It was actually a treehouse!
Huo Shao must have prepared it for her!
Gu Nianzhi was pleasantly surprised.
She immediately turned around and rushed back to her room. She picked up her phone and dialed Huo Shaoheng’s number.
“Huo Shao?! Where are you?”
Huo Shaoheng was sitting in the dining room downstairs, drinking tea. There was a laptop in front of him and he was checking his email.
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze had just departed. They packed their things and had agreed to come for dinner tonight. It was Huo Shaoheng’s treat to thank them for helping out today.
The grass under the phoenix tree was clean and it wasn’t as messy as before.
Upon hearing Gu Nianzhi’s ringtone, he picked up his phone and answered the call.
“I’m downstairs. You’re awake?”
Gu Nianzhi nodded repeatedly and said happily, “I saw the treehouse! Did you do this for me?”
Huo Shaoheng suddenly felt like joking. He held his phone and said seriously, “… it wasn’t me.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
“It grew on its own.” Huo Shaoheng said indifferently.
Gu Nianzhi almost fainted from his teasing. “You’re so annoying!”
Of course, when girls said ‘You’re so annoying’, they didn’t mean what they said.
If they really hated you, they wouldn’t have said it. They would have avoided you and wished they never knew you. That was the correct way to express it.
Huo Shaoheng laughed twice, hung up the phone, and continued with his work.
Gu Nianzhi stretched out her arms happily and circled the room a few times. Then, she started moving things around like a busy bee.
There was nothing in the treehouse and it still needed to be decorated.
She picked out a yoga mat that was roughly the same size as the closet. Then, she spread it on the bottom. Following which, she spread a thick, small quilt over it.
She found a dark blue navy-style bedsheet and a large pillow, paired with a pillowcase of the same color. Then, she placed them all in the treehouse.
The roof of the treehouse was triangular, and in the middle of it hung a simple solar LED bulb.
When it was lit up, the lamp was like an inverted magnolia bud, sprinkling silver light all over the room.
A small round-topped mosquito net hung in the treehouse, enveloping the entire space within the treehouse.
Gu Nianzhi moved another folding lazy table into the treehouse.
This way, she could move her laptop over rest it on top.
Either that or she could invite her best friend over and have afternoon tea using the table.
There was a cableway between the treehouse and Gu Nianzhi’s terrace.
Walking on the cableway was very exciting. It was like being blown by the mountain breeze while hiking up.
Gu Nianzhi walked along the cableway many times. She finally finished setting up the entire treehouse when it was dark.
She stood on the front step of the treehouse and glanced at the two little magpies that had just returned to their nest above her head. She smiled and bowed. “We’ll be neighbors from now on. Please take care of us.”
The little magpies seemed to know that she wouldn’t hurt them. Either that or that they were already used to having people here. Hence, their first reaction wasn’t to spread their wings and fly away immediately.
They merely poked their heads out of their nests and stared at her curiously for a few seconds before retreating.
Satisfied, Gu Nianzhi went back into the treehouse and sat in front of the door. Her long fair legs swayed in the air, and she was in such a good mood that she felt like whistling.
..
Huo Shaoheng stared at his computer till the sky turned dark.
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze came over to his place for dinner after work. They asked casually, “Huo Shao, where’s Nianzhi? Is she still sleeping?”
Huo Shaoheng glanced at his watch. It was already dinner time.
It was almost dinner time, but Gu Nianzhi had yet to come down.
He spoke to Yin Shixiong, “Nianzhi is still upstairs. Tell her to come down.”
Yin Shixiong couldn’t simply run upstairs anymore. Hence, he used the restaurant’s internal line and dialed Huo Shaoheng’s number. “You’re the best.”
When he realized that Huo Shaoheng was focused on typing, Yin Shixiong put him on speaker.
Huo Shaoheng spoke into the phone, “Nianzhi? Come down for dinner.”
Gu Nianzhi answered the phone in the treehouse. When she noticed that the number displayed indicated that it was an internal call from the restaurant, she assumed that Huo Shaoheng was alone.
She and Huo Shaoheng had been eating alone together for the past few days.
She rolled around the treehouse and leaned against the walls. Then, she crossed her legs and acted coquettishly. “Oh my! I fell in the treehouse. I need Huo Shao to give me a hug and a kiss before I can get up for dinner!”
Yin Shixiong, “…”
Zhao Liangze, “…”
Huo Shaoheng, “…”
He coughed and was about to speak when Yin Shixiong asked sarcastically, “Nianzhi, can Brother Xiong give you a kiss?”
Gu Nianzhi, “!!!”
Why was Brother Xiong in the dining room?!
Zhao Liangze couldn’t help but laugh. “Nianzhi, Brother Ze doesn’t want to kiss you, but he can give you a hug.”
Gu Nianzhi’s ears turned red. She immediately cut the call and covered her head with a pillow. She lay in the treehouse and pretended to be dead, refusing to head down.
Huo Shaoheng was about to speak when he realized that Gu Nianzhi had already hung up the phone.
He glanced at Yin Shixiong without batting an eyelid. Then, he closed the laptop and stood up. “Get the kitchen to serve the food. I’ll go get her.”
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze quickly replied, “Yes, sir!”
However, they held back their laughter so much that they were about to cramp up.
The moment Huo Shaoheng left the dining room, he heard the two people behind him burst into laughter.
Huo Shaoheng stopped in his tracks.
Nianzhi had become so naughty because of the influence of these brats.
..
When he arrived at Gu Nianzhi’s room on the second floor, Huo Shaoheng looked around but saw no sign of her.
