Chapter 1614 — A Coincidental Plan

"I'm not deaf, you know," Gu Mengyao said with a laugh.

The two of them frolicked for a while longer, got dressed, and headed out of the room down to the lobby downstairs. Most of their classmates had already arrived by now, Wei Zhao and Kang among them.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu walked over. Wei Zhao said, "There's free breakfast over there — why don't you go get something? Kang and I have already eaten."

"No need. Xiaoshu and I had some bread." Gu Mengyao shook her head. She had only just recovered from her illness and had little appetite.

Inside the room of Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu.

"You useless thing — always dropping the ball at the crucial moment! How did Gu Mengyao's note end up in Wei Zhao's hands? What happened? Weren't you supposed to hide it in the gap between the suitcases?" Gao Xiaofu had looked thoroughly miserable the day before, and Zhong Yongliang hadn't blown up at him then; he had held it in until this morning before finally losing his temper.

"Brother Liang, you can't blame me for this! I honestly have no idea how it happened. I definitely put that note in the gap between the suitcases — who knew it would end up with Wei Zhao?" Gao Xiaofu said with a bitter face. "Brother Liang, I'm the one who ends up suffering for this. Why would I ever sabotage myself?"

"That's true enough!" Zhong Yongliang waved his hand and sighed. "That Wei Zhao is a top-tier Xuan-rank fighter — he may well have some special trick we don't know about. Still, he got off easy. I was hoping to get a little close to Gu Mengyao yesterday!"

"Brother Liang, how about we go ahead with the second plan?" Gao Xiaofu could see the reluctant dissatisfaction on Zhong Yongliang's face. He knew all too well that Zhong Yongliang's lifelong dream was to get close to Gu Mengyao just once. Though he already knew the two of them had almost no chance anymore, that desire had been buried deep in his heart like a festering grudge — and it made him unwilling to give up.

"The second plan... isn't that a bit risky?" Zhong Yongliang knew what Gao Xiaofu's second plan was, but he felt the danger was considerable.

"No problem! I've already looked into it — they sell non-venomous grass snakes around here. When the time comes, I'll play the villain and you can be the hero!" Gao Xiaofu said. "For your sake, Brother Liang, I don't mind doing a little something wicked."

"Well... I suppose that could work!" Zhong Yongliang thought it over. As long as he didn't have to touch the venomous snake himself, it should be fine — no risk of getting bitten.

"Don't worry, Brother Liang. When the moment comes, I'll let the snake 'accidentally' bite Gu Mengyao. Then you can suck the venom out for her, and you'll have your chance!" Gao Xiaofu said.

"But what if Wei Zhao beats me to it?" Zhong Yongliang was a little worried.

"He won't. Later, when we head up the mountain, you can brief everyone on first aid for snake bites. I'll back you up and play along. When Gu Mengyao gets bitten, you'll be the first one to rush forward — there shouldn't be any problem!" Gao Xiaofu said.

"Good! Then it's settled!" Zhong Yongliang nodded, his teeth gritted.

Once the two had finalized their scheme, they went downstairs and organized everyone to go hiking up the mountain behind the resort.

"Later, Brother Liang and I will lead everyone up the mountain. But please all be careful — there may be grass snakes up there. Grass snakes aren't venomous, but there could also be venomous snakes. So whether you're bitten by a grass snake or a venomous one, notify me or Brother Liang right away!" Gao Xiaofu said. "To make sure nothing happened to anyone, Brother Liang specifically studied wilderness first aid beforehand — including how to handle venomous snake bites! He's become a real expert at sucking out snake venom. He can extract it in no time!"

"Brother Liang really looks out for all of us!" Their classmates were deeply moved by what Gao Xiaofu said. They hadn't expected that Zhong Yongliang, who had not only paid for their trip but had also thought of everything so thoroughly.

But as Wei Zhao listened to Gao Xiaofu's words, a faint, inscrutable look flickered in his eyes. He wondered what little scheme this one was cooking up now.

Behind the resort lay a small mountain. Not very tall — half man-made, half natural — but for this resort it was still a pleasant place to relax.

Zhu Lingtou had specifically sought out an excuse today to bring Chen Xi to the back mountain of the resort. His reasoning was simple: the hikers would certainly be carrying plenty of drinks, and once they were finished, he could collect a great many empty water bottles and beverage containers.

In the past, on weekends, Chen Xi had often gone along with Zhu Lingtou to beaches, amusement parks, and other places to scavenge. So this trip to the resort raised no suspicions on his part.

Besides, it was said that selling grass snakes here could earn quite a bit of money! Near this back mountain, there were indeed many local villagers selling grass snakes. Since grass snakes were non-venomous, many tourists bought them as pets, so sales were fairly decent.

Zhu Lingtou had looked into this beforehand, which was why he had decided to sell grass snakes here. After turning it over in his mind, he concluded that getting a grass snake laced with the Five-Step Power-Dissolving Powder to bite Wei Zhao directly would be no simple task — the logistics were too complicated. It would be far easier if Wei Zhao simply bought a grass snake himself and let it bite him!

Of course, Zhu Lingtou was afraid Wei Zhao wouldn't buy from him, so he had specially arranged for Li Cihua to bring a gang of thugs. Through a combination of threats and bribes, they had driven off every other villager selling grass snakes on the mountain.

As a result, Zhu Lingtou had become the sole seller of grass snakes here! Moreover, he wasn't worried that Wei Zhao wouldn't buy — since Wei Zhao knew Chen Xi, and Chen Xi was here selling snakes, surely Wei Zhao would come and show some support?

Of course, Zhu Lingtou wasn't worried the grass snakes wouldn't bite Wei Zhao either. Besides being fed the Five-Step Power-Dissolving Powder, the snakes had also been given another drug that made them erratic and frenzied — the moment anyone caught one, it would bite!

"Grandpa Zhu, can selling grass snakes really make money?" Chen Xi was puzzled. Aside from scavenging, they had never done any other kind of business before. That Grandpa Zhu would unexpectedly come here to sell grass snakes was utterly baffling to him.

"Sure it can! And if it doesn't, no big deal — we're just giving it a try! Besides, these grass snakes were given to me by a friend, so they cost nothing!" Zhu Lingtou said.

"Oh, okay then." Chen Xi nodded and didn't press further.

Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu walked at the front, with the rest of the class following behind. Gao Xiaofu kept scanning the roadside the entire way, and found that every last souvenir vendor was still there — except that not a single grass-snake seller was in sight!

Gao Xiaofu was thoroughly baffled. Something was wrong! Last time he had come to scout, the roadside had been full of grass-snake sellers. How could they all be gone today? Had none of them caught a single snake? Or had the restaurants bought them all up for snake banquets?

"Xiaofu, what's going on with you? Didn't you say they sold grass snakes here? We've been walking all this time and haven't seen a single one!" Zhong Yongliang's expression had soured as well. The plan was all ready to go, and now the props had vanished!

"Brother Liang, I... there really were lots of grass-snake sellers before. How come they're all gone today?" Gao Xiaofu said miserably. "Last time we came to scout, you saw it too — the whole street was full of grass-snake sellers!"