Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Huo Shaoheng hung up and didn’t bother Gu Nianzhi again. He was also very busy with work, so he had to make time every time he contacted her. However, Gu Nianzhi was always studying or sleeping, so she didn’t take his calls often. Before he knew it, two weeks had passed, and he hadn’t even seen her once. Huo Shaoheng turned off the computer and wanted to check on the day’s work schedule, but he found himself distracted. His eyes kept instinctively drifting over to his phone, but finally, he held himself back. However, staying up was still a bad habit, and he was going to see her at the Prime Minister’s official residence tonight anyway, so he would remind her then.
…
Gu Nianzhi slept very well during the day because she had stayed up all night. By noon, He Zhichu had called her, and then Ma Qiqi also called when Gu Nianzhi didn’t pick up. Ma Qiqi told him that Gu Nianzhi had stayed up all night and only went to bed in the morning. After setting down the phone, He Zhichu immediately drove out to a nearby restaurant to order take out and deliver it to their dorm. When he arrived at Gu Nianzhi’s dorm building, it was already past 4pm. He Zhichu called Gu Nianzhi once again, and this time, she picked up. Her voice still sounded groggy from just waking up as she sat on the bed and rubbed her eyes. “Professor He, what is it?”
He Zhichu replied dryly, “I have some soup for you. Do you want to come downstairs to get it?”
“Soup?!” Gu Nianzhi immediately felt hungry because she had slept all day and hadn’t eaten anything at all. “I’ll come down right now. Thank you, Professor He!” Gu Nianzhi happily dressed to go downstairs and saw He Zhichu wearing a plain-colored suit with a light blue tie. He stood handsomely in front of the dorm building, and many girls snuck glances at him. However, he didn’t appear irritated at all. Gu Nianzhi walked out with a smile and waved to him. “Thank you, Professor He!”
He Zhichu passed an insulated lunch box with hot food and soup to her. “Eat it while it’s hot.” He then asked, “There’s a birthday party at the Prime Minister’s official residence tonight. Do you want to go?” He asked casually, like he could take her there at any time if Gu Nianzhi wanted to go.
Gu Nianzhi quickly asked, “You got an invitation, too?”
“Yeah, Gu Yanran gave me one.” He Zhichu heard her say, “too,” so he asked, “Could you have gotten an invitation as well?”
“Yeah, Gu Yanran also gave me one. She even personally came to do it so I could see her gloat.” Gu Nianzhi was a bit helpless. “That arrogance is hard to imagine.”
He Zhichu smiled. “People like that are short sighted. It’s fine if you don’t want to consider her your sister.”
“Huh? That won’t do.” Gu Nianzhi shook her head and said seriously, “It’s not about whether I consider her my sister or not. Since we are both daughters of the Gu family, I won’t abandon my identity, even if I dislike her. Like you said, I am Gu Xiangwen’s daughter from a legal perspective. What’s wrong with that? Why do I need to avoid her like the plague? Does she even deserve that?”
“That’s good.” He Zhichu patted her head. “So do you want to go to the Prime Minister’s official residence tonight?”
“I’ll go. Why shouldn’t I? She’s trying so hard to make me go, so wouldn’t I be wasting her carefully planned hard work if I don’t?” Gu Nianzhi saw that all the people she knew seemed to have been invited, so she understood what Gu Yanran was plotting. However, she wasn’t scared of Gu Yanran at all. She didn’t want to deal with her before only because she didn’t want the hassle. But if Gu Yanran insisted on giving her trouble, then Gu Nianzhi wasn’t going to back off. It was always the same thing. She would never start drama but was certainly not afraid of it. If someone was going to mess with her, she would be sure to make the other person walk the other way if they ever saw her again. They wouldn’t dare to mess with her again.
He Zhichu nodded. “Don’t be scared. I’ll be going tonight, too.” He would keep an eye on Gu Yanran and wouldn’t forgive her if he were to find out that she had anything to do with those dirty tricks.
