No other essential element was more important than timing. For example, today was just after New Year’s Eve. It was around 1 or 2am on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so it was when a person’s mental will was the weakest out of the entire year.
Even for Special Operations Forces personnel who had undergone specialized training, on such a night and after being busy and excited the entire day, they were feeling too excited to sleep late at night. This was also when their mental defenses were the most easily broken.
The most effective way of eliciting the truth was not dependent on the cleverness or confusion of the questions, but required the question to be absolutely simple, direct, straightforward, and directly to the point. The other party would not have enough time to react, so what they blurted out would actually be the facts closest to the truth.
Just like earlier, she latched onto what Chen Lie said and directly asked her own question. Chen Lie instinctively answered with his most direct response, “Of course!”
What was “of course?!” Of course she must have had sex with someone for the antidote?!
Gu Nianzhi immediately recalled what Ye Zitan said to her right before her execution. “Nianzhi… You’re the one I wronged the most. You’re actually more pitiful than me… I shouldn’t have collaborated with others to hurt you… I still remember the time you were raped to that extent, all covered in injuries, and I was so heartbroken to see it… How could I cast salt on your wounds? Greed must’ve blinded my eyes…”
Ever since she was kidnapped by Seth and his gang in Germany, and pretended to be passed out and overheard the nature and effects of H3ab7, this doubt had remained on her mind. It had already rolled like a snowball, growing bigger and bigger.
She still remembered when she was infected for the first time at her classmate Feng Yixi’s birthday party by this so-called H3ab7. Afterwards, Chen Lie told her that he had developed an “antidote,” so she ended up fine and recovered on her own without needing to copulate with a man.
But when she came back from Germany, Chen Lie’s assistant, Dr. Ye Zitan, had been arrested as a traitor. She betrayed the two Special Operations Forces field personnel just so they could take others there to find Gu Nianzhi’s whereabouts. And right before Ye Zitan was executed, Gu Nianzhi saw Ye Zitan for the very last time.
As soon as she closed her eyes, Gu Nianzhi could see Ye Zitan on the other side of the glass wall. She could see her crying and laughing face. The seeds of doubt had begun to germinate back then….
“Of course I must have had sex with someone for the antidote? Then I really was raped?” Gu Nianzhi instantly asked about what Ye Zitan had said. Perhaps the word “rape” was too shocking, so the drowsy and nearly sleeping Chen instantly became alert again.
As if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head, he felt bone-chilling cold inside and out. It gradually made him helpless. His limbs stiffened, and even his tongue seemed to feel so cold, he couldn’t even speak.
“Oh no, oh no…” Chen Lie covered his head and wailed deep inside his heart. He wanted nothing more but to bash his head against the wall. Why couldn’t he ever keep his mouth shut?! Huo Shaoheng had forced him to issue a military order in the beginning! If Gu Nianzhi found out about this, he may have to spend the rest of his life in jail…
Chen Lie nearly wanted to hide himself under the blankets and pretend he hadn’t heard what Gu Nianzhi said, but Gu Nianzhi didn’t let him off so easily.
“Brother Chen? Brother Chen? I know you’re listening. Tell me, was I actually raped by someone back then?” Gu Nianzhi’s voice was growing lower and lower, the slight tremble could almost be heard in the quiet night.
Chen Lie was struggling between “exposing Huo Shaoheng” and “confirming she had been raped.” There seemed to be two little people in his head. The little person with two black horns on his head kept urging him, “Say it, just tell her she was raped. That way it wouldn’t be disobeying the military order since you won’t be implicating Huo Shaoheng.”
The little person with a shiny halo on his head looked at him anxiously. “You should tell her the truth. This poor girl has suffered enough…” Chen Lie wasn’t a bad person. On the contrary, he had a very kind heart and was friendly and generous.
Generally speaking, those who chose to become doctors all had deep-rooted heroic ambitions of saving and healing people, rescuing the masses while sacrificing themselves. Chen Lie was also the chief doctor in the Special Operations Forces, so his dedication in this regard was even more deep-rooted than typical doctors’.
