Chapter 397 — Keep It for Yourself

Su Taizao took the woven silk bag, then said to An Liwen's driver, "All right, go tell the waiters nearby to clear out and stay away. Tell them that no matter what kind of noise comes from this private room, they're not to come over!"

"Yes, Young Master Su!" An Liwen's driver nodded and went off to do as he was told.

"Heh heh, Wei Zhao, your inflatable doll's all ready for you. What do you say? Not bad, eh?" As he spoke, Su Taizao moved to open the woven silk bag.

"Fine... I suppose it's my bad luck. I don't know whether you two have ever heard the story of Mr. Dongguo?" Wei Zhao sighed and looked at An Liwen and Su Taizao.

"The story of Mr. Dongguo? What's that supposed to mean?" An Liwen was taken aback. He couldn't understand how, at a time like this, Wei Zhao could still be in the mood to talk about some Mr. Dongguo.

"You haven't heard it either?" Wei Zhao turned to Su Taizao.

"Wei Zhao, the drug's about to kick in any minute now. You'd better think about how you're going to deal with it—do you want the inflatable doll, or shall we find you a hooker?" Su Taizao curled his lip and didn't bother answering Wei Zhao's question. In his eyes, Wei Zhao had already become a lamb ripe for the slaughter; all they had to do was film a video of him once the drug took hold, and Gu Mengyao would have grounds to fire him.

"Or maybe we should find you a sow?" An Liwen, too, thought Wei Zhao's sudden urge to tell stories was utterly baffling, and couldn't resist adding a remark.

"Ha..." Su Taizao burst out laughing at An Liwen's witty suggestion.

Wei Zhao gave the two of them a pitying glance and said mildly, "Since you don't know it, then let me tell you a story—the story of Mr. Dongguo and the wolf!"

"Are you sick in the head?" An Liwen looked at Wei Zhao oddly, unable to tell whether the man was truly a fool or merely pretending. The drug was about to take effect at any moment, and yet he still had the leisure to ponder Mr. Dongguo and the wolf.

Wei Zhao ignored An Liwen and slowly began his tale: "Once upon a time there was a scholar named Mr. Dongguo. One day, Mr. Dongguo had to travel to a very distant place.

On the way, a wounded wolf suddenly darted out in front of him and begged: 'Sir, I'm being chased by a hunter. He shot me and wounded me. I beg you, save me, and I will repay your kindness well.'

Although Mr. Dongguo knew that wolves are wicked by nature, he saw how pitiful this one was. After a moment's hesitation, he hid it in his book sack.

Before long the hunter caught up. Finding no trace of the wolf, only Mr. Dongguo sitting by the roadside, he asked him: 'Have you seen a wolf?'

Mr. Dongguo said: 'I have not.'

The hunter never imagined Mr. Dongguo could be lying to him, so he went off to search elsewhere. Hearing the hunter's footsteps fade into the distance, the wolf crawled out of the book sack. But instead of repaying Mr. Dongguo's kindness, it suddenly bared its fangs and claws and pounced on him, crying: 'I'm hungry. Do one more good deed—let me eat you...'"

"And then what? That great big fool Mr. Dongguo got eaten by the wolf? Don't tell me you're that Mr. Dongguo! Ha!" Hearing Wei Zhao's story, An Liwen naturally caught the implication, but he laughed out loud, utterly unbothered.

"No. The hunter came back and killed the wolf," Wei Zhao said mildly. "And that illustrates a principle: good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil. The reckoning may not come, but it has not yet come."

"What's that supposed to mean?" An Liwen was startled. He vaguely sensed that Wei Zhao's words carried some further implication, yet for the moment he couldn't work out just what Wei Zhao was getting at.

"Nothing. The reckoning may not come, but it has not yet come," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Not yet come when? Wei Zhao, what are you playing at, all this mysterious mumbo-jumbo? What exactly do you mean?" An Liwen was getting angry.

"The drug. You two just took that so-called Invincible Eight-Times-Rōnin, didn't you? It should be kicking in any moment now, I'd say," Wei Zhao said.

"What Invincible Eight-Times-Rōnin? How did we take it? Wasn't it you who took it?" An Liwen was taken aback.

"My apologies. That glass of red wine in front of me—I split it into two. Half for you, half for him," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could you have known in advance that I was going to drug you?" An Liwen's expression shifted. Though he did not quite believe Wei Zhao's words, what Wei Zhao said was reasoned and well-founded... and most crucially, why did he feel as though his whole body was starting to burn?

"Oh, if you don't believe me, take a look inside the wine bottle..." Wei Zhao pointed at the bottle of red wine on the table and said, "Have a look. A bottle of red wine, poured out normally into three glasses, will still have some left over. Poured into four glasses, it comes out just right..."

An Liwen looked at the wine bottle and could not help but freeze! He had poured the wine earlier, so naturally he knew how much had been left. Now, glancing at the bottle, there was only a finger's worth left at the bottom; clearly someone had poured more out of it. Could what Wei Zhao said actually be true?

At that thought, An Liwen's and Su Taizao's expressions changed at once. The two of them had already felt a little hot, and now they felt even hotter...

"Brother An, is there an antidote?" Su Taizao was getting anxious.

"No..." An Liwen shook his head, then looked at Wei Zhao with a venomous expression. "Did you really switch the wine on me?"

"Whether I switched it or not, you two will find out soon enough," Wei Zhao said as he rose to his feet. "Save the inflatable doll for the two of you to use yourselves. I'm off! But don't fight over it—it wouldn't do to start a brawl over this!"

Before An Liwen and Su Taizao could react, Wei Zhao had already left the private room, and with a thin iron wire he casually locked the door from the outside. Because of the earlier instructions An Liwen had given him and his driver, there was not a single waiter outside the private room; even An Liwen's driver was standing far off at the end of the corridor...

"Mr. Lin, how come you're out? Where are Young Master An and the others?" An Liwen's driver had not clearly seen Wei Zhao lock the door, but seeing Wei Zhao walk over, he asked in some surprise.

"Oh, they're inside the private room playing a rather novel game. They told you not to disturb them!" Wei Zhao said.

"All right!" An Liwen's driver nodded. He did not know about the grudge between An Liwen and Wei Zhao, so he assumed An Liwen had specifically sent Wei Zhao out to tell him. "Mr. Lin, you're off to...?"

"I'm going back first to take care of a little business for Brother An!" Wei Zhao smiled. "I'll be going now!"

"Do you need me to give you a ride...?" An Liwen's driver asked eagerly and attentively.

"Sure, let's go!" Wei Zhao thought to himself that he had been planning to take a taxi back, but never expected someone to volunteer to drive him. Now he had even saved the taxi fare! RA