Chapter 1887 — Something Came to Mind: Serving as Butler of This Villa Brings It No Shame at All; Even the Wealthy Folk of the Villa District, Upon Seeing Granny Sun, Would Naturally Assume She Must Have Been the Longtime Housekeeper of Some Rich Household

"Doctor Lin! Miss Gu, Miss Chen—you're back!" Granny Sun was overjoyed at the sight of the three of them. "I've got the meal all made, just waiting on you!"

Granny Sun was well content with her life these days. No more foraging through rubbish; food and clothing came without worry. Apart from cleaning the villa and cooking, she had no work at all, and in her idle hours she could watch a little television—it was an easy life.

"I've told you, just call us by our names. None of this 'Divine Doctor' business..." Wei Zhao said with a wry smile.

"Then how about Mr. Lin? On television, that's what all the butlers call them," Granny Sun said.

Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. Granny Sun was set on it, and there was nothing he could do.

He had to admit that Granny Sun's cooking was really quite good. She might not reach Wei Zhao's own heights, but at the very least her dishes beat the takeout Uncle Qing brought back from restaurants, and they were tastier than the school canteen's fare besides—so Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu ate with enormous relish.

After dinner, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu watched a bit of "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf," with Wei Zhao keeping them company.

When it was over, Gu Mengyao glanced at Wei Zhao and said, "From now on you come home every weekend. If something comes up, you ask for leave in advance. And during the week, you come when you're called."

"Uh..." Wei Zhao gave a wry smile. This was probably the fallout of today's business, then? He rather suspected that the young lady of the old days had come back.

But after saying her piece, Gu Mengyao went on: "I'm keeping an eye on you for your girlfriend. I may not be your employer anymore, but I promised her..."

Gu Mengyao had thought it over carefully and decided she must be stricter with Wei Zhao. Otherwise, with no leash on the fellow, he would turn right around and go chasing girls—and how could she ever answer Tang Yun's parting request? Yes, she was doing this purely for Tang Yun's sake; there was no selfish motive in it, Gu Mengyao told herself.

"Xiaoxiao, she..." Wei Zhao smiled wryly. Surely Xiaoxiao didn't concern herself with such things? And he seemed to recall that Xiaoxiao had never taken any interest in his philandering—otherwise she could hardly have sat by while Shen Yushu called herself his little wife.

But before Wei Zhao could finish, the young lady had dragged Xiaoshu upstairs, leaving him nothing but two retreating silhouettes—graceful, swaying silhouettes... Couldn't these two girls wear a little more at home? Wei Zhao thought...

They had moved into the new villa: Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu still on the upper floor, Wei Zhao below—except that downstairs now had one more guest of honor, Granny Sun.

General Mighty and the Sky-Thunder Pig had made their home behind the villa, doing their part to guard it.

"Sis Yao, you were so commanding! Are you getting ready to exercise the duties of the first wife?" Shen Yushu asked.

"First wife? What are you talking about?" Gu Mengyao frowned. "I'm just watching him for Yunyun, keeping him from getting up to anything."

"But Sister Yunyun said they'd never meet again!" Shen Yushu said. "What's the use of watching him? And didn't Sister Yunyun entrust him to us? We could step right up and take our place, as if by rights!"

"If you want to, you go ahead. I won't," Gu Mengyao said—then regretted it. Did she really not want to? Or was she holding back for some reason?

Whenever Gu Mengyao thought of the selfless, reluctant look in Tang Yun's eyes, her heart ached. If she took Wei Zhao for herself, would Tang Yun be heartbroken?

Gu Mengyao realized that she seemed to care about Wei Zhao a little... or perhaps more than a little?

Shaking her head, she pressed down all those tangled thoughts and went to take a shower, while Shen Yushu sighed and followed quietly behind her...

Back in his room, Wei Zhao prepared to begin cultivating the second level of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. As for the last seven forms of the Frenzied Fire Fist, he would set those aside for now: according to Uncle Qing, they could be practiced only at the mid Earth-rank, late Earth-rank, and late Earth-rank perfection stages; at the early stage, only three forms were possible.

Wei Zhao had once forced out the fourth form, but failed; he felt his true qi was simply insufficient, as though the supply could not keep up. Perhaps forcing out the first three forms at the early Earth-rank stage was already his limit—the fourth was out of the question.

Though Wei Zhao was quite satisfied with his progress so far, deep down he still had one knot in his heart: alchemy.

In martial skills and cultivation methods, he could say he had found his way; all he had to do was practice step by step. But alchemy—he had not yet found the knack of it. For so long now, he had never met anyone accomplished in the alchemical arts from whom he might seek guidance.

He had run into people from the hidden You family and the Xuandan Sect, true—but the hatred between them ran too deep. Even if Wei Zhao went to You Panhu to ask about alchemical techniques and tricks, the man would certainly refuse to give him the time of day.

Of the two-year deadline, three months had already slipped by in the blink of an eye. Though more than a year remained, Wei Zhao was anxious: he had promised Feng Xiaoxiao, and promised the Candy Girl, that within two years he would refine an Ice-Heart Jade-Bone Pill and deliver it to them.

Yet whenever he thought of Feng Xiaoxiao, a kind of bewilderment rose in Wei Zhao's heart. In his memory, Feng Xiaoxiao ought to be his little wife—and if there was a little wife, there ought to be a first wife to match. But who was his first wife?

The Candy Girl? Probably not. He had only teased her, told her to be his littlest-little-little wife.

Gu Mengyao? Shen Yushu? Neither of them seemed right...

Qiu Lingshan, Sun Jingyan, Yu Xiaoke, Xu Shilan, Wang Xinyan, even Yu Ning... one familiar face after another flashed through Wei Zhao's mind, but none of them could be the first wife. Could it be that he had no first wife at all?

He gave up the line of thought with a touch of helplessness. Every time he thought of such things, he felt terribly tired.

Just as Wei Zhao set aside his worries and prepared to enter the jade pendant's space, the phone rang.

"Uncle Qing?" Wei Zhao picked up. Uncle Qing rarely called him; whenever he did, something was up—so Wei Zhao did not dare be careless and answered at once.

"Xiao Yi, are Yao-yao and Xiaoshu with you? Why aren't either of them answering their phones?" Uncle Qing asked, a note of worry in his voice.

"Ah... they're here. We're all at the villa; they've probably gone upstairs to shower," Wei Zhao said.

"That's good, then. Neither of them picked up, so I was afraid something had happened." Uncle Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

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