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Chapter 450: Chapter 450: Dinner Gathering
Gu Hongwei said, "Wenwen is also my friend. Anyone else in my shoes would help if they saw her being bullied."
Tong Yao nodded solemnly, "Indeed, they might step in to help too. But think about it, if I took twenty yuan from you, wouldn’t you hesitate before helping next time?"
"Many people have a sense of righteous bravery, but sometimes they have to bow their heads in the face of reality. I can’t just watch a brave heart get crushed before me."
After a moment of thought, Tong Yao added, "As for the matter of compensation, don’t mention it in front of Wenwen. She will feel guilty again."
Gu Hongwei nodded. Looking at Tong Yao’s petite face, he couldn’t resist asking, "What’s going on between you and Brother Chen?"
"It’s all because of his mother."
Tong Yao didn’t treat Gu Hongwei as an outsider and let out a few complaints since he asked.
"When I first married into their family, I thought Lin Fengying was an enlightened mother-in-law. I was overjoyed, thinking I had gotten a great deal. But soon she let me experience the truth ’time reveals the true heart’. After seeing Si Weimin, she changed completely, crying, making a ruckus, threatening suicide, and constantly trying to get me and Ahchen to divorce. She even made my dad sick enough to be hospitalized."
Gu Hongwei remained silent for a while, and for a rare occasion, spoke ill of Lin Fengying behind her back, "Aunt Lin acted differently at home than she did outside when she was young."
Simply put, she was two-faced.
Gu Hongwei and Si Boyi were good friends for a while when they were young. Gu Hongwei occasionally visited Si Boyi and once saw Lin Fengying beating him violently while cursing with foul language. That’s when he realized that appearances could be deceiving.
What you see in public is just the image people want to present."
Surprised that Gu Hongwei knew some of these inside stories, Tong Yao expressed relief, "Finally, I’ve found someone who understands. She has set up a persona as a widow raising three sons. Whenever Ahchen or Boyi resists her a little bit, she starts to cry and make a fuss. Outsiders feel sorry for her and think her children and daughter-in-law are unfilial, and that she has a hard life and her children should be more accommodating."
It’s a pity that Lin Fengying met her, and this persona of a hardworking widow is doomed to collapse."
During their conversation, they arrived at the place where they had parked their bikes. Tong Yao, with her long legs, sat on the saddle, propped up the bike with one leg, and motioned with her chin for Gu Hongwei to sit behind her.
"Get on quickly."
Although Gu Hongwei wasn’t fat, he was an adult male with a heavier physique. Fearing she wouldn’t be able to pedal the bike once he got on, Tong Yao pedaled the ground a couple of times to prepare her legs to push hard.
"..."
Gu Hongwei twitched at the corner of his mouth and cleared his throat awkwardly, "I think I should ride and have you as a passenger instead! I’m heavier, you might not be able to carry me."
"That works."
Tong Yao didn’t mind and directly handed the bike over to Gu Hongwei and herself got on the back.
Neither spoke during the ride. Gu Hongwei rode the bike steadily. It was a lot more comfortable sitting on the back than riding the bike herself. It was just that the weather was a bit cold and her ears hurt from the chill.
The store was empty at this moment. Deng Wenwen was standing at the entrance, anxiously looking out. From afar, she saw Gu Hongwei riding the bike with Tong Yao returning. She was overjoyed and ran out to welcome them.
"Sister Yaoyao, Hongwei, you’ve finally returned."
Gu Hongwei stopped the bike, Tong Yao jumped down. Seeing that Deng Wenwen’s eyes were red, she knew she had been crying.
Tong Yao joked, "Did you cry again while I was gone?"
Asked by Tong Yao, Deng Wenwen couldn’t help but blush, sniffling a bit.
"Sister Yaoyao, I was worried something happened to Hongwei. I’m glad you guys came back. What did the police say, do we have to pay a lot of money?"
Seeing Deng Wenwen, usually so cheerful, looking like this, Tong Yao couldn’t help but laugh, brushing her nose gently,
"It’s alright, don’t cry. We didn’t have to pay anything, the police lectured those guys for harassing you first and let us go."
Deng Wenwen’s eyes lit up, "Really?"
"Of course, it’s true." Tong Yao laughed, "Hurry and wipe your nose, don’t keep crying like a little kitten."
On hearing this, Deng Wenwen burst out laughing, quickly wiping her face, "Sister Yaoyao, you have no idea, I was so scared. I kept thinking, what if they hold us accountable! When I poured the boiling water on that guy, I didn’t go easy. He jumped all over the place."
After pouring boiling water, Deng Wenwen immediately regretted. At that moment, she just saw Gu Hongwei being at a disadvantage and got a bit anxious.
Thankfully, nothing major came out of it.
"Don’t scare yourself. It’s not a big deal."
Knowing that Deng Wenwen was really scared, Tong Yao didn’t lecture her. With this incident behind her, Deng Wenwen would be more careful if something similar happened again.
Gu Hongwei parked his bike at the entrance and followed Tong Yao and Deng Wenwen into the store.
Thinking that they had been caught up in a lot of troubles recently and hadn’t relaxed properly, Tong Yao said, "We’ve been so busy before the New Year that we didn’t get the chance to go out for a meal. I’ll treat everyone to late-night supper tonight. Let’s call Zhou Lei and the others and all go out together."
"Great!"
Being young and naturally fond of fun, Deng Wenwen was overjoyed at the thought of the get-together and all her bad mood disappeared.
Gu Hongwei was rather calm, "I’ll go call them after I get off work."
Seeing that they had no objections, Tong Yao called Tong Yaohui to let him know she would be late. Tong Yaohui asked about the location of the gathering, planning to pick Tong Yao up afterward.
Tong Yao had the phone on speaker, so Gu Hongwei heard and chimed in, "Uncle Tong, we can drop Tong Yao off after dinner. You don’t need to come."
"I appreciate it then."
Knowing that Gu Hongwei was a young man from Si Chen’s village who was reliable, Tong Yaohui wasn’t worried.
At the gathering that night, Zhou Lei brought his girlfriend Huang Mengxue.
Tong Yao specifically observed Deng Wenwen’s expression and saw that she seemed happy with no unpleasant emotions. This put her at ease.
It seemed Deng Wenwen had genuinely moved on from Zhou Lei.
There was a night market nearby that became bustling in the evening. Most of those dining here were students, with youthful faces coming and going. Tong Yao liked such a lively rhythm of life.
The group found a place to sit in a stir-fry restaurant. This restaurant was doing good business and was almost full. Like most people, Tong Yao thought that the good business here was probably due to the restaurant’s good food.
Indeed, not only was the taste good, but the prices were also very affordable.
Since everyone knew each other, there was no need for formalities. As soon as the food arrived, they all started to eat. In good spirits, Zhou Lei suggested having a little drink. Gu Hongwei declined as he still had to drive Tong Yao home.
Tong Yao felt that beer would make her feel bloated and didn’t want to drink either.
Deng Wenwen and Huang Mengxue drank a little to accompany Zhou Lei and one other staff member. The four of them didn’t drink much, only ordering four bottles of beer.
