Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xie Dezhao was slightly over 50 years old. His face had the Xie family’s features. For example, the shape of his sharp nose was perfect, his eyes were deep set, and his brows were distinguished. He looked gentle but had a hint of fierceness about him. It was just that he was not as handsome as the Xie’s direct family line.
It wasn’t Gu Nianzhi’s first time seeing Xie Dezhao. However, it was Ma Qiqi’s first time.
Ma Qiqi was immediately mesmerized by Xie Dezhao. She pulled on Gu Nianzhi’s hand and whispered to her, “Oh my god! This man is your uncle?! How handsome! For the first time, I understand why older men are more attractive. It’s obvious when you look at this one…”
Gu Nianzhi waved her hand in front of Ma Qiqi’s face. She tried extremely hard to control her laughter. “That’s enough! Wake up, Qiqi! Brother Xiong will be crying his heart out if you continue to fawn over other men!”
Ma Qiqi let go of Gu Nianzhi’s hand awkwardly. “What nonsense are you spouting? Everyone likes good looking people. I was merely commenting.” Then, with a much softer voice, she said, “Don’t tell your Brother Xiong about this…”
“Fine, fine, I know.” Gu Nianzhi pinched her cheeks cheekily. “You owe me one!”
As the two girls were chatting, Gu Nianzhi saw another lady exiting from the bulletproof car from the corner of her eye. This time, it was a beauty. She wore a simple, gray woolen double-breasted button down coat with a tailored woolen pants, the same color as the coat. On her feet were mid-height black leather heels. She walked calmly towards Gu Nianzhi. It was Huo Shaoheng’s mother, Song Jinning.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes sparkled. She peeked towards the car again and realized that no one else would be coming.
The driver drove the car in the direction of the parking lot.
Gu Nianzhi’s heart skipped a beat. She stopped staring and greeted Xie Dezhao, Xie Qingying, and Song Jinning, who were already in front of her. “Mr. Xie, Miss Xie, and Auntie Song, I’m glad you’re here.”
Xie Dezhao looked at Gu Nianzhi and looked at his daughter, Xie Qingying. He smiled and said, “Both of you really look alike. Why are you still calling me Mr. Xie? You should be calling me Uncle. This is your cousin. She is older than you.”
Xie Qingying was enthusiastic towards Gu Nianzhi as well. “Cousin is so beautiful today. Are you ready? Don’t be afraid later. We will definitely back you up!”
Gu Nianzhi was amused by her. Laughing, she high fived Xie Qingying and said, “Sure, then I shall depend on Uncle and Cousin later!”
Song Jinning smiled pleasantly and noticed that Gu Nianzhi repeatedly looked toward the car that had driven away. She smiled knowingly and explained, “I heard that this case involved the Japanese scientist Oda Masao. That is why I am here to listen. Shaoheng is tied down with work, so he is unable to be present.”
Gu Nianzhi blushed. She was not used to Song Jinning’s powers of observation, so she mumbled, “Auntie Song, I know.”
“You know? Oh, then I’m being a busybody. Shaoheng must have told you, mustn’t he?” Song Jinning said as she picked up Gu Nianzhi’s hand naturally and walked towards the entrance of the courtroom.
As they entered Courtroom A, it was obvious that the number of people on Gu Nianzhi’s side had increased. He Zhichu, Yin Shixiong, Ma Qiqi, Song Jinning, Xie Dezhao and Xie Qingying, who were going to be witnesses, and Secretary Cao, who arrived later, were all there. Senior Speaker Long’s Assistant Yang did not attend that day. They sent a low-ranking officer from their side instead.
Gu Yanran had the same people with her: her housekeeper, bodyguards, lawyer, and an accountant.
Director Zhan entered the courtroom and sat down in his seat. He announced the beginning of the hearing calmly. “Gu Nianzhi versus Gu Yanran in the case of the inheritance of the Gu family. Fourth hearing, begin.”
He struck the gavel on the table and began confirming the people present in court. “Plaintiff Gu Nianzhi?”
“Here.”
“Defendant Gu Yanran and Lawyer Jin Wanyi?”
“Here.”
“Witnesses Xie Dezhao and Xie Qingying?”
“Here.”
The judge nodded. “Today’s main agenda is hearing the testimony of the plaintiff’s two new witnesses.” He raised his hand towards Gu Nianzhi. “Plaintiff, you can question your witnesses.”
Gu Nianzhi wore a navy-blue Dior woolen dress suit. The blazer had no buttons, but it was not overly seductive. Instead, it brought out a sense of maturity on top of her beauty and cuteness. It was extremely suitable for someone her age. Therefore, what she had selected wasn’t a formal suit. Instead, she selected a dark colored outfit from Dior’s winter collection.
She stood up from behind the plaintiff’s stand and smiled at everyone present at the hearing. She had tied her long hair up into a ponytail and had decided against putting on any make up. She only applied some clear gloss on her lips. She looked like a beautiful girl next door when she stood in court.
Then let us look at Gu Yanran, who was behind the defendant’s stand. There was also a luxury brand ensemble on display. Chanel was a higher-end brand compared to Dior. However, the black and white checkered dress just looked overly intimidating, like it was too deliberate.
