This probably wasn’t anything good.
Even though Reinitz knew he was being teased, her words still made him feel elated and happier than ever.
Reinitz nodded, “Do you like fresh flowers and fruits? When you come to Germany, I’ll give them to you every day.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
Yin Shixiong helped Gu Nianzhi end the conversation from inside the elevator,” Nianzhi, are you coming in or not?”
Gu Nianzhi frantically waved at Reinitz, “Goodbye, Major General Reinitz! I won’t be seeing you off, but I wish you a safe trip!”
She intended to let him know that she was sad to see him go, but the smile on her face was too sweet and happy. This made Reinitz feel heartbroken instead.
He sat in the car while watching the elevator doors slowly close.
The lights in the parkade gradually dimmed but Reinitz didn’t start his car right away. He merely sat inside the car and looked ahead in silence.
The empty parkade grew even darker.
There was only one lamp that continued to glow in the corner.
Creatures that lived in the darkness knew better than anyone else just how attractive the only light amidst darkness was…
Even though they knew there was a lampshade blocking them, even though they knew they were completely different entities, they were still desperately attracted the light—like a moth to a flame.
If a moth flew towards the lampshade, it would overheat to death.
If there was no lampshade, the moth would burn to death.
So, no matter what, it was destined to die.
Reinitz squinted his brilliant blue eyes and listlessly looked down. His desires and hopes for Gu Nianzhi were just like a moth flying right into the lampshade…
Reinitz sat in the parkade for a long time before his phone rang and finally snapped him out of his thoughts. He lazily started the car and put on his Bluetooth headset to accept the call.
“Reinitz, where are you? It’s already so late. I went to your room but I couldn’t find you.”
It was Marthy the Paromeo family’s third daughter.
Reinitz snapped coldly, “…You’re in my room? Who gave you my room key?”
Marthy was a bit guilted by his questions but still managed to stiffen her slender, swan-like neck and muster, “I was worried about you, so I asked someone to open the door to your room. What is it? Am I not allowed to do that?”
“You’re not allowed to do that.” Reinitz smiled harshly, “Miss Paromeo, you’ve violated our agency’s regulations. You are suspected of leaking national secrets, trespassing onto agency premises, and stalking intelligence personnel. Each of these is a major crime.”
Marthy was shocked, “Reinitz, don’t scare me like that! I only asked someone to let me into your room and then I only sat there for a while! I swear I didn’t touch anything!”
Reinitz smoothly ended the call and immediately called someone else. His tone was icy, “Take personnel to my room and arrest Marthy Paromeo. We will be charging her and asking her family to pay money and bail her out as soon as we return to Germany.”
Their agency’s annual expenses would largely depend on the Paromeo clan paying money to bail out their third daughter…
“Roger, Major General Reinitz!”
Before Reinitz arrived at the five-star hotel they were staying at, news of Miss Marthy Paromeo’s arrest had already become a trending headline on German social media.
…
Yin Shixiong went upstairs with Gu Nianzhi. When he went to her apartment and saw all the delicious food on the dining table, he couldn’t help but laugh, “This was worth the trip. Everything looks very good. Did Reinitz make it?”
Gu Nianzhi nodded, “He was in charge of everything from getting ingredients to cooking. It actually tastes pretty good. Of course, this is no comparison to the five-star chefs from the Huaxia Empire.”
Yin Shixiong cut up a small piece of steak to try and hummed happily with his eyes closed, “Delicious! Delicious! It’s so incredibly delicious!”
He gushed with compliments, so he suddenly had a lot in common with Ma Qiqi.
They fed each other bite after bite and was able to clear the entire table of food in no time.
Gu Nianzhi only had half a steak so Ma Qiqi and Yin Shixiong divided the rest of the food.
After Yin Shixiong finished eating, he patted his belly with satisfaction, “That was authentic wagyu. It was actually so good!”
Ma Qiqi also had some red wine and was a bit drunk. She exclaimed with a giggle, “Of course that was good. Reinitz would only buy real wagyu. You know that most wagyu at typical restaurants are not real wagyu. I tried real wagyu once when I went to Japan but it wasn’t as good as this. The quality of this wagyu is top-notch, even for Japanese standards!”
