Chapter 348 — Just Who Is Your Brother?

"Ugh, and here I thought you had some ulterior motive for making me eat with him!" Wei Zhao was rather speechless. "Had I known, I would never have agreed!"

"Agreeing is fine too—go and put him in his place tomorrow. I've disliked the sight of him for a long time!" Shen Yushu shook her fist. "He's nothing special himself, yet he struts about as if he were. He thinks the title of one of the Four Young Masters of Songshan is worth something, but isn't it just picking the tallest dwarf?"

"Xiaoshu, your brother is the foremost of the Four Young Masters of Songshan!" Gu Mengyao gave Chen Yushu a speechless look and corrected her.

"My brother? I don't think he's even as impressive as Shield Bro. He can't even handle a little thing like Qiu Lingshan, while Shield Bro says one word and Miss Song obediently does as she's told..." Shen Yushu perked up at the mention of Qiu Lingshan.

"...Xiaoshu, why do I get the feeling that Chen Yuxuan isn't your real brother, and Wei Zhao is?" Gu Mengyao frowned. Surely her best friend hadn't actually fallen for Wei Zhao? Now every other word out of her mouth was about him. He had touched her, looked at her, kissed her, hugged her, and she bore no ill will about any of it. Sigh—Xiaoshu hadn't sunk that low, had she?

"Hehe... of course he's my real brother. I do admire him, but he's just too soft when it comes to women. If he were a bit firmer, wouldn't Miss Song have lowered her head?" Shen Yushu said with a carefree grin.

"Xiaoshu, you're a girl too. Don't tell me you want to be a henpecked wife in the future? Or do you have a masochistic streak?" Gu Mengyao thought to herself: You're a girl, yet you speak up for the men—what kind of logic is that?

"Oh, Yao Yao, I just want Shield Bro to take that An Liwen down a peg tomorrow!" Shen Yushu said. "Oh, I misspoke—I mean Jianwen Bro..."

"..." Wei Zhao paid the two girls no more attention. He yawned, turned, and went back to his room to sleep.

"Shield Bro, I'm rooting for you! I'll be waiting for good news tomorrow night!" Shen Yushu called out.

"Xiaoshu, you know what An Liwen's family background is like. You're making trouble for Wei Zhao!" Gu Mengyao frowned helplessly. "He's not Zhong Yongliang—he's not someone Wei Zhao can just deal with as he pleases. Dragging Wei Zhao into this, what if something goes wrong?"

Though on the surface Gu Mengyao was cool, even a little disgusted, toward Wei Zhao, she was not an unreasonable person. Besides, she no longer disliked having Wei Zhao living in the house, so naturally she would not make trouble for him.

Although her daddy had kept it from her and said nothing about what Wei Zhao had done these past two days, Gu Mengyao still knew a little about the crisis at her father's company. Wei Zhao had quietly and silently resolved the whole thing—how could she add to his troubles now?

"Hehe, Yao Yao, are you feeling sorry for him?" Shen Yushu's dark brows and eyes curved into crescent moons as she looked at Gu Mengyao with a smile.

"Feeling sorry? Feeling sorry for what!" Gu Mengyao snorted. "He's our follower. If he offends An Liwen and An Liwen comes looking for trouble, of course we'll have to protect him. So by sending him to stir up trouble, you're just making trouble for us!"

"Oh, it'll be fine. Next time Jianwen Bro comes, I'll handle him!" Shen Yushu took it all upon herself. She did, after all, have a way with An Liwen.

"All right, let's get some sleep first." Gu Mengyao yawned too. It was already past ten, and An Liwen had dawdled for over an hour. Gu Mengyao was long since dead tired.

"It won't be. I said two days, so two days. Today's only Thursday—aren't there still a few days left? ...Right, is it Saturday or Sunday?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Sunday, but not in this city. We'll have to set out early on Saturday. My second grandpa's family lives in Donghai City, the provincial capital," Kang Xiaofeng said.

"Fine, then we'll leave Saturday afternoon." Wei Zhao nodded. "Right, how are things with Xiaofen?"

"She can be discharged now. It was just malnutrition—her body was too weak. I'm planning to go this afternoon and go through the discharge paperwork for her!" Kang Xiaofeng said. "My parents are coming with me on Saturday too. I still don't know how to tell them about Xiaofen, or whether they'll be able to accept it..."

"None of that matters, I think. What matters is what's in your heart." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "Xiaobo, do you really like Xiaofen?"

"Honestly?" Kang Xiaofeng hesitated.

"Of course honestly—if you weren't going to be honest, why would I even ask?" Wei Zhao glared at him in exasperation.

"Honestly, at the very beginning, after I saw her photo, I was just smitten. After all, when you see a pretty girl, it's only natural to feel something and want to pursue her..." Kang Xiaofeng scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "Just like how I used to like Tang Zhi, like Gu Mengyao, like Shen Yushu... But I know those were nothing but fantasies. None of them could ever like me. If not for you, Boss, Tang Zhi probably wouldn't even know whether I exist!"

"I liked Xiaofen. At first, honestly, it was mostly pity, because that girl was simply too pitiful, too easy to make one's heart ache for her... So I couldn't help wanting to give her a little more care and kindness. Only, as time went on, going to the hospital every day to keep her company, to talk with her, to eat with her, I gradually grew used to the feeling. If a day passed without seeing her, I'd miss her. I think I can say for certain now: I've fallen for her!"

"Like, or love?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Is there a difference?" Kang Xiaofeng shook his head, a little lost.

"Maybe there is..." Wei Zhao sighed. He too had once liked a girl, liked her very much. That girl was Xiaoning.

People said love could make a person give everything, could make one brave fire and water, and so Wei Zhao sometimes thought that what he felt for Xiaoning probably did not count as love... But if it was not love, why did he always think of her?

Was it the rules of the profession that had bound him, that he had to keep to his professional code, or was it simply that he lacked the courage to take that one step?

Perhaps both... Or perhaps it was that he could never have given Xiaoning the life she wanted... At least, not back then.

But what about now? Wei Zhao shook his head. He knew that running away was no way to solve a problem, but after all these years of having chosen escape, it was all the less likely that he would ever take that step.

"Boss, I actually think that whether it's love or like doesn't matter. The key is, how am I supposed to tell my parents?" Kang Xiaofeng looked troubled. "They wouldn't have agreed to me finding a girlfriend right now anyway... and with Xiaofen's situation the way it is, what am I supposed to do?"