Chapter 2414 — Who She Really Is

Xiaoshu was a supremely clever person. She might look foolish every day, but Wei Zhao knew that was only a disguise — peel it away, and she was not foolish in the least.

Yet since Shen Yushu would not say, that meant the trouble she had run into was troublesome enough — troublesome enough that even Wei Zhao could not solve it! Or rather, she did not want him to take the risk on her account.

But since Shen Yushu said she could handle it herself, Wei Zhao asked no more.

"It's very late, Xiaoshu. Go to sleep — you have school tomorrow," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm-hmm..." Shen Yushu picked up the sharp knife from the floor and quietly walked out of Wei Zhao's room. But at the door she stopped, turned back hesitantly, and asked, "Could you... not tell Sister Yaoyao?"

"Hm?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback by her question, but then he gave a faint, bitter smile. So she knew everything, then... Still, he nodded. "All right."

Neither of them said it outright, but they were both clever people and understood each other's meaning. Shen Yushu smiled faintly and withdrew from the room...

As for Wei Zhao, after Shen Yushu had gone, he could not fall asleep again... He had no mind even for cultivation, and tossed and turned in bed, pondering the events of the day.

Sure enough, it was nearly eight o'clock when Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu came rushing groggily down the stairs. Shen Yushu shouted as she ran, "I'm late, I'm late, how did we oversleep..."

Wei Zhao looked somewhat startled at the circles under Shen Yushu's eyes. With a doctor's eye he could tell at once that Shen Yushu truly had overslept and had only just woken up... Most likely she had stayed awake half the night, then overslept after going back — not at all like Gu Mengyao, who had taken the restful herb.

What puzzled Wei Zhao was this: could Shen Yushu really sleep? After everything that had happened yesterday, even he could not sleep — and yet she could? Had yesterday's business truly passed? Could she truly handle it?

But be that as it may, Xiaoshu had recovered her former self, no longer so glum and joyless as before. Perhaps she had thought something through. Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, yet at the same time felt a faint unease in his heart.

"Up already? I've made breakfast. Eat something and hurry off to school," Wei Zhao said. "Han Jingyi came by earlier. I sent her on ahead — she didn't wait for you."

Today Wei Zhao, Gu Mengyao, and Shen Yushu were bound to be late. But in university courses, an occasional lateness would not draw too harsh a punishment from the teachers. Only Wei Zhao's little specialty was different — White Leader's methods were peculiar — though even that was useless against Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao was one who had passed his special examination; he could arrive late or ask for leave at any time, unbound by the rules. That was also why Wei Zhao had let Han Jingyi go on ahead. And Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu should not have much trouble either — after all, the other departments were not managed with the same top-tier strictness as White Leader's.

"Okay, ooh, smells so good..." Xiaoshu came into the kitchen, saw the fried eggs and lean-pork congee Wei Zhao had prepared, and her mouth watered.

Gu Mengyao also noticed that Shen Yushu seemed to have regained her old liveliness, so she did not ask more about yesterday's matter, assuming she had simply been tired or had caught a cold.

After breakfast, the three of them set out for school.

Wei Zhao watched Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu head off toward the economics department, then walked into the biology building himself. Only when he entered the classroom did he feel a little nervous — not because White Leader was the teacher, but because he did not know how to face Wang Xinyan, whose confession he had turned down yesterday.

Would Wang Xinyan shun him and grow distant because of it? If so, the loss would outweigh the gain...

Wei Zhao drew a breath and walked into the classroom. To his surprise, however, White Leader was nowhere to be seen! Though the students were all bent over their own study, White Leader truly had not come.

Wei Zhao was not afraid of White Leader finding fault, but it was naturally best not to be late.

Wei Zhao glanced over toward the classroom windows and saw that Wang Xinyan was still sitting in her old seat, with Han Jingyi behind her. On the surface at least, there was nothing unusual — and she was still sitting in the middle of the row, not at the edge. Had she taken the seat beside her, blocking Wei Zhao's place, that would have amounted to a roundabout refusal to let him sit next to her.

But Wang Xinyan had not done so, and Wei Zhao's heart eased. If Wang Xinyan had refused, his cultivation from then on would have become a problem.

So this time Wei Zhao walked quite naturally to Wang Xinyan's side and sat down directly in the seat next to her.

Wang Xinyan looked at her book with her usual expression, seemingly paying no attention at all to Wei Zhao sitting there. But from the faint trembling of her eyelashes, Wei Zhao could tell that she was actually rather nervous.

"Xinyan, thank you for yesterday," Wei Zhao said, for want of anything better to say — though in fact he had already thanked Wang Xinyan for it yesterday.

"It's nothing... we're good friends, aren't we..." Wang Xinyan's voice clearly carried some nervousness. "All right, class is about to start — let's not talk for now..."

"Heh, all right... then let's get to class..." Wei Zhao gave a chuckle. He could see that Wang Xinyan was like a bird startled by the twang of a bow, and he was too embarrassed to provoke her further. In the present situation, everyone keeping peace with one another was the best possible outcome.

It was only that Wei Zhao did not know what Wang Xinyan's true worry was — whether it came from the Xiao family, or the Kang family? Or perhaps some other reason entirely?

To say that Wang Xinyan did not like him — Wei Zhao truly found that a little hard to believe. After all, their relationship had gone beyond that of ordinary classmates, far beyond even good friends. Had they been of the same sex, one could have called them "brothers in all but blood"; as man and woman... it had already surpassed friendship.

Yet what happened next left Wei Zhao feeling even more baffled! Had Wang Xinyan done it with forethought, or was it coincidence?

For at that moment, White Leader walked into the classroom, and the person who walked in behind him was none other than Kang Jinglong of the Kang family!