Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On Saturday morning, Gu Nianzhi arrived at her apartment in the Hepingli Precinct. No one had been to her apartment lately, and it showed. Although the windows were tightly shut, the windowsills and furniture were still covered with a fine layer of dust. Gu Nianzhi was content with that. The apartment was her little sanctuary, and she did not plan on letting just anyone in, even if they were just part-time maids.
After putting her suitcase and laptop bag away, she walked into the kitchen, found a clean piece of cloth, and started cleaning up her apartment meticulously. First, she wiped off the layer of dust with a dry cloth. Then, she wiped it down again with wet wipes and disinfected the area at the same time. By the time she had cleaned up a few rooms and made sure that they were spick and span, three hours had passed.
She could not even stand up straight. Gu Nianzhi threw herself onto the bouncy corner sofa and laid on her back. She covered her eyes with one arm and refused to budge for a long time.
When she finally caught her breath, her stomach started growling. It was time for lunch. Rubbing her belly, she sat up from the sofa and remembered that she did not quite know how to cook…
She was going to be alone at the apartment for two days. How should dinner be settled? There were only bottles of water in the fridge and no food at all. There might just be some rice stored in the kitchen cabinet but besides that, there was nothing else to eat.
She could go out to buy groceries, order food for delivery, or eat out. After weighing her options for a while, she made the firm decision to eat out. Even if she brought groceries home, she could not quite cook, so why let them go to waste? Ordering food for delivery on the other hand would be cumbersome given the number of uncontrollable factors involved and was not a suitable choice for her at the moment. Besides, she would only be able to introduce more variables into Ishihara Taro’s algorithm if she went out more.
The corner of her lip curled, forming a sly smile. She walked into her bedroom and grabbed her small backpack when she saw herself in the mirror sporting a fox-like smile. She quickly smoothed the corners of her lips, toned down her smile, and sported a more natural looking one.
Exiting the apartment, Gu Nianzhi entered the elevator, pressed the buttons, and went straight down to the ground level. At the time, there were not many people leaving the apartment. In fact, she was the only one who did so. She zoned out looking into the mirror in the elevator. The elevator was an important variable.
By the time Gu Nianzhi got out of the elevator, she had already calculated the probability of there being an elevator mishap. If she were Ishihara Taro, she would definitely not let go of the elevator as an opportunity to strike. The elevator made a great tool.
After exiting from the main entrance of Hepingli Precinct, there was a quiet pathway. If one walked through the pathway, continued straight ahead, turned left, then walked forward for about another 200 meters, there would be a commercial street.
From breakfast congee stalls that operated only in the morning to fine dining restaurants providing sumptuous banquets that operated late into the night, everything was available there. The place was a paradise for people like Gu Nianzhi who possessed terrible culinary skills.
Gu Nianzhi went into a few stalls at random and found one that was acceptable to her. She bought a basket of soup dumplings and a bowl of millet porridge. Then she saw thick, crispy Chinese crullers being sold and could not resist buying a stick of them. She also bought a bowl of salted bean curd and packed everything into food containers as takeout.
After walking down the street, she realized that what she bought was food for breakfast, but it was already noon. Gu Nianzhi stopped walking and found an expensive looking restaurant. She went in, ordered a few dishes, and sat by the window as she stared blankly at the scenery outside.
There was a colored pebbled sidewalk outside and planted along the sidewalk were parasol trees. All the leaves on the parasol trees had fallen off as it was winter, leaving only bare branches on the trees. Further ahead was the main road. Although it was winter, the traffic was still heavy, and the streets were still bustling with life.
A small evergreen shrub was planted underneath the windowsills. It remained verdant and lush despite it being winter. On Christmas, it could double as a mini Christmas tree and be decorated with fairy lights.
