He Zhichu took Gu Nianzhi to the best revolving restaurant on the top floor of C City for dinner.
He booked the entire floor of the restaurant. There was only the two of them in the empty and vast space.
In the restaurant, a female pianist in a long dress was playing elegant and beautiful piano music. There was also a handsome violinist playing beside her.
He Zhichu had ordered all the dishes a few days in advance.
There were red lobsters flown in from Australia, the famous blue crab from Maryland, the golden king crab from Alaska, the wild Arctic scallops in the deep north Atlantic Ocean, and the geoduck clam from British Columbia, Canada. The dishes were all alive before they were served.
Seafood, seafood, and seafood.
Gu Nianzhi’s taste was very similar to He Zhichu’s. Although she didn’t want to celebrate her birthday, she quickly got rid of her depressed mood and started eating happily.
It was best to eat seafood with white wine. It could enhance the flavor and also kill bacteria.
Gu Nianzhi wasn’t yet of age, so He Zhichu didn’t let her drink. He only ordered a glass of water without ice, so it wouldn’t ruin the original taste of the seafood.
He ordered a bottle of Doros whiskey from Pomeroy Island, Scotland, and slowly ate it with her.
“Young Master He, you’re really thoughtful.” Gu Nianzhi picked up her glass of water. “I’ll drink to you, Young Master He.”
He Zhichu’s shimmering eyes sparkled. He raised his glass leisurely and clinked it with hers. “Happy 20th birthday, my girl.”
Gu Nianzhi ignored the adoration in his voice and smiled. “I’m still a few days away from turning 20. Please don’t call me old.”
He Zhichu: “…”
He looked at her without hesitation and took another sip of his whiskey. His tone was cold and clear. “I was planning to have this meal on your birthday, but you’re going to H City. I won’t be able to accompany you on your birthday.”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t think much of it. “You do your thing. If I go to H city, it’ll be considered a vacation. Don’t worry about me.”
“When are you going?”
“I’ve already booked the plane tickets. It’s the day after tomorrow.” Gu Nianzhi was very eager to talk to Xie Qingying. “Jin Dazhuang has also applied for a pass for me. I can go to H City and M City at any time. I heard that after the celebration party, there will be an after-party to go to M City’s casino!”
M City was known as “Eastern Las Vegas,” and the gambling industry was their main business.
After a sumptuous seafood feast, a chef wearing a white top hat pushed a cake cart over.
On the cart was a nine-story pagoda-shaped cake that looked absolutely gorgeous.
Gu Nianzhi was ecstatic. She pointed at the little beautiful figure on the cake and said, “I want this little person! It’s mine!”
He Zhichu curled his lips. “It was originally made to look like you, so of course it’s yours.”
The little doll had big eyes and an oval face. The dimples at the corners of her lips were slender, and her long black hair was tied into a ponytail. She was beautiful and agile, and indeed looked better than the dolls that Gu Nianzhi had played with when she was young.
The chef took the little beautiful figure off the cake and gave it to Gu Nianzhi.
He Zhichu took out his birthday present and put a familiar pink diamond crown on Gu Nianzhi’s head.
“Happy birthday.” He leaned over and gave Gu Nianzhi a very natural kiss on the cheek.
Gu Nianzhi smiled and a strange expression flashed through her eyes.
She looked in the mirror in the dining room and found that the pink diamond crown was exactly the same as the one she had in the other world.
“… My father bought this for me too?” Gu Nianzhi asked nervously.
He Zhichu shook his head. “This is one of my betrothal gifts. My mother gave it to you when our two families were discussing our engagement.”
How old was she then?
Gu Nianzhi: “…”
Then she couldn’t accept it.
Gu Nianzhi was about to take off the pink diamond crown when He Zhichu held her hand. “It’s not a betrothal gift anymore. It’s my birthday present to you.”
