Chapter 459 — The Seat Was Taken

By now Zou Tiandi no longer cared about offending Li Cihua. At worst, relations between them would sour a little; nothing serious would come of it. He rose abruptly to his feet. "Brother Cihua, I can't do this job. You had better find someone else. My apologies!"

With that, Zou Tiandi wasted no more words and pulled Zou Ruoming away with him. What he feared now was this: if Wei Zhao ever learned that he had meant to conspire with Li Cihua to tear down Tang Zhi's home, and Wei Zhao came looking to settle the score, what then?

Zou Tiandi cursed his luck inwardly. If only he had never come. What a mess this had turned into!

Watching the backs of Zou Tiandi and his son vanish without rhyme or reason, Li Cihua knitted his brows. "What the hell was that? Is he sick in the head? Asking you was a favor—if he doesn't want the money, fine!"

"Brother Cihua, I heard them mention a name just now. Probably someone they know?" said Su Jiaonang.

"Forget them. Go fetch Zhong Fabai. There's no time to lose—Bing Shao will be here any moment, and we need to get the real estate company up and running before he arrives!" Li Cihua said. "By the way, how are things on Jin Gubang's end?"

"He put up his own money to register a real estate company, and he's prepared to hand over every last share to Bing Shao!" said Su Jiaonang.

"At least he's got his wits about him. Leave him ten percent of the shares, and keep him on as president of the company." Li Cihua thought it over. "Bing Shao's only playing around, after all—someone has to run the company for him. It just so happens he's kin to Zhong Fabai, which makes him convenient to use."

"All right, I'll go have a word with Jin Gubang in a bit." Su Jiaonang nodded and went off to call Zhong Fabai first.

Zhong Fabai had none of Zou Tiandi's misgivings. With Jin Gubang fallen, he had been looking for a new patron anyway. The moment he heard that Li Cihua meant to take him and Jin Gubang in and put them to work running this real estate company—and on behalf of the backstage boss's nephew, no less—Zhong Fabai agreed without a moment's thought.

Because of its size, the private seaplane had no cargo hold, so no baggage could be checked, and hazardous items of any kind were barred from boarding. After passing through security, the class boarded the plane under Teacher Liu's direction.

Many of the students were flying for the first time, their eyes brimming with wonder and excitement. Even those who had flown before had never been aboard an amphibious aircraft, and so everyone, without exception, was thrilled.

In a small plane like this, the front was tolerable enough, but the seats near the tail bounced something fierce. Fortunately, once the class was aboard, they filled only the first few rows, leaving the rear rows for luggage.

Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu were just about to take the deluxe seats at the very front. The first row was spacious, with four seats in all: two left for Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, and the other two for Zhong Yongliang himself.

Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu had stowed their bags and were about to sit down when someone shoved them from behind, nearly sending them sprawling to the floor. "Move aside. Don't block the way."

It was Wei Zhao. He had already settled into the frontmost seat that had been meant for Zhong Yongliang, while Feng Xiaoxiao followed along behind him and took Gao Xiaofu's place.

Zhong Yongliang's face turned green on the spot. He wanted to drive Wei Zhao off but dared not; he wanted to drive Feng Xiaoxiao off but dared not either. As he stood there, his expression shifting through every shade of uncertainty, at a loss for what to do, Shen Yushu spoke up. "Little Liangzi, Sister Yaoyao says she likes brave boys—and only the ones who can sit at the tail of the plane without turning a hair are the bravest of all!"

Shen Yushu naturally didn't want Zhong Yongliang in the front row either; she still wanted to see what would happen between Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao in a moment. So she seized on any excuse to send Zhong Yongliang packing.

"R-really?" At Shen Yushu's words, Zhong Yongliang promptly found himself a way down from the ledge. "Xiaofu, then let's sit at the very back. The first row is only for timid men!"

Seeing that Wei Zhao seemed to have no intention of making trouble for him, Zhong Yongliang breathed a sigh of relief. He and Gao Xiaofu hurried to the rear of the cabin and settled into the last row of seats.

Being a private low-altitude aircraft, it wouldn't conflict much with commercial airliners, and before long after boarding, the plane began to taxi slowly into the air.

Neither Zhong Yongliang nor Gao Xiaofu had ever been in a small private plane like this before, and they had assumed the rear of the cabin would be much the same as on an ordinary commercial jet. But once they were airborne, Zhong Yongliang learned just how unbearable it could be!

The seat bounced and jolted with a vengeance. Zhong Yongliang's face turned a frightful shade of white, and Gao Xiaofu at his side was scarcely any better.

"Brother Liang, why don't we move up a few rows? This is just too much!" Gao Xiaofu could hardly stand it anymore.

"You want to go, you go. If I went, what would Gu Mengyao think of me? She'd take me for a coward, wouldn't she?" Miserable as he was, Zhong Yongliang gritted his teeth and held on. He had already shot his mouth off; if he backed down now, wouldn't he become a laughingstock?

Zhong Yongliang had already supplied no small amount of fodder for mockery, and naturally he did not wish to supply any more. If he could still grit his teeth and hold out, then hold out he would. His one hope now was to reach the seaside baths of Binfen City as quickly as possible.

Since Zhong Yongliang would not leave, Gao Xiaofu could hardly slip away either, and had no choice but to endure it at his side. It was his first time on a plane, and he had no experience to draw on, so naturally he fared even worse than Zhong Yongliang.

Wei Zhao paid Feng Xiaoxiao no mind at all. Whatever she said, his answers were meaningless scraps like "Oh" or "Is that so?", which left Feng Xiaoxiao thoroughly disgruntled.

"Xiaoshu, what do you suppose Feng Xiaoxiao is really up to?" Gu Mengyao had noticed too that Feng Xiaoxiao had been acting strangely these past few days.

"No idea. But I figure she's fallen for Arrow Brand, hasn't she? Otherwise why would she keep courting his favor?" Shen Yushu said, her words muffled around a mouthful of snacks.

"Swooning over Wei Zhao? How could that be? Isn't she out to make trouble for him?" Gu Mengyao frowned, then snorted inwardly. As if Wei Zhao were some prize that anyone would set her cap for.

"Yao Yao, are you jealous?" Shen Yushu asked, grinning.

"Me? Jealous of what? What has any of this to do with me?" Gu Mengyao gave a dismissive sniff.

"Nothing to do with you? And here I was thinking of eavesdropping on the two of them. Since that's how it is, I suppose I'll forget it." So saying, Shen Yushu went back to her snacks.