But Huo Shaoheng had given him too much fear and pressure, and it wasn’t only just because of the military order. Chen Lie knew Huo Shaoheng was a person who did as he promised. His methods were too bone chilling. He had a feeling that if this truth were to actually come out of his mouth, being able to spend the rest of his life in prison was probably his very best option. He didn’t dare imagine what kind of things would actually happen to him…
Zhao Liangze only had a slip of the tongue after getting drunk and briefly teased Huo Shaoheng about getting dumped by Gu Nianzhi. As a result, Huo Shaoheng had “exiled” him to a deserted African island in the Cape of Good Hope.
And because of Chen Lie’s own slip of the tongue, his best bet was to probably take a rope and hang himself immediately. When he thought about this, Chen Lie crawled out of his blankets. His nose was a bit sniffly as he almost started to cry. “Nianzhi, please stop pressing me. Brother Chen was unlucky enough to be tricked into confessing by your cleverness. It’s all Brother Chen’s fault, but I beg you, please stop asking. Ok? If you ask me anymore, I can only take a rope and hang myself.”
Gu Nianzhi’s heart sank. “Brother Chen, did Huo Shao prevent you from talking about it?” Her heart felt both bitter and sweet, yet it hurt more than ever… She knew it was impossible for her to have been raped by someone. Before she lost consciousness, she knew that she had been with Chen Lie. Chen Lie had taken her to the Special Operations Forces base. And there it would impossible for anyone to rape her in Huo Shaoheng’s territory.
But Ye Zitan’s words and Chen Lie’s reaction indicated that Ye Zitan wasn’t making up rumors from nothing. What did this mean? This meant that Gu Nianzhi had truly experienced fierce sex at the time. So when Ye Zitan examined her afterwards, she assumed she had been raped…
So who did she have sex with?! Who became her “antidote?!”
“Brother Chen, tell me if you found someone to have sex with me and become my antidote?!” Gu Nianzhi balled her hands into tight fists, her body growing as rigid as her voice. “I’ll assume your silence is confirmation!”
Thinking about how her virginity had been ended just like that, Gu Nianzhi’s heart tensed up painfully. Her face was ashen white, and she was so aggrieved she almost wanted to simply die… So this was why Huo Shaoheng had avoided her in the beginning?
After she woke up, Huo Shaoheng didn’t see her for an entire six months. Was it because he would recall how she had sex with someone else whenever he saw her? “Brother Chen, tell me if it’s true or not! Did Huo Shao know about this incident?!” Gu Nianzhi began to sob. She was so humiliated and ashamed when she recalled Huo Shaoheng’s determination to avoid her, yet she had shamelessly chased after him, threw temper tantrums, and confessed her feelings in all sorts of ways. She wanted nothing more than to directly jump from the 24th floor and end it all!
When Chen Lie heard Gu Nianzhi cry, he panicked and quickly replied, “Nianzhi, don’t cry. I did this for your own good!”
“For my own good?! You should’ve at least told me about it!” Gu Nianzhi punched the bed, screaming and crying. “Do you know how much I want to die when I think about all the things I did in the beginning, forcing him to accept me! I want nothing more but to jump from the 24th floor!
“This is the thing no man can ever accept, but I… What have I done?! Brother Chen, you’ve ruined my life. I’m too ashamed to see Huo Shao ever again!” Gu Nianzhi was so angry, she threw the phone down.
She had a feeling that Huo Shaoheng knew about this incident from the beginning. He had also struggled with it and avoided her. She was the one who had forced him to be together with her. Otherwise, what woman couldn’t he find? Why would he settle for someone like her?
He forbade Chen Lie from telling her because he was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to overcome her feelings of shame? He had always been that kind of person—constantly thinking about her best interests. Even though he learned about this incident, he still chose to be with her, after all…
Recalling her first time with Huo Shaoheng, he had sex with her in the bathtub. She had even thought that Huo Shaoheng was too eager, but when she recalled it now, it was probably out of concern about her learning the truth. That’s why he purposely had sex with her in the bathtub?
He didn’t want her to be sad and feel guilty, nor did he want her to have any psychological stress. He carried all the burdens on his own shoulders and went ahead with the heavy load. He never made a sound no matter how difficult or tiring it was.
Gu Nianzhi’s tears instantly streamed down. She cried for her immature self, and she cried for the Huo Shaoheng who quietly did everything for her.
