951 Spend the New Year With Me
“Two girlfriends?!” Zhao Liangze only wanted to show how maligned he felt. “I cannot even handle one, so when did I have two girlfriends?! Please do not malign me, Mr. Huo! How can I continue holding my head up high if this ever gets out?!”
A Casanova. With such a label being thrown at him, he could never even think about being together with a girl he fell in love with in the future!
“Mr. Huo! The wisest, strongest, and most amazing Mr. Huo, please do not do this to me!” Zhao Liangze bowed the lowest bow to Huo Shaoheng. He could not wait to show Huo Shaoheng that he truly wanted to change and had already reflected upon himself.
He had learned his lesson thoroughly and did not dare to have wild thoughts anymore.
The corners of Huo Shaoheng’s lips curled upwards. “Little Ze, it could be that you are unable to see what exactly is going on since you’re looking at it from the first-person perspective. However, I am looking at things as an outsider. I might be able to see the entire picture more clearly than you.”
Zhao Liangze almost wanted to stitch his lips up.
When he and Yin Shixiong had made fun of Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi in the past, Huo Shaoheng had remembered every single sentence they had ever said. He was looking for an opportunity to let him have a taste of his own medicine!
“Alright. Go and decide which one you like best. I do not care how many girlfriends you have abroad, but when you are back in the country, you can only have one girlfriend.” Huo Shaoheng looked at Zhao Liangze meaningfully.
Zhao Liangze felt uneasy all of a sudden. He felt like he had been turned into the bait, or rather, he had been turned into the peach from the story “Killings of the Peaches”…
“Mr. Huo, we have to clarify this.” Zhao Liangze was suddenly reminded of the tear-stained face of Bai Shuang. “What are you trying to refer to? Work will be work and relationships will be relationships. I can still separate them.”
“I do not mean anything much. It will be great if you can separate them. However, if you are unable to, it will be fine as well, since Africa is so far away. You would have ample space to make up for things even if you do something wrong. I will just ignore.” Huo Shaoheng waved his hand. “Go ahead. You are not required to come in to bid your goodbye tomorrow. I will be waiting for your Lunar New Year greeting from Africa. I will connect your greeting to the Lunar New Year countdown show where they broadcast overseas greetings.”
Huo Shaoheng curled his lips upwards like he was smiling.
Zhao Liangze imagined the annual Lunar New Year countdown variety show broadcast showing citizens of the Hua Xia Empire who could not come back to spend the Lunar New Year at home and shivered. “Please let me off, Mr. Huo! That would be too embarrassing!”
He wished he knew how many more pitfalls were waiting for him!
After Zhao Liangze left, Huo Shaoheng sat in the office alone for a while. He stood up and walked around in his office with his arms folded. Looking at the sky outside, he could see that it was already late in the night.
He took a look at his watch and it showed ten minutes to twelve. He had no idea if Nianzhi had returned yet.
After contemplating it for a while, he put on his Bluetooth earpiece and called Gu Nianzhi on the phone.
…
Gu Nianzhi sent He Zhichu to the lobby of the professors’ building. “Are you okay, Professor He? Have some honey to drink when you get back. It will get rid of the alcohol in you.” Gu Nianzhi was slightly worried about He Zhichu. She kept having a feeling that he was not clear-headed, but had no idea if it was due to him having too much to drink or being in a bad mood.
She lowered her head and looked at He Zhichu’s beautiful fingers holding onto the handles of the black car and mumbled, “Professor He, I did not mean to hide things from you…”
He Zhichu turned around and looked at her, his flirtatious eyes glistening slightly. “Alright, then you will have to tell me everything in the future. I am not the same as Huo Shaoheng. I will never put you down. I will help you to get what you want every single time.”
Gu Nianzhi smiled bashfully. She lowered her head further. “…Professor He, that’s not what I want either. I will be too spoiled…”
“How could you be?” He Zhichu stopped smiling, but his voice was as gentle as the breeze in springtime. “My little Nianzhi will never be too spoiled. I know it.” There was such closeness in his tone and his body language, but it all seemed so natural. Gu Nianzhi only felt a sudden numbness in her scalp and that the high walls that she had built within herself in the danger of wavering, or even falling completely.
Closing her eyes, Gu Nianzhi could not understand why, but she felt more familiar with He Zhichu as time passed. Could it be like what He Zhichu had been telling her all along, that he had known her since she was a little girl?
Gu Nianzhi could not help herself. She wanted to look for the memory that she had lost again. However, the moment she arrived at that restricted area, it seemed to fog up. She tried very hard to go past the fog to get to the truth.
However, like with all her previous tries, she could not remember anything.
The fire that she had encountered when she was twelve seemed to have burned all of her memories away, leaving her with nothing, not even a speck.
He Zhichu looked at Gu Nianzhi as she closed her eyes. Under the dim glow of the car’s lights, she was as pale as a sheet.
“…Thinking about what happened in the past again?” He Zhichu held on to her hand and realized that her palms were all sweaty. With a wrenching heart, he handed her a tissue to clean herself. “Do not think about it anymore. Let bygones be bygones. If even I don’t mind, why should you?”
Gu Nianzhi’s eyelashes quivered as she opened her eyes slowly. It was not that she did not feel disappointed, but she did not wish to be a burden to He Zhichu.
She leaned on the steering wheel for a while before saying, “Professor He…”
“I have already said that I am not your professor anymore.” He Zhichu could not help himself finally and corrected her.