Yin Shixiong nodded as well, “I also had wagyu when I went to Japan. It was very good, but it wasn’t as good as this pan-fried steak.”
Gu Nianzhi laughed helplessly while making them a pot of tea to aid digestion after the rich meal.
Yin Shixiong and Ma Qiqi finished a second dinner, so they sat around for a while before saying goodbye to Gu Nianzhi.
“We want to make it in time for a late movie at the theatre. Nianzhi, we’re going to get going now!” Ma Qiqi put her hands on Gu Nianzhi’s shoulders and gave her a wink.
Gu Nianzhi pretended to push her away angrily, “Go, go! You better hurry if you want to make it in time! Don’t be an eyesore here!”
The two girls giggled and teased each other for a while before Gu Nianzhi finally sent Ma Qiqi and Yin Shixiong to the door.
Ma Qiqi drank wine, but Yin Shixiong didn’t have any.
He needed to drive.
Before they left, he whispered quietly to Gu Nianzhi, “Stay at home and don’t go out before the sun rises.”
“Why would I want to go out? I’m not on a date like you guys… Go on now, stop showing off to me here.” Gu Nianzhi giddily pushed the couple out of the door.
After sending off the happy couple, Gu Nianzhi finally wiped the smile from her face. Closing the door and leaning her back against it, she sighed deeply.
Tonight had been a terrifying endeavor.
Maybe other people presumed she only enjoyed a fancy dinner, but her banter with Reinitz was no less intense than when she was being hunted down in Germany…
Her nerves were incredibly tense since she had to make Reinitz slip up while preventing herself from saying too much.
People who experienced this sort of thing would be the only ones to understand what it felt like.
Gu Nianzhi thought of Huo Shaoheng—wasn’t this a daily occurrence for him and his men?
After inhaling deeply, Gu Nianzhi finally took out the thing Reinitz had given her.
It was a small, balled-up note that laid in her tender and pale hand.
Gu Nianzhi stared at the note for a while before finally smoothing it out.
Two poems were written in flourishing, blue-inked handwriting. It carried a vintage aura of a time long lost.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes glimmered.
The first poem read:
“A little girl needs Daddy,
For many, many things:
…
Like giving her the love,
That is her sea and air,
So diving deep or soaring high,
She’ll always find him there.”
The second poem only consisted of one sentence:
“Only let this one teardrop glisten pure upon the cheek of time.”
The first was familiar to many Westerners as a poem that praised fatherly love. It was written by Nicholas Gordon.
The second one looked somewhat familiar but at the moment, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t remember who wrote it.
Frowning, she quickly walked over to her computer and turned it on. She typed the sentence into the Google search box.
The results appeared as soon as she pressed enter.
It turned out that the second poem was written by the Indian poet, Tagore, in dedication to the Taj Mahal. This was the last line of a famous poem.
Why would Reinitz give her this sort of thing?
Gu Nianzhi raised her beautiful and elegant eyebrows.
She wasn’t a cultured, literary girl, so she was much more interested in computers and the law than poetry.
Did Reinitz make a mistake?
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but pick up her phone and call Reinitz.
Reinitz had just stepped into the lobby of the five-star hotel he was currently staying at.
He hesitated for a moment when he saw Gu Nianzhi calling but still answered.
“Cereus, I just left and you’re already missing me?” Reinitz teased her happily.
Gu Nianzhi, “…Speak properly. You suddenly became so cultured. I felt very scared.”
Reinitz, “…”
Gu Nianzhi waited a while before continuing to say, “What is the meaning of this? You know I don’t like poetry.”
“Really?” Emotion faded from Reinitz’s voice, “But it’s too bad that I like it very much. Alright then, it’s very late now, I need to hang up. Goodnight, baby.”
He didn’t hesitate to end the call, his expression resolute.
…
Gu Nianzhi scoffed to herself. After clearing the dining table and taking a shower, she finished cleaning up before laying on the bed. She continued to stare at the note.
She quietly read the first poem out loud, but still couldn’t decipher it.
If this was a clue related to her father, Reinitz was being too childish.
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips. Picking up the phone, she scanned the note and sent it to Huo Shaoheng with a message, “…Reinitz gave this to me, I don’t know what it means.”
