Chapter 1684 — Was It Wei Zhao?

"The Male Thief? He went to stop you?" Little Ken was taken aback as well. He had assumed it was Wei Zhao who had helped Yu Xiaoke; it had never crossed his mind that the Male Thief himself would appear before her. So the Male Thief had not been captured after all — and this Male Thief seemed to have been summoned by Wei Zhao?

He had asked Wei Zhao for help in this very matter, and afterward the Male Thief had turned up. If anyone told him Wei Zhao had nothing to do with it, Little Ken would not believe them.

"Yes, but how did he know I was going to storm the execution ground? Little Ken, have you told anyone about my business?" Yu Xiaoke frowned and shifted her gaze to Little Ken.

"I..." Little Ken did not know what to say. He had promised Wei Zhao to keep quiet, yet something still puzzled him. "What does that Male Thief look like?"

"The same as always — he wears a mask..." Yu Xiaoke said. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing... Then what was he wearing?" A strange presentiment rose in Little Ken's heart.

"He was wearing... a plain white shirt and beige trousers... Why?" Yu Xiaoke recalled the Male Thief's attire. "Don't tell me you've seen him?"

At her words Little Ken's eyes went as round as bronze bells. Surely not? A white shirt and beige trousers — wasn't that exactly what Wei Zhao had been wearing? Little Ken had a good memory, and he remembered it perfectly. Could it be... that the Male Thief Yu Xiaoke had seen was Wei Zhao in disguise?

No, that did not fit either, and Little Ken shook his head inwardly. How could Wei Zhao have the Male Thief's mask? And how could he know what the Male Thief's mask looked like? He himself did not know what it looked like; Sister Xiaoke had never once described it, so naturally he could never have repeated it to Wei Zhao.

Then where had Wei Zhao's mask come from? Was the Male Thief Wei Zhao himself? Or did Wei Zhao simply know the Male Thief, and knowing his appearance, disguise himself as the man to talk Yu Xiaoke out of it and send her home?

Still, if that were so, two doubts remained. First, since the Male Thief was the man Yu Xiaoke admired, her impression of him ought to be especially vivid — if someone impersonated him, could she really fail to notice? Second, in such a short span of time, where would Wei Zhao find a mask of the Male Thief?

If so, then the remaining possibilities were these: either Wei Zhao was the Male Thief, or Wei Zhao knew the Male Thief and could go straight to him, and had sent him to stop Yu Xiaoke. But both possibilities were a little too far-fetched.

Far-fetched, though, did not mean impossible — and Little Ken leaned toward the first guess, because the clothes worn by that mysterious man in Yu Xiaoke's account were exactly the same as Wei Zhao's.

"I haven't seen him... but when you left, I think I saw someone in similar clothes following you... I wanted to warn the two of you, but you ran so fast you vanished in a blink..." Little Ken had no choice but to lie. "I thought I had been mistaken. I never imagined that man was the Male Thief..."

"What? He was following me? Then he must have heard my conversation with you... Do you mean he had already guessed that I would go to rescue him after seeing the news, and so he came here ahead of time?" Yu Xiaoke was baffled too. Slim as the possibility was, it was the only explanation that made sense at the moment...

"I wouldn't know..." A violent storm surged in Little Ken's heart. Could it be such a coincidence? Wei Zhao was the Male Thief... It seemed that phone call of his had been the right one, and he had found the right person. And Sister Xiaoke seemed to feel nothing at all for Wei Zhao?

"Never mind... go and do what you have to do. Since nothing is wrong, that letter needn't be given to the old director either." Yu Xiaoke shook her head and said to Little Ken.

"Oh... all right..." Little Ken fled Yu Xiaoke's room at once, as though a great weight had lifted. Lying to her face had weighed on him, so leaving quickly let him breathe again...

When Wei Zhao got back to the villa, Uncle Qing had just returned as well. During this stretch Wei Zhao had been away from home, and Uncle Qing and Wu Chengtian had been guarding Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu all along.

Originally it had been Wu Chengtian alone, but for fear of a repeat of what had happened on the road that day of the college entrance exams, and afraid that Wu Chengtian could not handle it by himself, Uncle Qing came back every evening. Today Wei Zhao had returned, but Uncle Qing did not know it, so after driving Gu Pengzhan home he had come back to the villa.

As Uncle Qing was parking, Wei Zhao's car happened to pull up beside his.

"Eh? Little Yi? You're back?" Uncle Qing said with some delight when he saw Wei Zhao. "Yaoyao and Xiaoshu have missed you terribly. Hurry inside?"

"Haha, Uncle Qing, I got back a while ago — only then something came up and I had to go out for a trip." Wei Zhao laughed. "They have already seen me!"

"So that is how it is — you have already met!" Uncle Qing nodded. "Those two have missed you sorely. Since you have seen them, let us go in together. Wait for me, I will get the groceries out of the car..."

Uncle Qing had bought some instant food. With Wei Zhao away, there was no one to cook for Yaoyao and Xiaoshu, and Uncle Qing often had to accompany Gu Pengzhan to business dinners, so he could not bring them meals every day; that left them to live on instant food.

Wei Zhao and Uncle Qing walked into the villa together. Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had already washed up and were getting ready for bed. Nothing much had happened lately, and they generally went to bed early at home. Seeing Wei Zhao come in, Shen Yushu said drowsily, "Arrow Brand Brother, you're back. I still wanted to hear you tell me a story, but I'm dead sleepy..."

"Then it will keep till tomorrow." Wei Zhao smiled. "There is no rush. You and Yaoyao get some rest; I happen to have something to discuss with Uncle Qing."

"Ah..." Shen Yushu was a little disappointed. "But I wanted Arrow Brand Brother to coax me to sleep..."

"That is enough, Xiaoshu. Wei Zhao has only just got back, and if he needs Uncle Qing for something, it must be important. Let us go to sleep and not disturb him." Gu Mengyao thought further ahead than Shen Yushu. When Wei Zhao had told them about the business with the Tang family, he had already said that he had no martial skills, that they were pure fabrication; so at this moment he and Uncle Qing must be discussing martial arts matters, and naturally she would not interrupt.

"Ah, okay." Shen Yushu yawned and nodded, and half-asleep was tugged upstairs by Gu Mengyao.

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