Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Why would I lie to you?” Huo Shaoheng asked calmly. Then, he put down his phone and put on his Bluetooth earpiece. He worked as he spoke into the phone.
He Zhichu thought over Huo Shaoheng’s words carefully. He confirmed again, “Do you have that material in the laboratory, or is it in production already? There’s a big difference.”
“Our laboratory has had this material for seventeen years. However, whether or not it has been in production, I cannot say, as it is a national secret. Sorry about that,” Huo Shaoheng said matter-of-factly, although what he said was only half true.
He Zhichu, however, was confused. He thought about it for a while and realized that Huo Shaoheng wanted to trick him. “Haha… If that’s the case, then why would you need to ask me?”
“So… You’re trying to imply that you know about the origins of that gun…” Huo Shaoheng caught the hidden meaning in He Zhichu’s words and continued to get information out of him. “The shooter’s target was Nianzhi. You wouldn’t just let that happen, would you?”
He Zhichu was stunned for a while. However, he could not be fazed so easily. Chuckling coldly, he said, “Didn’t I already tell you where it came from? It was from one of the top five in the laboratories in the United States. Since Major General Huo is so capable, it should be an easy task to hack into their laboratories, shouldn’t it? I won’t talk too much in front of such a capable person anymore.” With that, he hung up.
When Huo Shaoheng tried calling back, his calls were all diverted to voicemail.
He Zhichu clearly did not wish to speak to him anymore.
However, Huo Shaoheng was already prepared for He Zhichu not to tell him the truth word for word. In calling him, Huo Shaoheng had merely wanted to confirm that He Zhichu knew about the shooter’s intentions. Hearing He Zhichu being so calm and collected, Huo Shaoheng guessed that such a drastic move by the shooter had been a one-time incident. It would not be happening again.
The reason was simply that the gun was too expensive to reproduce.
Such drastic actions like blowing up the gun and self-destructing when the mission failed could only mean that their opponent was desperate. This was their final wave of craziness, and He Zhichu had ruined it.
Logically, Huo Shaoheng felt that Gu Nianzhi was not in so much danger anymore. There would also not be more of this kind of shooter. Emotionally, Huo Shaoheng was still worried about Gu Nianzhi. Due to the nature of his job, he could not be around Gu Nianzhi every minute of the day.
All of a sudden, he felt frustrated.
Huo Shaoheng took a pack of cigarettes out of his cabinet and pulled one out. He placed it in between two fingers and lit it up.
White smoke poured out from between his fingers. Huo Shaoheng went deep into thought as he examined the relationships of the people on his computer.
The assassination attempt on Gu Nianzhi that morning involved his grandfather, Song Haichuan’s secret experiment seventeen years ago. However, at that time, Gu Nianzhi had been only two years old.
Huo Shaoheng shook his head, switched his cigarette to his other hand, and used his right hand to strike out this possibility with his mouse.
Gu Nianzhi was not connected with that experiment 17 years ago.
He was interrupted.
The opposite party’s motive was very simple. It was due to the inheritance lawsuit between Gu Nianzhi and Gu Yanran. That was why the person had gone into such a frenzy. Therefore, Gu Nianzhi definitely needed to get her hands on the inheritance of the Gu’s.
Huo Shaoheng thought about it and picked up his phone again. He called Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi had just come out from the bathroom.
She’d had a good soak in lavender oil in the bathtub, and her tensed muscles had relaxed a fair bit. It had even made her headache much better.
Hearing her phone was ringing with Huo Shaoheng’s personalized ringtone, Gu Nianzhi hesitated for a while. She answered it eventually. “Huo Shao?”
Huo Shaoheng asked, “Nianzhi, you are already back in the dormitory?”
When the call went through, Huo Shaoheng could see Gu Nianzhi’s location. She was in her dormitory.
Gu Nianzhi nodded as she picked up a towel to dry her wet hair. She sat on her bed and asked, “Is something wrong since you’re calling me at this time of the night?”
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips. “Yes, there is something.”
“Okay, go ahead and tell me then. I will be hanging up if there if it’s not important,” Gu Nianzhi said politely, leaning back on her bed.
“Are you okay after this morning?” Huo Shaoheng thought of Gu Nianzhi’s near-death experience that morning. “Were you hurt?”
“I am fine. Professor He’s actions were swift. He saved me again.” Gu Nianzhi smiled. “He saved me when I was in Germany as well. Had it not been for him, I wouldn’t have come back alive.”
Huo Shaoheng acknowledged this coldly. “Yes. We should thank Professor He properly one day. However, it would be nice if he could solve these issues altogether. We have determined that he might have known about the shooter.”
Gu Nianzhi remained silent for a rather long time.
She’d had the same sentiments and had even tried to hint about them to He Zhichu to gauge his reactions.
Even though He Zhichu had thrown the question back at her, Gu Nianzhi firmly believed that He Zhichu knew something else about it. However, he must have had his own worries, and therefore couldn’t let anyone know about them.
Gu Nianzhi set the towel down and hesitated before saying, “Professor He said that the opponent only had one of those guns. He said we do not need to worry about them attacking with the same thing again.”
The only one they’d had was already blown to pieces.
Huo Shaoheng sat up straight. This was exactly what he had predicted.
He lowered his voice, making it sound extremely sexy. “…Did Professor He say that exactly? How did he know that the opponent only had one of those guns?”
“I have no idea either. I have tried to ask him, but he refused to tell me directly. When I probed, he… he…” Gu Nianzhi sighed before continuing. “Forget it. Since he was unwilling to say anything, I will respect his decision. Moreover, I feel that it would be better if I found the answers on my own because it would be more reliable. I don’t like to just believe the words of others without seeing the truth with my own eyes.”
