Chapter 186 — Sold Out, Stalls Packed Up

"Let's just go over the weekend, then..." Kang Xiaofeng clearly wasn't ready to give up such a prime opportunity.

In the senior year of high school, there were tests practically every day—half of each morning's classes were spent filling out exam papers. When Wei Zhao first came here, he'd been in the frame of mind of a man on a mission, treating it all as a game. But now, he had thoroughly merged into this life, into this school, this class... and above all, into this age...

Over this stretch of time, Wei Zhao felt he had grown much younger, had begun to look at things from the perspective of this age, had begun to enjoy shooting the breeze with his newly made brothers, joking around with pretty girls...

He had come to like this school, come to like this class... come to like Tang Zhi, that somewhat proud yet thoroughly adorable girl... Only, he had no idea how long all of this could last.

Perhaps a few days, perhaps a few months, and he would return to his former life. None of this would belong to him anymore.

Having truly tasted the beauty of life, Wei Zhao had grown sick of his old existence... Nothing but thrills and endless slaughter—not a single redeeming feature to speak of. In the face of his enemies, Wei Zhao had grown numb.

It was time to have a talk with the old man. Perhaps this was the life he truly yearned for.

At noon, Wei Zhao and Kang Xiaofeng left the classroom. Because the last period had included a test, the class had been held a little late, so Senior Class Five let out a bit after the others. By then, most of the students were already gone from the teaching building.

As was their custom, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu headed for the cafeteria, where they ate in the small dining room on the second floor, indifferent to the crowds on the first. Ordering there required no queuing.

Every noon, the snack street was bustling and lively. The seniors were too pressed for time to come here much, but the freshmen and sophomores had already packed the place solid.

The food on the snack street could hardly be called clean or hygienic, nor especially delicious, but compared with the cafeteria's mass-produced slop, it was considerably tastier and notably cheaper.

Tang Zhi's mother's barbecue stall, tucked toward the back of the snack street, was doing unusually brisk business today, students packed around it in ring upon ring. That was how it went with news on campus—good or bad, it spread with remarkable speed. The matter of Wei Zhao slipping Tang Zhi a love letter, for instance, had barely been common knowledge for a single class period before practically the entire senior year knew.

The barbecue stall was the same—the tantalizing aroma, plus the rave reviews from students who had eaten there, had drawn every curious student who heard about it to crowd in tight. That was how it so often went: the bigger the crowd, the more people wanted in on the excitement, since a crowd meant the food was good.

Tang's mother was thrilled, but she truly could scarcely keep up. The ingredients she had prepared today looked like they wouldn't last even through the noon rush. She would have to go home this afternoon and prepare more.

"Still going over?" Wei Zhao asked Kang Xiaofeng with a bitter smile. "There are a few too many people here. In front of all these people, asking when to go to her house this weekend—isn't that just asking for trouble? Do you think Tang Zhi would even answer?"

Kang Xiaofeng thought about it and had to agree. Tang Zhi was already afraid of people saying she and Wei Zhao had something going on. If he charged over right now and asked when to go to her house this weekend, how could Tang Zhi possibly answer? If it stirred up some unpleasantness, the weekend invitation might well be called off.

"Then... should we wait a bit?" Kang Xiaofeng asked hesitantly.

"Come with me to the bookstore first—I need to buy something." Wei Zhao nodded. "We'll come back in a while, once the lunch rush has thinned out."

Kang Xiaofeng had no idea what Wei Zhao wanted to buy, but by now his admiration for Wei Zhao was absolute—whatever Wei Zhao said, he agreed without a second thought.

At the bookstore, watching Wei Zhao buy a Xu Shilan concert DVD, Kang Xiaofeng was rather surprised. "Boss, you like Xu Shilan too?"

"Oh... ha..." Wei Zhao didn't quite know how to answer. "I suppose I like her a little..."

"A little?" Kang Xiaofeng blinked. He'd come all this way to buy the genuine copy for someone he only liked a little?

"Actually, it's a gift for a friend," Wei Zhao could only explain.

Fortunately, Kang Xiaofeng didn't press further, and the conversation turned to Xu Shilan herself. "Boss, I like Xu Shilan too. I hear she's one of the rare pure and innocent girls in the entertainment world..."

Pure and innocent girl? Wei Zhao curled his lip. How many "innocent girls" had been proven otherwise? That sort of surface image was not to be trusted.

The two of them ate beef noodles at a shop below the bookstore before heading back to school.

When they reached the snack street, they were surprised to find that Tang's mother's stall was gone. The other stalls were still there, though, and it did not look as if any law enforcement had come through to clear them out—besides, the snack street operated with the approval of the subdistrict office, so under normal circumstances no one would come to drive them away.

Wei Zhao was puzzled. "Xiaobo, was it that spot just now?" He pointed to where Tang's mother had set up her stall.

"Yeah, so where'd it go? Chief, hold on, let me ask someone." With that, Kang Xiaofeng ran to the barbecue stall at the very front of the snack street and asked, "Uncle, quick question—where did that Tang's Barbecue inside go? Wasn't it just here a moment ago?"

A flash of rancor crossed the stall owner's face, and he said coldly, "Sold out. Closed up. Buying from me's the same thing."

"Never mind, then. Yours doesn't taste good anyway." Kang Xiaofeng said it offhandedly and turned to leave.

"Motherf—" The barbecue vendor cursed. He was about to explode with rage. Today nearly all his customers had been stolen by Tang's Barbecue; his stall, the very first on the snack street, had sold two-thirds less than usual, and it infuriated him.

Back when Tang's Barbecue hadn't been doing so well, he hadn't paid it any mind, but now he had grown jealous. He had been selling barbecue on this snack street for years—he was one of the "old-timers" here; otherwise he never could have claimed the spot at the very front.

And yet this "old-timer" had been beaten by a "newcomer" like Tang's mother, and that galled Zhang Biaogan. When he saw another student come looking for Tang's Barbecue and then say his own barbecue didn't taste good, Zhang Biaogan's face darkened at once.

And this was only the first day, with plenty of students still in the dark. Give it a few more days—how would he have any business left? Zhang Biaogan decided he had to do something.

After all, until today, his own barbecue had sold the best on this snack street. But ever since Tang's mother had somehow gotten hold of a new recipe today, the whole situation had turned on its head.

With a dark look on his face, Zhang Biaogan walked over to another barbecue stall. "Old Wang, how's business today?"