Gu Nianzhi smiled prettily, her eyes akin to crescent moons. “But I like calling you Professor He. It feels so close to the heart, just like a relative.”
He Zhichu was speechless.
He exited the car silently and closed the door. Without as much as a look back, He Zhichu entered the main lobby of the professor’s building.
Gu Nianzhi shook her head with a smile and locked her doors before driving towards her apartment.
It was already almost midnight. The compound of B University was quiet as most of the students had already gone home to spend their winter break with family. The minority who stayed were there to do revision or work on a part-time basis.
However, at this point in the day, most people had already turned in. Gu Nianzhi yawned and felt tired.
The moment she exited the south gate of B University, she heard Huo Shaoheng’s personalized ringtone coming from her phone. Putting on her Bluetooth earpiece, she answered the call. “…Huo Shao?” Her voice was slightly hoarse and had a tinge of lethargy to it.
Huo Shaoheng was slightly taken aback. “…You are still outside?” He seemed to be able to hear the blowing of the winds, but they were just his imagination.
Gu Nianzhi was sitting in her car with the windows rolled up. How could the sound of the wind be present?
“I just sent Professor He back to the professors’ building.”
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips and intentionally ignored what she’d said. “Did Professor He invite you to his place to spend the new year this year?”
Gu Nianzhi was taken aback. “…Why would he invite me back to his place to spend the new year?”
“Ha…” Huo Shaoheng chuckled and said calmly, “Didn’t he say that he wanted to woo you? By bringing you back to his place to greet his parents during the New Year… Wouldn’t that be just nice?” His tone was exceptionally normal. Gu Nianzhi would not have been able to sense a bit of jealousy even if she had wanted to.
Huo Shaoheng had intentionally not mentioned the New Year with Gu Nianzhi because he had wanted to see what He Zhichu was up to. He wanted to see if He Zhichu would bring Gu Nianzhi home.
Of course, what had happened was not within his expectations.
He Zhichu was going away to spend his New Year. However, he was going back alone and not bringing Gu Nianzhi with him.
“Haha, you are thinking too much, Huo Shao. Professor He is not like Brother Xiong, eagerly waiting to bring his girlfriend home…” Gu Nianzhi laughed as she steered onto the road in front of the Heping district.
After driving for a while longer, she managed to enter the Heping district. Huo Shaoheng had initially wanted to continue with the conversation. However, it seemed like he had just remembered something, so he did not mention anything about why He Zhichu was not bringing Gu Nianzhi back to meet his parents. Without a change in his tone, he changed the topic seamlessly. “Nianzhi, how do you plan to spend the New Year this year?”
Gu Nianzhi had spent her previous New Year holidays with Huo Shaoheng. However, since both of them were still in the stage of a breakup, she could not bring herself to ask Huo Shaoheng to spend the new year with her. Especially when it did not seem like Huo Shaoheng had the intention to invite her.
Gu Nianzhi parked her car. Upon turning off the engine, she looked around and ensured that there was no one else in the parking lot before opening the door and getting out. Carrying her small bag, she entered the elevator of the parking complex and said casually, “I will spend it on my own. I have finally graduated and become independent. Of course, I will have to enjoy this new year properly.”
Huo Shaoheng walked out to the balcony and placed his hands on the handrails. After falling silent for a while, he said, “I have to be on duty during the New Year. Would you like to come to the headquarters to spend it with me?”
“Ha…” Gu Nianzhi took out her card and entered her apartment as she shook her head. “It’s okay. You have to focus on your duties. I am really alright alone. I am still thinking of going on a short trip during the New Year!”
Upon hearing that she had finally entered the house, Huo Shaoheng nodded. “Okay, we will talk about it again nearer to the date.” With that, he hung up.
Gu Nianzhi threw her bag onto the sofa and plopped down with it. After being out for the entire day, she was both physically and emotionally drained.
Gu Nianzhi could not even find the energy to wash up before she fell asleep on the sofa.
By the time she woke up, it was already noon the next day.
She whipped out her phone and realized that He Zhichu had called her multiple times. Since she had missed them, he had left her a message. He said that he was already on his personal jet, on the way back to America. He asked her to spend the new year well and not run about, and to remember to call his number when she needed him.
After that, it was Ma Qiqi and Yin Shixiong. Both of them had returned to Yin Shixiong’s home town to meet Yin Shixiong’s parents for the New Year.
Seeing the text from the two of them, Gu Nianzhi chuckled. Her mood had improved all of a sudden
Subsequently, for the next few days, Gu Nianzhi had spent her time well. She cleaned up every corner of her home and headed off to the nursery to get pots of New Year plants to decorate her place. After that, she went to get many ingredients and placed them in the refrigerator.
She had intended to cook her reunion dinner on her own this year. However, her plan did not succeed. On the day of the eve of Lunar New Year, she was woken up by someone knocking on the door.
Still donned in her nightdress, Gu Nianzhi walked over to the communication system and took a look, realizing with a start that it was Song Jinning at her door.
Gu Nianzhi opened her door in shock. “Auntie Song, why are you here? It is New Year’s Eve today!”
Song Jinning smiled widely as she looked at Gu Nianzhi and pushed her towards the bathroom. “Quick. Go wash up and have a change of clothes. Come to my new place with me. Nianzhi, I am alone and I feel lonely. No one accompanies me during the New Year anymore. Just take it that you are doing something good by spending the New Year with me, okay?”
