Chapter 598 — The Young Miss Has Something on Her Mind

"Xiao Shu, my dad is right here — what nonsense are you talking about?" Gu Mengyao startled, as if someone had stepped on her tail, and shot Shen Yushu a glare.

Shen Yushu stuck out her tongue. She was always making jokes, and she had let her guard down today. With Gu Mengyao's warning, she belatedly recalled that Gu Pengzhan was sitting right there and breathed a inward sigh of relief — she had nearly said something about getting a free bonus thrown in. That would have been disastrous.

"Heh." Gu Pengzhan offered a mild smile, letting nothing show, and remarked instead, "With Xiao Shu around to liven things up, the household is never dull. Yaoyao — it's your turn." Wei Zhao had saved their lives, so how could Gu Mengyao not be grateful? One is not made of wood and stone; feelings are inevitable. But having the Young Miss toast Wei Zhao was something that left her ill at ease. Hadn't she, only recently, been the one coldly demanding that Wei Zhao be thrown out?

She had only reluctantly come to accept the fact that he now lived under the same roof as her. But if she raised a toast to him, wouldn't that amount to conceding defeat? How would she ever manage to give him attitude again in the future?

But her father was watching her, so Gu Mengyao had no choice but to lift her wine glass. Rather than directing it toward Wei Zhao, however, she poured herself a drink and took a swallow on her own. "Thank you." Wei Zhao did not take it amiss; the Young Miss was cold on the outside but warm on the inside — that was simply her nature. He raised his own glass and smiled. "It's what I ought to have done." Watching Wei Zhao's composure, Gu Mengyao felt a flicker of displeasure rise inside her. I'm the Young Miss, all right? Your employer, and I'm toasting you — and you don't even look pleased about it? When have I ever toasted a boy before?

But she could not very well say any of that aloud, so Gu Mengyao was left to sulk in silence, running through a catalogue of Wei Zhao's flaws in her mind and cursing him under her breath: Damn Wei Zhao, damned Wei Zhao — can't you treat me a little better? Am I worse than Tang Zhi? Even if I am a little worse, what about Shen Yushu? The two of us put together — is that still not attractive enough?

"And you go out and fool around with other women — absolutely detestable!" At the time, Gu Mengyao reasoned this way, naturally never suspecting that she harbored any feelings for Wei Zhao whatsoever. She was entirely convinced her anger stemmed from Wei Zhao's utter disregard for her and Xiao Shu.

That was something her proud nature as the Young Miss could not abide. Why were the both of them no match for Tang Zhi? Was he blind, or did they truly possess no allure at all?

"Yaoyao, how is Xiao Yi doing at school? He only just transferred in — if he can't keep pace with the coursework, you and Xiao Shu should help him along." Gu Pengzhan steered the conversation into casual, domestic waters.

"Huh? What?" Gu Mengyao had been busy cursing Wei Zhao in her head. Her father had suddenly turned to her with what seemed to be a question, but she had not caught what it was.

"Heh, Yaoyao — why are you always so absent-minded these days? What's on your mind?" Gu Pengzhan asked with a chuckle.

"Nothing... I wasn't thinking about anything." A faint blush crept across Gu Mengyao's face.

"Oh oh — reporting to Uncle Gu! I know what Sister Yaoyao is thinking about!" Shen Yushu shot her hand into the air like an eager student volunteering to answer.

"Oh? Xiao Shu, then do tell — what is Yaoyao thinking about?" Gu Pengzhan was in high spirits today, and so he posed the question to Shen Yushu with an amused smile.

"Sister Yaoyao is lovesick!" Shen Yushu declared with an air of perfect solemnity.

"Lovesick?" Gu Pengzhan blinked in astonishment before breaking into a helpless, half-laughing frown. "How on earth is Yaoyao lovesick?"

"Xiao Shu! I'll kill you!" Gu Mengyao refused to admit that Shen Yushu had hit the mark, and mortification quickly curdled into fury. Besides — it was not lovesick at all. She merely wanted Wei Zhao to pay her a little more attention. How could that possibly count as lovesick?

"Oh, oh — Sister Yaoyao is a murderer!" Shen Yushu squealed and bolted from her seat.

"Heh." Gu Pengzhan had long grown accustomed to the two girls roughhousing and squabbling with one another. They had been at each other's throats since childhood, and Shen Yushu would say anything that came into her head — a trait Gu Pengzhan understood perfectly well by now.

Wei Zhao shook his head with a wry smile. Only Shen Yushu could behave this way, no matter the occasion.

Gu Mengyao naturally had no intention of actually getting up to chase Shen Yushu. That girl was simply hot-blooded and impulsive, and there was nothing unusual about it. She herself, by contrast, was considerably more composed. With her father still seated at the banquet table, how could she possibly rise and walk away?

"Dad, don't listen to Xiao Shu's nonsense — she's the one who's lovesick!" Gu Mengyao, fearing her father might misunderstand, offered a hasty, crimson-faced explanation.

Gu Pengzhan was mildly taken aback. Had Gu Mengyao not bothered to explain, he would have thought nothing of it. But the fact that she did explain was enough to plant a seed of suspicion. After all, if Shen Yushu had merely been joking, the Gu Mengyao of old would never have deigned to respond to such nonsense.

Yet here she was, explaining — and blushing besides. It was enough for Gu Pengzhan to catch a glimmer of something. Still, he had no intention of raising the matter at the dining table; he would broach it privately later.

"By the way, Xiao Yi — I heard that someone cut out one of Zhong Yongliang's kidneys. What is that all about? Does it have anything to do with you?" Gu Pengzhan shifted the subject to Zhong Yongliang. Zhong Fabai's son losing a kidney was no small matter. Though Zhong Fabai had done his best to keep it quiet, the news had still reached every person of standing in Songshan City.

Everyone was secretly sighing among themselves, wondering just what sort of person Zhong Yongliang had offended to be treated so ruthlessly.

"No. But this was probably An Liwen's doing, wasn't it?" Wei Zhao had told An Liwen about Zhong Yongliang kidnapping Gu Mengyao, and the very next day Zhong Yongliang's kidney had been cut out. This was undoubtedly An Liwen's work.

What Wei Zhao had not expected was why An Liwen would choose to cut out just one of Zhong Yongliang's kidneys. Recalling the organ-trafficking ring Qiu Lingshan had mentioned a few days earlier, and coupling that with the kidney-harvesting syndicate's stronghold he had personally destroyed, Wei Zhao began to suspect whether An Liwen had ties to this criminal gang.

"An Liwen?" Gu Pengzhan was momentarily taken aback, then nodded. "That is possible." "Uncle Chu, what sort of background does this An Liwen's family have? It seems there's some connection with your family?" Wei Zhao asked.

"The An family was once a formidable clan in Songshan City, with very large business interests. Our two families had some business dealings and were on good terms. An Liwen is the An family's youngest son, and back then he was quite close with Yaoyao..." Gu Pengzhan said. "You could call them childhood sweethearts..."

"Who's childhood sweethearts with him?" Gu Mengyao grew flustered and cut in to explain, as though terrified of being misunderstood.

But once she had said it, Gu Mengyao felt she had been rather baffling. Why explain this at all? So what if they were childhood sweethearts?