The Japanese reporter still wanted to continue asking questions, but the spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already looked past him and stared directly at the other reporters. “…Next.”
…
Gu Nianzhi propped her head on her hand and sat in the dining room of Huo Shaoheng’s official residence. She smiled giddily as she watched the spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs answer the reporters’ questions on the afternoon news. She remarked glibly, “What a shame, Bai Shuang also used to be the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I wonder where she is now…”
Huo Shaoheng recalled the Zhao Laingze he had “exiled,” so his hand froze for a moment as he said, “I heard she went abroad.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. She was only remarking casually since she wasn’t close with Bai Shuang. She had merely revealed that she had actually crossed paths with her initially. Bai Shuang’s verbiage was even sharper than this current spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so Gu Nianzhi preferred Bai Shuang’s style more.
After having lunch together, Huo Shaoheng stood up and said, “Pack up your things. We’ll take a flight back to the Imperial Capital this afternoon.”
Gu Nianzhi agreed, then asked, “What about Ms. Song?”
“She will stay here for a while more and do research.” Huo Shaoheng curled his lips into a smile before turning to leave the dining room.
…
Their flight landed at the Imperial Capital Airport at 6pm. As soon as they got off the plane, General Ji was there to personally welcome them. Of course, Hong Kangquan was also escorted back. He had been in an unconscious state the entire time to expedite easy transport and prevent him from playing any tricks.
As soon as General Ji saw Huo Shaoheng, he quickly glanced at him to ensure he was actually ok before sighing emotionally and saying, “You were able to escape the wonders of nature. You’re truly my lucky soldier!”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t know what to say while Gu Nianzhi almost had a muscle spasm from her attempt to hold back her laughter. With her head down, she wanted to quickly rush off. However, she didn’t expect General Ji would see her too and cough. “Nianzhi, you didn’t listen to me and secretly ran off to C City. Shaoheng, you must punish her.”
Huo Shaoheng was dumbstruck. Gu Nianzhi finally stopped in her tracks and corrected General Ji with embarrassment. “How did I run off? I went there openly.”
“Openly? So why did Director Song continue staying in C City to study ‘the wonders of nature,’ but you’ve run back here alone?” General Ji purposely argued with Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi replied confidently, “I was only working as Director Song’s temporary assistant! The wonders of nature is a deep and complex subject, so I didn’t understand it as a mere temporary worker. Consequently, Director Song asked me to come back and also called over her doctorate students and post-doctorates from her institute to C City to work as her official assistants.”
General Ji glared at Gu Nianzhi for a while before laughing. “Fine, fine, fine. I can’t win. But I can finally understand why Speaker Long insists on having you go to the Senate now. Your glib tongue can only be fully utilized in the Senate.”
Gu Nianzhi spread her hands with all seriousness and said, “General Ji, I like the law. As for the Senate, I am working as legal counsel, but I don’t understand politics.”
“I don’t understand them, either,” General Ji said with a smile. “Let’s go. We should head back. Both of you need to come to the Senate with me. Tonight Speaker Long will be announcing the name of the elected prime minister.”
Gu Nianzhi was very shocked. “The results aren’t out yet?!” It had already been two days since the interim general elections ended!
Huo Shaoheng was also a bit shocked, but he didn’t express all his emotions like Gu Nianzhi did. Following General Ji to their vehicle, he asked calmly, “Was there a problem when the votes were counted?”
General Ji pointed to the car discreetly. “We’ll talk in the car.” The three of them got into the car, and Gu Nianzhi conscientiously sat beside the driver. General Ji and Huo Shaoheng sat in the back together to speak.
“Your Special Operations Forces has made another great achievement!” General Ji began to chuckle. “When Yin Shixiong was monitoring the elections, he discovered areas of fraudulent activity. Then he ripped the parsnip out and brought up the soil! He discovered that there were also areas of fraudulent activity in the count for the last election. When compared, Speaker Long decided to delay the announcement of the winning candidate and instructed that both rounds of voting be calculated again before declaring anything.”
Gu Nianzhi heard this from the front, but she wasn’t very affected by it. After all, she didn’t get along well with either of the two previous prime ministers. If Tan Dongbang still managed to win this time, then she probably wouldn’t be able to enter the Senate. However, she didn’t want to get in even if she was able to. It was pointless to fight head on with people like that.
