Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Although no one got out of the car, the beeping horn served as a warning.
Ye Xuan didn’t look around or know who the car belonged to, but he understood that it was not proper for him to be acting the way he was in front of a female dorm.
As he slowly let go of Gu Nianzhi’s arm, he frowned and icily said, “I was only observing my promise to Uncle Gu. Don’t think too much about it. With how you’re acting right now, you’re not my type at all.” After he spoke, he turned around to leave.
He passed by Huo Shaoheng’s car but didn’t look in since he didn’t recognize whose car it was.
Before looking toward Huo Shaoheng’s SUV, Gu Nianzhi waved her arms and cursed to herself, “Psycho!” Before long, Ye Xuan had walked far away and disappeared on the path.
Huo Shaoheng sat in the car until he received news from Special Operations Forces personnel telling him that Ye Xuan had left the B University campus.
He finally got out of the car. Leaning on the car door, he put both hands in his trouser pockets. He had a leisurely and subtle smile on his face as he squinted to study Gu Nianzhi, who was standing on the steps to the dorm.
Since she waited so long but no one got out of the car, Gu Nianzhi originally thought she had guessed wrong and that the person in the car wasn’t Huo Shaoheng.
Just as she was about to turn to leave, she saw the car door open. Huo Shaoheng strode out on his long legs.
She watched him stand in front of the car and shut the car door with the back of his hand. He leaned against the car door and nodded at her. Gu Nianzhi hesitated for a second before walking down the steps toward Huo Shaoheng. She looked up at him and said, “Huo Shao? Did you see it all? Ye Xuan came to find me.”
Huo Shaoheng grunted but didn’t tell her that he had sped all the way from the military base when he received news that Ye Xuan was spotted in B University. He only revealed a trace of a steady smile. “What did he want with you? Was it for Gu Yanran?”
Gu Nianzhi thought about it. The information Ye Xuan had told her was also important to Huo Shaoheng and his men. After all, it implicated Gu Xiangwen’s patents, especially the military ones.
She looked down to fish her phone out of a pocket. Once she retrieved it, she forwarded the Gu assets inventory from Ye Xuan to Huo Shaoheng and said, “This is what he gave me. I think you guys need it even more.”
Huo Shaoheng noticed his phone vibrate, so he took out his phone to check. His heart couldn’t help but pound. Swiping his fingers on the screen a few times, he was able to get the gist of the content. “He gave this to you? Is it believable?”
“It should be believable. I can’t think of a reason for him to mislead me in this regard.” Gu Nianzhi shrugged. “OK, is there anything else? I’m going to leave if we’re done.”
Huo Shaoheng put his phone away and asked, “That’s it? He only came to find you to give you this inventory?”
“Right.” Gu Nianzhi thought about it and decided to tell him about the photo. “He also gave me a photo of him as a child with my father. It was the first time I saw what my dad looks like.” Thinking about how Huo Shaoheng and his men were still investigating Gu Xiangwen’s whereabouts, Gu Nianzhi thought that she should give them the photo archive to assist them.
“Gu Xiangwen’s photo?” Huo Shaoheng stiffened. “Ye Xuan had Gu Xiangwen’s photo?” He and his men had used all their efforts throughout the world but had yet to find a single photo of Gu Xiangwen that had been published.
Gu Nianzhi opened the photo album on her phone to show Huo Shaoheng the one of Ye Xuan with Gu Xiangwen. Of course, she was too embarrassed to show Huo Shaoheng the one she photoshopped.
“Send it to me.” Huo Shaoheng straightened his back. His attitude became more cautious. Just as Gu Nianzhi had thought, this was an important clue.
“Ok.” Gu Nianzhi immediately forwarded the photo to Huo Shaoheng. She watched him stare unblinkingly at the photo and giddily commented, “Isn’t my dad handsome? I’ve never seen a more handsome man than him.”
Huo Shaoheng grunted, declining to give any comment. Even with Huo Shaoheng’s standards, he had no choice but to admit that Gu Xiangwen was indeed handsome. His type of eye-catching handsomeness was even more fetching than most other actors.
However, Huo Shaoheng’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. He looked through the photo album on his phone. He finally found the photo he had taken of the Gu family portrait while he was in the villa located on a small island in the Caribbean. He passed his phone to Gu Nianzhi. “Take a look, who is this?”
Gu Nianzhi leaned over to glance at Huo Shaoheng’s hand. Her pupils immediately constricted with one look. This photo was a family portrait of four people.
A gentle, elegant man and a demure woman sat in the middle. Standing next to them were two girls. The older was probably 16 or 17 years old while the younger one was about 11 years old.
The older girl was obviously Gu Yanran. She still looked about the same as she did then. The younger girl was clearly herself from seven years ago.
As for the demure woman sitting down, she had a round face and narrow eyes that were slanted and curved, as well as willowy brows. She somewhat resembled Gu Nianzhi’s appearance as a child.
