Chapter 2046 — Sophistry

That posture was that of a victor looking down on a weakling!

Zhang Duopan's face flushed red, then went white, then red again. The lion's behavior had confirmed Shen Yushu's words: this lion feared Wei Zhao but not him!

The moment he got out of the car, he was attacked, while Wei Zhao had been standing there for ages, and the lion did nothing but fawn on him. This state of affairs nearly drove Zhang Duopan **—what a damn rotten deal; this lion could actually tell who was the more formidable?

Yet Zhang Duopan could see nothing special about Wei Zhao or Shen Yushu at all!

Still, Zhang Duopan had no intention of honoring the earlier wager. He gave a hollow laugh and then said, "My backside is killing me—the injury seems really serious, I can't even walk steadily, I can't get out of the car. Uncle Yan, let's go, I need to get to the hospital!"

"Zhang Duopan, do your earlier words still count? Will you stay away from He Meiyue from now on?" Bai Weituo asked.

"My earlier words? I would dare to get out too—it's just that my backside hurts and I can't walk, that's all. So it doesn't count as my loss; I'm simply in a hurry to get to the hospital!" Zhang Duopan said. "Bai Weituo, you wouldn't make things hard for a sick man, would you?"

"..." Bai Weituo shot Zhang Duopan a look of contempt. This creature was plainly using an excuse to avoid honoring the wager. But Bai Weituo had come to understand Zhang Duopan's repeated breaking of promises to a certain degree: the fellow was thick-skinned and always found an excuse to renege, and Bai Weituo no longer wished to say anything more.

Wei Zhao smiled coldly and got into the car with Shen Yushu. As for what became of Zhang Duopan and Fan Ganhe, Wei Zhao no longer cared to bother. What preoccupied him now was that white bead—he wanted to get back and study just what it was!

Still, if not for Shen Yushu's lucky hit, this thing would likely have lain buried with the lion king forever.

So when Zhang Duopan proposed to leave, Wei Zhao said nothing more about it.

As he got into the car, Wei Zhao happened to see the eldest young lady saying something to Wang Xinyan... This scene left Wei Zhao somewhat puzzled. Weren't the two of them not all that close? Could it be that over the course of this trip, they had grown close?

After hearing Gu Mengyao's words, Wang Xinyan smiled faintly, and the two seemed quite congenial. This rather surprised Wei Zhao, but he did not deliberately eavesdrop on what they were saying. Everyone has their own secrets—just as when Wei Zhao was at the villa, he would not deliberately eavesdrop on the conversations between Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

Earlier, when Wei Zhao had seen the eldest young lady sitting beside Wang Xinyan, he had assumed that among the people in this car, she had no other particularly close friends—apart from Xiaoshu, Wang Xinyan was the only woman she knew—and so had simply sat down beside her. But now it looked more like it had been premeditated?

The car slowly started moving. Though Uncle Yan was full of doubts as to why the lion would not bite Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu but insisted on biting Zhang Duopan and Fan Ganhe, seeing Zhang Duopan in such a sorry state, he was too embarrassed to ask more. Since Zhang Duopan had not held him accountable, Uncle Yan naturally would not go looking for trouble himself!

Better that than having President Su later blame him for poor hospitality!

Zhang Duopan and Fan Ganhe were seething inside. They could endure physical pain, but the pain in their hearts was driving them to the brink of collapse! They found it strange and deeply unfair—by what right did the lion not only refrain from biting Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu but even present them with a worthless bead?

Of course, Zhang Duopan certainly did not believe there could be any treasure in this tiger park. After all, this was a scenic area—how could there really be treasure here? It was probably some big marble or toy ball that a child visitor had thrown in, which the lion had taken for something fine.

But whatever it was, the lion's behavior reeked of something strange! Even now, Zhang Duopan still believed that Wei Zhao had grasped some kind of rule, or rather, that Wei Zhao had mastered a way of communicating with the lion—which was why the lion had not bitten him!

While he, Zhang Duopan, and Fan Ganhe had met their misfortune precisely because they had not mastered this skill.

"Some people, who aren't really brave at all, put on a show of bravery—and end up bitten by a lion, don't they?" Shen Yushu said with cold sarcasm. "He Meiyue, did you see that? Could a man like that be entrusted with your whole life? Compared with Brother Arrow, he's far behind. Of course, Brother Arrow can't be given up to you anymore—you'll just have to settle for second best. Bai Weituo isn't bad either."

Hearing Shen Yushu's words, He Meiyue was caught between laughter and tears. Wei Zhao was indeed outstanding, and if Wang Xinyan were not in the picture, she would not have minded pursuing him herself. But with Wang Xinyan in the picture—and especially with two beauties like Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu at Wei Zhao's side—He Meiyue paled by comparison. She knew her own measure well enough: though Zhang Duopan and Bai Weituo were infatuated with her, Wei Zhao would certainly feel nothing at all for her.

So He Meiyue did not indulge in vain hopes and could only settle for second best, fixing her eyes on her two suitors, Zhang Duopan and Bai Weituo.

But He Meiyue was also unwilling to hand over her lifelong happiness too early, so she was still considering.

Zhang Duopan reeked of the playboy. Yet that was not what He Meiyue disliked most about him; what she feared most was that Zhang Duopan would merely play around with her and then, once he tired of the game, cast her aside. Moreover, Zhang Duopan was somewhat unreliable in his conduct—his family had money, but he was far too fond of stirring up trouble.

Bai Weituo, by contrast, had fewer bad habits, but his family circumstances did not seem especially good. And although in the several contests and clashes between Bai Weituo and Zhang Duopan, Bai Weituo had always come out on top, He Meiyue was no fool. She knew very well that the reason Bai Weituo could prevail was all thanks to Wei Zhao!

It had been so in the drinking contest, so at the freshman gala, and so on this trip to the tiger park—if not for Wei Zhao stepping in, the one who would have been humiliated would definitely not have been Zhang Duopan and Fan Ganhe, but Bai Weituo himself!

Take that moment when the tiger lunged and Bai Weituo rushed out—that, surely, was because Wei Zhao had seen that the tiger was domesticated and so dared to push Bai Weituo forward; it was not Bai Weituo's own intention at all!

Of course, as for how the tiger went mad afterward, He Meiyue had not figured out what was going on, but eight times out of ten it was Wei Zhao's doing—otherwise, why would Wei Zhao have pulled Bai Weituo back and dodged after helping him up?

In the end, the formidable one was not Bai Weituo but Wei Zhao, and this was also why He Meiyue had been slow to accept Bai Weituo! Wei Zhao could not always be helping him, could he? If Wei Zhao were not at his side, his good fortune would run out!

Whether in the drinking contest, the freshman gala, or even the trip to the tiger park, he would have been badly defeated!