Huo Shaoheng silently read all the related news and handed Gu Nianzhi back her phone. “Don’t jump to conclusions just yet. At this point, you still need evidence before you point any fingers.”
Upon further consideration, he did have a point.
She was letting her earlier assumptions cloud her judgment. First, she’d automatically assumed that the blogger’s death was somehow connected to that text message she’d sent to Cai Songyin, concluding that Cai Songyin was the culprit.
From a legal standpoint, what she had done was establish her biased assumptions first, then search for evidence in the context of those assumptions. This was the exact opposite of what she should have done. It would only conceal the truth.
“Huo Shao, you’re right. Indeed, we can’t establish Cai Songyin as the guilty party yet. I have no actual evidence. Everything is based on my assumptions.”
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but feel genuine respect for Huo Shaoheng inside. His meticulous and exhaustive thinking process, as well as his ability to consider the circumstances of the case impartially without bias, all inspired her immensely.
Huo Shaoheng remained impassive and unperturbed, yet the brief flicker of joy in his eyes instantly gave him a less imposing vibe. Maintaining his composure, he moved towards Gu Nianzhi and said, “Then what do you plan on doing?”
Huo Shaoheng could tell how guilty Gu Nianzhi felt about the blogger’s death, and that her guilt-ridden conscience would compel her to meddle in the case. In her eyes, the blogger’s death was a consequence of that text message she’d sent.
However, Huo Shaoheng knew that the instant the blogger accepted Cai Songyin’s request concerning the short article, his fate was sealed.
Even if Cai Songyin hadn’t gotten rid of him then, she still would have done it sooner or later. It wasn’t like her to leave such scandalous information with someone and then just sit back and watch it unravel. All that the text message from Gu Nianzhi had done was speed up the inevitable.
Even though just a moment ago Huo Shaoheng had cautioned Gu Nianzhi against hastily jumping to conclusions without concrete evidence, his intuition told him that Cai Songyin was connected to this case. What still needed to be determined was the exact role that Cai Songyin had played in all of this.
Perhaps she was the mastermind, perhaps a mere accomplice…
Gu Nianzhi said with her head downcast, “…I think I’m gonna try to find the real culprit and help this blogger out.”
“He almost made your reputation go down the drain,” Huo Shaoheng said impassively. “Don’t you resent him for it?”
“Of course I resent him for what he did. I wouldn’t have hacked into his account and used it to stream that video of the prime minister on his account otherwise.” Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips. “But I still don’t believe that he deserved to die for his crimes. I can’t just look the other way while the wife of a high and mighty prime minister resorts to taking the life of another just to protect her daughter. Such a person is a menace to the country, and I would be doing my compatriots a favor by exposing her true colors.”
Huo Shaoheng simply looked at her and smiled. Every single word she said hit home. Their mutual compatibility and understanding seemed to be even greater than they knew.
Huo Shaoheng kissed her forehead. “Alright, do what you need to do, but stay safe.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. She would not ask for too much help from him. Since this criminal case was under the jurisdiction of the domestic police task force, Huo Shaoheng’s hands were tied due to his position and location. But Gu Nianzhi hadn’t been counting on using Huo Shaoheng’s authority to ride through the investigation unobstructed. She looked forward to experiencing the thrill and excitement of the process itself. Just having him around to wind down and chat with like this to help her organize her thoughts was enough to satisfy her.
After finishing that conversation, Gu Nianzhi casually asked Huo Shaoheng, “Don’t you need to go to the Parliament building to watch over it? The voting registration starts next week, right?”
Huo Shaoheng shook his head. “I’ve handed full responsibility of surveilling the interim election over to Da Xiong. I still have other business to attend to.” As he spoke, he stood up and said, “You should get some rest.”
Gu Nianzhi stood up as well and started to head back to her suite. “You should get some rest as well, you look thinner.” Gu Nianzhi’s gaze fell to his waist, which was wrapped with a military belt.
His figure was impeccable as always, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs, and a wide back shaped like an inverted triangle. A mere view of his figure from behind would be enough to get a bunch of girls fawning over him.
Yet in Gu Nianzhi’s eyes, he didn’t seem as robust as before.
Huo Shaoheng went along with her and laughed good-naturedly. “…Without you at home, I’ve been missing you all the time and haven’t been able to eat properly, so of course, I’ve gotten thinner.”
