If Reinitz was the type of guy who would fall head over heels in love with someone, how could he have attained the position of Director of the Federal Intelligence Agency of Germany? Since he was about the same age as Huo Shaoheng and also had the rank of Major General, this indicated he was likely highly competent and an expert in his field. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to rise to such a high position at such a young age.
Gu Nianzhi slowly stirred the tiny silver spoon in the small stew pot and said evenly, “Major General Reinitz, I’ll use your words for future reference, though I’m not sure if I can take them to heart. But you should console that little princess. That woman from the Paromeo family, she really is a household name in Europe… ”
In terms of fortune, the House of Hohenzollern had been left way behind and was nowhere as affluent as it used to be. Except for the British royal family, all the royal families in the whole of continental Europe had to pay tribute to the little princess of the Paromeo family. Indeed, her noble roots gave her the self-assurance to feel superior, yet this self-assurance meant nothing to Gu Nianzhi.
Reinitz couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or satisfied. He stared at Gu Nianzhi with a smile and whispered, “Are you actually mad? Why don’t you trust my words? I mean everything I say from the bottom of my heart.” His voice was a baritone, and along with the passionate look in his soulful eyes, he had the appearance of lovesick sincerity.
However, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t be fooled so easily. She slowly raised her head and with a blank expression on her face she said, “Trust your words? If I trusted your words, then by your words you should be an orphan raised by Mother Hannah, not a member of the House of Hohenzollern.”
Reinitz froze. “You knew?” His true identity wasn’t widely known, even in Germany. “Marthy told you?”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “Princess Marthy said that you’re from the House of Hohenzollern, then told me to know my place and to stay away from you.”
So that’s what happened, Reinitz thought as he rubbed his forehead. He didn’t feel particularly upset but was just pondering how to explain it to Gu Nianzhi. After a while, he put his hand down and said frankly, “I am from the House of Hohenzollern, but I’m also an orphan. I didn’t lie to you. Mother Hannah was indeed the one who raised me.”
Gu Nianzhi listened to Reinitz and instantly identified the contradictions in his story. “Major General Reinitz, did you know that partial truths and white lies are also deception?”
Reinitz narrowed his lake blue eyes and stared at her fixedly. His eyes were like the famous “Midnight Heart” sapphire, so translucent and intensely blue that she could see the dark flecks in his irises. His eyes were so deep and expressive that whenever Gu Nianzhi stared into them, she felt herself sucked into the story those soulful eyes were telling.
Feeling herself getting sucked in further and further by those cerulean eyes, she averted her gaze with great difficulty. Only then did Reinitz break his stare and ask, “Partial truth? White lie? Be more specific.”
Gu Nianzhi looked back at him, and her dark-eyes were mysterious and enticing. “Do you really want to hear what I have to say?”
“You can say anything in front of me. Don’t worry about it.” Reinitz nodded slightly and raised his hand, signaling her to continue.
Since Reinitz didn’t care, Gu Nianzhi decided not to care, either. She curled her lips and said with a mirthful expression on her face, “Well, let’s talk about the partial truth. You say that you’re from the House of Hohenzollern and that you are also an orphan. If that were true, then that means both of your parents are dead. And you’re saying that you were raised by Mother Hannah, but how did she support you? She doesn’t seem particularly wealthy—of course, unless I have misjudged, and she is actually a low profile millionaire.”
Reinitz laughed. His laughter was magnetic and very pleasing to the ear.
Gu Nianzhi unconsciously fiddled with her earlobe and said, “Judging from your reaction, Mother Hannah is not a wealthy woman. Although you are saying that she raised you, you certainly don’t look like you grew up in poverty. Don’t you see how your story has too many contradictions?”
The grounded proletarian mother who raised a son with the air of nobility… Not just in terms of his vibe, but the Reinitz before her now seemed very different from the Reinitz cutting firewood in the Alps. They were like two entirely different people. From his elegant and sophisticated mannerisms, it was conspicuous that these manners had definitely been cultivated from an early age. The Reinitz in the Alps was a role he was playing; the Reinitz before her at the moment was the real him.
As Reinitz listened to Gu Nianzhi’s analysis, the smile on his face gradually vanished. This woman had frighteningly accurate observation and analytical skills, and she was shrewd and worldly as well. The former was not particularly surprising. After all, many people could gain keen observational skills and critical analysis abilities merely by training. The latter was extremely unusual, since worldliness was not an innate ability and required a complex variety of factors to develop. If someone of high intelligence, keen observation skills, and developed critical analysis abilities also had shrewdness and worldliness to back them up, then that individual would truly be a frightening genius, indeed. Reinitz calmly raised his glass of red wine to Gu Nianzhi, took a sip, and felt his heart beating irregularly.
