Chapter 538 — You Destroy Family Harmony

"Then let's hurry!" Gu Mengyao was frantic, afraid that if they arrived too late, her mother would have moved on somewhere else again.

All these years, not a moment had passed when Gu Mengyao did not carry her mother in her heart. She never spoke of it, but beneath that tough exterior lay a deep and aching longing. She was, after all, only a nineteen-year-old girl; however mature she pretended to be, however much she played the elder sister before Shen Yushu, she could not keep down her hunger for that bond of blood.

Should she tell her father? Gu Mengyao shook her head. All these years he had never once spoken of her mother in her presence; it was as though he had long since put her out of mind, his whole heart given to the company. It left Gu Mengyao displeased, and yet there was nothing to be done — her father mattered to her no less.

She did not know what her parents had quarreled over back then, nor why her mother had walked out of the house and stayed away all these years. But Gu Mengyao thought: if she could reach her mother first, and persuade her to stay, her father's side ought to be no trouble at all — she might even give him a surprise.

At that thought, Gu Mengyao resolved to see her mother privately. She had come to believe Zhong Yongliang completely, and had taken "that person" for her mother.

"Fine, then!" Zhong Yongliang nodded with a show of helplessness, and called out to Gao Xiaofu a short way off, "Xiaofu, come here!"

"What is it, Bro Liang?" Gao Xiaofu came over looking puzzled. It had to be said, his acting was really quite good — clearly he had rehearsed this many times.

"Come with Mengyao and me to Twin Swallow Mountain!" Zhong Yongliang ordered.

"What are we going to Twin Swallow Mountain for?" Gao Xiaofu was startled.

"Why so many questions? Are you coming or not?" Zhong Yongliang plainly had no mind to explain.

"Oh — coming!" Gao Xiaofu asked nothing more.

That Zhong Yongliang was bringing Gao Xiaofu along struck Gu Mengyao as nothing odd; the fellow was his toady anyway, and it was only natural to bring him along when going out. Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu walked in front, while Chu Fenyao and Shen Yushu walked behind, and the four of them went down the stairs in turn and out through the school gate.

"Yao-yao jie, what's really going on? What are you going to Twin Swallow Mountain for? And who is that woman who looks so much like you?" Shen Yushu asked, puzzled, as they walked.

"Don't ask so many questions. Just come along!" Gu Mengyao could not explain it in two or three words now — and besides, whether her mother was still there was another matter altogether.

"Oh. But I feel it's a bit improper, the two of us girls following Zhong Yongliang off to the back of beyond. Should we let Shield Bro know?" Shen Yushu said, seeing how late the sky had grown.

"If you want to call Wei Zhao, just admit it — no need for all those excuses." Gu Mengyao saw clean through her without mercy. "Do you miss him?"

"Oh! I thought Yao-yao jie was the one who missed him!" Shen Yushu blinked. "Well then, shall we call?"

"Suit yourself!" Gu Mengyao gave a sniff. But then it occurred to her that perhaps Xiaoshu had the right of it; she really ought to tell Wei Zhao where she was going. Out in the wild hills, if something should happen...

Shen Yushu did miss Wei Zhao a little. But just what sort of missing it was, she could not say clearly herself; she had simply grown used to the days when Wei Zhao lived alongside them, and the sudden absence of a person left her out of sorts.

"A poor second wife always ends up playing messenger for the first." Shen Yushu took out her phone, muttering to herself.

"What did you say?" Gu Mengyao nearly lost her footing and fell. "What first wife, second wife?"

"You're the first wife, and I'm the second wife." Shen Yushu, unafraid, said it with a grin.

"You little wretch, Xiaoshu — do you want your tongue pulled out? Who's Wei Zhao's first wife?" Gu Mengyao glared at her.

"Oh! So Yao-yao jie really does like Shield Bro!" Shen Yushu cheered and threw up both hands. "I only said first wife and second wife — I never said they were Shield Bro's!"

"You — you'll be the death of me!" Gu Mengyao knew she had been taken in by Shen Yushu; the girl had led her along step by step. And yet she truly had not said whose first wife and second wife they were...

This first-wife-and-second-wife business seemed to be something the two of them had settled between themselves long ago, with no particular future husband named... She had walked right into it! She had been played! Gu Mengyao glared at Shen Yushu. "Open your mouth!"

"No..." Shen Yushu shook her head, grinning.

"Why not?" Gu Mengyao thought: has this silly girl gotten clever? Does she know I mean to pinch her mouth?

"I'm not silly at all. The moment I open my mouth, you'll pull my tongue out..." Before Shen Yushu could finish, there came a yelp. "Ah, no! Ow — that hurts!"

Gu Mengyao seized the moment Shen Yushu opened her mouth to speak and pinched her lips. "Silly girl is still silly girl."

"A girl's a little silly, and only then is she liked!" Shen Yushu said, covering her mouth, her words all muffled. "Yao-yao jie, you're too wicked. You'll never find favor."

"What do you mean by that?" Gu Mengyao asked.

"You bully the second wife and you destroy the family harmony. In the old days, you'd be the empress who fell out of favor!" Shen Yushu said.

"You don't want that mouth of yours anymore, do you?" Gu Mengyao threatened.

"Oh..." Shen Yushu said no more. She held her phone, meaning to make the call, but saw that Gao Xiaofu over there had already flagged down a taxi — clearly there would be no chance for that call now.

"Mengyao, Xiaoshu, get in quickly!" Seeing that Gao Xiaofu had stopped a car, Zhong Yongliang waved Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu over.

What Gao Xiaofu had flagged down was a seven-seat Touran taxi. Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were small, so they darted straight to the seats in the third row, and Zhong Yongliang had no choice but to sit in glum silence with Gao Xiaofu in the second.

Zhong Yongliang was so angry he could have kicked Gao Xiaofu to death. When you flag down a car, can't you look properly? You should have stopped a five-seat Jetta! What did you mean by getting a seven-seater?

Zhong Yongliang had meant to sit in the back row with Gu Mengyao. In a five-seat car, the back row would of necessity hold three, and he had thought he might steal a little closeness — but now it was all ruined.

Still, with Gu Mengyao sitting right behind him, Zhong Yongliang could hardly lose his temper; he had no choice but to swallow it in silence.

In the car, Shen Yushu sent Wei Zhao a text message, telling him that she and Yao-yao jie had gone with Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu to Twin Swallow Mountain.

When Wei Zhao received the message, the second auction had only just begun. He glanced at it and did not reply, for Shen Yushu had merely reported their whereabouts in a tone of plain notice, and there was nothing Wei Zhao could interfere with.

Fastest updates — read without pop-ups.