Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“A fight? Why? How did she end up fighting? Did she get hurt?” Huo Shaoheng asked Zhao Linagze a string of questions. He finally paused then asked as an afterthought, “Did she win?”
Zhao Liangze sighed. How was he supposed to answer that?
“I was just asking.” Upon seeing Zhao Liangze’s face, Huo Shaoheng stopped asking and stood up from his seat. He put on his coat. “Let’s go and see what happened.”
“It’s no rush.” Zhao Linagze struggled to compose himself; he had never been a smooth talker like Yin Shixiong. After experiencing a series of unexpected shocks, he stuttered, “Well… it’s not… it’s not anything major and she’s not seriously injured either. Just a bit of bruising.”
Huo Shaoheng continued walking to the door without stopping and replied calmly, “Who did she fight with? You haven’t told me yet.”
Zhao Liangze caught up with him. “Big Xiong already went to campus to deal with it. We received news that she had an argument with Miao Yunxiao, who was her original roommate. They haven’t gotten along since the first day and she, the roommate, was kicked out eventually.” Zhao Liangze read over Miao Yunxiao’s information, “Her aunt is Xu Piaohong’s mother, so she’s cousins with Xu Piaohong.”
“Is she standing up for her cousin? Does she not that know picking a fight won’t resolve the problems her cousing is having?”
“That our personnel isn’t sure of. They only know that the two girls fought in the dorm room and alerted campus police. Afterwards, their respective instructors and tutors were also notified.” Zhao Liangze looked down at the notice sent from B University, along with live photos. Of course, the images weren’t clear. After Gu Nianzhi turned 18, their personnel no longer watched over her 24 hours a day but only had colleagues nearby check on her when they heard something happened. They would then message Huo Shaoheng.
Glancing at the photos in Zhao Liangze’s hand, Huo Shaoheng could see that Gu Nianzhi didn’t seem seriously hurt. Her face was a little red and there seemed to be a bruise at the corner of her eyes, but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Gu Nianzhi had learned several military punches and holds from him and had good form, but because she was physically weak, the effects were average. Military martial arts required knocking out an enemy with one blow, but Gu Nianzhi could only make a moderately effective impact . However, she had no problem defending herself. Huo Shaoheng had been relieved when he heard that she had only fought with her fellow female post-grad student, Miao Yunxiao. His anxiety was gone but he was a little curious about what caused the altercation. He asked, “Why do you think Miao Yunxiao hit Nianzhi? And Nianzhi actually fought with her too?”
Zhao Liangze thought resignedly, Boss, you can’t side with her so obviously! Although both Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong were protective of Gu Nianzhi as well, they were much more discreet and knew how to fake a proper reaction to appear fair and impartial. But when it came to Huo Shaoheng, he seemed to naturally push all the blame onto the other person involved.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Huo Shaoheng looked back at him, “Nianzhi’s always had a good temper and her personality is soft. Unless she’s truly angry, she would never fight back.”
Zhao Liangze could only nod furiously, “Yes, yes, our Nianzhi is kind and generous, and she never picks fights. Last time she fought was when she beat a traitor. This time…maybe it’s another traitor?”
Huo Shaoheng smiled. “Miao Yunxiao is not a traitor I think, but…” Recalling Miao Yunxiao and Xu Piaohong’s relationship, something clicked in his mind.
“Could this have something to do with Xu Piaohong’s case?”
Zhao Liangze remembered how just before, when Yin Shixiong rushed to B University, he had told him that Xu Piaohong’s defense lawyer, Jin Wanyi, wished to settle with Gu Nianzhi outside of court.
“Mr. Huo, there’s something that Big Xiong mentioned before he left. He said that Xu Piaohong’s defense lawyer, Jin Wanyi, had personally mentioned to Nianzhi that she hoped that she would withdraw the charges and settle outside court,” Zhao Liangze informed him.
Huo Shaoheng stopped in his tracks and looked sharply at him “When was this? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It happened not long ago. Big Xiong already wrote it on the daily report. You probably didn’t get a chance to see it yet,” Zhao Liang said hastily; he was truly terrified by Huo Shaoheng’s look.
