Gu Nianzhi could hear the inhaling and exhaling while Huo Shaoheng was smoking. It was extremely clear in the quiet night. She could even imagine him smoking. His tall frame was leaning against the wall, his long legs crossed, a cigarette in one hand and his head slightly lowered. That profile of him looked exactly like a perfect screensaver for a phone that made people want to kiss their phones.
Huo Shaoheng waited for a while, but Gu Nianzhi remained silent. However, he did not rush her and smoked as he waited silently. The white smoke floated around his long, slender fingers as it made its way into the night.
Gu Nianzhi snapped back to reality and coughed slightly. “Huo Shao? Is it convenient for you to talk now?”
Nodding, Huo Shaoheng replied, “Yes, it’s convenient. Go ahead.”
Gu Nianzhi listened to Huo Shaoheng’s voice. It was lower than ever and a little hoarse, too. It sounded like the bass notes of a musical instrument as it echoed in her ears, making her heart flutter.
She rubbed her earlobes and tried her best to be as calm as possible. “Huo Shao, do you know who suggested to Tan Dongbang and Cai Songyin that you go to America personally to save Tan Guiren?”
Huo Shaoheng shifted to the other leg to support his weight as he furrowed his brows. “What are you talking about, Nianzhi?” In terms of procedure, that trip to America to save Tan Guiren was still within his mission scope. The Special Forces had had it recorded in their data. It was not something that Gu Nianzhi could know about—or rather, even if she did, it could not have been from him personally.
Gu Nianzhi understood this as well. Therefore, she only said, “No matter if you admit it or not, I only want to tell you that the person who suggested to Tan Dongbang and Cai Songyin that you to go to America personally to save Tan Guiren was the wife of the Director of the Secret Service, Sun Yuerong. Perhaps you already knew about this, but that is all I can help you with.” With that, Gu Nianzhi hung up.
Alright, it’s okay now, she thought. She could finally put all that behind her. By placing such a huge obstacle between Huo Shaoheng and herself while still being an onlooker on the sidelines, she could not imagine things being any more perfect. Gu Nianzhi threw her phone aside and turned the main light off, falling asleep only with her night light turned on.
Gu Nianzhi did not know how long she had been asleep, but all of a sudden, she felt a gust of cold wind beside her. Instinctively, she wanted to tuck herself in better, but it seemed like her quilt was stuck. She could not manage to pull her quilt closer no matter how hard she tried. She grumbled in annoyance and kicked a couple of times to express her anger. A low chuckle could be heard beside her. It was so low and attractive, it made her heart flutter.
Gu Nianzhi was awake in an instant. Opening her eyes, she saw Huo Shaoheng wearing a black cotton t-shirt from the army like she was. He moved her quilt and laid down beside her. Gu Nianzhi moved away in shock and said unhappily, “Can you stop treating this like it’s your home? This is my place.”
Huo Shaoheng looked at Gu Nianzhi. He stretched his long arm out and pulled her into his embrace in one motion. Then, after shifting into a comfortable position, he asked calmly, “What happened tonight? How did you know that Sun Yuerong was the one who had suggested me to Cai Songyin?” He had tried to investigate for a long time after he returned from America, but he had not managed to get any solid evidence. He only knew that the person who had suggested he go was most likely a close friend of Cai Songyin’s.
He also knew that Sun Yuerong was Cai Songyin’s close friend. However, she was not the only close friend that Cai Songyin had. Cai Songyin was close friends with almost all the wives of the higher ranking officers in the army, senate, and cabinet. Even checking one by one, he still had not managed to find any solid evidence up until now.
He had contemplated it as well. It could have been a casual chat between two people anywhere. As long as both parties didn’t mention it again, it would be almost impossible to know who had suggested it.
Huo Shaoheng had had other missions as well. Therefore, he had no other option but to put this on hold for now and just keep watch on the office building in the prime minister’s residence.
Technically, they were not supposed to fix any security recording devices in the mansion that the prime minister and his family were living in. Doing that would mean an invasion of privacy.
Huo Shaoheng did not expect that Gu Nianzhi would tell him confidently that this person who had suggested his name was Sun Yuerong, the wife of the director of the secret service, Hong Kangquan.
Of course Huo Shaoheng was familiar with him. He was from the Hong family and also the granduncle of his childhood playmate, Hong Ziqi. He was previously the highest ranking in the army. Subsequently, upon retirement, he entered the secret service as a high ranking officer. Shortly after, he became the director of the secret service. If it really was this person, then there would be a big problem…
Therefore, he rushed over immediately and wanted to clarify things with Gu Nianzhi. Gu Nianzhi also calmed down upon being questioned like that by Huo Shaoheng. She focused and pushed Huo Shaoheng away. “Let’s sit up and talk properly.”
Huo Shaoheng had wanted to hug her for a while longer. However, he realized that her rejection was firm and strong, and was unlike how she usually whined to him. Therefore, Huo Shaoheng loosened his embrace and felt that Gu Nianzhi’s attitude tonight was slightly different. He sat up without another word and pulled a pillow over. “Come here.”
Gu Nianzhi leaned on the pillow and covered herself with the quilt, keeping a distance from Huo Shaoheng.
“Can you talk now?” Huo Shaoheng supported his head with his hand and leaned sideways against the headboard. Looking at Gu Nianzhi fixedly, he asked, “Where did you get this piece of information?”
Gu Nianzhi lowered her head and contemplated before pointing at her phone on the headboard. “Pass me my phone.”
Huo Shaoheng did so, and Gu Nianzhi unlocked her phone with a slide of her thumb. She showed Huo Shaoheng the text that Tan Guiren had sent her. “From here.”
Huo Shaoheng looked at the name of the sender and looked at Gu Nianzhi, momentarily speechless. “…You believe this person?”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “I believe her.” It was simply because Tan Guiren was not someone who was extremely bright. Therefore, she was not someone scheming, so her words could still be trusted to a great extent because she did not know how to lie. Moreover, she did not know how to talk very well and would tend to offend people unknowingly.
Huo Shaoheng wiped his face with some strength and thought that he should not have rushed all the way back to ask her the question. He had spent so much effort and could not manage to find out who had suggested his name to Cai Songyin, and it was clear that Cai Songyin had held the origin of this piece of information in high regard. In that case, how could she spill it to Tan Guiren so easily?
Gu Nianzhi raised her head and said, “Why couldn’t she know? Tan Guiren was so, so important, to the extent that you, Huo Shao, had to go to America personally to put your life on the line to rescue her. From that, you could tell how important Tan Guiren was to Cai Songyin.”
Moreover, the incident had already been so long ago. If anyone were to ask now, Cai Songyin would not suspect much of anything anymore—r rather, Cai Songyin had to deal with something that was way harder right now. Therefore, dealing with that particular incident about Tan Guiren was nothing to her now, so it would be way easier to get information from her regarding this. Waiting until now was all to her advantage. Of course Cai Songyin spilled the beans unknowingly to Tan Guiren just like that.
Huo Shaoheng was taken aback. When he had gone to America to save Tan Guiren, it was considered to be a mission. However, how was Gu Nianzhi so sure that he had gone to America to rescue Tan Guiren and also knew that he had “put his life on the line?”
Moreover, Huo Shaoheng narrowed his eyes and caught the essential meaning in Gu Nianzhi’s words. “Why did Tan Guiren go to her mother and get information from her for you?”