Huo Shaoheng knew there was fraudulent activity because they had unearthed the four lines of AI programming code. During the last election, Hong Kangquan took advantage of Huo Shaoheng’s absence from the Huaxia Empire and used the elections as a reason to send personnel over to take over the central control room. He then used the opportunity to insert the four lines of AI programming code into their surveillance system. Consequently, there must have been areas of fraudulent activity the last time.
General Ji slapped a rhythm on his knee and was very curious. “I wonder who won this time?”
Gu Nianzhi pouted when she looked at the distressed dark army green bomber jacket she wore. She didn’t really want to attend such an important event at the Senate dressed like that. She shuffled in her seat in the front and was a bit anxious.
Huo Shaoheng glanced at her and asked General Ji, “Chief, what time will the elected candidate be announced tonight?”
General Ji looked at his watch. “It’s scheduled for 8pm.”
“That’s in two hours.” Huo Shaoheng stretched his long legs. “We’ll go to the official headquarters first and pass Hong Kangquan off to Zhou Qiyuan before going to the Senate. Otherwise, I can’t feel assured.”
General Ji nodded. “That’s good. I didn’t consider that completely. Remember to not let Hong Kangquan run off again.”
A slight smile appeared on Huo Shaoheng’s face. “He hasn’t regained consciousness since he fell into my hands. How can he run off?” He didn’t need to break Hong Kangquan’s legs since he just needed to keep him lying there.
General Ji chuckled out loud. “Hong Kangquan is in such poor health? He couldn’t even withstand a mere long haul flight.”
Gu Nianzhi lowered her head and smiled. She was secretly elated to be able to go home and change her outfit~~~
…
The vehicle drove onto the Special Operations Forces’ Imperial Capital headquarters base. The soldier at the door excitedly saluted to Huo Shaoheng. “Hello, Chief!”
Although Huo Shaoheng had only been gone for a few days, everyone missed him dearly. He was their backbone.
Huo Shaoheng lifted his hand. “You’ve worked hard.”
The car entered the Special Operations Forces base, and Huo Shaoheng began by delivering Hong Kangquan into Zhou Qiyuan’s custody. He reminded him, “We lost one comrade when we arrested Hong Kangquan this time. Remember to not let him escape again. There are many mysteries surrounding him, so it’s not time for him to die yet.”
“Don’t worry, Chief. I will personally watch over him!” Zhou Qiyuan saluted with great enthusiasm.
Huo Shaoheng patted his shoulder and expressed his confidence in him.
…
Gu Nianzhi returned to Huo Shaoheng’s official residence alone and went to her own room. She began by quickly taking a shower, and after she came out, she dried her hair as she went to the closet to find suitable clothes. Considering how today would be the announcement of the elected prime minister, Gu Nianzhi chose a more mature yet girly Chanel suit.
The pale cherry blossom-pink, round-collared jacket with tapered waist was paired with a matching wool tweed skirt. Underneath her jacket, she chose a silk and cotton blend Victorian-style, high-necked white shirt. She wore a pair of black calfskin Christian Louboutin high heels with red bottoms, so she appeared mature, proper, and passionate. This was very suitable for her position.
After drying her hair, she didn’t put her hair into a high bun. Instead, her hair hung loosely behind her back, and she used a diamond hair pin to secure it behind her head. She applied a light layer of blush on her cheeks and dotted her lips with lipstick. With natural makeup applied, she was properly dressed up for this sort of occasion.
Huo Shaoheng changed into his major general’s uniform and escorted her to the Senate building, but once they arrived, they began to work separately. Huo Shaoheng was speaking with General Ji outside, while Gu Nianzhi first went to find Special Assistant Zhuang and then sat down with the other Senate personnel.
Gu Nianzhi glanced over at the large, shell-shaped conference hall. She discovered Tan Guiren dressed like a little princess as she sat between Cai Songyin and Tan Dongbang.
The father-daughter pair of Bai Jiangcheng and Bai Yueran sat on the other side of the Tans.
There was only a narrow walkway between the two families.
Tan Dongbang continued to reveal a confident and victorious smile on his face. However, it changed drastically when he saw Huo Shaoheng and General Ji walk in together.
…
