Chapter 397 — Keep It for Yourself — Just Then Somebody Knocked at the Door of the Private Room; Su Taizao Opened It and Saw That It Was An Jianwen's Driver, Standing There with a Woven Silk Bag in His Arms, Which Clearly Contained the Inflatable Doll...

Su Taizao had already taken the woven silk bag. He said to An Jianwen's driver, "All right, go tell the waiters nearby to clear off and keep away. Tell them that no matter what sounds come out of this private room, they are not to come over!"

"Yes, Young Master Su!" An Jianwen's driver nodded and went off to do it.

"Hehe, Wei Zhao, your inflatable doll is all ready for you. What do you say? Not bad, eh?" As he spoke, Su Taizao reached out to open the woven silk bag.

"Fine... I suppose this is my bad luck. Tell me, have either of you ever heard the story of Mr. Dongguo?" Wei Zhao sighed and looked at An Jianwen and Su Taizao.

"The story of Mr. Dongguo? What is that supposed to mean?" An Jianwen was startled. He could not understand how, at a moment like this, Wei Zhao could be in the mood to talk about some Mr. Dongguo.

"You have not heard of it either?" Wei Zhao looked at Su Taizao.

"Wei Zhao, the drug inside you is about to hit. You would do better to think about how you are going to settle it. Do you want the inflatable doll, or shall we find you a call girl?" Su Taizao curled his lip and did not answer Wei Zhao's question. In his eyes, Wei Zhao had already become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered; all they had to do was record a video of him once the drug took hold, and Gu Mengyao would fire him.

"Or shall we find you a sow?" An Jianwen, too, thought it utterly absurd for Wei Zhao to be telling stories at such a time, and could not resist adding a remark.

"Ha..." Su Taizao burst out laughing at An Jianwen's wit.

Wei Zhao gave the two of them a look of pity and said mildly, "Since you do not know it, then let me tell you a story. It is the story of Mr. Dongguo and the wolf!"

"Are you sick or something?" An Jianwen eyed Wei Zhao strangely, unable to tell whether the fellow was truly a fool or merely playing one. The drug was about to take effect any moment, and yet he still had the leisure to study this Mr. Dongguo and the wolf.

Wei Zhao paid An Jianwen no heed, and slowly began his tale: "Once upon a time there was a scholar named Mr. Dongguo. One day, Mr. Dongguo had to set off for a place very far away.

"On the road, a wounded wolf suddenly darted out in front of him and pleaded: 'Sir, a hunter is chasing me. He shot me and wounded me. I beg you, save me, and I will repay you well.'

"Though Mr. Dongguo knew that a wolf's nature is wicked, he saw how pitiful the creature was, and after hesitating a moment he hid it inside his book bag.

"Before long the hunter caught up. Finding the wolf gone and only Mr. Dongguo sitting by the roadside, he asked him: 'Have you seen a wolf?'

"Mr. Dongguo said: 'I have not seen one.'

"The hunter never imagined that Mr. Dongguo would lie to him, so he went off to search elsewhere. Hearing from inside the book bag that the hunter had gone far away, the wolf crawled out. But it did not go to repay Mr. Dongguo's kindness. Instead it suddenly bared its fangs and claws and pounced on him, crying: 'I am hungry. Do one more good deed, and let me eat you...'"

"And then? That great fool Mr. Dongguo was eaten by the wolf? Do not tell me you are that Mr. Dongguo! Ha!" Hearing Wei Zhao's story, An Jianwen naturally caught the implication, but he did not care in the least, and laughed loudly.

"No. The hunter came back and beat the wolf to death," Wei Zhao said mildly. "Which illustrates a principle: good is repaid with good, and evil with evil. It is not that there is no recompense, only that the time has not yet come!"

"What do you mean by that?" An Jianwen was startled. He vaguely sensed that there was something more behind Wei Zhao's words, yet for the moment he could not work out what Wei Zhao was driving at.

"Nothing. It is not that there is no recompense, only that the time has not yet come," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"What time has not yet come? Wei Zhao, what are you muttering about so mysteriously? What exactly do you mean?" An Jianwen was growing angry.

"The drug," Wei Zhao said. "You two just took that so-called Invincible Hachiro. I expect it is about to take effect any moment now, is it not?"

"What Invincible Hachiro? How did we take it? You are the one who took it!" An Jianwen was startled.

"My apologies. That glass of red wine in front of me, I split it into two glasses. Half for you, half for him," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could you have known in advance that I was going to drug you?" An Jianwen's expression changed. Though he did not quite believe Wei Zhao's words, Wei Zhao had spoken with evidence and reason... and most crucially of all, why did he feel his whole body starting to burn?

"Oh, if you do not believe me, you can take a look inside the wine bottle..." Wei Zhao pointed at the red wine bottle on the table. "Take a look. One bottle of red wine, poured out into three glasses as usual, will leave some behind; poured into four glasses, it comes out just exactly right..."

An Jianwen looked at the wine bottle and could not help but start. He had poured the wine earlier, so he knew perfectly well how much had been left. Now, looking at the bottle, there was only a shallow layer at the very bottom, clearly drawn off by someone. Could what Wei Zhao said be true?

At that thought, An Jianwen's and Su Taizao's faces changed at once. They had already felt a little hot, and now they felt hotter still...

"Brother An, is there an antidote?" Su Taizao was getting anxious.

"There is none..." An Jianwen shook his head, then turned a look of venomous resentment on Wei Zhao. "Did you really switch my wine?"

"Whether I switched it or not, you will know soon enough," Wei Zhao said, and stood up. "Keep the inflatable doll for the two of you to use. I am leaving! Only do not fight over it. It would not do to come to blows over such a thing!"

Before An Jianwen and Su Taizao could react, Wei Zhao was already out of the private room, and with a thin iron wire he casually locked the door from the outside. Because of the earlier orders given by An Jianwen and his driver, there was not a single waiter outside that room; even An Jianwen's driver stood far away at the end of the corridor...

"Mr. Lin, how did you come out? Where are Young Master An and the others?" An Jianwen's driver had not clearly seen Wei Zhao lock the door, but seeing Wei Zhao walk over, he asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Oh, they are inside the private room playing a very novel sort of game. They said to tell you not to disturb them!" Wei Zhao said.

"All right!" An Jianwen's driver nodded. He knew nothing of the grudge between An Jianwen and Wei Zhao, and so assumed that An Jianwen had specially sent Wei Zhao out to tell him. "Mr. Lin, you are going...?"

"I am heading back first to take care of a few things for Brother An!" Wei Zhao smiled. "I am off!"

"Would you like me to drive you...?" An Jianwen's driver asked eagerly.

"Fine, let us go!" Wei Zhao thought to himself that he had meant to take a taxi back, but here was someone volunteering to drive him, saving him even the fare!

For the fastest updates, please read without pop-ups.