"It probably isn't that either. The Xiao family is a thing of the past now; all their backers are Wei Zhao's subordinates. What would she still have to be afraid of?" Gu Mengyao shook her head, rejecting Shen Yushu's theory.

"Then I really don't know. Maybe she's a conservative girl—once she agrees to an engagement, she doesn't want to break it off." Shen Yushu thought it over but couldn't come up with any other answer.

"Maybe..." Gu Mengyao sighed. "If that's the case, Wei Zhao is probably in for a big disappointment..."

"It's fine! We can just keep carrying out our plan to win the beauty over!" Shen Yushu didn't seem to mind at all. "As long as we help, we should be able to change her mind."

"I hope so." Gu Mengyao nodded but said nothing more. The two of them sat at the head of the bed watching a movie on the tablet—this was how they always passed the time when Wei Zhao wasn't home.

Because they were afraid of causing trouble for Wei Zhao by going out, even Xiaoshu, who could never sit still, had confined herself to the house, not daring to go out as she pleased. That was why Gu Mengyao hadn't given her too hard a time about venting at the casino today.

Otherwise, in the past, she would have given her a good scolding long ago. Winning money at a casino—wasn't that just asking for trouble? It wasn't as if the family was short of money! Granted, the casino's refusal to pay out had been utterly despicable, but without Wei Zhao, they never would have gotten that money back—and they might well have been dragged out of the casino by a pack of security guards.

But thinking about it that way, Gu Mengyao actually felt quite gratified. That Gambling Bro was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong, to size people up and serve them accordingly. Before Wei Zhao arrived, he'd worn a smug, I've-got-this-in-the-bag look—so what if I don't give you all that money? What are you going to do about it?

But once Wei Zhao showed up, didn't Gambling Bro hand the money over meekly enough? One could just imagine the misery of those who lost money at that casino with nowhere to seek redress, or who won by some stroke of luck only to have their winnings refused.

Gu Mengyao watched Xiaoshu quietly watching the movie, and felt a stir of emotion. She realized that lately she was finding Xiaoshu harder and harder to read. Before Wei Zhao came to the villa, Xiaoshu had also had this silly, carefree personality—but back then, Gu Mengyao had believed that was mostly her genuine nature.

Yet as time went on, Gu Mengyao found that this didn't seem to be the case. Xiaoshu wasn't truly carefree; in many situations, it had to be an act! Beneath that disguise, what exactly was Xiaoshu trying to hide?

Sometimes Gu Mengyao found herself astonished. By all logic, she should be the person who understood Xiaoshu best, yet in many situations she discovered that she had only come to know one side of her...

At that moment, Wei Zhao was still in Han Jingyi's villa, forgetting food and sleep as he worked with Han Jingyi to restore the stamina and true qi they had previously lost! At last, when both his stamina and Han Jingyi's had recovered to their usual peak, Wei Zhao decided to make another attempt at pill refining with her!

"We'll start refining three Meridian-Clearing Pills together now. No problem, right?" Wei Zhao looked at Han Jingyi and asked. After all, the two of them had only just recovered their stamina, and he didn't know whether Han Jingyi could handle it.

"No problem at all! Brother Wei Zhao has restored all of Jingjing's stamina and true qi. If Jingjing still couldn't refine pills after that, then Jingjing would be a big dummy and wouldn't deserve Brother Wei Zhao investing so much in her." Han Jingyi nodded.

"Heh... all right then..." Han Jingyi's words actually made Wei Zhao a little embarrassed. She really was dedicated, and Wei Zhao admired and adored her for it. This little girl truly was a lucky star sent to him by heaven—so many thorny problems had been solved right here...

"Mm-hm!" Han Jingyi nodded emphatically. "Jingjing is all ready. With Brother Wei Zhao's help this time, Jingjing is very confident of success!"

Wei Zhao felt even more embarrassed. Every time Han Jingyi refined pills, she gave all the credit to Wei Zhao and never claimed any for herself. It made Wei Zhao feel as if he were somehow deceiving an underage girl—though Han Jingyi was clearly an adult, just a little bit cute...

Han Jingyi quickly prepared three portions of Meridian-Clearing Pill ingredients and placed them together into the cauldron, then swiftly flipped through her tablet, apparently searching for the scientific pill-refining formulas she had recorded earlier.

When Han Jingyi turned to a certain page, she stopped, consulted it for a while, and then began condensing pill fire, formally preparing to refine the pills.

At this point, Wei Zhao also began circulating the heart method and incantation of the Heaven-Sent Spring Rain martial technique, preparing to activate it.

Before long, Han Jingyi formally began refining the pills. This time she was clearly far more focused than during the earlier simulated refining—she no longer looked at Wei Zhao, her eyes fixed on the time displayed on her tablet, while the intensity and temperature of the pill fire in her hands shifted as time went on!

Once Han Jingyi had expended a portion of her stamina and true qi, Wei Zhao began activating the third form of Heaven-Sent Spring Rain, channeling true qi into her!

At first, Wei Zhao only needed to activate the third form; later on, he could activate the fourth or fifth form to swiftly restore Han Jingyi's true qi and stamina.

Han Jingyi felt Wei Zhao's true qi flowing into her as well, but her expression only flickered slightly as she continued to focus intently on refining the pills...

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye it was evening, yet neither of them noticed; both were utterly absorbed in the pill refining...

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu finished watching two movies and came downstairs, only to find that Wei Zhao still hadn't returned.

"Wei Zhao still isn't back? Looks like we'll have to sort out dinner ourselves." Gu Mengyao looked at the empty living room.

"Oh, how about Xiaoshu goes out and buys something? Living on instant noodles every day isn't nutritious..." Shen Yushu checked the time on her phone. "There should be plenty of good food around here. We never got around to exploring before. I'll go around from door to door and see if anywhere does delivery."

"Why don't we just go out to eat together? No need to bring it back—it's just the two of us, and it's such a hassle..." Gu Mengyao said.

"It's no trouble... Xiaoshu will go... Just in case Brother Condom comes back tonight and there's nothing to eat, he can still have some of Sister Yaoyao's leftovers and then kind of indirectly kiss Sister Yaoyao." Shen Yushu said.

"Go on, go on, you're the only one who talks so much!" Gu Mengyao frowned, cutting Shen Yushu off and shooing her straight out the door.

Shen Yushu left the villa with a grin, but then said, "Huh? Brother Condom's car is still here. Why isn't he home?"

Hearing that, Gu Mengyao came out and took a look. Sure enough, Wei Zhao's Grand Cherokee was still parked by the gate—only there was no sign of Wei Zhao or Chen Xi.

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