…
Gu Nianzhi worked even more quickly and was soon able to complete all the work on hand.
After submitting her completed work to Special Assistant Zhuang, she glanced at her watch to see half an hour had already passed.
Would they still be waiting for her?
“Hello, is this Lawyer Gu?” The receptionist in the lobby was able to see the caller ID displaying the internal extension line.
Gu Nianzhi confirmed this and apologized, saying, “I just finished my work. Do you still need me to come downstairs?”
The receptionist at the lobby nodded happily and said, “Please come down if you have a moment. They’ve been waiting in the side lobby all this time.”
Gu Nianzhi was aware that the Senate building was not openly accessible to just anyone.
There were at least three layers of security to pass through before someone could travel from the complex entrance to the building lobby entrance.
All phones being carried needed to go through an X-ray scanner to ensure they were not modified.
The Japanese people also brought a box with them…
Gu Nianzhi was actually a bit curious.
The Angels on Earth charity had very close ties with Gu Yanran. Based on Gu Yanran’s action of frantically emptying out the Gu fortune over the past seven years, perhaps this charity really had something that belonged to Gu Xiangwen.
Gu Nianzhi stood up as she realized this and replied to the female receptionist, saying, “I’m going to be delivering something to Special Assistant Zhuang. I’ll come downstairs on the way.”
“Ok then, I will pass this along to them.”
“That’s alright. You don’t need to say anything. I’m going to come downstairs and have a look first.” Gu Nianzhi ended the call and grabbed a pair of sunglasses from her desk to put on before leaving her office in the Secretariat. She then took the elevator downstairs.
When she stepped out of the elevator on the second floor, she intended to take the stairs from the second floor to the main floor lobby to take a look at the Japanese people.
After turning around the corner on the second-floor stairs, there happened to be a spot where she could see everything in the meeting room beside the main lobby.
She stood there and crossed her arms as she quietly observed them for some time. She discovered that there was nothing peculiar about these Japanese people.
There was a total of five of them and they were all older in age. They were probably all over 60 years old and had short, cropped white hair on their heads. Their bodies were short, thin, and weak looking as they sat perfectly straight on the corner sofa without looking around the lobby.
The person sitting in the middle had an opaque acrylic Muji box by his feet. Gu Nianzhi could vaguely make out the contents to be papers or books.
Gu Nianzhi was in a short daze before slowly coming downstairs.
She went around the tall, white pillar in the lobby and walked up to where the five Japanese people were sitting. Taking off her sunglasses, she gave them a faint smile as she said, “Hello, I am Gu Nianzhi.”
The old man sitting in the middle jerked his head up and stared at Gu Nianzhi with wide eyes. After carefully studying her for some time, he replied with disappointment. “…Gu Nianzhi? You, your father, Gu Xiangwen, unlike.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
Was he implying that she didn’t look like her father Gu Xiangwen?
But she had seen a photo of her father from Ye Xuan, and her nose was obviously the same as her father’s.
Gu Nianzhi pointed to her nose and asked, “Are you serious? Did you actually see my father before?”
Another Japanese person replied, “Nose, alike.”
Then the other three Japanese people also began to nod, saying, “Nose, alike.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
The man who claimed Gu Nianzhi didn’t look like Gu Xiangwen took another glance at her, then nodded reluctantly. “Nose is alike. Other parts, not alike.”
It was true that Gu Nianzhi only had a slim and delicate nose that was very similar to Gu Xiangwen’s. Of course, her nose had the feminine shape that belonged to women, unlike Gu Xiangwen’s handsome masculinity. However, the shape and appearance were exactly the same.
Aside from her nose, the other parts of Gu Nianzhi’s face didn’t really look like Gu Xiangwen’s.
For example, Gu Xiangwen didn’t have very large eyes, yet Gu Nianzhi’s eyes were surprisingly huge. Aside from their size, her irises were large, round, and pitch black, like she was born with circle lenses on.
If someone’s first glance was at Gu Nianzhi’s and Gu Xiangwen’s eyes, then they could easily presume the father and daughter looked nothing alike.
But with a second glance, one would discover that the shape of their noses was exactly the same. Also, they both had similarities in their auras and carried the same allure that washed away people’s worries like a spring breeze.
Gu Nianzhi was stunned speechless by the Japanese people’s broken Chinese.
She rolled her eyes to herself, yet maintained a polite expression as she said, “I’ll request for an interpreter to come here, please wait momentarily.”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t feel like she would be able to have any deep discussions with these Japanese people since their language skills were so poor.
The old man in the middle raised a hand to stop her and said, “No. Note, give you.”
He dug out a neatly folded note from his coat pocket and presented it with both hands to Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi was a full head’s height taller than him.
In the face of such polite behavior from an elderly person with a full head of white hair, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but become even more polite even though he was a Japanese person.
However, she didn’t accept the note but merely smiled and replied slowly, “I am very sorry. We have regulations here, so I cannot be in direct contact with foreigners. I must request for someone to accompany me. If you don’t agree to that, then there is nothing left to discuss. I must get back to work.”
The Japanese people clearly didn’t know about this regulation, so they glanced at each other with suspicious expressions.
