Chapter 314 — Zhong Yongliang's Frustration

As they neared the school, Wei Zhao spotted Tang Zhi, Kang Xiaofeng, and Liu Xinlan all getting off the same bus together. He had not expected the three of them to run into each other on the way in this morning.

Wei Zhao had heard long ago that Kang Xiaofeng and Tang Zhi took buses along the same route, but although Kang Xiaofeng had known Tang Zhi, she had never known him. Now, Kang Xiaofeng finally had every right to stand alongside Tang Zhi, this "sister-in-law" of his.

Beep beep...

Kang Xiaofeng frowned and looked back. A beat-up old van was sitting there honking at them, and his temper flared instantly. What was this wreck of a van honking at? The road was wide open—they were not blocking anyone.

But Tang Zhi glanced at the decrepit van and found it oddly familiar. She looked again at the figure in the driver's seat, and a smile bloomed across her face. That look back over her shoulder stole Wei Zhao's breath. He nearly drove straight into a wall before his reflexes kicked in—thank God for quick reactions, or things would have ended in tragedy.

"Huh? Is that Boss?" By now Kang Xiaofeng had recognized Wei Zhao behind the wheel and came running over, book bag in tow. He yanked open the passenger door, hopped in, then called out to Tang Zhi and Liu Xinlan ahead. "You two getting in or what?"

Tang Zhi felt a little awkward. They were practically at the school already—why bother with a ride? A few more steps would do the job.

"Sure..." Liu Xinlan, however, answered without hesitation and pulled Tang Zhi into the van.

"Boss, this is your ride?" Kang Xiaofeng stared at the van, which was about as decrepit as decrepit could get, and was momentarily speechless. This was nothing like the Boss Wei Zhao he had in mind.

"Ha, you guessed right! This one is actually mine." Wei Zhao casually handed Kang Xiaofeng the vehicle registration certificate. "Just had it transferred yesterday."

Kang Xiaofeng flipped open the registration certificate. Sure enough, Wei Zhao's name was listed as the registered owner. He was at a loss for words. If this wreck truly belonged to Wei Zhao, then the Beetle he had been driving before really had been borrowed?

"Boss, when you said yesterday about getting the plates done—was it for this van?" Kang Xiaofeng handed the certificate back and asked.

"Yeah. I'm actually pretty poor, you know. I just happen to have a rich relative. This van is all I can get my hands on." Wei Zhao grinned.

His words moved both Kang Xiaofeng and Liu Xinlan. Was Wei Zhao really not the legendary young master from a wealthy household? Still, a man who could hand over every last yuan of his own money to pay Xiao Fen's medical bills—there was something genuinely rare about that.

Tang Zhi had long since noticed that Wei Zhao was different from everyone else, and it made her curious about him. Call him a young master—he did not quite fit the bill. Yet at times, he was even more brazen than any young master she had ever seen.

As for the van, Tang Zhi found it rather familiar. It seemed to be the very one they had seized from Hei Bao that night, and Wei Zhao had simply kept it for himself. She did not entirely approve of what amounted to near robbery, but Hei Bao had pushed things far too far. Taking a single vehicle from him as punishment was already letting him off easy.

Of course, Tang Zhi still had no idea that Hei Bao was currently lying in a private care ward at the hospital, every bone in his body shattered beyond recognition. He would be looking at a minimum of half a year before he could recover.

Wei Zhao parked the van at the snack street behind the school, and all four of them headed inside together.

The students had long grown used to seeing these four together. Even Wang Zhifeng, the dean of academic affairs, nodded at them with the ease of familiarity.

"Director Wang!" Wei Zhao suddenly remembered his upcoming trip abroad and stopped to request leave.

"Oh? Student Wei Zhao, what can I do for you?" A smile squeezed itself onto Wang Zhifeng's face the moment he turned around. He was already scarred by psychological baggage. Every time he was sleeping with that female teacher, he could not help but think that Wei Zhao knew all about it. So the moment Wei Zhao called his name, Wang Zhifeng was involuntarily reminded of the affair again.

It was a vicious circle, an endless loop of cause and effect. And yet Wang Zhifeng also felt a twinge of fear. This kid was always doing things that put him in an awkward position—surely he was not about to cause more trouble now?

"It's like this. I might have some things to take care of over the next couple of days. I need to request leave for a few days—any problem with that?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Ah, well, of course that's no problem. Go ahead and take care of your business. I'll let your homeroom teacher know." Wang Zhifeng relaxed instantly. This kind of small matter was nothing at all—and besides, Wei Zhao had skipped class more times than anyone could count.

Wang Zhifeng walked off, and Kang Xiaofeng turned curious. "Boss, you need to take leave? What for? Please tell me it's not going to clash with my second grandpa's birthday banquet this weekend."

Tang Zhi also widened her eyes, staring fixedly at Wei Zhao. She wanted to ask as well, but Kang Xiaofeng beat her to it.

Only Liu Xinlan was uninterested; whether Wei Zhao went to school or not made little difference to her.

"Ha, I've been invited to treat a patient." Naturally, Wei Zhao could not mention the matter of going abroad, so he spoke in half-truths.

"Treat a patient? You can treat patients? Oh, right... you know acupuncture..." Liu Xinlan was rather surprised, but then she suddenly recalled the business with Xiaofen that day and nodded.

"I'm only going to help out," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"That's still quite something..." Kang Xiaofeng gave a thumbs-up in admiration. "Boss, you'd better improve your medical skills quickly—if only you could cure Xiaofen..."

"Ha, I'll do my best..." Wei Zhao nodded.

Both Kang Xiaofeng and Tang Zhi knew that Wei Zhao had some skill in medicine, so they were not particularly surprised that he was going to see a patient. The last time Wei Zhao had spoken with Tang Zhi, he had said he had a way to cure Xiaofen's illness, only not at present; so naturally Tang Zhi and Kang Xiaofeng took this to mean that his current medical skills were not yet sufficient.

Tang Zhi had wanted to ask Wei Zhao whether he might take a look at her father's illness, but then she thought of how Wei Zhao was helpless even in the face of Xiaofen's case, and so she did not bring it up...

When they entered the classroom, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were already seated. As Wei Zhao and Kang Xiaofeng walked in, both of them glanced up once, then lowered their heads and went on with their own affairs.

Zhong Yongliang was thoroughly depressed. Yesterday he had already made his grand declaration and prepared to write Gu Mengyao a blood letter to declare his love, but the affair had ended in the farce of his bleeding without stopping!

Although no one brought the matter up today, Zhong Yongliang felt that everyone's eyes on him were strange, seeming to carry a hint of mockery and derision. He did not know whether it was just his own imagination, but in any case he felt somewhat ill at ease.

When Gao Xiaofu arrived, Zhong Yongliang hurriedly pulled him over and asked, "Xiaofu, tell me—do you think I should go on and write Gu Mengyao another blood letter to declare my love?"