"All right." Sun Jingyan smiled faintly. She had no objection to keeping in touch with Feng Xiaoxiao either — the point was that it would let her learn more about Wei Zhao! Sun Jingyan felt that she had seriously underestimated this man; he was not nearly as simple as he appeared.

"Do think about my suggestion! I don't have much time left!" Feng Xiaoxiao said, a little anxiously.

"Not much time left?" Sun Jingyan was startled.

Wei Zhao, sitting in the back seat, snapped his eyes open.

"Ha, right — I'm a senior in high school now. For all I know I'll be off to another city for college, and then I won't get to see you often!" Feng Xiaoxiao realized she had let slip more than she meant, but she was quick on her feet and had steered the conversation back in a single beat.

"Oh, college, hehe — but I'm afraid I can't accept your suggestion just yet." Sun Jingyan apologized with a shrug. She was a poised and forthright person by nature; even on this subject she did not grow flustered.

If Wei Zhao could move Sun Jingyan deeply enough, then Feng Xiaoxiao's suggestion was not something she could never accept — only now was not the time.

Wei Zhao closed his eyes again. He knew Feng Xiaoxiao had let the truth slip, though she had covered for it in time; anyone ignorant of the real story would truly be taken in by her. Wei Zhao sighed softly. Feng Xiaoxiao's suggestion tempted him greatly, yet he still had no way to help her make it come true.

If Feng Xiaoxiao could go on living, perhaps such a day would come; but by the clock there was no time left at all. And Wei Zhao was a man of fierce principle — he would not push Tang Yun into anything. The particular nature of his profession destined him never to become one of those creatures who think with their loins.

This time the car did not stop by the snack street behind the school, but pulled up directly at the gate of No. 1 High School.

"Goodbye, Sister Jingyi — remember to text me!" Feng Xiaoxiao and Sun Jingyan had bonded easily, and now they were taking their leave with obvious reluctance.

Wei Zhao saw that making friends would always be easy for Feng Xiaoxiao; her character was irrepressibly vivacious, and she won people's approval without the least effort.

"All right." Sun Jingyan nodded, then turned to Wei Zhao and warned him with some concern: "Wu Chengtian won't let this drop so easily this time. I'm afraid he'll come after you!"

"Heh, let him — I'm not afraid of him." Wei Zhao shrugged, wholly unperturbed.

"Don't underestimate him. Wu Chengtian may look like a fool, but he is a man of a great clan after all, and you know what the power of a great clan means... By the way, didn't Wu Chengtian say before that you met at an auction in Yanjing?" Sun Jingyan had meant to explain to Wei Zhao just how vast and formidable the great clans were, but it suddenly struck her that Wu Chengtian had claimed he, Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao had met at an auction in Yanjing!

She had found it odd at the time — wasn't that auction the very one the Yu family had held a while back? Sun Jingyan came from the great Sun clan, so naturally she knew about the auction. She had not attended it herself, but she knew that everyone present was either rich or noble: apart from members of the great clans, every seat was held by someone with real ability and real backing!

Yet what were Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao that they could attend? Sun Jingyan had been curious enough to ask, but with Wu Chengtian on hand she had held her tongue; recalling it now, she naturally felt a measure of doubt.

"I went with a friend." Wei Zhao smiled and answered lightly. He had told Sun Jingyan little about his own company — after all, the two of them were not yet that close!

To put it bluntly, the impression Sun Jingyan first gave Wei Zhao was of someone only slightly more familiar than a stranger off the street — she did not even come close to Wang Xinyan. Wei Zhao felt his bond with Wang Xinyan was the nearer one: she was the first girl he had come to know after arriving in Songshan City, she was kind-hearted, and, as matters stood, he liked her more than he liked Sun Jingyan.

Wang Xinyan's dealings with Wei Zhao were untainted by any self-interest; it was altogether one-sided giving. Back on the train, when she had warned Wei Zhao about a swindler, she had never once thought of asking anything in return. Sun Jingyan was different.

The first time Sun Jingyan met Wei Zhao her purpose had been sharp and clear: she wanted him to pose as her boyfriend and drive Wu Chengtian off. Things continued in the same vein afterward — she "hired" Wei Zhao to help steal a competitor's surveillance footage, and the reward that came back to her was to become Wei Zhao's paramour, or at least half of one.

For a woman like Sun Jingyan, who loved her little schemes, Wei Zhao had always kept a polite distance. True, she was good-looking, but while he appreciated beauty he was not about to throw himself in along with it!

Today's contact, however, had altered Wei Zhao's impression of her somewhat. Sun Jingyan was not the clingy sort he had imagined. Looking back, everything she had asked his help with was something she could never have managed on her own, no matter what; she had turned to him only in desperation. And in the time since, she had not telephoned to trouble him again.

This made Wei Zhao think that Sun Jingyan was not a bad person — though she had initially seemed to have designs on using him, she had never treated him like a fool to be squeezed without end.

"Aha!" Sun Jingyan glanced at Feng Xiaoxiao, who was already out of the car, then leaned in with a playful laugh and lowered her voice: "I thought you'd taken a fancy to something at the auction and meant to swipe it..."

"Heh..." Wei Zhao shrugged: "As it happens, I'm no master thief — I only moonlight now and then."

"Then what's your real trade? A student?" Sun Jingyan asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Mm." Sun Jingyan nodded.

"Murder and arson," Wei Zhao said evenly.

"Huh?" Sun Jingyan stared, but she frowned at once: "If you won't say, then don't say — lying again. Murder and arson — isn't that just a master thief?"

"Hehe..." Wei Zhao offered no further explanation: "So you needn't worry about what Wu Chengtian might do to me. Push me too far, and I'll go to his house and commit murder and arson."

"..." Sun Jingyan was quite speechless. Seeing Wei Zhao so utterly indifferent, she genuinely did not know what to say, and could only manage: "Then take care of yourself."

Wei Zhao nodded, pushed open the door and got out of the car, hurrying after Feng Xiaoxiao.

Feng Xiaoxiao had been wondering why Wei Zhao took so long to get out; seeing him come down only now, she asked, puzzled: "Why just now?"

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