There were not many people in the restaurant. Gu Nianzhi did not gaze outside for long before two people pushed open the doors and came into the restaurant. They looked like a couple. They then sat somewhere near Gu Nianzhi. They sat close to each other with their heads huddled together as they whispered intimately to each other. If they had not glanced from the corners of their eyes at Gu Nianzhi so often, she would really have believed that they were a couple…
Soon, the dishes she ordered were served. There was a plate of golden yellow caramelized bananas that she planned to eat for dessert, a dish made up of tender, milky clam meat in clear broth, a dish of minced sautéed soft tofu that had a pale yellow color to it, and a bowl of fragrant Thai rice. They were set down on the table, piping hot. Incredibly famished, Gu Nianzhi focused on the dishes in front of her.
Everyone in the restaurant noticed her, the girl by the window who looked about 18 or 19. They saw how she ate with gusto, and it really whetted their appetite. They also wondered about the wonderful spread she was having. While there were not many dishes in front of her, they were of sufficient serving size to feed two men, but she managed to clean her plate.
Insatiable, she stared at the empty plates in front of her after she was done eating, itching to lick the plates clean. The chef was so glad upon seeing this that he kept rubbing his palms together. That customer really did like his dishes! There was nothing more pleasant to a chef than this.
In his moment of excitement, the chef got someone to pass Gu Nianzhi a 20 percent discount card and said that as long as she came to his restaurant, she would get a 20 percent discount, which would be effective for life. Gu Nianzhi did not expect that she would get so lucky just by having lunch and smiled at the waiter, her eyes forming the shape of crescent moons.
Although she was born beautiful, when she was younger, her looks were more on the cute side. As an adult now, her eyes exuded a more gentle and delicate charm. She smiled innocently at the waiter, and this made his heart pound. Her smile was bright and beautiful like the first snow on plum blossoms in winter. Underneath the pure white snow was a crimson color that peeked out, making it all the more appealing.
“Thank you so much.” Gu Nianzhi accepted the 20 percent discount card. She then wrote a 20 percent tip on the bill, effectively returning almost all of the discounted amount.
Gu Nianzhi lowered her head. The waiter could not see her face but still felt dazzled by her. Although they were at the restaurant, he felt like they were at a garden. What he saw was breathtaking and was like a scene out of a dream. He held onto both the card and bill, returned to the checkout counter, and came back to his senses gradually.
Gu Nianzhi was completely unaware of all that. She packed up and waited for the waiter to return her the card. Her gaze was still fixed on the sidewalk outside. During her meal, she counted that there were about 98 people who walked by the sidewalk outside the window. Of these 98 people, she wondered how many of them were residents of the place and how many of them were just people in transit. All of this would affect the algorithm.
The waiter came back and returned the card to Gu Nianzhi, then mustered his courage and said, “Our restaurant has invited a chef from overseas to come by for a food exhibition tomorrow. Miss, if you are free and available, please do come by.”
Gu Nianzhi saw how polite and generous the crew of the restaurant was, and since the food was to her liking, she accepted the offer unreservedly. “Sure, I will be here again tomorrow. Thank you, handsome.”
The waiter turned red at what she blurted out casually and walked her out personally. He even helped her with the curtain at the entrance and pushed the door open for her.
When she returned to the apartment, she stored the remnants of her breakfast in the refrigerator and planned to finish them in two sittings. She would have some at supper and some for breakfast the next day.
Even if she were to stroll the streets every day, she only wanted to get out of the apartment once. She was actually too lazy to do otherwise. And so, Saturday passed by just like that.
The next day was Sunday, and Gu Nianzhi slept in. When she woke up, it was already noon. For lunch, she ate the breakfast leftovers from the day before. Then she showered, changed her clothes, tidied up the apartment, and looked at her schedule for next week.
She made some changes to her schedule and soon after, came to the realization that it was already four o’clock in the afternoon. She slowly packed her suitcase once again and lifted it downstairs. This time, she made her way to the apartment’s underground parking lot. The flashy red custom-made Ferrari gifted to her by Huo Shaoheng was parked there. Gu Nianzhi tossed her suitcase into the backseat, pulled open the door, and sat in the driver’s seat.
