Chapter 208 — The Eldest Miss Brings a Man Home?

"The suspect in the vehicle — was Black Panther the only one?" Wei Zhao frowned. If Black Panther were really that formidable, he wouldn't have been left sprawling on the ground that day, hunting for his own teeth.

"Just him! Wei Zhao, I know what you're going to say, but I can state with certainty that Black Panther did it all alone." Qiu Lingshan said, "I don't know whether you understand the power tiers of the martial world, but Old Zhang on the force is a seasoned hand, retired from the special forces. He usually rides along when suspects are being transported, and this time was no exception. He crossed hands with Black Panther, and Black Panther's strength was a full grade above his! Old Zhang's word — that I trust."

"Power tiers of the martial world? I've heard a thing or two from Brother Jun." Though Wei Zhao found the whole business rather bizarre, Qiu Lingshan was so insistent that there had to be something strange in it that no one had noticed yet. "Heaven, Earth, Mystery, Yellow, is it? A Yellow-tier expert is already enough to run wild through the city."

"Exactly. Old Zhang is early Yellow-tier. He's no match for me, but against ordinary people he's more than enough!" Qiu Lingshan said. "By his judgment, Black Panther must have reached the peak of late Yellow-tier — otherwise Old Zhang couldn't have failed to block even a single move."

"Peak of late Yellow-tier?" Wei Zhao clicked his tongue in disbelief. Was he hearing things? That pathetic creature had become a peak late Yellow-tier expert? What kind of joke was this?

"Either he was hiding his strength from the start, or he used some method we don't know about to boost himself to peak late Yellow-tier in an instant!" Qiu Lingshan explained.

"The second possibility is more likely." Wei Zhao thought it over. "If it were the first, there'd be no need for him to wait until he was captured to escape. When I was beating him, he could easily have finished me off and fled before you people showed up."

Wei Zhao was exaggerating a little, of course. A peak late Yellow-tier would not find it so easy to finish him off. Though these tiers were a fairly rough-and-ready way of classifying things, given how differently each person trained, two fighters of the same tier could be worlds apart when they truly crossed hands.

"Right, that's what we think too!" Qiu Lingshan said. "The news hasn't gotten out yet, but I'm calling to warn you — you're the one who put Black Panther in here, and I'm afraid he'll come after you! Where are you staying? I can send some officers to keep watch nearby."

"No need. If he comes looking for me, I'll deliver him back to you." Wei Zhao said flatly. Peak late Yellow-tier, was it... Heh. Better if you come find me — saves me the trouble of hunting you down.

"Wei Zhao, I'm not joking with you. Do you understand what peak late Yellow-tier means?" Qiu Lingshan was angered by his attitude. She had gone out of her way to warn him, and he acted as if he couldn't care less. This man — how could he be so flippant? How could he possibly be a friend of Captain Yang?

"I know. He's a little stronger than you, that's all. Don't worry — I'm a little stronger than you too, so nothing's going to happen." Wei Zhao said with perfect seriousness.

"..." Qiu Lingshan was speechless. "Suit yourself! I've warned you!"

Furious, Qiu Lingshan hung up on the spot. What kind of person was this? Treating her good intentions like dirt!

"Heh. Black Panther? A sudden surge in strength? Now that is interesting." Wei Zhao murmured to himself as he set the phone aside. Still — a surge was a surge. Let him run wherever he liked, so long as he didn't come provoking him.

Before dinner, Shen Yushu made several attempts to slip quietly out from under Gu Mengyao's watchful eye, but each time she had barely moved before Gu Mengyao caught her. "Shen Yushu, where do you think you're going?"

"Uh... Yaoyao, I'm going to the bathroom." Shen Yushu said meekly.

"There's one in the room. Why go outside?" Gu Mengyao pointed at the bathroom inside the room.

"Oh... I forgot. I thought we were still at school!" Shen Yushu got up with a look of helpless resignation and headed for the bathroom.

"Hand over your phone." Gu Mengyao didn't let her go.

"Ah... oh." Shen Yushu surrendered her phone again, her last hope thoroughly extinguished. It seemed tonight she would have no choice but to confess...

Tonight's dinner was not delivered by Uncle Qing, but by an assistant from Gu Pengzhan's company. Uncle Qing had already called Gu Mengyao to tell her that he would be accompanying Mr. Gu to a business event in another city that evening, and that the company assistant would be bringing the meal instead.

Gu Mengyao didn't think much of it — such things happened often enough before, and she knew the assistant, so she agreed without a second thought.

At six that evening, the villa's doorbell rang. Wei Zhao went to answer it, expecting Uncle Qing with dinner, but instead found a man he didn't recognize.

"Who are you looking for?" Wei Zhao asked through the iron gate outside the villa, not opening it.

"Huh?" The man was taken aback too. He looked up at the house number on the villa gate — he hadn't come to the wrong place, had he? Wasn't this the young lady's home? So why had a man come out of it?

Only Gu Pengzhan and Qing Bo knew that Wei Zhao was living here; no one else at the company had been told, so it was no wonder this assistant was confused.

"Excuse me, is this Miss Gu Mengyao's residence? I'm looking for her..." Having satisfied himself that he had the right address, the man asked cautiously.

"Oh, you're looking for Yaoyao. What's this about?" Wei Zhao eyed the man suspiciously, though when he caught sight of the lunchbox in his hand, he guessed what the fellow had come for.

Since Qing Bo had accompanied Gu Pengzhan to the neighboring city for a business event, he naturally couldn't come deliver Gu Mengyao's dinner in the evening; sending someone else in his place was only to be expected.

"You're here to deliver a meal?" Wei Zhao asked before the man could speak.

"Ah, yes!" The man nodded, his curiosity about Wei Zhao's identity growing by the moment. Just who was this man who had turned up at the young lady's house? And the familiar way he spoke of her — calling her "Yaoyao" outright — he couldn't be the young lady's boyfriend, could he? While Mr. Gu was away from home, she had brought him back to carry on, and now he, of all people, had stumbled onto them!

At that thought, the man felt a pang of sorrow. He had assumed this was his big chance to shine — handling a personal errand for a company leader was a job entrusted only to trusted people; plenty of others would have given anything for the opportunity!

But he had to go and be this unlucky, running straight into the young lady's boyfriend, and now he had learned about her secret romance. Could things possibly end well for him? When the young lady got angry, she would badmouth him in front of Mr. Gu...

His future, once so bright, had turned bleak in an instant, and the man was overcome with grief.

How could he be so unlucky?