Chapter 2030 — A Good Plan

True, the materials were now in Wei Zhao's hands, but wouldn't robbing Wei Zhao amount to robbing Bai Lingtou? That was something You Panhu would never dare do unless he wanted to ruin himself for good! Everyone knew the men of the Xuandan Sect occasionally came to exchange views on alchemical arts with Bai Lingtou—You Panhu simply did not have the nerve.

"What's this? Deflated already? Just this morning you were going on about how alchemists and cultivators alike are nothing but clouds before Bai Lingtou, and how the You family's finest were at your beck and call to impress me?" Wei Zhao looked at You Panhu with a cold smile.

"Damn it, so you won't hand it over—fine, I was only joking!" You Panhu waved his hand and snorted. "You Wei Zhao aren't scared of a few words either. You think I'd believe you'd get frightened just because someone talks?"

"Since you don't believe it, then please, be on your way. I have no time to waste on you!" With that, Wei Zhao strode off, the materials in hand.

Watching Wei Zhao's receding back, You Panhu ground his teeth in fury. "What's with the swagger? Who does he think he is! So he happened to save Bai Lingtou once by some freak accident—does getting his hands on a few trinkets make him think he can fly to heaven?"

Still, You Panhu was plainly the type to call the grapes sour when he could not reach them. He glanced at Bai Lingtou's office, hesitated a moment, and in the end did not knock. Instead he turned and followed Wei Zhao out of the Biology Department's faculty building...

You Panhu was unwilling to let it go. He was desperate to know what those materials in Wei Zhao's hands actually were, but Wei Zhao was clearly no fool and would not show them to him for nothing. So You Panhu began to wonder—could he find something of value to trade with Wei Zhao?

After all, the whole point of his coming here to study was to learn something from Bai Lingtou. Now that Wei Zhao had gotten hold of it, it seemed worth paying some price to obtain the materials from Wei Zhao in exchange.

The only question was how to tempt Wei Zhao. You Panhu hesitated, then decided he would discuss it with his family when he had the chance, to see what might best be used to trade with Wei Zhao—and if all else failed, buying it with money would do.

But robbery was out of the question. Had Bai Lingtou not given those things to Wei Zhao, You Panhu might well have simply taken them by force—but now that was certainly impossible.

As long as he dared not make trouble here under Bai Lingtou's nose, Wei Zhao had nothing to fear from him. Even if the materials were ordinary street-stall goods, Wei Zhao had no intention of showing them to him—he would deliberately needle the man.

What Wei Zhao never expected was that You Panhu had genuinely taken the things in his hands for treasures and was preparing to trade favors or buy them with money... Had Wei Zhao known, he likely would have laughed and cried at once over his own lucky blunder...

On his way back to the dormitory, Wei Zhao stopped by the cafeteria and bought a boxed meal. The mealtime rush had long passed, but boxed meals were sold there right up until evening.

Back at the dormitory, Bai Weituo saw Wei Zhao and said, "Brother Lin, my grandfather was looking for you..."

"It was nothing—he gave me some materials. Want to take a look?" Wei Zhao raised the things in his hand.

"No thanks. I can't make heads or tails of that stuff." Bai Weituo apparently already knew what Wei Zhao was carrying and seemed to have not the slightest desire for it—a world apart from You Panhu.

"How's Zhang Duopan doing? Hasn't he given you any trouble?" Wei Zhao asked.

"None. But last night was a real trap—the meal itself didn't cost much, but in the end he bought a cup, and it bled him dry!" Bai Weituo found the whole thing funny just recalling it. "The funniest part is, in front of He Meiyue the guy just had to play the big shot, swallowing his broken teeth into his belly..."

"Ha..." Wei Zhao laughed, opened his boxed meal, and ate quickly...

Zhang Duopan truly had no mind to give Bai Weituo any trouble—he had troubles enough of his own!

After scraping together for ages without managing to collect Cheng Yiyi's performance fee, Zhang Duopan had no choice but to call his old man, Zhang Jufeng.

"Hello? Son, how'd it go—was the show a success? Did you win your little girlfriend's heart? Did you take her to a hotel last night? If she gets pregnant, you tell me straight away—your grandfather is waiting on you to carry on our family line!" Zhang Jufeng was a man obsessed with continuing the family line, a firm believer that of the three unfilial acts, having no heir was the worst. His own father longed for a great-grandson, so the moment Zhang Duopan entered university, Zhang Jufeng had started scheming about it—otherwise he would never have helped his son act the fool and even brought in a celebrity just to chase down a girl!

"Don't even mention it, Dad. Yesterday they brought out Xu Shilan, and I lost outright!" Zhang Duopan smiled bitterly. "Your son's grand plan to woo the girl is going to run aground!"

"What? Then you're just going to give up on that Meiyue girl? Damn it, you little brat, what do you think you're doing? Your grandfather is waiting for you to produce a great-grandson, and now you can't even land a girlfriend—how am I supposed to report back?" Zhang Jufeng fumed. "What the hell did you have to go making a bet for? Now look where it's gotten you!"

"Uh... no, actually, your son turned the whole thing around by his wit and cleverness—that bet is effectively void..." Hearing his father's words, Zhang Duopan thought to himself that this was a golden opportunity: handled well, and the money would come rolling in. So he hastily explained to Zhang Jufeng how he had turned the situation around yesterday.

"Not bad, that's my boy. So it's all square now—what's your next move?" Zhang Jufeng nodded in satisfaction.

"Dad, it's this treating-people-to-dinner thing—I spent quite a bit, and who knew that hotel was such a rip-off? A single cup for five thousand yuan, I swiped my card and didn't even have enough left to pay Cheng Yiyi..." Zhang Duopan said cautiously.

"Oh, Cheng Yiyi's fee I've already settled for you, don't worry about it. You did right to treat them—otherwise you'd never have had the chance to turn things around." Zhang Jufeng did not blame Zhang Duopan. "But your opponent is a cunning one—you'd best be careful!"

"Don't worry, Dad. This weekend I'm planning to take them to the Tiger Park for some fun—that's the one Uncle Su opened in Donghai—and use the chance to build things up with He Meiyue!" Zhang Duopan said. "I'll go with Fan Ganhe and we'll think up some good tricks to make that Bai Weituo look bad and get He Meiyue to look down on him!"

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