Huo Shaoheng looked at him a few moments longer and then closed his eyes before saying quietly, “We will refuse to settle outside of court.”
“Roger, Chief.” Zhao Liangze instantly noted it down and sent it to Yin Shixiong. The two men had just gotten out of the elevator of the office building when Huo Shaoheng received a call from General Ji’s personal secretary.
“Mr. Huo? Our soldiers in South America ran into some issues. Can you come over to discuss this?”
Huo Shaoheng’s expression darkened. “South America? Is this related to our Special Operations Forces?”
“It’s related to everyone, including your personnel and ones from other departments.” The personal secretary’s voice was anxious but he still forced himself to stay calm. It was obvious that the situation was very serious; they weren’t people who were flustered easily. It was usually impossible to tell that anything was amiss from their exterior. Only those familiar with them could detect something hidden in their tone and demeanor.
Zhao Liangze looked at Huo Shaoheng anxiously and mouthed to him, “Does this have to do with Nianzhi’s past?”
Huo Shaoheng considered it carefully and shook his head as he whispered back, “It shouldn’t be, the personnel going to investigate this in South America are on classified missions. No one from the military knows.”
“So, it’s soldiers from other departments from the military, and most of them are from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Zhao Liangze concluded. “Mr. Huo, what are you going to do? Are you going to the military headquarters or B University?”
Huo Shaoheng looked at his watched before asking, “What time is the meeting?”
The personal secretary on the other end was uncertain. “I think It’ll start when everyone is here, please come right away.”
“When everyone is there? How many people? How are they all coming there? If you don’t explain properly, can you really say that you’ve delivered a message for General Ji?” Huo Shaoheng didn’t hesitate to berate General Ji’s personal secretary. “I’m also very busy.”
The other man stayed quiet for a moment and chuckled nervously. “Mr. Huo, it’s a night on the weekend…” he trailed off, the underlying implication that Huo Shaoheng wasn’t busy, apparent.
Of course, Huo Shaoheng wouldn’t explain why he was busy on a weekend or say that the Special Ops had no concept of weekends or holidays. He countered, “Think about my question before calling me back.” He ended the call and said to Zhao Liangze, “We’re going to B University first.”
Zhao Liangze nodded and got into Huo Shaoheng’s car with him. They quickly drove to B University.
…
He Zhichu’s car sped through the streets from the airport and continued making shortcuts until he arrived to B University in the half the usual time. He went in through the south entrance. Instead of going to his residence in the professors’ building, he went straight to Gu Nianzhi’s dorm. His khaki trench coat flaring out from behind and a slim briefcase in one hand, he walked out of the car. As he did, he caught the attention of students passing through the female dorm building. They all recognized He Zhichu but didn’t dare greet him because he was notoriously stoic and usually ignored any greetings. Under the street lamps, his almond shaped eyes and unusually handsome face contrasted with his serious demeanor. Many adoring pairs of eyes were instantly shot down in silence. With a grim expression, He Zhichu strode into the building.
The older female resident advisor stopped him boldly but asked with trepidation, “May I ask who you’re looking for? All men entering the female dorm need to register first.” Of course, the post-grad dorm was not regulated as heavily as the undergraduate dorm, where no men could enter at all. They had to ask the resident advisor to call the girls and meet downstairs.
He Zhichu glanced at her and spat out, “I’m a professor here to see my student, who has been injured.”
An enthusiastic student piped up, “Resident Advisor, this is Professor He from our Faculty of Law. His student also lives in our building.”
“Oh I see. This way please Professor He.” The female resident advisor stared at He Zhichu as he walked inside the elevator before remembering that he hadn’t registered yet.
He Zhichu walked into the elevator and took out his phone to call Gu Nianzhi. Inside Gu Nianzhi’s dorm room, the campus police were still controlling the situation. Gu Nianzhi and Ma Qiqi sat on the couch in the room, while a tangled haired Miao Yunhao was at the other side of the living room. Two female campus police officers stood beside her because she kept glaring viciously at Gu Nianzhi. The officers were worried she would try to attack Gu Nianzhi.
