Chapter 136 — The Young Couple

"Yes... yes, sir!" Zou Ruoming fled without delay; Wang Zhifeng was not a man he cared to cross.

Once Zou Ruoming had gone, Tang Zhi remained where she stood, unsure whether she ought to leave as well. But Director Wang had not dismissed her, and she did not dare go on her own; she waited there, treading carefully.

"Heh heh, Tang Zhi, is it..." Wang Zhifeng's face shifted in an instant from its earlier stern gloom to a broad smile. "You weren't given any trouble, were you?"

"No... thank you, Director!" Tang Zhi shook her head.

"No trouble is what matters. If that Zou Ruoming brat bothers you again, come tell me and I'll sort him out!" Wang Zhifeng said. "Come on, I'll walk you to your class. You're already late—going in like this, your teacher might well give you an earful."

"Huh?" Tang Zhi had never imagined Wang Zhifeng could be so kind and amiable to her. Was this really the same Director Wang who had torn into her that day and sent her to the broadcast room to make a self-criticism?

Today he was actually worried she would be scolded by her teacher for being late, and had offered to escort her himself!

Tang Zhi was a top student, so even if she was late her teacher might not scold her much; but with Wang Zhifeng personally escorting her, the whole thing took on a different complexion. No teacher would dare say a word then—they would simply assume the director had summoned the student for some matter, and that was why she was late.

"Let's go, heh heh." Wang Zhifeng smiled and nodded to Tang Zhi. This was Wei Zhao's little girlfriend; he had better be on his best behavior, or if that boy went and aired his dirty laundry, he would be in for a world of trouble.

"Oh..." Tang Zhi was a little overwhelmed by the favor. A single day's difference, and the treatment was utterly different... Could it be because of Wei Zhao? Was that why Director Wang was so genial to her? At the thought, she recalled the scene of Wei Zhao and Wang Zhifeng chatting so amiably the day before... It really might be so...

Tang Zhi felt a twinge of vexation... Why was it that the moment her life brushed against his, everything became so smooth? Was her own hard work worth less than the connections of some rich young master?

Here Tang Zhi had it wrong. If Wei Zhao had not held something over Wang Zhifeng, then even if he had been introduced by Qing Bo, Wang Zhifeng would never have been so careful, much less trouble himself over Tang Zhi's affairs.

But now, he did not dare not to trouble himself! Earlier he had received Wei Zhao's call asking for leave, saying he was going to Captain Yang's office at the police station that morning to give a statement. Yang Huaijun had already given him advance notice the day before, so naturally Wang Zhifeng had not questioned it. But the crux was this: with Wei Zhao absent from school, if his little girlfriend were harassed, and the boy got desperate enough to turn and spill everything he had seen—would he not be finished?

"I'll give you my number. If anyone harasses you again, call me!" The more Wang Zhifeng thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, so he gave Tang Zhi his phone number. What if, the moment he left, Zou Ruoming came back?

"Ah..." Tang Zhi truly did not know what to do with herself... This treatment was simply too good, was it not? She had been at this school three years and had never once heard of Wang Zhifeng giving a student his number and telling them to call him if they had a problem! Again because of Wei Zhao?

Vexed at heart, Tang Zhi let an unreasonable remark slip out: "And what if Wei Zhao harasses me?"

"Uh..." Wang Zhifeng was briefly taken aback, then smiled wryly. "If you two young lovebirds have a quarrel, there's no need to come find me..."

Before Tang Zhi, he had no need to put on the solemn dignity of a dean. Wei Zhao knew everything about his business—what was the point of pretending?

"Young lovebirds?" Tang Zhi nearly lost her footing and fell to the ground. She and Wei Zhao... were young lovebirds? The crucial point was that this had come out of Wang Zhifeng's mouth.

"All right, I'll walk you in!" Wang Zhifeng said no more, for they had reached the door of the Senior Three, Class Nine classroom, and he knocked.

Tang Zhi was somewhat speechless. The stern impression the dean had always given, compared with today—it was truly different... far too different... Was this really the same Director Wang who flew into a rage whenever he caught a boy and girl being the least bit intimate on the school field? When the homeroom teacher of Senior Three, Class Nine saw that it was the dean himself knocking, she hurried over to open the door. "Director Wang, is something the matter?"

"Oh, nothing. I brought Tang Zhi here," Wang Zhifeng said, indicating Tang Zhi. "She's a good student, very good indeed! Yes... with good students, we teachers ought to be a bit more lenient, give them some space of their own, and not meddle too much in their personal affairs!"

Wang Zhifeng was dropping a hint for Tang Zhi's homeroom teacher. He had to; if she found out about Tang Zhi and Wei Zhao and stuck her oar in, and the boy got desperate and dragged him into it... So Wang Zhifeng made himself very clear.

"Ah? All right..." Tang Zhi's homeroom teacher was slightly taken aback at his words. What was the relationship between Tang Zhi and Director Wang, that he would speak up for her like this? Because of Tang Zhi's excellent grades, the homeroom teacher had always treated her well, but a special word from the dean was something else altogether...

"Mm, nothing else. I'll be going." Wang Zhifeng nodded, and at the last turned to Tang Zhi. "If anything comes up, call me directly!"

"Oh... goodbye, Director Wang..." Tang Zhi's mind was a muddle, filled entirely with that "young couple" remark Wang Zhifeng had made earlier...

Damn it, Wei Zhao couldn't have said something to Director Wang, could he? Was that why Director Wang had misunderstood? But what background did Wei Zhao actually have? Why would Director Wang side with him like that?

What had happened that morning had raised a question of the utmost importance in Tang Zhi's mind. Zou Ruoming and Zhong Yongliang were not without connections either, yet she had never seen Wang Zhifeng treat them kindly. When they came before Wang Zhifeng, were they not like mice before a cat?

But Wei Zhao was different... Just then, Tang Zhi found herself beginning to doubt her earlier conjecture. Was it really only because Wei Zhao had connections? That did not seem to be it either... Could there be some other, unknown side to Wei Zhao?

Back at her seat, Tang Zhi took out her textbook, yet could not focus on it no matter how she tried. In her heart and in her mind, over and over, played the scene of Wei Zhao shielding her on the bus that morning and Wang Zhifeng's strange words...

Why was she so unlucky... On the very eve of graduation, she had run into a creature like this... Was she truly unable to escape his grasp?

Tang Zhi felt somewhat dejected and gave a faint sigh... The most speechless part was that even her mother had been bewitched by this person... Ah! A major matter suddenly struck Tang Zhi!

Her mother had told her to go ask Wei Zhao for the formula today! That morning, flustered and panicked as she was, she had actually forgotten all about it! And when they got off the bus, Wei Zhao's words had muddled her even further, so she had not even taken the chance to ask him for the formula along the way!

What a tragedy. Did she really have to go to his classroom and look for him again?