He had witnessed a stubborn Gu Nianzhi, strong Gu Nianzhi, and sly Gu Nianzhi, as well as a gracious Gu Nianzhi, bold Gu Nianzhi, and cute Gu Nianzhi. Yet he had never seen her appear so affectionate before.
The deep affection in her eyes nearly overflowed.
Reinitz couldn’t find any words for a moment. Walking over to Gu Nianzhi’s side, he stood right next to her and suddenly raised his phone. Pressing his head close to Gu Nianzhi’s, he took a selfie.
Gu Nianzhi snapped out of her thoughts and glared at Reinitz, asking, “Are you still taking pictures?”
She was lost in a reverie just then, so she thought she looked very dull. There’s no way that picture could even turn out well.
So, she didn’t mind and raised her hand to tuck long strands of hair behind her head. She replied nonchalantly, “I don’t think you should waste any more effort or even think about turning me into a lab rat. I’d rather die bravely than live in shame.”
Glancing at his phone, Reinitz saw that the photo had turned out beautifully.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes were gorgeous. When she looked so affectionate, her bright eyes seemed to glisten like water and looked as though they were covered by a thin veil, appearing ethereal and beautiful.
Reinitz loved this more than anything else.
He laughed at himself, then put away his phone and replied gently, “Cereus, you have the wrong idea. How could I ever bear to take you back and turn you into a lab rat?”
They didn’t want Gu Nianzhi to come unwillingly, so they had created a foolproof plan to allow Reinitz to approach her once again.
“You don’t? So then, what’s your motive for luring me here?” Gu Nianzhi was actually getting a bit nervous.
She had already been here for half an hour now, so she had no idea what happened to Rong Mingxing, or what He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng were doing.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t know if Reinitz’s sudden appearance was something that He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng had expected or not.
She always felt that He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng fully anticipated the appearance of the Tokko, Japanese Tokubetsu Koto Keisatsu. However, they might not have expected Reinitz.
If Reinitz’s appearance was truly unexpected…
Gu Nianzhi was honestly a bit agitated.
She didn’t want to repeat her experience in the Alps again.
If this were going to happen again, she probably wouldn’t have the same good luck as before.
Gu Nianzhi quietly walked around the Taj Mahal, slowly approaching the arches.
Reinitz seemed to understand her intentions, so he casually stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets and stood languidly in front of the white railing inside the hall. He said with a smile, “Cereus, are you planning to sneak outside? I’ll tell you now that there are many of my men outside. I won’t do anything to you, but I can’t guarantee that they won’t.”
“You are threatening me?” Gu Nianzhi stopped in her tracks, then suddenly turned around to sneer at Reinitz, saying, “You just said you wouldn’t hurt me, so are you going back on your own words?”
“I said I couldn’t bear to hurt you, but I wasn’t talking about anyone else.” Reinitz shrugged like Gu Nianzhi was completely powerless.
The corners of Gu Nianzhi’s eyes began to twitch as she said, “You’re playing with semantics? Didn’t you just say those were your men outside?
“If you command them to not hurt me, wouldn’t they obey your orders?
“Ha, you’re speechless now? If you honestly admit to threatening me, maybe I will see you in a more positive light. Don’t tell me that your commands as the Director are nothing in the eyes of your subordinates!”
Gu Nianzhi’s words truly left Reinitz speechless.
He helplessly poked his finely sculpted nose, his tone starting to soften as he said, “Cereus, let’s not fight. I’m here to help you. Your father passed away at a young age…”
“He’s missing. I firmly believe my father is missing.” Gu Nianzhi corrected Reinitz. “If you keep saying he passed away at a young age, then I am really going to get angry.”
Reinitz was quiet for a moment, then said, “I thought you were already angry.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
“…I can get much angrier.” Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes.
Reinitz gave her a kind reminder, saying, “Your eyes are huge, and the irises are especially dark and shiny. When you roll your eyes, it’s like you’re giving me a sultry look… Don’t roll your eyes ever again. Otherwise, I will assume you have a crush on me.”
Oh my god! What kind of nonsense was that?!
Gu Nianzhi sneered to herself and wanted nothing more but to curse right in Reinitz’s face!
This was the very first time that Reinitz had ever won against Gu Nianzhi in an argument.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t want to talk anymore, so she walked out with a stony expression.
If someone was going to shoot her as soon as she stepped out the door, she was ready for it. It was better than dying inside due to her anger.
Reinitz saw that she was actually anxious, so he walked up to grab her hand. “Cereus, I was joking just now.”
Gu Nianzhi turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
Reinitz nodded when he saw the way she was acting. “But when you act like this, you really are very similar to what your father described in his letters.”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t bother turning towards him as she said, “What do you mean by that? You keep claiming that I am so different from what my father wrote in his letters, so what are you suggesting now?”
“I’m not suggesting anything; I was only expressing a tiny thought.” Reinitz decided to take her hand as they stood before the arches of the Taj Mahal. “Your father loved you very much. Every time he wrote to someone, regardless of if it was the editor-in-chief of a scientific journal or a university professor, no matter what academic issue was being discussed, he would always end up writing about you. From the first time you cried to the first time you crawled, the first time you stood up, the first time you spoke, and the first time you threw a tantrum to the first time you got in a fight – he remembered it all very clearly and often reminisced.”
