Chapter 1730 — Five Million Is Too Little

"That's right, you had some too!" Shen Yushu nodded.

"Had what?" Gu Mengyao flared up. "Xiaoshu, what are you making up?"

"I'm not making anything up. Last time Brother Arrowbrand made us those griddle cakes, they were way better than the ones here. Didn't you eat a whole lot too?" Shen Yushu said, the picture of innocence.

"Huh?" Gu Mengyao froze, caught between laughing and crying. Was she overthinking it, or had Xiaoshu done that on purpose? Her face went red — she had nearly misunderstood Wei Zhao!

"Oh, I get it now. Sister Yaoyao's mind went somewhere dirty. You must have thought it was like that time in the cave, when you and Brother Arrowbrand did that thing!" Shen Yushu said, batting her eyes.

"What... what did I do in the cave? I only sucked the poison out for him..." Gu Mengyao hurried to explain, afraid Tang Yun would misunderstand.

An Jianwen was rather glum. He hadn't managed any flirtation with Gu Mengyao, while Wei Zhao and the others had gotten in a whole round of it. If he'd known, he'd have eaten that big-bird roast himself and saved all this trouble!

"When did you make these griddle cakes? How come I never got any?" Tang Yun asked, giving Wei Zhao a light kick.

Wei Zhao gave Tang Yun a wry smile. "Next time. I'll make them just for you..."

"I'm not eating them..." Tang Yun felt there was a double meaning in his words.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao chuckled. "I meant the griddle cakes, not the big-bird roast..."

"I'm not eating any of it!" Tang Yun said. "All right, all right, let's go look over there. I think there's steak — the kind Xiaoshu likes..."

An Jianwen fixed himself five or six plates of food. What with everything that had happened, he was in no mood to question Gu Mengyao any further.

Once everyone had chosen their dishes and returned to the booth, Shen Yushu began to eat with gusto, while Gu Mengyao and Tang Yun ate politely. Wei Zhao was like Shen Yushu — he sat down and started eating, utterly indifferent to anyone's stares.

Tang Yun and Gu Mengyao watched Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao devouring their food and exchanged wry smiles. Those two really were a pair — neither of them cared what anyone thought, wherever they went!

"Brother Arrowbrand, this is good! Not as good as what you make, but still pretty good!" Shen Yushu said, handing Wei Zhao a piece of grilled steak.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled and stuffed it into his mouth.

An Jianwen felt a flicker of contempt, though deep down he was still somewhat wary of Wei Zhao — he wanted to mock him, but didn't dare. True, the power behind the An family was far greater than Wei Zhao's; even those hidden clans were fit only to carry the Fire Wolf Gang's shoes!

But the relationship between the An family and the Fire Wolf Gang was, to everyone, mere speculation, and only a minority speculated at that. Most people simply took the An family for ordinary merchants who operated somewhere between the black and the white.

An Jianwen could not casually drag the Fire Wolf Gang out into the open, so for the time being he could only swallow his anger at Wei Zhao.

Recalling the purpose of this dinner, An Jianwen smiled and turned to look at Gu Mengyao. "Yaoyao, why does it feel like there's such a distance between us now? I know some of the things I've done may have put you off, but the truth is I like you — I want to court you. In the past, you didn't mind me paying you attention, did you?"

"Childhood and now are different." Gu Mengyao glanced at An Jianwen and sighed. "Brother Jianwen, we're grown up now, mature. Our thinking should be more rational too. I've told you — I've always thought of you as an elder brother. What you're doing... it won't lead anywhere."

"Heh, there's a saying: complete sincerity moves even metal and stone. I believe that through my efforts, I can change the impression you have of me," An Jianwen said. "If anything I did before made you uncomfortable, then I apologize. I'm sorry!"

"It's all right..." Hearing him say that, Gu Mengyao had no choice but to let it go.

"Heh, and Wei Zhao — I may have been a bit hard on you before. Actually, I understand now that there's nothing going on between you and Yaoyao. I'll be needing your help in the future!" An Jianwen said.

"Oh, no problem at all. But you'll have to pay the service fee! I'm tipping you off and passing along information — I can't do that for free, can I?" Wei Zhao agreed readily enough.

"Of course I'll pay, naturally I'll pay!" An Jianwen laughed heartily, thinking that Wei Zhao wasn't afraid of losing face in Gu Mengyao's eyes. But this only confirmed his guess — Wei Zhao and Gu Mengyao really had nothing between them!

The big-bird roast business had left An Jianwen somewhat embarrassed and irritated, but after turning it over in his mind, he had drawn a lesson from it: Xiaoshu might have a little something going with Wei Zhao, but Gu Mengyao absolutely did not! That made things easy. Gu Mengyao was the one he wanted; Shen Yushu could be handed to him for free and he wouldn't take her.

"Oh, then give me three to five million to start," Wei Zhao said. "You know my account."

"Three to five million?" An Jianwen was stunned. Wei Zhao was really opening his mouth like a lion! He'd only been humoring him — and now the man actually wanted money? And who did Wei Zhao think he was, asking for three to five million?

"Don't tell me that's a lot, Brother Jianwen? Sister Yaoyao is a proper young lady of means. If you're going to be stingy, then if you really do marry her someday, she'll be in for a world of suffering! You're not that poor, are you?" Shen Yushu knew Wei Zhao was asking for money for the orphanage, so naturally she threw herself into the act.

She and Gu Mengyao had already donated all their saved pocket money to the orphanage, so there was nothing more they could do to help Wei Zhao. That was why she was so eager to help him smooth-talk An Jianwen now.

"No, what I mean is... it's too little..." An Jianwen thought to himself, damn it, I may have made a lot of money lately, but I handed a big chunk of it over to the Fire Wolf Gang. Three to five million isn't exactly a small sum, and the key problem is, this is no longer something three to five million can solve! An Jianwen could only say with a mournful face, "Forget three to five million — let's just make it five million!"

"Isn't five million still three to five million? Is that not a lot?" Shen Yushu asked.

An Jianwen seethed inwardly. You bastard — enjoy your moment while it lasts! Once my father gets that business settled, not only will the Gu family fortune be mine, but Gu Mengyao will be mine too! Yet on the surface he only smiled. "Haha, true enough. Then let's make it eight million!"

"That's more like it!" Shen Yushu nodded. "When will you pay?"

"I'll call and transfer it right now... Haha, I keep my word — this is small change!" An Jianwen laughed, speaking as though it hardly mattered.

Afraid Shen Yushu might say something more, An Jianwen hurriedly called and made the transfer. At the same moment, Wei Zhao received the text confirming the transfer had gone through!

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