“But it’s too expensive.” Gu Nianzhi still wanted to take it off. “I don’t have anywhere to put it. What If I lose it? You should take it back to your place.”
He Zhichu thought about it and felt that it made sense. He nodded. “Then put it on and take a photo with me. I’ll take it back.”
“Okay.” Gu Nianzhi smiled and agreed. She went over to stand next to He Zhichu and had He Zhichu’s personal secretary take a few photos of them.
Gu Nianzhi picked the best photos and sent them to her phone.
After eating a piece of cake, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t eat anymore. Looking at the remaining cake that was like a small hill, Gu Nianzhi said with a bitter expression on her face, “What about the rest of the cake?”
“You can give it to someone to eat.” He Zhichu waved his hand and asked his personal secretary to pay the bill.
Gu Nianzhi was delighted. “Can you get someone here to send it to my company? Also, send one to CEO Lu and Director Zhao.”
“Director Zhao?” He Zhichu smiled faintly. “Is it Zhao Liangze?”
He knew Zhao Liangze over there, and knew that Zhao Liangze hadn’t joined the military. He was working as the technical director of the Lu Corporation.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t hide anything. “Yes, it’s him. Even though he doesn’t know me, he’s still nice to me.”
The two of them ate for two to three hours. After dinner, He Zhichu took a private plane back to the capital.
It was already dark when he returned to the imperial capital.
He walked out of the airport and passed by the intersection on the Sanhuan Road of the imperial capital. He glanced at the traffic lights there.
This was the coordinates where he had picked up Gu Nianzhi back then, but for some reason, the magnetic field suddenly became chaotic and the coordinates were out of order. Qin Zhining didn’t bring Gu Nianzhi directly back to the intersection. Instead, they landed on the Caribbean Sea Snake Island, thousands of miles away.
He Zhichu had a nagging feeling that there was something wrong with this.
However, after the scientists on their side examined it, they kept saying that the magnetic resonance device had malfunctioned, which was why the coordinates had been out of order.
The magnetic resonance device was fine after they had used it so many times. Why had it malfunctioned when they were picking up Gu Nianzhi?
He Zhichu looked at the intersection of the Sanhuan Road quietly until it disappeared from his sight.
…
At that moment, in the same place on the other side of the world, Huo Shaoheng was holding little Corgi on a dog leash. He was also walking on the sidewalk beside Sanhuan Road.
It was already the end of October. It had been almost two months since Gu Nianzhi had been kidnapped.
The leaves of the maple trees by the roadside began to turn red. They looked like umbrellas, as if they were covered by a canopy.
Ahead was the intersection where Gu Nianzhi had disappeared. It was still bustling with traffic and activity.
The moonlight was dim, and the stars twinkled in the sky.
A few couples walked past him and hummed softly. It was a song he had been listening to a lot recently. “If Love Had The Will Of Heaven”.
“… When we were young, we used to think,
That those who loved each other would last forever,
When we believed that love was deep,
And we couldn’t hear the sigh in the wind.
Who knows what love is,
A brief encounter but never forgotten,
A lifetime spent,
Learning not to forget.
Now we are far apart,
Living like the people around us,
The people in front of me give me the most reliable reliance,
I wish you were treated compassionately.
When I was in a trance,
I saw you flowing in the sea of people,
I vaguely saw you appear…”
Huo Shaoheng was in a trance for a moment, as if he saw Gu Nianzhi running towards him with a smile. She hugged his arm and kept complaining, “Major General Huo, what took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time…”
He stopped and looked ahead quietly. Suddenly, he was in so much pain that he sat down on a bench by the side of the road.
Little Corgi was barking at the intersection. His short legs were jumping and leaping, and he couldn’t wait to run to the center of the intersection to fetch his owner back.
He sat there until the sky brightened before he got up and left.
When he returned to the official residence of the Special Operation Forces’ encampment ground headquarters, he saw that in front of the door, golden leaves that looked like small fans had fallen to the ground from ginkgo trees.
