Though Shen Yushu and Feng Xiaoxiao were singing, it was plain to see that the two of them were really locked in a contest. Whatever song Shen Yushu sang, Feng Xiaoxiao sang too, and then threw in one more besides; and Shen Yushu in turn went and sang the songs Feng Xiaoxiao had picked. The two of them were like a relay race, leaving Gu Mengyao not so much as a gap to squeeze into!

At last the pair of them were too worn out to sing another note, and only then did the group get ready to leave the KTV.

"I'll let you off today. Another day we'll fight three hundred rounds!" Feng Xiaoxiao said, glaring at Shen Yushu.

"Challenge accepted, any time. Standing in front of me — Singing Shu — you're so weak it's embarrassing!" Shen Yushu shot back.

Gu Mengyao and Tang Yun exchanged a glance and could not help but smile bitterly. Each took one of them, and between them they pulled Shen Yushu and Feng Xiaoxiao apart.

Wei Zhao settled the bill at the bar on the ground floor. He could easily have called Zou Tiandi, and Zou Tiandi would have been only too happy to comp him, but it was not much money and Wei Zhao had no wish to go to the trouble. He paid on the spot, then left the KTV with Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, Tang Yun and Feng Xiaoxiao.

Uncle Qing's car had not left; it was still parked at the KTV entrance. Clearly, though Uncle Qing had lost his strength, he was still a dutiful, conscientious driver.

"Yaoyao, Xiaoshu, you two take Uncle Qing's car home first. I'll see Yunyun and Xiaoxiao back," Wei Zhao said to the Eldest Miss.

"Mm." The Eldest Miss nodded. She wanted Wei Zhao home early, because she meant to ask him what was really going on with Feng Xiaoxiao; but the words came to her lips and would not come out, and she could only press her mouth shut and let it go.

Shen Yushu, though, was still glaring at Feng Xiaoxiao, cheeks puffed with anger. She had not yet settled the score with her!

Wei Zhao got into the Beetle with Tang Yun and Feng Xiaoxiao. He started the engine and asked, "Xiaoxiao, are you going back to the school to pick up your car, or shall I drive you home?"

"Drive me home, and come pick me up tomorrow morning, would you?" Feng Xiaoxiao looked at Wei Zhao imploringly.

"I have to pick up Tang Yun in the morning. Take a taxi." Wei Zhao said flatly.

"Oh, come on, can't you just pick me up on the way? I'm your little wife — you can't play favorites!" Feng Xiaoxiao had plainly long since cast herself as Wei Zhao's little wife; even Tang Yun had acknowledged it, which only made her bolder.

Ordinarily, if Feng Xiaoxiao had wheedled at Wei Zhao like that in front of Tang Yun, Tang Yun would certainly have been displeased; even if she said nothing, she would surely have felt wretched. But after learning of Feng Xiaoxiao's illness, her whole outlook had changed, and she even sincerely hoped that Feng Xiaoxiao might be happy in these last days.

So no matter what Feng Xiaoxiao did, Tang Yun kept a tolerant heart. She reminded herself constantly that she must truly accept Feng Xiaoxiao, must treat her as Wei Zhao's woman, as her own sister.

"Where's your home?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Not far from the school at all, very close, just up ahead on Ningshi Road," Feng Xiaoxiao said.

"Oh. Then tomorrow only — and not a precedent." Wei Zhao nodded and agreed. Ningshi Road really was not far; it was on the way.

"Wei Zhao, you're so good. I've decided to kiss you, as a reward!" Seeing Wei Zhao agree, Feng Xiaoxiao cried out in delight.

"Is that a reward, or are you just trying to take advantage of Wei Zhao?" Tang Yun said, looking at Feng Xiaoxiao with a half-smile.

"I... Sister Tang Yun, you're teasing me!" Feng Xiaoxiao's face flushed red at once. But after a moment's hesitation she said, very softly, "Sister Tang Yun, can you truly accept me, and not just out of spite? We're in a crisis right now. That Shen Yushu is cunning; the two of us should join hands, or we'll never beat her. She wants to be Wei Zhao's little wife too — if we keep fighting among ourselves, the enemy will slip straight through the gap!"

"This..." Tang Yun had in fact accepted Feng Xiaoxiao in her heart long ago, but just now, so that Feng Xiaoxiao would not see through her, she still pretended to hesitate, brooding over it a while before she said, "I'll try..."

"Heh heh, Sister Tang Yun, don't worry, I will absolutely defend your interests!" Feng Xiaoxiao thumped her chest in pledge. "I'm a person who gives credit and blame where they're due. Whoever treats me well, I'll remember it in my heart. I'll fight Shen Yushu to the bitter end!"

"Heh... Actually, Shen Yushu just likes to make a fuss. Between her and Wei Zhao, there's really nothing going on..." Tang Yun was on good terms with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, and in truth she did not much want Feng Xiaoxiao to make enemies of them.

"Hmm... then it all depends on their attitude!" Feng Xiaoxiao brandished a fist.

Wei Zhao drove on in front, pretending not to hear. To be honest, the hostility between Shen Yushu and Feng Xiaoxiao gave him a headache. It seemed he would have to make things clear with the Eldest Miss and Xiaoshu tonight; otherwise, with Xiaoshu there throwing sand in the gears, who knew what trouble might come of it.

He dropped Tang Yun off at the hospital first. Though it was very late, the hospital was still a bustle of people coming and going; the First People's Hospital ran around the clock, and plenty of people came at night to see a doctor, with ambulances pulling in and out. Wei Zhao was not worried about Tang Yun's safety.

Only after watching Tang Yun walk into the hospital and vanish from sight did Wei Zhao start the car, ready to drive Feng Xiaoxiao home.

And Feng Xiaoxiao now sat in the passenger seat. With Tang Yun out of the car, there was nothing left for her to feel awkward about.

Wei Zhao wanted to open his mouth and say something to Feng Xiaoxiao, but he did not know what to say. Honestly, it was not that he felt nothing for Feng Xiaoxiao — it was that he could not adapt to the shift in attitude. Before, he had approached Feng Xiaoxiao from a stance of caution; now his heart had changed, but his manner could not adjust all at once.

To treat Feng Xiaoxiao suddenly the same as he treated Tang Yun — that felt awkward to Wei Zhao, and he feared it would give him away.

Fortunately, most of the time when Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao were together, he was a man of few words anyway.

"Wei Zhao, has my father contacted you?" Feng Xiaoxiao spoke first; she too did not know what topic to open with.

All that afternoon, Feng Xiaoxiao had felt as though she were living in a dream. The thing she had striven for so long had actually come true all at once — she really was Wei Zhao's girlfriend? A little wife, yes, but the substance was the same, and so Feng Xiaoxiao did not care.

But it had all been too fast; Feng Xiaoxiao still could not quite get used to it. Tang Yun had fallen for her trick so easily? Feng Xiaoxiao had a feeling of unreality.