Wei Zhao hummed a little tune as he strolled toward school with two lunch boxes in hand. Another fine day of campus life was about to begin.

"Wei Zhao!" He had just reached the school gate when he heard someone calling him from behind. Turning around, he saw Liu Xinwen running toward him, and standing behind her was a lovely young beauty. Who else could it be but Tang Yun?

"Heh..." Without even asking, Wei Zhao knew Liu Xinwen was acting as Tang Yun's messenger again. "Liu Xinwen, is something up?"

"Yunyun wants you to wait for her at lunch." Liu Xinwen's impression of Wei Zhao had improved a little. Because of Xiaofen's case and how actively Wei Zhao had helped, she no longer felt the old hostility toward him.

Since Yunyun herself had accepted him and was already with him, why should she interfere so much? That was what Liu Xinwen was really thinking.

"Sure." Wei Zhao agreed without a second thought. At noon he had planned to let Tang Yun taste the shark meat. The precious fins from that shark, the only ones worth saving, he had split in two. One portion he had packed into Kang Xiaobo's box for him to bring to Xiaofen, and the other he had saved for Tang Yun.

As for Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu... those two young ladies had no use for shark fin at all. In their words, what was so delicious about vermicelli?

Tang Yun was clearly still too shy to walk too close to Wei Zhao at school. When she saw him looking over, her cheeks flushed faintly, and she turned her head away, pretending she had not seen him at all.

That fleeting charm left every passing boy staring blankly. Still, no one dared to covet Tang Yun now. Everyone knew she was the girlfriend of Wei Zhao, the new campus terror. Even Zou Ruoming had been beaten until he was spitting teeth. Who would still dare to harbor such crooked thoughts?

Liu Xinwen hurried back, took Tang Yun by the hand, and left with her. Wei Zhao shook his head. Should he buy Tang Yun a cell phone? His own phone was broken too and needed replacing. Hmm... when it came down to it, he had to earn some money first. A phone he could still afford, but there would surely be other expenses later. A man who was not financially independent could not get anywhere.

Wei Zhao rather regretted handing all his past fees over to his old man. Back then there had been nowhere to spend money, so he had let the old miser have his way. Now... one only hated having too little money when it came time to use it.

When he reached the classroom, Kang Xiaobo was already there. Seeing Wei Zhao, he complained, "Boss, where did you go yesterday? I called you all day and your phone was off. I had something important to discuss with you."

"Oh? You were looking for me yesterday?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback, then remembered his phone had been soaked. No wonder it was off. "My phone is broken. What is it?"

"Next weekend is my Second Grandpa's birthday, and I have been invited. I was wondering whether I should bring Xiaofen along." Kang Xiaobo hesitated before speaking. For something like this, Wei Zhao was the only one who could decide for him.

"Bring Xiaofen? To your Second Grandpa's birthday banquet?" Wei Zhao gave Kang Xiaobo an odd look. "You want her to meet Kang Zhaoming?"

"Yes, Boss. You know Kang Zhaoming has always been a knot in Xiaofen's heart. Unless that knot is completely untied, even if she stays with me, she will still be thinking of Kang Zhaoming." Kang Xiaobo said, "Although Xiaofen told me she had long given up on Kang Zhaoming, from the sadness she lets slip without meaning to, I am sure that deep down inside, Kang Zhaoming is still there."

Wei Zhao nodded. Kang Xiaobo was not stupid after all. He was not just blindly devoted to Xiaofen. He actually thought hard about what lay between them. "You are right. If Kang Zhaoming were not still in her subconscious, she would not have developed schizophrenia or delusions. In fact, Kang Zhaoming is the very root of Xiaofen's illness. If she can make a clean break with him, the wound in her heart will heal on its own."

"Exactly, that is what I thought." Kang Xiaobo said, "So, Boss, I want to ask you to come with me. Would that be all right?"

"Me? Go with you?" Wei Zhao had not expected such a request. "What would I go for? Besides, would your Second Grandpa's birthday banquet allow so many outsiders?"

Even bringing Xiaofen alone was barely justifiable. If Kang Xiaobo claimed Xiaofen was his girlfriend, it might still pass. But what would he himself count as? Kang Xiaobo's classmate?

"Boss, as you said before, Kang Zhaoming is the root of Xiaofen's schizophrenia. I am taking her there to settle it once and for all, but I am afraid she might not be able to bear the grief and fall ill again. What would I do then?" Kang Xiaobo said with no small worry. "Actually... Boss, I just want you there to give me courage..."

"Since you call me Boss, of course there is no problem with my going with you." Wei Zhao certainly did not mind making the trip with Kang Xiaobo, but he added, "As I said, can you really bring that many people?"

"Do not worry about that, Boss." Kang Xiaobo said, "Actually, my Second Grandpa's family holds gatherings like this many times a year, and the birthday banquet is only a pretext. Every time they invite friends to bring their children along, mainly to build friendship among the younger generation. It is called a birthday banquet, but it is really a networking reception. Anyone can bring friends. It is just that in past years I never liked that kind of socializing, and no one ever tried to befriend me..."

As he said this, Kang Xiaobo sounded self-mocking. Though he too was a son of the Kang family, every year he was the one left out in the cold, while he watched his cousins bask like stars among crowds of boys and girls. It left him feeling hollow.

It was hardly surprising, though. The people who came to make connections were not fools. Only Divine Doctor Kang's direct line was worth courting. For a collateral branch like Kang Xiaobo, keeping up appearances was enough. No one would go out of their way to flatter him.

"So that is how it is. Then let us make the trip." Wei Zhao nodded. It suited him well. He also wanted to see for himself what kind of man this Divine Doctor Kang was. If he worked with Guan Xuemin to manufacture and sell finished medicine in the future, Divine Doctor Kang would surely become his rival.

"Boss, do you want to bring Tang Yun along?" Kang Xiaobo suggested with a grin.

"Tang Yun? She is not really suited to that kind of occasion." Wei Zhao guessed Tang Yun had probably never been to such a reception.

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