Chapter 1965 — A Trip for Nothing

Wei Zhao got out of the car and went into the villa. Sure enough, the young mistress and Xiao Shu were both asleep, but Uncle Qing and Granny Sun had not yet retired — the two of them were sitting on the sofa chatting at that very moment, and Uncle Qing seemed to be telling Granny Sun stories from his younger days...

"Xiao Yi, you're back!" Uncle Qing was delighted the moment he saw Wei Zhao come in. Wei Zhao had gone to look into the Sun family's cultivation method for Granny Sun's sake, so Uncle Qing was naturally overjoyed to see him return. True, Uncle Qing had not really expected Wei Zhao to be back the same day he set out, but all the same he and Granny Sun had waited for him, almost unconsciously, until very late.

Besides, they had been talking about old times, and the more they talked the more they lost track of the hour, so that in the blink of an eye it was past one in the morning.

"Yes, Uncle Qing — you two still aren't asleep?" Wei Zhao was a little surprised.

"Not yet. So how did it go, Xiao Yi, the matter with Luo Yue..." Uncle Qing knew it was hardly proper to pelt Wei Zhao with questions the moment he walked in the door, but because Granny Sun's affairs weighed on his mind, he asked anyway.

"Ha, it's all taken care of. But there's something I have to do just now — wait for me a little while, and we'll talk when I get back." Wei Zhao smiled.

"Good, good!" Hearing that there was news, Uncle Qing was instantly thrilled and nodded again and again. A flicker of hope crossed Granny Sun's eyes as well. Uncle Qing had told her so many things about those bygone years, yet she could not recall a single one of them, and that was a bitter feeling. If Wei Zhao could help her recover her memories, nothing could be better.

Wei Zhao went back to his room, dug the half map out of the cabinet there, then hurried out of the villa and back to the car. "This is it," he said to Sun Jingyan. "Take a look — is it one and the same?"

Somewhat excitedly, Sun Jingyan took the half map Wei Zhao handed her and fitted it against the half in her own hand. There was no surprise at all — they matched perfectly!

"It really is one map..." Sun Jingyan's breathing quickened as she looked at the map in her hands. Perhaps, through this map, she could find a clue to her parents...

"Let me drive you to the hotel. You can study it slowly once you're there." Wei Zhao smiled at Sun Jingyan, who was staring at the map in rapt absorption.

"Ah — sorry, I got a little carried away for a moment..." Sun Jingyan said hastily.

"It's nothing. If it were me, I'd be the same." Wei Zhao shook his head and started the car. Nearby there was a three-star hotel called the Xueshang Hotel, developed by the same developer as the Xueshang residential compound — pleasant surroundings, and the price was not steep. Naturally, the place catered to young couples; if the rates had been too high, ordinary people could not have afforded it.

When they reached the hotel and Sun Jingyan was getting out of the car, she hesitated, as though she had something to say and could not bring herself to say it.

"What is it?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Wei Zhao... if I work out the location on this map, would you come with me..." Sun Jingyan knew the request was rather unreasonable, but after turning it over and over in her mind, there was no one but Wei Zhao who could accompany her.

"Hmm..." Looking at the faint hope in Sun Jingyan's eyes, Wei Zhao pondered a moment and said, "All right. If nothing comes up on my end, I'll go with you. Actually, I'd like to know myself just what that treasure the strange fellow spoke of really is."

"Yes — wonderful!" Sun Jingyan was thrilled to hear Wei Zhao agree. "If the treasure is no use to me, I'll give it to you when the time comes!"

"Ha, there's no need for that. I'm not going along because I want some reward — I'm going because I count you as my friend," Wei Zhao said.

"Only a friend?" Sun Jingyan blinked.

"A lover ought to show some real progress, oughtn't she?" Wei Zhao looked back at Sun Jingyan with a half-smile.

"Mwah..." Before Wei Zhao could guard himself, Sun Jingyan darted in and kissed him quickly on the cheek. Her face was burning red, yet, supposing the darkness would keep Wei Zhao from seeing it, she feigned composure and said, "There — will that do?"

Wei Zhao had left himself unguarded, and she had caught him cleanly. He touched the cheek she had kissed, caught between laughter and tears. Was this playing with fire? He had only been joking, and now things had come to this — the two of them seemed more entangled than ever.

Still, he and Sun Jingyan were always joking around, and now that he had been kissed, Wei Zhao let himself be easy about it: "Isn't that a bit stingy? How about I stay here tonight?"

"Go die!" Joking was joking with Sun Jingyan, but hearing Wei Zhao press his luck like this, her heart tightened — she was not ready for this. Booking a room? So she retorted on instinct and made to get out of the car. But when she looked up and saw Wei Zhao's wicked, teasing grin, Sun Jingyan knew she had been had. She gave a sniff and said, "Fine, then come on up!"

"You really want me to come up?" Wei Zhao asked with a half-smile.

"Get going, I'm off to study the map." Sun Jingyan had realized that in Wei Zhao's presence she never seemed to come out ahead. It looked as though she got the better of him every time, but in truth Wei Zhao had never once taken her seriously.

Only after watching Sun Jingyan enter the hotel safely did Wei Zhao turn the car around and head back to the villa.

When he got back, Wei Zhao found that Uncle Qing and Granny Sun had not gone to bed at all — in fact they looked more alert than before. Plainly they had been waiting for him to return.

Seeing how nervous Uncle Qing was, Wei Zhao hardly knew what to say. Still, he understood the old man's feelings, and smiled: "Uncle Qing, don't be anxious. First, run through your internal cultivation method for me to see."

"Mine?" Uncle Qing was slightly taken aback.

"That's right, yours," Wei Zhao said. "The truth is, I might as well have made the trip for nothing. It was only after I got there that I remembered the peculiar nature of the Sun family's method. Granny Sun was your wife back then, so naturally she cultivated in support of you — which means her true qi would be the same as yours. All we have to do is check whether your true qi matches the true qi in Granny Sun's head..."

"Of course!" Uncle Qing slapped the back of his head, a look of sudden understanding on his face. "I'm so sorry — I clean forgot about that. Had I known, I'd never have sent you running back there!"

"It wasn't a wasted trip. I got something else out of it too." Wei Zhao did not regret going to see Sun Jingyan. The trip had not only helped her find the map — he had also come by the pure yellow jade!

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