Bai Shuang frowned and didn’t even look at him. She replied coldly, “You are way out of my league. You better get away from me and let me have a peaceful morning run.” As she spoke, she accelerated her running speed.
Zhao Liangze was running backwards, so of course he was not as fast as Bai Shuang. He was quickly left behind.
He didn’t intend to catch up with her either, so he turned around and slowed down to a walk as he dazedly looked at the red figure in front of him for some time.
When Bai Shuang ran out of his sight, Zhao Liangze suddenly stopped in his tracks and his eyes seemed to dart around subtly.
The weather was getting warmer in Cape Town around mid-April.
The greenery in the wealthy hotel district was well done, so there were lush trees everywhere.
The scorching sun burned in the sky, and the ground was thick and shaded with plants. However there were no cicadas chirping, but only the rare bird chirping that could be heard occasionally. This made the surroundings even quieter.
Occasionally, a few Caucasian men in tank tops and shorts ran past and waved their bottles of spring water at him as a greeting.
Zhao Liangze smiled faintly and nodded, then turned around to go back.
…
There was still breakfast left on the table in the dining room of the apartment-style hotel where Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi stayed at.
Zhao Liangze only took a bite of toast when he went out in the morning. Now he couldn’t help but salivate when he saw the bright yellow scrambled eggs and the golden bacon.
Everything was delicious when he was starving.
He sat at the dining table, and cleared all the breakfast off the dining table like a gust of wind before going to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi were sitting on the sofa in the living room.
These two people insisted on squeezing together even though it was such a long L-shaped sofa, so it was a big eyesore.
Huo Shaoheng embraced Gu Nianzhi’s entire body in his arms and cocked his head as he watched her hold her phone and play games.
The corner of Zhao Liangze’s mouth twitched as he sat down opposite to them. He reached out and knocked on the coffee table in front of him, “Hey, do I have to remind you to act respectfully in broad daylight?”
Huo Shaoheng looked up and glanced at him, “…Didn’t you go for a morning run? You can’t move after only running for a few minutes? …Shameful.”
“I got into a special situation!” Zhao Liangze banged the coffee table with a fist, frowning angrily, “Guess who I saw again just now?”
“Don’t tell me that you saw Bai Shuang again.” Gu Nianzhi was still playing games on her phone and snickered at Zhao Liangze without looking up.
Zhao Liangze, “…Prophet, please accept my humble bow!”
Gu Nianzhi looked up from the mobile game and said with surprise: “It was really Bai Shuang?!”
Huo Shaoheng also glanced at Zhao Liangze, “What a coincidence.”
“Yeah, what a coincidence! –Tell me, am I destined to be with her instead?!” Zhao Liangze sighed, “So I hurried back here to let you know. Huo Shao, you still haven’t told us what we should do?”
Bai Shuang ran into Zhao Liangze. In order to prevent Bai Shuang from realizing that Zhao Liangze was on a secret mission on the island, Huo Shaoheng asked Zhao Liangze to move in with them.
This way, they could say that he came to accompany them on vacation if Bai Shuang ran into them again,
But Huo Shaoheng had been disguised, so he didn’t use his true appearance.
If Bai Shuang found out, Huo Shaoheng would be exposed as well.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t want to continue playing games anymore. She quit the program and turned off her phone before glancing at Huo Shaoheng, and then Zhao Liangze, “What should we do then? How about the three of us split up?”
“No.” Zhao Liangze and Huo Shaoheng objected in unison.
Gu Nianzhi pushed Huo Shaoheng away from her and sat down on the corner of the sofa. Bracing her arms on the soft sofa cushions, she crossed her long legs and said disapprovingly, “Then what should we do? Should we let Bai Shuang find out? I don’t think she is a bad person, she should be fine.”
Bai Shuang once served as a relatively high-level official in an Huaxia Imperial government agency, so she still had a basic sense of confidentiality.
Although her father Bai Yusheng committed a crime, she did not.
“… But what if she accidentally leaks information?” Zhao Liangze was also frustrated, and he kept feeling that their encounter was too much of a coincidence…
They both went abroad without knowing each other’s whereabouts, yet they managed to meet twice in a row in a foreign country thousands of miles away from home.
If this was really fate, Zhao Liangze believed he should go buy lottery tickets now.
Huo Shaoheng fully supported Zhao Liangze’s cautiousness towards the situation.
“Little Ze, at this time, it’s very fortunate that you haven’t been dazzled by Bai Shuang’s beauty at a moment like this.” Huo Shaoheng nodded at him and gave him a praising smile, “Your years of development and nurturing in the military was not in vain.”
“Huo Shao, you are just bragging about your own good judgement…” Gu Nianzhi smiled as she demolished Huo Shaoheng’s excuse, “Who would be so boastful?”
Huo Shaoheng leaned back on the sofa, hugged his arms in front of his chest and slightly curled the corners of his lips into a smile, “I’m telling the truth. If Little Ze continues with this good behavior, I can be rest assured letting him operate independently.”
The corners of Zhao Liangze’s lips couldn’t help twitching, “…Huo Shao, I thought I had been operating independently for months now!”
That uninhabited island was developed bit by bit under his leadership!
It was thanks to Zhao Liangze setting up a base station on the island, that they were able to use the Nandou Satellite Communication and Navigation System to connect to the Internet here without worrying about information leakage.
