Chapter 709 — Let Him Fend for Himself

But when Li Dilei lowered his head to look, he was suddenly confronted with the sight of silver needles studding his own body! Needle after needle, glittering under the lights of the western restaurant's main hall, cold and terrifying to behold.

These needles — in his own flesh? Li Dilei's face drained of color. He had no idea what technique Wei Zhao had used, but he was no fool; he knew it was no ordinary move, and certainly not some joke at his expense.

The methods Wei Zhao had used on his men had looked far more vicious than this. So how could the treatment meted out to him be gentler than what his underlings got? Clearly impossible — which meant he simply did not understand what Wei Zhao's move was meant to do.

"You... what did you do to me? What are these needles for?" Li Dilei raised his hands in terror as he asked, for there was a silver needle driven into each of them as well.

"Pull them out and you'll find out." Wei Zhao spoke flatly. "Though you'd best not. Hurry up and call your cousin."

"This..." Had Wei Zhao said nothing, Li Dilei would truly have pulled the needles out. But now that Wei Zhao had spoken, he did not dare. Wei Zhao made it sound so frightening — who knew what terrible consequences it might bring?

Having said his piece, Wei Zhao had no interest in whether Li Dilei pulled the needles or not. He turned to Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Yun. "Let's go. We'll find another place — we're not eating here."

Li Dilei could only smile bitterly now. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined things would end like this, and he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Wei Zhao, Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Yun walked away. But Shen Yushu seemed reluctant to leave; she turned back and studied the needles on Li Dilei with open curiosity. "Brother Arrow, what are those things, really? Can I pull one out and see?"

"Don't. Pull one out and he'll be dead in no time," Wei Zhao said.

"Oh, I see. Then never mind — I don't want to kill anyone." Shen Yushu shook her head. "Let him fend for himself, then."

Li Dilei broke out in a sweat. If the needles came out, would he really die? He did not know — but at this moment Shen Yushu's words had nearly choked him to death with rage.

The four of them left the Chaoxuan Lovers' Western Restaurant. Seeing that Shen Yushu was still waving her arms about, excited and eager to say something, Gu Mengyao quickly steered her aside. "Xiaoshu, get in the car first!"

"Oh..." Shen Yushu nodded and got into the car first.

Only then did Gu Mengyao turn to Tang Yun. "I'm sorry, Tang Yun. I meant to treat you to a meal, and it turned out like this... Xiaoshu is just like that, always stirring up trouble. Don't take it to heart — you'll get used to her."

Tang Yun had not expected Gu Mengyao to explain herself to her. She was slightly taken aback. Was this the proud young heiress Gu Mengyao? It did not seem so. Or was Gu Mengyao, in truth, easy to approach?

Tang Yun shook her head. "It's nothing. No one wants to run into something like this. If anything, that restaurant was out of line."

Seeing that Tang Yun was not upset, Gu Mengyao breathed a sigh of relief. She really had come today to thank Tang Yun. Whatever conflicts or rivalry had existed between them before, today Gu Mengyao had sincerely wanted to treat her to a meal. She had feared Tang Yun might think Shen Yushu had deliberately brought her to a place like this just to make a mess of things.

"Running into this Li Dilei is actually a good thing. I've been wanting to test Li Cihua." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "Let's get in the car."

Neither Gu Mengyao nor Tang Yun quite understood. Why would meeting Li Dilei be a good thing? But since Wei Zhao had not explained, they did not ask. Gu Mengyao did not want Tang Yun to think less of her — as if she would use her position as employer to pry into Wei Zhao's ** at any moment.

Tang Yun felt much the same. She did not want Gu Mengyao to think she had to stick her nose into everything, leaving Wei Zhao not a shred of privacy.

Once in the car, Gu Mengyao asked Shen Yushu, "Xiaoshu, let's go somewhere else. No more places like this one. Where did you hear about this restaurant, anyway?"

"I read about it... it said the place was really nice and romantic, and there was also... uh, nothing, I just wanted to see what it was like..." Shen Yushu had nearly let it slip — the adult toys — and shut her mouth in a hurry.

"There's nothing worth seeing. Don't believe that kind of advertising from now on." Gu Mengyao's impression of the restaurant was thoroughly bad, and she resolved never to come again.

"Oh... I know another one..." Shen Yushu had barely started speaking when Gu Mengyao cut her off.

"That's enough. Let's go to my family's hotel..." Gu Mengyao did not want any more mishaps. Their own hotel would be more reassuring.

Hearing this, Tang Yun's heart gave a lurch... The gap between her and Gu Mengyao really was enormous! Her family even ran hotels, while hers did not even own a house... This was the one thing that made Tang Yun feel inferior in front of Wei Zhao. In looks, she was no worse than Gu Mengyao or Shen Yushu, but if it came to the best choice for Wei Zhao, it would have to be Gu Mengyao or Shen Yushu... And that Shen Yushu seemed bent on a buy-one-get-one deal, angling to be the concubine! Tang Yun felt a headache coming on.

Wei Zhao, of course, had no idea Tang Yun was thinking so much. He drove to the Pengzhan Grand Hotel. Gu Pengzhan had once held a family banquet here, and Wei Zhao had attended. Gu Pengzhan had originally intended to hold such a gathering every week, but after the incident with the falling chandelier, the plan had been shelved.

Today was Wei Zhao's second visit to the Pengzhan Grand Hotel. The place was bustling, with no fewer cars out front than at Starlight Splendor. But the cars here leaned toward business — all luxurious, to be sure, but sports cars were few and far between. It seemed Gu Pengzhan's hotel catered to formal business negotiations and conferences, whereas Starlight Splendor leaned toward entertainment, drawing more of the idle rich.

Wei Zhao drove into the parking lot, where a security guard directed him to park properly.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu rarely showed their faces here. Even when they occasionally dined with Gu Pengzhan, they rode in Uncle Qing's car straight into the internal parking lot and went up through the staff passage. So the valets at the gate did not know the young heiress.

Gu Mengyao did not put on any airs either. She entered the hotel lobby quietly with Wei Zhao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Yun, secured a private room without a hitch, and the four of them went upstairs.

Tang Yun found it rather strange. Did none of the staff here recognize Gu Mengyao? Apparently not.