Chapter 5 — How Is This Like Finding a Spouse?
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
Gu Pengzhan's office occupied the top floor of Pengzhan Tower. It was two hundred square meters in size, and one entire wall was made of floor-to-ceiling windows that filled the room with exceptionally bright light.
After showing Gu Pengzhan and Wei Zhao into the office, Uncle Qing withdrew and instructed Xiao Yu, the secretary in the outer office, to go in and serve tea.
"Mr. Lin, what would you like to drink?" Xiao Yu had already learned Wei Zhao's surname from Uncle Qing.
"Plain water, please." At home, plain water was what Wei Zhao drank most; it was the same when he went out.
Xiao Yu paused for a moment, but still answered with a smile, "Certainly. Just a moment." As for what the chairman would be drinking, she didn't need to ask—it was the same every day.
"Mr. Lin, starting tomorrow, Uncle Qing will arrange for you to enter Class Five of the senior year at Songshan No. 1 High School, to become a high school student in the same class as my daughter Gu Mengyao. You will go to school and come home with her every day, take care of her daily needs, and supervise her studies after school... To put it plainly, really, you will simply be her companion... These years I have been so busy with business that I neglected my daughter, and my heart is filled with guilt. I wanted to find someone who could get along with her, give her a little more care... That is the true reason I asked you here... You are nearly the same age as she is—both young people—so you should have many common topics, right?" Gu Pengzhan said, smiling slightly.
Wei Zhao was somewhat dumbfounded. Find someone who could get along with her? Give her care? Common topics? It couldn't be. Was this the so-called task that could feed him for a lifetime? The more he listened, the more it sounded like looking for a partner. Could it be that the girl had some physical affliction and couldn't get a husband, so they'd brought him in to fill the vacancy?
"Mr. Lin, what's the matter?" Seeing Wei Zhao's stunned expression, Gu Pengzhan seemed to guess what was on his mind. "I had assumed Old Master Lin had already told you what you were coming here to do, but from the look of it, it seems he did not?"
"Mr. Gu, you'd better just call me Wei Zhao; 'Mr. Lin' sounds a bit awkward." Wei Zhao said with a wry smile. "To be honest, I really didn't know what I was coming here for. The old man only said it was an important mission, and that if I did it well, it would keep me fed for a lifetime..."
"Keep you fed for a lifetime?" Gu Pengzhan was taken aback at Wei Zhao's words, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha, that's right. Old Master Lin hasn't deceived you. If you do a good job, the reward you get will indeed keep you fed for a lifetime!"
"Well..." Wei Zhao still didn't understand what Gu Pengzhan actually wanted him to do. "But my mission—what exactly is it?"
"Didn't I already say so? You accompany my daughter to and from school, and study together with her. Of course, you'll also be responsible for protecting her and making sure no one bullies her." Gu Pengzhan explained.
"Study companion? Babysitter?" Those were the only words Wei Zhao could summon to mind.
"Er... You could look at it that way. In fact, that's exactly what it is." Gu Pengzhan nodded and, without waiting for Wei Zhao to say anything more, handed him a dossier. "This is the information on Songshan No.1 Secondary School. You can familiarize yourself with it first."
Wei Zhao nodded, somewhat helplessly, and took the folder. So this was the old man's so-called top-level mission? Damn it, had he been tricked again?
Just like last time in South America, when the old man had told him they were going to save a person... but it hadn't been a person at all--it had been a whole crowd.
Still, no matter how you looked at it, the pay was generous and the danger level was fairly low. It did have a bit of the flavor of being a flunky to some rich man's daughter, but that didn't matter--he could just treat it as a rest.