Although Gu Yanran was a beautiful lady as well after a second look, and she looked gentle and attractive when she did not speak, her outfit had lost to Gu Nianzhi’s hands down.
As long as you were in court during a trial, every single part of you, including strands of your hair, would be scrutinized by everyone present. To a certain extent, it affected whether you would win your case or not.
Usually, amateur lawyers made mistakes in little details like this. However, Gu Nianzhi had a natural instinct in this. It was like she was born to be a lawyer, just like some people who were born to be celebrities.
He Zhichu sat in the courtroom and was lost in thought, seeing Gu Nianzhi perform so well in court.
Gu Nianzhi had totally entered the trial state of mind. She nodded to the judge and summoned Xie Dezhao to the witness stand. Xie Dezhao walked steadily from the audience to the witness stand, and bowed slightly to the judge and everyone present in court.
Gu Nianzhi walked over to him and asked pleasantly, “Mr. Xie, please introduce yourself.”
Xie Dezhao was a businessman. He had his own company. As he sat in the witness stand, he looked like he was chairing this meeting as well. He began to speak. “My name is Xie Dezhao. Xie, which refers to being thankful; De, referring to having a sense of conscience; and Zhao, which refers to having integrity.” The way that Xie Dezhao introduced himself was humorous, and his voice was sharp and clear. Therefore, everyone laughed politely.
Xie Dezhao raised his hand to everyone and waited for the laughter to die down before continuing, “I had a wife whose name was Gu Tian. She is the younger sister of the owner of the inheritance in this case. However, she passed away 27 years ago.”
Most of the people attending the hearing did not know about this. Many of them gasped upon hearing the news.
Xie Dezhao felt sad each time he mentioned his wife. Gu Nianzhi stood in front of him and consoled him. “Madam Gu Tian is looking at you from above. She would never want you and Miss Xie to be so sad.”
Xie Dezhao closed his eyes, took a deep breath to calm himself down, and said emotionally, “Yes, you are right. She was a kind and passionate woman. Had it not been for her, I would never be where I am today.”
Gu Nianzhi waited until Xie Dezhao had calmed down before beginning to question him.
“Mr. Xie, may I know how you met your wife and eventually got married to her, please?”
Jin Wanyi raised her hand the moment she heard this. “Objection. The plaintiff is beginning to link the case unnecessarily again. This question is totally irrelevant to this case. Therefore, please do not waste everyone’s time.”
Gu Nianzhi looked at the judge and said seriously, “Your Honor, I will prove that this question is totally relevant to the case in no time.” With that, she looked meaningfully at Gu Yanran.
However, Gu Yanran was extremely calm today like she was not worried at all. Gu Nianzhi reminded herself to be more wary, but she would not stop her questioning today. She had been wanting to shoot that arrow with her bow for a long time.
The judge looked at the witness document that Gu Nianzhi had submitted and said, “Plaintiff, please enter the main area of focus soon.”
Gu Nianzhi thanked the judge and expressed her apologies to Xie Dezhao. “Please tell us in essence.”
Xie Dezhao went silent for a while before beginning to talk, “When I met Gu Tian, we were attending a charity gala dinner. She was wearing a butterfly mask, and she was elegant and attractive. I did not see her face at that time. I only heard a sentence from her and grew fond of her voice.” Then whatever happened after that was history.
The Gus had already become one of the wealthy families in France at that time. Although they could not be compared to the Xies, they were compatible with their distant relative, Xie Dezhao.
A couple in love who was also compatible in terms of family background… Marriage was naturally bound to happen.
Xie Dezhao reminisced, “However, after I proposed to Gu Tian, her brother, Gu Xiangwen, told me about something.” Then, he looked at Xie Qingying and stopped. Xie Qingying nodded at him so he would say it out loud, assuring him that she would be fine.
Xie Dezhao furrowed his brows. Albeit unwilling, he still said it. “Gu Xiangwen told me that his sister was not at the peak of health. He asked if I could accept that his sister might not be able to give birth to children in the future…
“I said that I was fine with it. The Xies are a big family. Whether we were on the maternal side or the paternal side, we had many offspring. Just in my family, I already had an older brother and a younger brother. They had many sons as well. Even if I wasn’t able to have kids, it wouldn’t affect the family line.” With that, Xie Dezhao paused. When he next spoke, his voice became raw. “After that, Gu Tian told me that it was this that touched Gu Xiangwen, and he allowed his sister to be married to me.”
Gu Nianzhi jotted down everything that Xie Dezhao had said. Xie Dezhao had told her about this before, but there were also things that he managed to remember last minute that he had not told her previously. For example, he hadn’t mentioned that this was the sentence that touched Gu Xiangwen and convinced him to give his approval for their marriage.
“And then?” Gu Nianzhi asked with a serious face. They were almost at the important point.
Xie Dezhao paused and looked down at the table, his voice hoarse. “Gu Tian was not in good health. I knew. I told her that we did not have to have kids. There were so many people in the Xie family, so many kids. It would never make a difference if we had one or not. However, she was adamant about having one…
“She got pregnant secretly. She wanted to give me a surprise. I was so worried after finding out. I wanted her to abort the child. However, she told me not to worry, and that her brother had expected this all along, so she would definitely be able to give birth to this child smoothly.”