Could this woman be her mom? Gu Nianzhi’s eyes instantly grew intent. The man sitting beside the woman was very elegant. Upon careful inspection, his expression slightly resembled Gu Nianzhi’s. It was like he was smiling even when he didn’t speak, making others feel like they were bathing in a pleasant spring breeze.
“Who is this man?” Gu Nianzhi curiously asked. “This woman, could she be my mother?”
Huo Shaoheng placed her phone next to his to compare the photos. He said, “I originally thought that the man in the photo was your father, Gu Xiangwen, and the woman was your mother, Grace.”
“Oh? How could that be? There’s no way this man is my dad. That man is my dad!” Gu Nianzhi confidently pointed to the handsome man in the photo with Ye Xuan.
Speaking from the heart, the man in the family portrait was gentle, elegant, and rather good looking. Of course, he was not as handsome as the man in the photo with Ye Xuan.
Gu Nianzhi was obsessed with voices and even more obsessed with faces. She was used to looking at faces. Just by appearances alone, she already believed that the man in Ye Xuan’s photo was her father, Gu Xiangwen.
Huo Shaoheng knew about this bad habit of hers, but he felt that there was no need to correct it. The pickier her taste, the less he had to worry. She wouldn’t pay attention to just any random guy off the street.
Because she rejected that the man in the family portrait was her father, Gu Nianzhi also rejected that the woman was her mother by association. Although she didn’t have much evidence, she relied on her intuition. Huo Shaoheng looked down to carefully study the two photos but didn’t speak for some time.
Gu Nianzhi grew anxious. She was worried that Huo Shaoheng believed that the man in the family portrait was her father. She ignored her embarrassment and took out the photo she had photoshopped. “Do you see that? This person’s nose is exactly the same as mine. Judging from his appearance, this man should be my father.”
Huo Shaoheng finally saw the photo Gu Nianzhi had photoshopped. He glanced at her and was slightly moved. His deep voice softened as he said, “Yeah, I also think that the man in Ye Xuan’s photo is likely your father, Gu Xiangwen.”
Ever since he confirmed that the danger he had faced with Gu Yanran in Barbados could have been plotted by Gu Yanran, he started to become suspicious of all the evidence he obtained from that time, including this family portrait.
To not upset Gu Nianzhi, he decided not to show it to her. Ye Xuan’s photo with Gu Xiangwen changed that. His photo proved Huo Shaoeheng’s conjecture. The family portrait must have been purposely planted by someone so he would see it. As to what purpose it was for, he didn’t want to rashly jump to conclusions just yet.
Sighing in relief, Gu Nianzhi soon had questions arise in her heart. She looked at Huo Shaoheng with suspicion, especially since Gu Yanran was also in it, and asked, “Where’d you get that photo from? Did Gu Yanran give it to you?”
To a certain extent, Gu Yanran was the one to orchestrate it. Huo Shaoheng contemplated her question for a moment and nodded. “I guess so.”
“Yes is yes, and no is no, so what’s the meaning of ‘guess so?’” Gu Nianzhi frantically asked. It had been difficult to glean new evidence. She didn’t want to easily give up.
Huo Shaoheng recounted the time he and Gu Yanran faced danger in Barbados.
Gu Nianzhi knew that he had stayed on that island for a night with Gu Yanran before and was jealous at the time.
When she heard the story again, she discovered that she didn’t feel jealous at all. She merely sighed and said, “So, that’s what happened. She really was deliberate.”
The plan was linked, from the transfer of assets to arranging all sorts of props to prove her identity. It didn’t seem like Gu Yanran’s handiwork. Gu Naiznhi clutched her phone and frowned as she paced in front of Huo Shaoheng. She mused, “I think that there must be someone behind the scenes with Gu Yanran. Someone is helping her methodically plan and purposefully seize the Gu fortune. Huo Shao, did you know? Gu Yanran began transferring property four years ago. Tell me, she had already established her identity as the heiress of the Gu family. That was also before she met me again, so what reason did she have to transfer property? At the time, the Gu fortune belonged to her anyway, so why did she have to take these risks?”
Huo Shaoheng nodded and said, “I originally thought the person behind her actions had been Ye Xuan. Based on his confession today, it’s unlikely that he is the person helping Gu Yanran transfer the Gu fortune.”
“Ye Xuan had always been very loyal to my dad. He has been guarding the Gu family and not just a certain member of the Gu family.” Gu Nianzhi understood that point well. “It’s a shame that he worked under Gu Yanran for so long and had his morals corrupted by her. He reduced himself to slave status, and I don’t think that is what my dad sponsored his tuition for in the first place.”
Seeing Gu Nianzhi’s serious and tiny face, Huo Shaoheng frowned as he calmly replied, “Yeah, so is he going to be working under you from now on? You can help him correct his morals.”