There was a pregnant pause, and the air seemed to stiffen. Gu Nianzhi rubbed her ears and noticed a painful sensation. Only then did she murmur to herself, “…I wasn’t dreaming…”
Huo Shaoheng rubbed her head, carefully reattaching the gauze over her earlobe. He gently said, “I wasn’t dreaming, I’m serious.”
Ever since Gu Nianzhi had her near-death experience, and cried and demanded that they break up, he had not wanted to mention how many nights he hadn’t slept. Whenever he closed his eyes, he imagined that he was in the Himalayan mountains surrounded by jackals and lions, and that his beloved woman was in the middle of it all, running for her life. All he could do was helplessly watch…
Words couldn’t even describe the extent of his self-blame. Since his guilt couldn’t be vented out in frustration, so all he could do was turn these emotions into patience and watch over her. As a robust soldier with incredible self-discipline, this was the least he could do.
Gu Nianzhi turned around to hug him. “Well now that I’m back, you better eat right and get some rest.”
Huo Shaoheng stared at her hairline for a while, then stooped over and whispered something in her ear.
Gu Nianzhi blushed, but immediately regained her composure and pushed him away, then wordlessly turned around and left.
Huo Shaoheng stood at the door, both hands in his pockets as he nonchalantly watched her open the door to her suite across from his, push it open, and shut the door with a loud ‘bam.’
Huo Shaoheng chuckled and lightheartedly left his residence to return to the central control room to connect with Zhao Liangze. Huo Shaoheng had an inkling that the incident concerning Hong Kangquan’s microchip tracker had been caused by an error in the surveillance software. This was because the recent investigation report stated that the microchip tracker itself was functioning normally. Therefore, there could only be two possibilities. Either the software was malfunctioning, or those two Special Operations Forces members had overlooked something.
Huo Shaoheng had carefully rewatched the video footage those two had provided. He noted all the details. The man that left Hong Kangquan’s residence had indeed been Hong Kangquan himself. The video footage showed that, up until his arrival at the gay bar, he had been alone. In terms of where he went after changing his clothes, Huo Shaoheng was not so sure. The microchip tracker did not show any corresponding data.
Arriving at the central control room, Huo Shaoheng took a seat and remotely connected with Zhao Liangze. It was the appointed time.
“Greetings sir!” Zhao Liangze’s striking face appeared on the computer monitor in front of Huo Shaoheng. They were engaging in an encrypted video call.
Huo Shaoheng nodded. “Little Ze, how’s the situation on your side?”
“How’s the situation? I’m great!” Zhao Liangze was as easy going as usual. “I’m eating fresh seafood, but the shark fin is only the side dish, the main dish is lobster! Huo Shao, I highly recommend that you and Da Xiong come for a visit, I’ll treat you guys to enough crabs to ruin your figure!”
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips. “If life for you is so free and unfettered at the moment, then you can just stay there and call it your new home.”
Zhao Liangze didn’t respond.
Alright, he had to admit that Huo Shaoheng made a sound point. He shouldn’t have been bragging! Great, now this was his new “home.”
With a stony-face, Zhao Liangze’s gaze wandered over his surroundings—a tiny room around ten square meters in size. To be precise, this wasn’t even a room, but rather a den in a run-down barn… All the facilities were located in this recently constructed room of ferroconcrete. Their residences were still under construction as well, so barns constituted everyone’s temporary housing at the moment.
Satisfied with Zhao Liangze’s suddenly darkened expression, Huo Shaoheng said impassively, “There’s a conundrum I want to share with you.” Then, he detailed the microchip tracking issue concerning the Secret Service.
Of course, Huo Shaoheng left out whose microchip tracker it was, and merely stated that during a raid, they had discovered that the microchip trackers were not correctly corresponding to the activities of their hosts. Their preliminary judgment was that the software is malfunctioning. He asked Zhao Liangze if he had any way of repairing the software.
Computer geniuses like Zhao Liangze thrive on deciphering challenging technical bugs and errors, so as soon as he heard that the Secret Service’s microchip tracker had been malfunctioning, he promptly declared, “Leave it to me, Huo Shao. Send me the data from the malfunctioning microchip tracker and let me see if I can figure this out.”