If there were WeChat posts back then, Gu Xiangwen would probably have been the classic father who was obsessed with showing off his baby. He probably would never have gotten tired of showing off his ugly baby day in and day out.
He would dismiss anyone speaking the truth as having poor taste or being jealous fiends.
Then he would befriend those people who blindly flattered others and went against their conscience by praising his daughter for being obedient and pretty.
Reinitz had an excellent memory, so he repeated what Gu Xiangwen said word by word.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but be entranced. She blankly turned around and said, “…I really wasn’t pretty when I was younger, and I probably wasn’t too smart either.”
There was photographic evidence of her being ugly. She had a fat, round face, and her eyes were so small they barely could be seen. She was a slightly overweight, chubby little girl.
But when it came to her own temper, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t remember what it was like when she was younger. From her earliest memories, she always thought she was quite well tempered, so she didn’t give Huo Shaoheng too much trouble at all.
Although she was occasionally lazy, that was the norm for all 12 or 13-year-old children. This wasn’t something that Gu Nianzhi exclusively did.
But she couldn’t ignore one thing, and that was how Ye Xuan and Gu Yanran both said she had a bad temper when she was little…
Gu Nianzhi guiltily realized that her bad temper seemed to coincide with what Gu Xiangwen wrote in his letters.
Then did that mean she was officially recognized as bad-tempered?
“…So, when I met you for the first time in the Alps, I really didn’t dare to believe that you were the same Cereus, the same ‘Little Nianzhi,’ that your father wrote about in the letters.” Reinitz leaned against the frame of the arches, elegantly bending one long leg and resting the back of his heel against the wall behind.
The casual looking position actually contained immense explosive power.
As soon as something was amiss, he would immediately move and attack others to beat down any approaching enemies.
From Gu Nianzhi’s perspective, she could see his powerful and beautiful physique. He was like a slightly tensed bow, or a sail unfurling to face the wind rushing up from the ocean surface.
Gu Nianzhi squinted, then averted her gaze. She replied nonchalantly, “What’s so strange about that? Girls change completely when they grow up. What questions do you have? Is there anyone who is exactly the same as they were when they were kids?”
Even her alleged bad temper can’t possibly be exactly the same as when she grew up?
For example, children cried whenever they wanted. They never considered whether they cried prettily or not, or if it was too embarrassing to cry in front of others.
All people eventually learned to hold back and to behave.
But it can’t be right to claim someone had changed just because they acted differently as an adult.
Reinitz was quiet for a moment, then nodded and said, “That makes sense.”
“That’s right.” Gu Nianzhi nodded her head. “Was there anything else? I’ll be going now if you’re done. It’s getting late, and I’m very hungry. Where’s my friend? Can you give her back to me?”
“You want to leave?” Reinitz’s hand shot out to grab Gu Nianzhi’s shoulder, a half-smile on his face. “I worked so hard for a chance to meet you alone, how can you be so cruel and heartless?”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
“We’ve never had a relationship to begin with.” Gu Nianzhi forcefully pushed Reinitz’s hand away. “I already told you last time that I dealt with you after you lied to me. So, we called it a tie, but this time you owe me another one,” she said.
“Obviously, you’re the one who owes me one.” Reinitz smoothly took the credit for dealing with the Tokko. “If it weren’t for me, you would’ve died in the hands of the Japanese already.”
“How could that be?!” Gu Nianzhi glared at Reinitz and asked, “How were you the one to save me?!”
“Who else would it be?” Reinitz latched onto it and purposely questioned her, “Are you saying that someone else rescued you?”
Gu Nianzhi’s mouth gaped open, but she found herself unable to think of a rebuttal against Reinitz.
Their plan would be exposed if she argued back.
Gu Nianzhi also had no idea if Reinitz knew anything about He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng’s plan at the moment.
She glared angrily at him, then jerked her head away. She grumbled, “…I can call the police. How could someone not come rescue me?”
“Call the police in a place like this?” Reinitz shook his head with a sneer, saying, “I’ll take that as a joke. Fine then, let’s cut to chase. I came here because I have a mission, so it was only by chance that I rescued you.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
Reinitz had no choice but to keep talking when he saw that Gu Nianzhi was not replying. “My mission is also related to you. So, I am hoping that you will cooperate with us in completing this mission.”
“And what if I refuse?” Gu Nianzhi spread her palms to indicate her reluctance.
“This mission is directly related to your father.” Reinitz withdrew his hands from his pockets and folded them behind his back. His legs were slightly parted as he stood ramrod straight before Gu Nianzhi.
He peered down at her with an aura of immense authority and dominance.
“Then you can go look for my father. Why does that have anything to do with me? You want me to pay for his debts?” Gu Nianzhi also cocked her head proudly, unwilling to bend down.
“…Your grandfather took something that belonged to the Federal Intelligence Service many years ago, then passed it down to your father. Now we are hoping to return the item to its owner.” Reinitz enunciated the words slowly, then took out the phone from his pocket and unlocked it to show Gu Nianzhi some information.
…
