Chapter 1731 — Don't Waste Food

"Ga?" An Jianwen was struck dumb for a moment, then realized at once that Shen Yushu and Gu Mengyao had played him between the two of them — or perhaps Gu Mengyao had never meant to play him at all, and had merely happened to do Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao a small favor.

Gu Mengyao's conduct, however, left An Jianwen seething. In his heart he swore an oath: he would have that woman, he would make her his, and he would make her of one mind with him — that much was certain.

Of that meal, Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu ate a fair amount, Tang Yun and Gu Mengyao only picked at their food, and as for An Jianwen, he scarcely took a few bites — Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu had robbed him of his appetite entirely.

Seeing that his father's talks on the other side of the room were nearly done, and that his father had signaled to him, An Jianwen made ready to leave as well.

But just as they were about to go, a waiter came over and said politely to An Jianwen, "Sir, you haven't finished your food..."

"I can't eat another bite. Is that not allowed?" An Jianwen frowned.

"But... you've left far too much. That's wasteful, and waste is a shameful thing," the waiter explained.

"How much is it? I'll pay!" An Jianwen waved a hand, impatient. On any ordinary day, with Gu Mengyao not present, he would long since have flown into a rage.

"Sir, it isn't a question of money. If you don't finish, you may still leave — but our cameras have already recorded your face, and you'll be put up on the display board in the shop, exhibited as a nominee of the Shame Roll for a week..." the waiter explained.

"What the hell—" An Jianwen finally lost his temper. "I spend my own money on a meal here, and I end up on some Shame Roll?"

"Sir, it's the shop's rule — a warning and a punishment for customers who deliberately waste food. If you had only left a little, naturally we wouldn't make an issue of it. But you've left six plates of food untouched, and that really is too much to excuse..." the waiter said, still polite.

"..." An Jianwen was left speechless.

"Jianwen-gege, what he says is right, you know. We must be thrifty and frugal, we mustn't be extravagant and wasteful. If you're this wasteful, who'll dare marry you later? Sister Yaoyao likes thrifty people, you know!" Shen Yushu chimed in.

"I'll eat! I'll finish it before I go, all right?" An Jianwen was beside himself, but he could only plop himself back down and say, "You all go on ahead. I'll sit here and eat slowly..."

"That would be best of all," the waiter said with a smile and a nod.

So Wei Zhao left first with Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu and Tang Yun. An Mingyue had meant to leave together with Gu Pengzhan, but seeing that something had come up with An Jianwen, he frowned and said to Gu Pengzhan with some embarrassment, "It seems Jianwen has a rather large appetite — haha. Old friend Chu, I'm afraid you'll have to go on ahead. I'll wait here a while. As for the cooperation we discussed, I'll come to your company tomorrow and we'll talk it over in detail!"

"That's no problem at all. I'll be off then. See you tomorrow, old friend An." Gu Pengzhan nodded with a smile. The two had clearly hit it off in their talk, as though they had restored the friendship of their younger days.

Gu Pengzhan left the restaurant together with Wei Zhao and the others. Seeing her father's face glowing, Gu Mengyao was somewhat puzzled. "Daddy, you and that Uncle An seem to have had a very pleasant talk?"

"Yes. Your Uncle An is planning to come back and invest in Songshan City, a big project, and he's invited me to take part!" Gu Pengzhan said, a little excited. "The group's development has hit a bottleneck right now. Keeping up our performance is easy enough, but expanding is hard. If your Uncle An's project goes through, the group will rise to another level!"

"Daddy, you're going to work with Uncle An and his people?" Gu Mengyao frowned. "Doesn't their family... not do any proper business?"

"Haha, Yaoyao, don't worry. Daddy knows what he's doing. I certainly won't take part in anything illegal! The cooperation we discussed this time is legitimate business. There won't be any problem!" Gu Pengzhan said.

"That's good, then..." Gu Mengyao had only meant to remind him, and hearing her father say so, it should be fine — after all, Daddy was a veteran of the business world, he knew his limits, far better than she did.

Wei Zhao, for his part, was not very optimistic about the cooperation between Gu Pengzhan and An Mingyue either, and shared a worry akin to Gu Mengyao's. But after Gu Mengyao asked, Wei Zhao hesitated and said nothing more. Though he nominally held the title of second-largest shareholder of the Gu Group, in truth he did not manage any affairs at all.

So when it came to the group's business, he could hardly put in his word at will. Presumably, if any of the dealings were questionable, Gu Pengzhan would not have taken part, and so Wei Zhao did not intervene much.

"Xiaoyi, I hear from Yaoyao that you're taking her, Xiaoshu and Tang Yun back to your old hometown?" Gu Pengzhan changed the subject and asked Wei Zhao.

"Yes, we plan to set off in the next few days," Wei Zhao said. "Is there something you need, Uncle Chu?"

"Nothing much. I had meant to go back with you and pay a visit, but we've just taken up a big project here and I can't get away for the moment. I can only apologize," Gu Pengzhan said apologetically.

"That's nothing. We're only going back for a trip," Wei Zhao said with a smile. "But Uncle Chu, where the An family is concerned, it's best to be on your guard as much as you can..."

Since the conversation had come round to this, Wei Zhao took the chance to put in a word of warning.

"Naturally!" Gu Pengzhan said. "My cooperation with the An family is something I've thought over carefully. On one hand, they're old friends, and I can't refuse them to their faces; on the other, I've looked at this project, and if it succeeds it will be genuinely very profitable — it can lift the group to a higher level!"

"That's good, then." Wei Zhao said no more. Gu Pengzhan was a veteran businessman, and Wei Zhao was utterly ignorant of such things; he could settle certain problems with brute force, but when it came to commercial cooperation, he had no say.

In the parking lot, Wei Zhao parted ways with Gu Pengzhan. Uncle Qing had come to pick Gu Pengzhan up, while Wei Zhao drove Yaoyao and the others back to the villa.

Today he had managed to get eight million in funds out of An Jianwen for the time being, enough to give the orphanage some relief; as for the rest of the money, Wei Zhao could think of other ways. He had originally meant to ask Gu Pengzhan for a loan, but hearing today that the man was about to undertake a big project — which would surely need money too — Wei Zhao had not brought it up again.

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