Huo Shaoheng smiled at him without agreeing or refuting. He turned his eyes to Gu Nianzhi, and said thoughtfully: “Little Ze–if you run into Bai Shuang for the third time, just tell her that you are on vacation with Nianzhi here and acting as her bodyguard. Ask her to keep this secret and not tell anyone.”
Huo Shaoheng would conceal himself and hide in the shadows. By observing in secret, he would find the specific place referred to by Gu Xiangwen’s poem in the meanwhile.
If Bai Shuang really had ulterior motives, he would be able to know who her target was.
Maybe her target was Huo Shaoheng, so he automatically solved the problem when he hid in the shadows.
Maybe her target was Gu Nianzhi, so it was very probable that Bai Shuang would leak Gu Nianzhi’s whereabouts.
But Huo Shaoheng was also an expert at counter-tracking.
If there were really people working behind the scenes with Bai Shuang, then Huo Shaoheng could guarantee to keep them in Cape Town forever…
He has always been very bold.
When Huo Shaoheng told them his plan, Zhao Liangze’s expression became stiff.
“There is… someone working behind the scenes with Bai Shuang?!” He was acting emotionally and refused to accept this conclusion.
Huo Shaoheng looked up to glance at him, “I only said that it was possible. As for whether this guess is true or not, it will all depend on how Bai Shuang acts.”
It would be ideal if they were merely worrying for nothing, but if there was even a ten millionth chance of this possibility that Bai Shuang had ulterior motives behind approaching Zhao Liangze this time–Huo Shaoheng and the others will not passively wait to be attacked.
Gu Nianzhi frowned, “Do you really want to do this? Then does that mean Huo Shao will be moving out?”
Since he was retreating into the shadows and going into hiding, he couldn’t stay with them anymore?
However, Huo Shaoheng chuckled and shook his head, “No, I won’t move away.”
“But you said to tell Bai Shuang that Little Ze is the one accompanying me on vacation. How will this work if you don’t move away?”
Gu Nianzhi blinked in confusion.
In addition to the living room, dining room, and small living room, this apartment-style hotel also has a master bedroom with two guest rooms.
One guest room was arranged as a study and audio-visual room, so there were actually only two bedrooms that can be lived in.
If Zhao Liangze’s reason for being there was because he was on vacation with Gu Nianzhi, then Huo Shaoheng could not continue living here.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t want to be separated from Huo Shaoheng.
They finally had the opportunity to be alone together. Even if they were operating a mission together, Gu Nianzhi cherished this time together with Huo Shaoheng very much.
Huo Shaoheng highly enjoyed Gu Nianzhi’s attachment and reluctance to leave him.
He was not afraid of her raising a fuss, nor was he afraid of her causing trouble. He was most afraid of her not raising a fuss, not causing trouble, not relying on him, and no longer being reluctant about leaving him anymore.
He smiled and flirted with Gu Nianzhi with his eyes, “…Little Ze will stay in the guest room, so I will stay with you.”
Gu Nianzhi, “???”
Didn’t you already stay with me last night? Was it necessary to say this in front of Zhao Liangze?!
Zhao Liangze, “!!!”
Huo Shao was very treacherous!
He was using Zhao Liangze as an excuse and the theoretical basis for a valid reason for why he was staying in Gu Nianzhi’s bedroom!
Huo Shaoheng completely ignored the dumbfounded expressions of the other two people as he stood up from the sofa and said, “So it’s decided then. My luggage has been in Nianzhi’s room since last night anyway, so I don’t have to bother with taking it out.”
Zhao Liangze rolled his eyes and fell on his back to lie on the sofa with wide, haunting eyes, “I’m dead now, you can communicate to me through sacrifices from now on.”
He then added, “…I was choked to death by your lovey dovey behavior.”
Gu Nianzhi’s tiny and fair face instantly blushed. She couldn’t help but glare at Huo Shaoheng, but in Huo Shaoheng’s eyes, her gaze was electrice and charming, so he couldn’t help but lose control once again…
“Come on, help me unpack my luggage.” Huo Shaoheng walked over to Gu Nianzhi, pulled her up and almost dragged her back to the bedroom.
Zhao Liangze finally crawled up from the sofa, carried his suitcase and settled in the only bedroom left for him to stay in.
…
Huo Shaoheng’s plan had a natural benefit–this apartment-style hotel was originally booked under Zhao Liangze’s name anyway.
Zhao Liangze also came to help them check in when they arrived.
He used some tricks, so the hotel staff in charge of checking in at the front desk did not even check Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi’s identification.
So even if there was a problem with Bai Shuang, the people working behind the scenes with her would not know that Huo Shaoheng was staying here if they checked this hotel.
Of course, it was ideal if there was no problem with Bai Shuang.
Otherwise…
Huo Shaoheng also had some deep concerns.
If this matter was not handled properly, he would lose one of his most powerful men.
…
Gu Nianzhi staggered as Huo Shaoheng dragged her all the way back to the master bedroom. She finally struggled away from his grasp when they got into the room and said angrily, “You don’t think others will know if you stay in here with me?”
“When we checked in yesterday, not many people saw us. I will pretend to be a driver today and leave here first. Then I’ll sneak back in the dead of night.” Huo Shaoheng hugged Gu Nianzhi as they sat down on the bed, “Leave the window open for me.”
“Are you going to climb the window to get in?!” Gu Nianzhi was shocked, so she didn’t even notice what Huo Shaoheng’s hand was doing…
…