…
Gu Nianzhi took the lunch box back to the dorm and happened to see Ma Qiqi walking out of her room. “Wow! What smells so good?” Ma Qiqi couldn’t budge as soon as she saw good food. Gu Nianzhi opened the lunch box and saw a large bowl of lotus root braised spareribs, as well as a small container of sea cucumber millet porridge, a box of sea cucumber steamed eggs, and a bowl of chicken and sea cucumber. “This is a sea cucumber feast!” Ma Qiq’s eyes glittered as she giggled. “Professor He prepared this for you? He must’ve known you stayed up too late last night, so all these sea cucumber dishes are for nourishment. It’s especially good for people who stay up a lot.”
“Here, come eat with me.” Gu Nianzhi brought out tableware and also served Ma Qiqi a bowl of soup. The two girls began to eat the food He Zhichu bought. It went without saying that He Zhichu knew Gu Nianzhi very well, so he bought enough food for two people to share. He already knew Gu Nianzhi would eat with Ma Qiqi. There wasn’t actually that much food, and it tasted especially delicious and fresh since the sea cucumber was perfectly cooked without turning rubbery. It melted in their mouths but wasn’t too soft to not be chewy at all. Also, they could tell the food had only been lightly salted and didn’t have any seasoning like chicken or mushroom extracts, so these were all natural flavors from the food itself. After completely finishing the food, Ma Qiqi laid on the couch and rubbed her stomach. “I think I’m stuffed. Why do we still need to go to some birthday party? There’s no way I can eat anymore…”
Gu Nianzhi snickered as she pointed at Ma Qiqi. “Silly, you’re overthinking it. You think there will be a proper dinner at the birthday party? It’ll be all drinks, fruit, and some buffet food. It’s never any good, and guests don’t go for the food, anyway. It’s for social exchange, get it?”
“Nope.” Ma Qiqi shook her head honestly. “I said I don’t want to go…”
“Then we won’t go.” Gu Nianzhi said deliberately, “We’ll just be wallflowers if we go, anyway. I don’t know many people there.”
Ma Qiqi thought about it and mused, “Then let’s go anyway. I’ve never been to an event like that, so I can brag about it for a year if I just go one time.”
Gu Nianzhi got a stomach cramp from laughing and laid on the floor for a while before going back to her room to shower and change. When it was past 7pm, the sky was already dark, and the streetlights outside the dorm began to light up one by one to overpower the sunset’s glow. Gu Nianzhi wore a pantsuit and a lavender wool top with puffy sleeves. There was a mid-century, multi-layered scarf detail and loose collar, but the top slimmed down at her waist to accentuate her bust and taper her waist. Her long, straight legs were clad in a pair of gray, skinny wool trousers. The leg was completely straight, and she appeared especially professional when she tucked them into the mid-height boots reaching her calf. She didn’t really wear makeup and only swiped on a pearly pink lipstick to instantly brighten her face.
Ma Qiqi wore the newest Chanel Fall-Winter skirt suit in sky blue, and the skirt revealed just the top of her knee to show off her long legs. She wore Manolo Blahnik high heels in a matching color and paired it with a knee length coat. It was already late October, so the Imperial Capital was very cold at night. Yin Shixiong and Huo Shaoheng drove to Gu Nianzhi’s dorm to see Gu Nianzhi and Ma Qiqi already waiting by the door. Yin Shixiong waved happily to get them to come over. However, Ma Qiqi was the only one to run to the car while Gu Nianzhi went to another car.
Huo Shaoheng sat in the back, and his eyes were dark as he looked at the car ahead. He recognized the plate as He Zhichu’s car. “Your Professor He is going to the Prime Minister’s official residence for the birthday party, too?” Huo Saoheng asked Ma Qiqi calmly.
“Yes, Professor He also brought us dinner tonight. It was all sea cucumber and was so delicious!”