Gu Nianzhi stuffed both hands in the pockets of her perfectly pressed ankle-length trousers, then smiled calmly and bowed. “It’s fine if you don’t agree to that. I’ll be going now.”
She turned to leave.
“Please stay!” One of them quickly cried out, “Interpreter, you find.”
Gu Nianzhi stopped in her tracks, then nodded with a smile.
She didn’t turn around and took out her phone to call Huo Shaoheng. “I need a Japanese interpreter. Can you send one to me?”
Huo Shaoheng just finished a meeting and knew something was happening as soon as Gu Nianzhi made the call. He agreed right away, saying, “Ok, I’ll send a Japanese interpreter to you right away. He’ll be there in ten minutes.”
As he spoke, Huo Shaoheng immediately gave the command and dispatched a member of the Special Operations Forces personnel fluent in Japanese who was stationed near the Senate building. He commanded him to arrive at the Senate building within ten minutes.
The personnel only took eight minutes to arrive at the Senate lobby.
He looked up to see Gu Nianzhi standing in front of a group of elderly Japanese people, so he quickly went over to greet them in Japanese.
The Japanese people finally sighed in relief when they heard their own language being spoken. They openly discussed the entire situation with the personnel.
It turned out that because Gu Nianzhi’s lawsuit with the Angels on Earth charity was approaching a conclusion and the charity was losing, they were required to begin returning all the Gu family assets that Gu Yanran had illegally gifted all those years.
The assets consisted not only of the billion USD but of many physical objects as well.
The visitors were not actually members of the Angels on Earth charity, but rather, they were scientists conducting research sponsored by the charity.
The box in front of them contained Gu Xiangwen’s transcripts and letters from all those years ago. Angels on Earth had gifted them to the scientists, and it was allegedly donated by the Gu family to charity.
In order to maximize its potential, they gifted the transcripts and letters to the scientists they sponsored.
Gu Nianzhi’s heart thumped wildly when she heard this.
The acrylic box actually contained her father’s transcripts and letters!
This was an amazing discovery!
Huo Shaoheng had searched for him for so long but was unable to find anything left behind by Gu Xiangwen. But now she had an entire box of Gu Xiangwen’s transcripts and letters!
The Special Operations Forces personnel acting as an interpreter was also very shocked. However, he didn’t give any indication of this and continued to professionally interpret the conversation between Gu Nianzhi and the five Japanese people.
Gu Nianzhi asked with great surprise, “…These are really my father’s transcripts and letters? What are they about?”
The Japanese people were a bit embarrassed.
After looking at each other for a bit, they finally replied, “…This was a part of his scientific research, magnetic fields and biotechnology.”
Gu Nianzhi’s expression darkened immediately.
She replied robotically, “Put it down, you can leave now.”
She no longer smiled politely at them, nor did she even bother to make any eye contact.
The Japanese people knew they were in the wrong, so they sheepishly left after bowing at her. They left the acrylic box in front of the couch.
Gu Nianzhi slowly made her way over and was about to bend down to open the box when the Special Operations Forces personnel acting as the interpreter quickly stopped her. “Miss Gu, please don’t touch it yet.” As he spoke, he took out a pair of plastic gloves and passed them to Gu Nianzhi. “Put these on before opening it.”
Gu Nianzhi forced a smile before accepting the plastic gloves from him and picking up the box.
Although the box wasn’t very big, it was heavy because it was full of transcripts and letters.
These must be from many years ago.
In present times, everyone stored files electronically. Who would still be using paper?
Gu Nianzhi carefully touched the box as she turned around to ask the interpreter, “Were you sent here by Huo Shao?”
The interpreter nodded.
“Take me to Huo Shao.” She picked up her phone and called Special Assistant Zhuang to ask for half the day off.
Special Assistant Zhuang was in the midst of making final confirmations for Speaker Long’s itinerary when he replied to her. “That’s fine. Go home and take half the day off. Remember to come here and meet us early in the morning tomorrow,” he said.
They would be leaving for India tomorrow.
Gu Nianzhi agreed and cradled the box as she followed the interpreter sent by Huo Shaoheng to the Special Operations Forces headquarters.
…
“Huo Shao, am I bothering you?” Gu Nianzhi hugged the acrylic box as she stood in front of Huo Shaoheng’s desk. Her tiny face was red and her eyes glittered brilliantly, so she didn’t appear to be in a stable mood.
Huo Shaoheng walked out from behind the desk to pat her shoulders. “Don’t fret.” As he spoke, he pointed to the coffee table in the office. “Put it there.”
Gu Nianzhi walked over to set the box down but didn’t remove her hand from it. “Huo Shao, I still haven’t opened it. They said these were my father’s transcripts and letters.”
She spoke excitedly as she continuously caressed the box.
Gu Nianzhi had called Huo Shaoheng on the way there, so he was already aware.
Although he was also feeling very excited, he was much calmer than Gu Nianzhi.
Huo Shaoheng put on plastic gloves and pushed aside Gu Nianzhi’s hand before using both hands to lift the acrylic box lid from its frame.
The opaque box opened to reveal the yellowed transcripts and letters inside.
…