Gu Nianzhi had also been watching Reinitz, and the subtle changes in his expression did not escape her eyes. As a result, Gu Nianzhi became more confident in the accuracy of her analysis. She continued to expand upon her previous notions. “If you really are an orphan and had indeed been raised by Mother Hannah, based on your current achievements and high status, I can infer that Mother Hannah is actually only one of your adoptive mothers? Or one of your many adoptive parents?” Gu Nianzhi made a far fetched guess.
Reinitz was caught off guard and blinked in surprise. He had no idea her train of thought could expand that far.
Gu Nianzhi curled her lips in a satisfied smirk. “Bingo.”
Reinitz was momentarily speechless.
Gu Nianzhi continued, “That is to say, as you were growing up, there was more than one person in charge of educating and training you. Let’s expand further. Under what circumstances would an orphan have various different ‘educators’ to raise him to have cultivated mannerisms and exceptional capabilities, so he could rise through the military ranks at rocket speed?”
Reinitz narrowed his eyes and interrupted Gu Nianzhi’s speculations with a smile. “What on earth are you trying to say?”
“I suspect that you’re the beneficiary of a Gestapo project, and you grew up as a Lebensborn child.” Gu Nianzhi shrugged. She had learned about this while she was helping Zhao Liangze organize documents on Germany’s Federal Intelligence Agency. Gu Nianzhi recalled, “Racially valuable Aryan children that exhibited desirable traits were raised in facilities and taught various skills that would help turn Germany into an Aryan state composed of the master race. Only this reasoning can explain how you have grown up to become like this.”
Reinitz didn’t speak for a long time.
Gu Nianzhi finally asked, “I guessed right?”
Reinitz simply stared at her and was about to speak when he caught sight of the camera from the TV station slowly turning towards them. Reinitz suddenly laughed, raised his glass of wine, and said, “Drink a glass with me, and I’ll tell you.”
Gu Nianzhi shook her head. “I can’t drink. So, instead of wine, I’ll substitute juice and have a drink with you.”
Regardless of Reinitz’s true intentions, to his credit he had helped her conceal her true identity as the “Pink Piggy.” Gu Nianzhi was not the type of person who didn’t give credit where it was due. She lifted the long and narrow glass filled with grape juice and touched Reinitz’s glass with it.
They both plastered on their most winning and dazzling smiles. Gu Nianzhi mustered all the acting skills she had to make that expression. Reinitz’s smile, however, had some tinges of sincerity to it. In the eyes of outsiders, it simply appeared like a golden couple chatting merrily and laughing heartily.
The TV directors who captured this shot were ecstatic over obtaining such a treasure. This was probably the best shot out of all the shots they had taken tonight. As a result, when the Huaxia Empire began broadcasting the news at nine o’clock in the evening, the shot of Gu Nianzhi and Reinitz toasting and drinking together was seen as a symbol of friendship between the two countries, and therefore, they became the top headline in the news.
…
At nine o’clock in the evening, the intersection in downtown C City was still bustling. There was a small square there that originally had had a musical fountain, but since it was still spring, and it was cold during the night, the musical fountain was only displayed to the public during the summer. Now it was only a dry concrete pit.
They were surrounded by skyscrapers, and a large LCD screen was located on the outer wall of a building near the square. Advertising, music, films, and variety shows were broadcast 24 hours a day.
A yellow SUV with a military license plate was parked not far from the building. Huo Shaoheng, wearing a lightweight uniform, was leaning on the door of the SUV, fiddling with the lighter that Gu Nianzhi had given him. He held a cigarette in his hand while on vigilant watch.
Song Jinning was debugging an instrument meant to measure magnetic field data while inside a large van. At the crossroads, there were many plainclothes officers from the Special Operation Forces scattered around, watching the crowd closely.
At this time, the evening news began, and the big TV on the opposite wall of the building began to broadcast the capital’s evening news “The German delegation to China held the first round of informal meetings with the Speaker of the Chinese Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 7pm tonight, and the two sides exchanged opinions in a friendly atmosphere…” The sound of the anchor speaking was heard through the square’s loudspeaker.
Huo Shaoheng puffed out a cloud of smoke from his cigarette nonchalantly, raised his eyes to look at the screen, and suddenly stopped. On the huge screen there was a breathtakingly beautiful girl with dark hair and porcelain skin, and a handsome man with soulful blue eyes and buttery blond hair. They were smiling and toasting each other.
From his point of view, it almost seemed like there were sparks flying from the passionate way they stared into each other’s eyes…
