school uniform, a little canvas satchel slung across her body, her whole figure graceful and slender. In the morning sunlight, a leaf-shaped hairpin atop her glossy black hair glittered with rainbow colors. She had something of the look of a manga beauty, brimming with a rich schoolgirl style, and Wei Zhao's eyes lit up; he could not help wanting to go up and get close to her.

Tang Zhi was indeed also taking the No. 87, but she boarded through the front door. Once on, she desperately tried to squeeze inward, but there were too many people on the bus—how much strength could a girl like Tang Zhi have? After a few shoves she still could not get in, and instead drew dirty looks from the passengers ahead. Had she not been a pretty girl, they might well have cursed her aloud.

"Running, are you? Let's see where you run to. Finally caught up with you—so why aren't you running now?"

Wei Zhao was just wondering why Tang Zhi was pushing inward the moment she boarded when he suddenly heard a young man with a shaved green-melon head behind her say something teasing—and he even looked ready to lay hands on her.

The carriage was noisy and the distance was great—one at the front door, the other at the back—but Wei Zhao's hearing was keen and his attention was fixed on Tang Zhi, so naturally he heard it.

He frowned. Tang Zhi had likely been pestered by some street punk. In this stretch of old town, idle young men with nothing to do were only too common. From the fellow's tone, he had been pestering Tang Zhi for more than a day or two. It seemed the beauty had her troubles too! The The Blossom Guardian of common birth—comic as the title was—faced a daily situation utterly different from that of the two young ladies, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. Gu Mengyao only had to worry about Zhong Yongliang's harassment, not about being pestered by such punks. Tang Zhi was different: born beautiful, she had probably long since been marked by the idle drifters of the neighborhood.

Since he had run into it, Wei Zhao naturally would not stand by.

Quickly parting the crowd in front of him, Wei Zhao now brought his agile skill and boundless strength into play. The people he pushed aside had not even figured out what was happening before Wei Zhao had squeezed through. By then all the passengers had boarded and the doors were about to close, but Wei Zhao planted his left hand on the door and forcibly blocked it from shutting, while with his other hand he hoisted up the little thug behind Tang Zhi. Without a word, he flung him straight out through the doorway, then released his left hand, and the doors closed.

Tang Zhi stared in astonishment as Wei Zhao squeezed over from the back of the bus and then threw the young man harassing her off the vehicle. For a moment she was shocked and at a loss, not understanding how Wei Zhao had come to be on this bus.

Tang Zhi even thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. How had she run into this villain? Did he not have someone driving him to and fro every day?

Only when Wei Zhao threw the young man off the bus and turned around did Tang Zhi become certain that the person before her was indeed Wei Zhao.

"How did you get tangled up with a man like that?" Wei Zhao turned and asked.

Tang Zhi pursed her lips, not knowing how to answer. Was that not asking the obvious? Tang Zhi wanted to say, The same reason they pester me as the reason you pester me... but she did not quite dare. Wei Zhao was even more frightening than the young punk from before. What sort of person was he? With one hand he could stop the bus doors from closing, and with the other he could hoist a man up and fling him out...

No wonder Zhong Yongliang and Zou Ruoming both steered clear of him—this fellow was nothing but a violent maniac.

The people on the bus were all staring at Wei Zhao with a measure of dread. Those he had shoved aside earlier had meant to voice a complaint or two, but seeing how ferociously he handled things—flinging a man clean off the bus—they wisely shut their mouths. Not one of them wanted to become the next human projectile.

The driver had likewise meant to grumble a few words about Wei Zhao nearly wrecking the door, but now he dared not say a thing. Who would want to provoke a man like that? He quietly started the engine and drove off, paying no mind to the young man sprawled on his backside on the platform...

The young man had not even glimpsed what was happening before he was flying out the door; by the time he hit the ground, the doors had already shut behind him, and he had no idea who had thrown him.