Gu Nianzhi knew about her temperament and style of doing things. Even if He Zhichu told her everything, she would still not believe him and look for answers on her own to see if they were real. This related to her background, and the memories she had lost. She could not simply accept anything anyone told her and just believe their words.
Therefore, in her opinion, it did not make much difference whether He Zhichu told her the truth or not.
Huo Shaoheng understood what Gu Nianzhi was trying to say. He felt the exact same way as she did. This was also the reason why he had not forced He Zhichu to tell him the truth.
Because who would know if He Zhichu was really telling the truth?
He was already used to looking for the truth on his own. He was not someone who took anyone’s words at face value.
He would only believe the truth that he discovered on his own.
Anything that came from others would merely be a source of reference. Their reliability would also be hugely discounted. Gu Nianzhi had grown up alongside him, so her style of doing things had long ago been marked by his brand.
Huo Shaoheng chuckled softly at that thought and said gently, “Be careful. Call me if anything crops up.”
Gu Nianzhi replied instinctively, “Okay.” She only regretted it after she hung up the call. She had replied too quickly.
Gu Nianzhi placed her phone on the headboard of her bed, leaned against it, and continued drying her hair while thinking about her problems.
Ever since she returned from Germany after those horrible experiences, Gu Nianzhi could not help but like herself. How lucky was she to still be alive…
Her opponent must be so angry, right?
She would not die no matter what they did…
Gu Nianzhi had an idea. She took her phone and dialed Gu Yanran’s number. She could tell that there was still someone else behind Gu Yanran. That person was cleverer than Gu Yanran, and more patient too. That person also hid way better than Gu Yanran.
In order to expose that person, Gu Nianzhi had to attack Gu Yanran directly.
The phone rang twice before Gu Yanran picked it up. She asked with a stern voice, “Gu Nianzhi? Why would you call me?”
Gu Nianzhi chuckled eerily and said with a creepy voice, “Sister… Aren’t you afraid that ghosts are looking for you after what you had done? If I had died today, the person calling you now would not be human anymore. Aren’t you afraid at all?”
Gu Yanran’s pupils contracted quickly. She screamed in horror and threw her phone onto the floor like it was a scalding hot piece of metal.
When Gu Nianzhi heard the thud from the other end of the line, she knew that Gu Yanran had thrown the phone onto the ground. She laughed and hung up.
After she was done harassing Gu Yanran, Gu Nianzhi cheerfully headed to bed and fell asleep, feeling as though she was over the moon.
She had many things to do the next day. Gu Nianzhi had intended to head to court immediately after waking up in order to request that they reopen the case.
Because her witness, Ye Xuan, was already present, Di Capital’s Supreme People’s Tribunal Court approved Gu Nianzhi’s request and informed Gu Yanran and Jin Wanyi that the inheritance lawsuit would be having its third judicial session the next Monday.
…
It was already mid-November. The weather in Di Capital was getting dry and cold.
Over at the Prime Minister’s residence at Willow Lane Number 32, no one was having an easy time. The atmosphere in the Prime Minister’s residence was akin to the weather, its temperature dropping consistently on a daily basis.
On that Saturday morning, Tan Dongbang and Tan Guiren were sitting in the dining room at level one of the Prime Minister’s residence.
Tan Dongbang had lost a lot of weight recently. He’d been sabotaged not long after he was appointed as the Prime Minister. Therefore, he was under a tremendous amount of stress.
Tan Guiren knew that her father was extremely busy due to work, and her mother had returned to her maternal grandparents’ home, so she obediently avoided the topic of Tan Dongbang being sabotaged. She took a butter knife and applied some butter on a slice of bread for Tan Dongbang and placed it onto his breakfast plate. “Daddy, please have some breakfast.”
“Thank you, Little Darling.” Tan Dongbang’s relationship with Cai Songyin was not as good as it had been in the past, but he still loved his only daughter a lot. “However, daddy has no appetite. Too many things have happened recently, and your mummy isn’t home. The ministers who are harping on the case of impeachment are getting more and more angry…”
Cai Songyin had not been at home for the past few days. Tan Dongbang had no one else to talk to, so he began ranting to Tan Guiren.
Tan Guiren did not know much about these things, but she willed herself to be a good listener.
Cai Songyin stood at the wooden entrance of the dining hall and looked at Tan Dongbang’s lowered head with a dark expression. However, by the time Tan Dongbang raised his head and saw Cai Songyin, she was already smiling.
“Mummy! You are finally back?! Why are you not coming in?!” Tan Guiren had seen Cai Songyin as well. She stood up and rushed towards Cai Songyin excitedly.
Tan Dongbang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Cai Songyin. They had been married for many years. Even though Gu Yanran was really way better than her in bed, that was most likely due to a sense of novelty. When anything happened, the first person he wanted to discuss things with was still Cai Songyin.
“Songyin, you have heard it all, haven’t you?” Seeing Cai Songyin, he didn’t need to pretend anymore. With his face sullen, he asked, “What should we do now?”
“What should we do now? I thought you were really close with Gu Yanran,” Cai Songyin mocked him. “Why don’t you get her to help?”
Tan Dongbang had a guilty conscience. He said quickly, “Know her well? Unless she had started her seduction, why would I have… How would I…”
“How would you what?” Cai Songyin looked at him, smiling gleefully. She waved to him. “Dongbang, come here. I have something to ask you.”