She only felt confident driving the car after checking the condition of the car and making sure that everything was in order. Her car had already been driven out of the Hepingli Precinct for a substantial amount of time when the people who were loitering in front of the main entrance discovered that she had actually driven off!
Gu Nianzhi drove to the restaurant that she had visited the day before and parked her car by the roadside. It was barely five o’clock in the afternoon and far too early for anyone to have dinner. This was why it was not difficult for her to find a parking spot.
Gu Nianzhi pushed the door open and entered the restaurant. The waiter from the day before came running to her with a smile on his face. “Miss, you’re here.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “I’m here to try some signature dishes of the chef your restaurant specially invited.”
“Please have a seat here. This is our special menu for today. The kitchen has already started its preparations. If you wish to make any orders, any dishes ordered now will be the freshest.” The waiter warmly described the special dishes of the day to her.
Gu Nianzhi looked at the menu with concentration and picked a few dishes that she had not tried before and which Ma Qiqi would like. The waiter took the menu back cheerfully and relayed the orders to the kitchen.
Since there were not many people, and because the chef wanted to try his hand at it first, the four dishes that Gu Nianzhi ordered were well-made and cooked quickly. Gu Nianzhi only had finished eating one dish and requested that the waiter pack the remaining three dishes as takeout.
The waiter saw that this time she only finished one dish, even though she ordered four of them, and thought that it was because she did not enjoy the dishes. He could not help but ask curiously, “Do the dishes not suit your taste?”
Gu Nianzhi shook her head and smiled as she said, “No, that’s not it. These dishes are delicious. I want to bring them back and share them with a friend of mine because they’re just so good!”
The waiter brightened up again after the situation was made clear. He packed the food away with care and personally showed Gu Nianzhi to the door. However, when he saw Gu Nianzhi’s red luxury car parked by the side of the road, he could not help but treat her even more respectfully. Gu Nianzhi got into the car, waved at him, and drove off in no time. Once she left, several others got into their cars and drove off in the same direction.
Gu Nianzhi drove straight back to University B and parked her car at the school’s parking lot. She was out of practice, as this was one of the few occasions that she drove, hence, she did not drive fast. A journey that would take her only 20 minutes by foot took her 30 minutes by car.
When she returned to the dormitory, Ma Qiqi cheered enthusiastically, which made her feel that her trip back was worth it. “Nianzhi, where did you get all these delicious dishes of food from?! They’re so good, I could finish them all by myself!” Ma Qiqi grabbed a small bowl in high spirits and scooped a bowl of rice for herself. She had already eaten dinner, but then again, a delicious meal was right in front of her; having another meal was not impossible.
Gu Nianzhi waved at her. “Take your time. I’m going to the library.”
After two days of rest, she resumed her daily routine at school. Just like before, she only went to the library, the cafeteria, and her dormitory every single day.
…
A week had passed, and Ishihara Taro was in his high-rise apartment at Sanhuan. He sat with his arms crossed and eyes shut as his subordinate reported the whereabouts of Gu Nianzhi to him.
“Young master, there have been some changes to Gu Nianzhi’s schedule this week. She didn’t stay in school the entire time and went to her apartment over the weekend. She’s staying there alone. In the morning, she went out for a meal, and the rest of her day was spent in the precinct. The security in that precinct is very tight. As of now, we can’t just sneak in there, lest we alert anyone inadvertently.”
“Young master, there’s a restaurant that Gu Nianzhi frequents. She went there two days in a row now. Someone there even gave her a 20 percent discount card.”
“Young master, Gu Nianzhi returned to school from the apartment. This time, no one was there to pick her up. She walked to the apartment but drove a Ferrari sports car back when she returned.”
Ishihara Taro widened his eyes suddenly. “A Ferrari sports car? Her?”
“Yes, it’s an extremely luxurious custom-made Ferrari sports car. According to the information previously given by Miss Gu Yanran, Gu Nianzhi’s Ferrari was a Valentine’s Day gift from her ex-boyfriend, Huo Shaoheng, while they were still together. They broke up after the incident in Germany.”
