Chapter 1162 — Meeting Xie Yufeng Again

"What a feast!" Shen Yushu lay sprawled on the sand, cradling her round little belly, too lazy to stir.

"So good! Truly delicious — that Yang Ganglou really is a good man, buying all this wonderful food!" Feng Xiaoxiao, stuffed to the brim herself, said with a burp.

Gu Mengyao and Tang Yun, by contrast, were more refined. Both were the sort to taste a little and stop; once they were full, that was that, and they would not keep eating just because the food was good.

"Hm? Isn't that Wei Zhao? And Mengyao, Yushu, Tang Yun and Xiaoxiao?" Just as the group sat resting after their meal, a familiar voice rang out.

Wei Zhao looked up — to his surprise, it was Xie Yufeng!

At this time, in this place, running into Xie Yufeng gave Wei Zhao no small surprise.

"Xie Yufeng? Is your car fixed?" Wei Zhao had already grown suspicious of Xie Yufeng's background. This fellow who concealed his strength before him was naturally not someone Wei Zhao would ever befriend deeply, and so his manner toward Xie Yufeng had always been cold.

"Haha, it's only a car. I bought another one." A flicker of hatred passed through Xie Yufeng's eyes. If Wei Zhao had not been present back then, he was certain it would not have been him paying others money, but others paying him! This detestable creature — always appearing just when he was about to unleash his true strength. Was that not simply meant to vex him?

Xie Yufeng had not intended to greet Wei Zhao today, but thinking of the heavy charge his family had laid upon him — to find out what lay behind Wei Zhao — he had no choice but to feign friendliness with him, hoping to glean some information from his words.

From his observations, Xie Yufeng found that apart from being close to those four pretty girls — Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, Tang Yun and Feng Xiaoxiao — Wei Zhao seemed to have no contact with anyone else at all. This brat appeared to spend his days chasing skirts.

The backgrounds of Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu and Feng Xiaoxiao were plain to Xie Yufeng at a glance. Apart from Tang Yun, who came from common stock, all three had some pedigree behind them. Yet all three got along famously with Wei Zhao — which meant one had to admit the boy was formidable.

If he had no real skill, he could not have won the favor of these three girls. Could Wei Zhao truly be a scion of some hidden family sent out for training... or even someone from an ancient sect? The more Xie Yufeng came into contact with Wei Zhao, the less he could gauge where the man came from — and the less he dared to act rashly.

Though he was arrogant by nature, always looking down his nose at others and believing he could kill Wei Zhao with a single move, the string of setbacks he had suffered of late had cooled Xie Yufeng's whole head.

He was waiting — waiting for the Xiao family to make the first move. Before, there had been no hope of that; the Xiao family had sunk so low they could scarcely look after themselves, so where would they find time to trouble Wei Zhao? But now the Xiao family had the backing of the hidden Pi family, and the one Wei Zhao had injured was precisely a member of the hidden Pi family. So Xie Yufeng was content to sit back and take his ease, and not be the one to stick his neck out.

Let the Xiao family step forward first. If they killed Wei Zhao, all the better; if they failed, they would still sound out his depths. And he, Xie Yufeng, was no fool. He had a more important task now: to win Qiu Lingshan.

She was the Song family's genius girl, and a beauty besides. He had heard that the Song family's cultivation method was most suited to dual cultivation — once he got her into bed, would his own skills not advance by leaps and bounds? He had heard that even the Song family's old master, a martial cripple, had been forced up to the late Yellow rank. So for a genius like himself, would he not shoot straight up to the Earth rank?

Thinking of all this, Xie Yufeng simply cast aside several plans he had made before, and gave up pursuing the girls around Wei Zhao. This was no joking matter — Qiu Lingshan worked in Songshan City, and if she learned he was chasing girls at school, his standing in her eyes would plummet.

Though it was common enough for the sons of great families to keep several wives and concubines, in certain matters, being caught and not being caught were two different things. Besides, he, Xie Yufeng, had not even taken a principal wife yet, and was already thinking of taking concubines — that was a grave taboo.

So Xie Yufeng's state of mind had now settled, and he no longer meant to target Wei Zhao deliberately. He was only a little puzzled: why had the Xiao family still not made their move? What were they waiting for?

"Oh. Is there anything else? If not, we'll be going." Wei Zhao glanced at Xie Yufeng; he begrudged him even a single extra word.

"Fine then, you enjoy yourselves. I'm off." Xie Yufeng nodded, turned away, and his expression darkened.

Xie Yufeng had come here today to scout the place. Through an acquaintance at the Songshan police bureau, he had learned that Qiu Lingshan would be off duty tomorrow and the day after. The staggered rest days at the bureau did not surprise him — a special department naturally had a different leave system, and it was only normal for Qiu Lingshan to be on duty during the holidays.

Xie Yufeng meant to formally invite Qiu Lingshan out on an excursion tomorrow, but he was not very familiar with the scenic spots around Songshan City. So that he would not be left scrambling at the last moment tomorrow, he decided to come and scout them out in advance.

So today he had driven out to the seaside with Li Panghu and Wang Congming to take a look around — and had unexpectedly run into Wei Zhao.

Xie Yufeng had brought some barbecue supplies today as well. He meant to practice with Li Panghu and Wang Congming — a chance to drill his own grilling skills.

So, after returning from Wei Zhao's side, the three of them sat down on the ground and prepared to start their barbecue.

Wei Zhao glanced at Xie Yufeng and the others, and paid them no mind.

After resting a while, the five of them were about to leave when Wei Zhao spotted someone he had not expected.

Chen Xi — the girl he and Feng Xiaoxiao had met at the beef noodle shop. At that moment she was with an old man, hauling sacks and picking up trash along the beach.

This stretch of shore was crowded with people who had driven out to barbecue and picnic; empty beer bottles and drink bottles were tossed down wherever they stood. Some rich folk even abandoned their lamb-skewer iron picks and grills right there on the sand and simply walked off.

So on every holiday and weekend, scavenging here brought a decent haul.

Today Chen Xi had plainly done well — one could tell from the flush on her face. She was happy.

Yet Wei Zhao's gaze fell upon the old man beside Chen Xi.

A master of the internal school at the peak of the late Mystic rank?

Wei Zhao's eyes nearly popped out of his head! A master of the internal school at the peak of the late Mystic rank, out here collecting junk? What was with this world — strange sights at every turn?

Wei Zhao had meant to rise and go greet Chen Xi, but the appearance of this old man made him abandon the idea.