This time, however, he did not panic. He walked straight to the balcony and caught sight of the lights beaming in the direction of the treehouse.
Under the solar LED lights, a young girl in a black short-sleeved T-shirt and super short shorts was lying under the warm glow, covering her head with a large pillow.
Huo Shaoheng smiled. With one hand on the railing of the balcony, he leaped over the cableway and quietly landed in front of the door of the treehouse.
He held onto the roof and bent down before walking in.
The treehouse was tidied up comfortably and elegantly. It was definitely Gu Nianzhi’s style.
Huo Shaoheng knelt partially in front of her and hazed at Gu Nianzhi, who had hidden her head under the pillow to hide, just like an ostrich. He reached out and gently lifted the pillow.
Gu Nianzhi refused to let go. She held onto the two corners of the pillow tightly and pulled it down with all her might.
Huo Shaoheng saw this and reached out to slap her perky bottom.
He did not use any force and the slap did not hurt, but the sound the action produced was clear and crisp. The sound traveled far into the night sky.
The magpies on the roof were alarmed. They poked their heads out of the nest and stared at their new neighbor.
Gu Nianzhi’s body stiffened for a moment. She let go of the hand that was holding the pillow and turned quickly. She saw Huo Shaoheng’s calm and handsome face pressing down on her.
She was stunned.
A kiss had already landed on her forehead. It was as gentle as the afternoon breeze when she moved her things to the treehouse. The stamen of the phoenix wood brushed past her forehead gently.
“Okay, we’ve kissed. Give me another hug.” Huo Shaoheng put his hands under her armpits and pulled her into his arms.
Gu Nianzhi threw herself into his arms like a child. It took her a long time to come back to her senses.
She covered her face with her hand and asked with embarrassment, “… why are Brother Xiong and Brother Ze Here? Why didn’t you tell me in advance, I am embarrassed…”
Huo Shaoheng patted her back and replied with a faint smile, “They’re not outsiders. They helped me build this treehouse for you today.”
Gu Nianzhi finally understood. She played with Huo Shaoheng’s collar. “So you’re treating them to dinner?”
“Yes, it’s actually all your favorite dishes.” Huo Shaoheng smoothened her hair. “Can we go now?”
“Okay.”Gu Nianzhi patted Huo Shaoheng’s face. “I’ll forgive you this once. But if they laugh at me later, you have to speak up for me.”
“Okay. If they dare laugh at you, I’ll punish them by making them go for a ten-kilometer cross-country race.” Huo Shaoheng coaxed her. “Let’s go.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded, “You go out first.”
The treehouse was small and could only accommodate one person at a time.
Huo Shaoheng turned to leave first, and Gu Nianzhi followed.
The two of them arrived at the dining room and saw that the table was already filled with delicious food.
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze saw them enter and laughed in unison.
“Nianzhi…”
Before Yin Shixiong could speak, Huo Shaoheng interrupted him, “… Cross-country race, 10 kilometers.”
Yin Shixiong understood immediately and quickly changed the subject, “Nianzhi, do you like your treehouse? Brother Xiong gave up pride at the assembly line today to get the best material for my sister Nianzhi!”
Zhao Liangze secretly gave Yin Shixiong a thumbs up under the table and praised him for his quick reflexes. He also said, “Huo Shao designed the treehouse. The three of us assembled it together today. What do you think? Do you like it?”
Gu Nianzhi’s eyebrows arched. “I like it! I like it a lot! Brother Xiong, Brother Ze, you’ve worked hard.”
“It’s not hard, it’s not hard, as long as…”
Yin Shixiong swallowed back the words ‘Kiss, hug, hug’ when he thought of the serious consequences that would follow.
Gu Nianzhi blushed and quickly recovered. She braced herself and said, “Brother Xiong, if you continue acting like this, I’ll have to tell Qiqi.”
Yin Shixiong stopped and cleared his throat. He replied sternly, “Nianzhi, Brother Xiong has worked hard for your treehouse. You can’t speak nonsense in front of Qiqi!”
“As long as you don’t speak nonsense, I won’t either.” Gu Nianzhi made a zipper gesture with her hand.
“Let’s eat. This amount of food can’t stop your mouth.” Huo Shaoheng glanced at Yin Shixiong and sat down next to Gu Nianzhi. He poured her a glass of juice.
The four of them quickly ate happily.
After dinner, Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze left.
They had their own rooms in Huo Shaoheng’s official residence, but now that Huo Shaoheng was on vacation, they tacitly gave Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi some space to spend time together and moved back to their official residence.
With their status and military rank, they now had their own official residence.
Gu Nianzhi finished eating and went to take a shower. Then, she went to the treehouse to stay.
Lying in the treehouse, she pulled open the moveable panel on the roof and gazed at the bright night sky through the layers of branches. She felt much better.
..
Huo Shaoheng finished his work and realized that it was already past 10 pm.
He took a shower and came to visit Gu Nianzhi. Sure enough, she had gone to the treehouse again.
“Nianzhi, are you going to sleep in the treehouse today?”
Huo Shaoheng asked as he stood on the balcony with his arms crossed.
Gu Nianzhi put down the mosquito net. The corners of the net were tightly covered, and she planned to spend the night here.
She poked her head out of the mosquito net hanging in the treehouse and smiled. “Yes, Huo Shao, it’s very cool here.”
Huo Shaoheng was speechless.
The room was air-conditioned and the temperature was constant. How could it be hot?
However, he was still worried about Gu Nianzhi sleeping alone in the treehouse.
He held the railing of the balcony and crossed it for the third time today. He returned to the treehouse with Gu Nianzhi and lay down.
The night was long, and they hugged each other to sleep.
