Chapter 172 — The Rumor Made Real

But a flash of murderous intent crossed Wei Zhao's eyes. Had this not been the occasion, had he not been in this identity, Li Erlhan would already have been a corpse.

He gave Li Erlhan a cold look. "Do not give me a reason to move against you. Watch yourself."

With that, Wei Zhao took Tang Zhi's hand. "Get in the car!"

"Ah... oh..." Tang Zhi's mind was in turmoil at that moment—flustered by Wei Zhao's sudden appearance, and helpless and nervous over Li Erlhan's words. Grabbed by the hand just then, she was at a loss, and before she even thought to resist, Wei Zhao had pushed her into the passenger seat.

Once Tang Zhi was settled, Wei Zhao got in, started the car, and sped off in a cloud of dust.

Li Erlhan stared fixedly after Wei Zhao's departing car, muttering contemptuously under his breath, "Driving a woman's car, and putting on airs. Just you wait and see!"

At the bus stop, Li Erlhan alone did not dare do anything to Wei Zhao. The memory of Wei Zhao prying open the bus doors and throwing him out the day before still chilled him. At the very least he could be certain that Wei Zhao was strong, and with his own backside still injured, if it came to a fight he would surely come off the worse.

But Li Erlhan was naturally not about to let the matter drop just like that. Those harsh words earlier had not been meant to scare Wei Zhao—they had substance behind them. Could Wei Zhao really stick close to Tang Zhi and protect her every day? And besides, what was driving a Beetle worth? He had backers of his own. Once he mentioned this to Young Master Bing, would he not have Wei Zhao killed?

Cursing his bad luck, Li Erlhan stood up. Seeing the crowd gathered around the platform, laughing and mocking, he snapped, "What are you staring at my ass for? Go do whatever you're supposed to be doing!"

At Li Erlhan's outburst, the crowd only laughed louder. Someone even muttered, "We're just looking at your ass split wide open..."

Though Li Erlhan was a small-time thug from the shantytown, he did not dare openly defy so many people. He could only flush red and shuffle away, rubbing his backside.

The car had been driving for a while before Tang Zhi came to her senses. How had she ended up in this car in a daze? And Wei Zhao had even held her hand... What on earth had she done?

Her mind had been in such a fluster at the time that Wei Zhao had pushed her into the car, and only now did she realize something was wrong.

"Ah, stop the car!" Tang Zhi raised her head and looked at Wei Zhao helplessly, her face red. How had she gotten into his car? Now it was all set—if anyone saw them, would the rumor not become true?

Indeed, the rumor had already become true. Liu Xinlan had come out of her house to catch the bus at the stop. She saw Tang Zhi and was just about to call out to her when she saw her being led by the hand into Wei Zhao's car...

Liu Xinlan opened her mouth, but in the end did not call out, because Tang Zhi had already gotten into Wei Zhao's car and vanished from sight...

"That girl Yun, actually lying to me! She's already riding in Wei Zhao's car and still says there's nothing going on..." Liu Xinlan stamped her foot in vexation. "What are we going to do now? Has she forgotten the lesson Xiaofen learned?"

Just as she was fuming, she looked up and saw Li Erlhan limping toward her, and her anger flared all at once. Liu Xinlan knew perfectly well that Li Erlhan liked Tang Zhi. Ordinarily, with a tough woman like Liu Xinlan at Tang Zhi's side, Li Erlhan really did not dare go too far.

What kind of person was Liu Xinlan? The sort who would chase a man down with a cleaver in hand—reckless to the point of not caring if she died. So Li Erlhan did not lightly provoke such a person.

"Li Erlhan, what are you twisting and wriggling around for? Is your skin itching? Want your auntie to loosen it up for you?" Liu Xinlan vented her anger on Li Erlhan.

"No, no! Sister Wen, I just took a fall and can't walk steady..." Li Erlhan shook his head hastily. This woman—he could not afford to cross her. Li Erlhan felt he was truly, damnably unlucky, cursed to the bone. Not only had Wei Zhao bullied him, but Liu Xinlan had scolded him too.

This matter—he absolutely had to tell Young Master Bing, let that boy know what he was made of! As for Liu Xinlan, once he had curried favor with Young Master Bing, he would not need to fear her anymore!

"Stop the car? You're not going to school?" Wei Zhao looked at Tang Zhi, who was glancing around anxiously, and asked.

"I'm going to school, but you have to let me out! What if someone sees us?" Tang Zhi was anxious, but did not dare move rashly. On a car speeding along the highway, how could she just open the door?

"I have something to do this morning, so I'm not going to class. I'll drop you off at the snack street in a bit." Wei Zhao smiled. "No problem now, right?"

"You... how can you be like this..." Tang Zhi wanted to retort, but could not find the words, and could only glare at Wei Zhao resentfully. She felt that ever since she had come to know Wei Zhao, her relationship with him had become hopelessly tangled.

"Believe it or not, I really did just happen to be passing by." Wei Zhao shrugged innocently.

Tang Zhi would never believe him. How could there be such a coincidence? To run into him yesterday, and again today?

Still, she pouted; she could not out-argue Wei Zhao either. Feeling somewhat aggrieved, she sat there like a put-upon child, turned her head away, and looked out the window, trying as much as possible not to look at Wei Zhao.

"That business yesterday, was it you who started that rumor?" Tang Zhi had watched the scenery outside the window for a while when it suddenly occurred to her that she still had something to interrogate Wei Zhao about.

"Yesterday?" Wei Zhao was startled, and looked at Tang Zhi with some astonishment, at a loss. "What about yesterday?"

"You..." Tang Zhi could not tell whether Wei Zhao truly did not know or was feigning ignorance, and could only grit her teeth and say, "You wrote me a love letter..."

"I wrote you a love letter?" Wei Zhao was startled again, and only then did he recall the rumors at school yesterday, and could not help but smile bitterly. "Am I really that bored a person? If I wanted to court you, would I need to start rumors?"

"That..."

Though what Wei Zhao said was a little shameless, this time Tang Zhi did not doubt him. Indeed, Wei Zhao was right; if he wanted to court her, would he need to start rumors? He had already won her mother over so thoroughly that her mother wished for nothing more than for her to be friends with him. What need was there to spread such meaningless rumors? That would only make her resent him more.

"Maybe someone saw something and misunderstood." Wei Zhao thought to himself, my little madam, if I started rumors I would have to be sick in the head. There are two young ladies at home, and last night one of them even threw a tantrum.

"Oh..." Tang Zhi responded aggrievedly, and pursed her lips. "Then in the future... don't always come looking for me... otherwise, people will be even more certain that that is what is going on..."

"Ha, it really is a chance meeting." Wei Zhao was helpless. How was he supposed to explain this? Every single time it was a chance meeting.

Tang Zhi ignored him, propped her chin on her hand, and sat there quietly, until the car drove to the snack street behind the school. Wei Zhao parked the car and unlocked the central locking.

Tang Zhi opened the door and got out. It suddenly occurred to her that her mother had told her to let Wei Zhao know about coming to their home on the weekend. Though she did not much want to speak to Wei Zhao again, if she did not say it now, there was no telling but that her mother would urge her to go alone to Wei Zhao's class to look for him, and would that not confirm the rumors at school even more?