Nianzhi had once used these leaves as bookmarks in her books. Now that there were leaves all over the ground, no one would pick them up to make bookmarks anymore.
After returning to his room, he changed his clothes and went to sit in Gu Nianzhi’s room for a while.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, he could see the tree house he had built for Gu Nianzhi.
At that time, she had loved this tree house so much that she had stayed in it day and night. She had even said that she wanted to keep an eye on the bird’s nest on the tree so as not to “let the dove take over the magpie’s nest.”.
Now that he thought about it, she must have had a premonition?
There was little Nianzhi who had died young here, so where was she from?
The tree house was still there, but he did not know where Nianzhi had gone. Little Corgi had been waiting at the entrance of the base every day, but he didn’t await the return of its female owner.
Huo Shaoheng stood up silently and went back to his room.
There were two pairs of slippers on the shoe rack at the entrance, one big and one small. They were in the style of a couple, and Gu Nianzhi had placed them there.
He went to the bathroom to wash up and get ready to rest.
He saw that on the sink were her usual facial cleanser, face cream, and all sorts of powder essences. Bottles and jars of all sizes were neatly arranged according to their height.
His eyes darkened.
Lying on the bed, he casually flipped to the black T-shirt and pajamas under Gu Nianzhi’s pillow.
Thinking that he didn’t know, she had once secretly hidden his clothes…
More than half of the closet was filled with her clothes, shoes, and bags.
These things constantly appeared by his side reminded him that there was once a person who loved him with her life.
…
That day, Huo Shaoheng went to the bathroom to wash up. He seemed to hear a woman’s playful and shameless voice in the bedroom. He instinctively said, “Nianzhi, it’s time to get up.”
He realized that she wasn’t there only after he spoke. He didn’t know where she had gone.
He finally couldn’t suppress the emotions he had been holding in for so long.
He turned on the tap and let the water flow.
His hands supported the sink and his head was buried for a long time. His shoulders trembled slightly, and he didn’t dare to look at the things in the mirror.
Huo Shaoheng thought that he couldn’t continue to live as if nothing had happened.
He changed into his military uniform and gave a standard military salute in front of the mirror. Then, he drove to General Ji’s house alone and asked to see General Ji.
“Shaoheng, what’s the matter?” Huo Shaoheng’s serious expression made “General Ji feel uneasy.
“General Ji, Nianzhi has been missing for almost two months. Her birthday is in a few days.” Huo Shaoheng spoke slowly, word by word.
General Ji froze for a moment. “But we’re still searching…”
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips and continued, “I’ve thought about it for a long time. From the first day I met her, she’s been by my side for so many years. Rather than saying that I took care of her, it’s more appropriate to say that she and I depend on each other.”
“But ever since she’s been with me, for the country and the army, I’ve placed her in the interests of the country, in the interests of the army, and even behind my comrades.”
“I’m not complaining, nor am I regretting it. As long as I wear the military uniform for a day, I will do it.
“Even if she stands in front of me today, I will say the same to her.
“But now, she has disappeared. It’s as if she never appeared. She has disappeared.
“I am already unable to do anything, and I am even more unable to fulfill my duty as a soldier.
“So, General Ji, I want to retire from the army. Once I take off this military uniform, I can put her first. I can see her as more important than anything else in my life, including my own life.”
“I beg you to agree to my request to resign from the army.”
Huo Shaoheng stood upright in front of General Ji. The expression on his face was unshakable and unwavering. It was obvious that he had thought it through and wasn’t acting on a whim.
General Ji looked at him for a long time. “Shaoheng, what do you see our country, our troops, as? You have risked your life for our country, our troops, for so many years. We will not stand by and watch you bleed, cry, and be heartbroken.”
“Go, go to her, but don’t leave the army. I will help you with all my strength. Our country, our army, will help you with all my strength to find her. — We are your strong support!”
