Zhong Yongliang nodded -- this was precisely why he had chosen incense over brute force. Even if the plan fell through and Gu Mengyao came at him with questions afterward, he could wash his hands of the whole affair, claiming that the incense had knocked him out too, that the captors had taken only the two girls and dumped him and Gao Xiaofu at the foot of the mountain.

True, it would raise Gu Mengyao's and Gu Pengzhan's suspicions -- but suspicions were only suspicions, with no proof behind them and no way to touch him. It would not come to tearing the mask off for good.

That was one reason Zhong Yongliang could afford to feel so secure. If Gu Pengzhan refused to bless the match between him and Gu Mengyao, he would simply let her go. After all, he would have done nothing to her, and he was confident Gu Pengzhan would not keep clinging to the matter once it was over.

Down the mountain, Zhong Yongliang had Gao Xiaofu flag down a taxi, and the two hurried back to school. As for Gu Mengyao, he could not make contact with Gu Pengzhan until after the final bell, when Qing Bo came to collect Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

During evening study hall, Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu both put on the air of men with nothing on their minds, behaving as if the disappearance of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had nothing whatsoever to do with them.

In fact, no one dared inquire after the whereabouts of those two young ladies. They had left, and that was that; the teachers simply turned a blind eye.

Bored, Zhong Yongliang idly wondered whether Gu Mengyao's phone held any private photographs -- preferably of her with no clothes on, so that he might amuse himself with them.

But he was disappointed: Gu Mengyao was clearly not one for selfies. Apart from a handful of candid shots of Shen Yushu, the album contained nothing worth fantasizing over.

Zhong Yongliang thumbed the power button without a second thought, deciding he would slip the phone back into the schoolbag in Gu Mengyao's desk later, cool as you please. Otherwise, with the thing in his own hands, he would never be able to explain it away.

As for Shen Yushu's phone, he did not want to look and dared not look. If he happened to see something he should not have, and Shen Yushu caught wind of it, the girl would never let him off.

Heaven only knew whether Brother Cihua and Bing Shao would dare tangle with Shen Yushu.

No sooner had he thought it than the itch crept back into Zhong Yongliang's heart. If Gu Mengyao's phone was full of pictures of Shen Yushu, might Shen Yushu's phone be full of pictures of Gu Mengyao? The two of them could well have been photographing each other.

The thought was more than he could bear. Zhong Yongliang pulled out Shen Yushu's phone, powered it on, and opened the album.

"Huh?" Zhong Yongliang's eyes went wide at once, for the person in Shen Yushu's album was none other than Wei Zhao! He was staggered. Why on earth would there be photographs of Wei Zhao in Shen Yushu's phone?

He flicked through them: pictures of Wei Zhao taken at school, and... pictures of Wei Zhao roasting shark... Scrolling on, there were plenty more just like them.

A flock of black lines crowded Zhong Yongliang's forehead. Don't tell me this girl has fallen for Wei Zhao?

Still, knowing Shen Yushu's temperament, it was entirely possible! Only most likely it was nothing more than a one-sided crush -- on the surface, you would never have guessed there was anything between Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu at all.

That thought actually put Zhong Yongliang at ease. If Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu ever got tangled up together, he would be the one suffering for it.

The more he scrolled, the gloomier he grew. Zhong Yongliang switched off Shen Yushu's phone and shook his head. Who would have thought, who would have thought! He wondered whether Gu Mengyao knew of Shen Yushu's secret crush on Wei Zhao.

But it was not his place to run his mouth. Zhong Yongliang had no appetite for such messes -- least of all when Wei Zhao was involved, and least of all when he might end up dragged into them himself.

At last the final bell rang. Zhong Yongliang slipped Gu Mengyao's and Shen Yushu's phones back into their schoolbags and walked out through the school gates alone. This time he did not take Gao Xiaofu -- there was no need, and dragging him into it would only cause trouble.

For three years Qing Bo's Bentley had parked almost without fail at the mouth of the alley one street over from the school, and Zhong Yongliang remembered it well. He found the car without any trouble, drew a deep breath to keep himself steady, then stepped up and knocked on the window.

"Is there something you need?" Qing Bo knew Zhong Yongliang -- he was the nephew of Jin Gubang, a former shareholder of the company, and one of Gu Mengyao's suitors.

"Qing Bo, take me to see Uncle Gu." Zhong Yongliang issued the order to Qing Bo in a tone that brooked no argument; with that, he pulled open the passenger door and climbed in.

"Oh? You want to see Mr. Gu?" Qing Bo frowned. He had not expected Zhong Yongliang to be so ill-mannered as to climb straight into the car! Even had Jin Gubang still been a shareholder, that would be no excuse -- and Jin Gubang no longer was. So Qing Bo敏锐地察觉到 something out of the ordinary: either Zhong Yongliang had lost his mind, or he was leaning on something.

Hmm, let me rewrite paragraph 25 cleanly:

"Oh? You want to see Mr. Gu?" Qing Bo frowned, having never expected Zhong Yongliang to be so ill-mannered as to climb straight into the car! Even if Jin Gubang were still a shareholder of the company, that would be no excuse -- let alone that he was no longer one. Qing Bo's senses sharpened at once: either Zhong Yongliang had taken leave of his senses, or he was resting on something.

So Qing Bo did not throw him out on the spot. Better to sound the boy out first.

"That's right -- this came out of nowhere, and I must speak with Uncle Gu face to face!" Zhong Yongliang declared, utterly unperturbed.

"Very well, then we will wait a while for Yao-yao. You may come along with us." Seeing how confident Zhong Yongliang sounded, Qing Bo said nothing more. Whatever business he had was Mr. Gu's affair, and Qing Bo had no standing to pry into it.

"No need to wait -- Yao-yao is at my house!" Zhong Yongliang said with some smugness. "From now on she is my girlfriend, so the most important thing you can do right now is take me to see Uncle Gu at once. I need to speak with him about me and Yao-yao!"

Qing Bo froze for an instant and stared at Zhong Yongliang in something like disbelief, while doubt began to creep in. Gu Mengyao, Zhong Yongliang's girlfriend? In Qing Bo's eyes, that was utterly impossible.

He took out his phone and dialed Gu Mengyao's number, only to hear the announcement that her phone was switched off. He tried Shen Yushu's -- the very same message came back.

Qing Bo set the phone down, his expression betraying nothing. "Since you are set on seeing Mr. Gu, then let us be off."

"I told you to hurry, and you still wouldn't believe me!" Zhong Yongliang preened a little. Judging by Qing Bo's manner, it seemed the old man had accepted the fact. The only question was whether Gu Pengzhan would take the news as smoothly.

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