Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Nianzhi quietly looked at the online record from Christie’s auctions and kept rubbing her phone’s screen. She really wanted to know who the anonymous buyer was. How did this pink diamond crown end up on Tan Guiren’s head? Zhao Liangze taught her internet skills and also the regulations for hackers and red hat hackers. They valued national interests above all, so they couldn’t disregard the law just because they were skilled hackers. She also couldn’t use the knowledge he had taught her to commit crimes for her own interests.
Gu Nianzhi had always been obedient, but this time she couldn’t help it. She thought about how badly she wanted to learn the identity of the anonymous buyer, but not because she wanted to harm the interests of Christie’s auctions. Gu Nianzhi knew that “anonymous” only applied to public disclosure. There was no way to remain anonymous to the auction house. Also, auction houses greatly valued buyer privacy, so if the buyer was unwilling to disclose their identity, they would never publish it on their behalf. So in order to find out who the anonymous buyer was, she had no choice but to hack into Christie’s website and infiltrate their internal system.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t have any tools on hand aside from her phone, but that was enough. As long as Christie’s website didn’t have powerful security like the German Federal Intelligence Service, she could break into the external programs. Sitting alone on the L-shaped couch behind the plants, Gu Nianzhi was completely focused on her phone. In the eyes of the other guests, she looked like a wallflower no one wanted to talk to.
Gu Yanran took the opportunity to come out and take a look when Tan Guiren went inside to change. She saw that He Zhichu was gone, and Gu Nianzhi was sitting alone on an L-shaped couch behind the plants as she played on her phone. Her lonely back was enough to make Gu Yanran beam like a blooming flower. She hadn’t seen Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng’s interactions by the lily wall earlier, and no one mentioned anything to her, either, so she didn’t have a sliver of a doubt that they had truly broken up.
Of course, Gu Nianzhi didn’t have the spare time to think about such silly things. In her heart, she had really broken up with Huo Shaoheng, and now he was in the process of trying to pursue her again. It was up to her whether or not she accepted him, so she didn’t care about what other people thought, nor was it any of their business!
Gu Nianzhi’s fingers continued to fly over the phone’s screen as she entered in strings of commands to bypass one firewall after another. She cracked passwords one by one, and after ten minutes, she had finally cracked into Christie’s auction’s intranet system and gained access to their backend programs.
After getting inside the backend, it meant she had access to all of Christie’s trade secrets. However, Gu Nianzhi remembered what Zhao Liangze told her, so she didn’t look into any of Christie’s other information. She only wanted to find out who had purchased Catherine the Great’s pink diamond crown for the incredibly high price of 70 million US dollars 18 years ago.
Widening her eyes, she concentrated on looking through the records in Christie’s online backend. Soon after, she found the unannounced buyer. His English name was Kevin Ku. Gu Nianzhi’s hands couldn’t stop shaking. Wasn’t that the name of her comatose father, Gu Xiangwen?! After carefully checking, there was no other information on the website proving that this Kevin Ku was Gu Xiangwen. The name was so common, after all, and there were bound to be other people with the same name. She continued reading, and she ended up seeing that there was an additional note on the purchase record saying that the buyer asked Christie’s auction house to use the best diamond engraver to engrave, “To Cereus, my little darling” inside the pink diamond crown.
When she had gone to Barbados, hadn’t those people told her that Cereus was the name of the Gu’s youngest daughter, Gu Nianzhi?! As a result, she began using Cereus as her English name after that. If she had only seen Kevin Ku’s name earlier, she could have guessed that it might be a duplicate name. But now that she saw someone named Kevin Ku had purchased a pink diamond crown for his daughter, Cereus, she was completely certain. What were the odds that aside from her and Gu Xiangwen, there was another father named Kevin Ku with a daughter also named Cereus?! It was practically impossible. So this pink diamond crown had been purchased by her father, Gu Xiangwen, from Christie’s auctions 18 years ago. From the purchase date, it must’ve been meant for his daughter’s first birthday present.
Gu Nianzhi carefully looked at the record and reread each word several times. The unnamed emptiness in her heart seemed to slowly fill. She had no memories of her parents, but in that moment, she suddenly experienced the pure and deep love from her parents. They must’ve been using all their means to give their beloved daughter the very best things. Gu Nianzhi stroked the words, “To Cereus, my little darling” on her phone’s screen, and tears slowly pooled in her eyes. “Dad… Mom…” She called out softly and no longer felt foreign and distant with those names.
Looking up, she took a deep breath and turned around to look back at the giant photo wall. Gu Nianzhi now believed that Gu Xiangwen must be her biological father. There was no other possibility. As to why the comatose “Gu Xiangwen” they had used all that effort to rescue in Barbados… His DNA didn’t match with Gu Nianzhi’s, but it did match Gu Yanran’s, which only proved that he was Gu Yanran’s biological father. It didn’t prove he was Gu Xiangwen.
Also, Gu Yanran used something that belonged to Gu Nianzhi to curry favor. This was something her parents left for her, and it was easy to prove. As soon as they looked at the serial number inside the pink diamond crown, they could see whether or not there was also the engraving. Gu Nianzhi sat on the couch as she contemplated.
Ma Qiqi came over and asked curiously, “Nianzhi? Are you hungry? Why do you keep playing on your phone?”
Gu Nianzhi looked up to glance at Ma Qiqi and gave a small smile. “I’m not hungry.” At that moment, hearty applause erupted from behind them. They both looked back. In the spacious hall, a pathway had been made in the middle of the packed crowd. As Tan Guiren walked down the winding staircase from the second floor, she wore the pink diamond crown and a pink princess gown. She smiled and waved at everyone. Prime Minister Tan wore a black tuxedo and stood energetically behind Tan Guiren. He wore gold-rimmed glasses on his pale face, appearing very gentlemanly. Gu Yanran wore a simple and sleek black Givenchy evening gown. She stood beside Prime Minister Tan and was the portrait of gentleness and elegance. She was very alluring. They stood like parents behind Tan Gurien.
However, Gu Nianzhi’s eyes were completely drawn to the pink diamond crown on Tan Guiren’s head. She had only seen photos before and was unable to look away, but now that she saw the real thing, her full attention was glued to the pink diamond crown. That was hers… A voice in the deepest recesses of her heart kept screaming, unwilling to let her escape again. She now fully believed that Gu Xiangwen was her biological father. What Gu Yanran said about her being the biological daughter and Gu Nianzhi being adopted was untrue. Gu Nianzhi couldn’t think of any reason why a father would spend a jaw dropping amount of money to purchase a rare treasure for his one-year-old adopted daughter. She must be her father’s biological daughter, and her father must love her mother very deeply. That’s why he also treasured their baby.
