Huo Shaoheng changed his appearance once again. He was no longer a waiter in an African cafe, but a Caucasian with a high nose and deep-set eyes.
Wearing a khaki-colored hunting outfit with light camouflage, his sleeves were rolled up to the elbows to reveal the tattoos on his arms.
The khaki overalls paired with a set of brown mountain boots from the legacy military boot brand Black Hawk made him look completely unlike a Huaxian man.
He sat leisurely in his seat at the restaurant, sitting back to back with Gu Nianzhi. The steaming heat from his body nearly enveloped Gu Nianzhi behind him.
Gu Nianzhi’s face gradually turned red.
Zhao Liangze sat opposite her and noticed her uncomfortable face. He looked at Huo Shaoheng, who was sitting behind her, then gave an understanding smile before picking up the menu to order.
This was the season to eat lobster.
Zhao Liangze ordered a steamed lobster for Gu Nianzhi. The lobster was freshly caught from the sea and weighed several pounds.
It was served with small calamari rings coated in egg powder and fried to a golden yellow, then sprinkled with salt and pepper and paired with shredded Basque green peppers, topped with a little mayonnaise. It was truly delicious.
The unique sweetness of fresh lobster had not been overpowered by any other flavors. Followed by a bite of fried squid rings sprinkled with salt and pepper, and finally finished with the slightly sweet and sour Basque green peppers, it was just like a superb perfume. Even the flavors were divided into initial, middle, and aftertaste.
After eating a few bites, the flavor gave Gu Nianzhi tantalizing joy.
Gu Nianzhi happily ate some more and no longer paid attention to the situation around her.
Zhao Liangze took this opportunity to discuss today’s affairs with Huo Shaoheng, who was sitting behind Gu Nianzhi.
The two men were both wearing Bluetooth headsets and held phones in their hands.
Zhao Liangze sent a message regarding Bai Shuang’s situation.
Little Ze: “Bai Shuang took the initiative to take us to the bank and asked about you many times.”
Mr. A: “It looks like there is actually a problem. You can go with her. Don’t worry.”
Little Ze: “…I am not worried about going; I am worried about your Honey.”
Mr. A: “…”
Huo Shaoheng always used Alex as his outside alias, so everyone referred to him as Mr. A.
Huo Shaoheng was speechless when he saw Zhao Liangze’s text messages, but he did not reply again. He got up to pay the bill before leaving.
…
After Gu Nianzhi finished eating the steamed lobster, she finally realized that Huo Shaoheng was no longer sitting behind her.
Zhao Liangze’s expression was very bitter because he still couldn’t accept that Bai Shuang was betraying him.
Gu Nianzhi looked behind her without asking Zhao Liangze anything, then quietly ate the dessert.
She ordered a small lava cake, which was fresh out of the oven and melted in her mouth. There was a bit of coffee inside that provided a little bitterness to neutralize the excessive sweetness.
Gu Nianzhi’s mood improved after eating.
Seeing Zhao Liangze’s frown, she smiled and said, “What’s the matter? What are you upset about? Lights, cameras, action!”
As she said this, she picked up a spoon and handed it to Zhao Liangze like it was a microphone. Using the tone of a late-night radio talk show host, she tried to coax him into revealing what was on his mind, saying, “Tell your story!”
Zhao Liangze, “…”
He grabbed the spoon that Gu Nianzhi held in front of him and threw it away before pulling her to a standing position and saying, “Let’s go. Get in the car, and I’ll take you for a drive along the embankment.”
It was still too early to leave for the appointment they had set with Bai Shuang, so Zhao Liangze was really aggrieved and needed to vent.
He and Gu Nianzhi got into the Jeep. Slamming on the gas pedal, they quickly arrived at the coastal embankment of Cape Town.
At that time, the sky above the embankment was empty, and their car was the only one that sped under the blue sky.
Next to the embankment was the turquoise Atlantic Ocean. The water slapped against the rocks and occasionally splashed on the embankment.
While looking at the magnificent scene outside the car, Gu Nianzhi quietly listened to Zhao Liangze vent his thoughts.
She knew that, at a time like this, Zhao Liangze just needed someone to listen to him without expressing any opinions.
Zhao Liangze turned the steering wheel and stepped on the brakes. Several seagulls quickly flew past their car window and almost hit the front windshield.
“I don’t know what happened, but Bai Shuang is completely different from before.”
“How is she different?” Gu Nianzhi asked.
“…She didn’t like to wear red clothes before. She said that she was glamorous looking to begin with and would appear vulgar if she wore red,” he replied.
Gu Nianzhi resisted a laugh and nodded, asking, “What else?”
“But now she always wears red dresses, and it’s a different look every time. I don’t know what has gotten into her,” Zhao Liangze said as he slapped the steering wheel angrily to let out the blaring sound of the horn. Another flock of seagulls was so startled that they fluttered loudly towards the boundary between the sea and the sky.
“That doesn’t really mean much…” Gu Nianzhi cocked her head. “Women are fickle with clothes to begin with. I didn’t like wearing skirts when I was a child, but now I like them very much.”
Zhao Liangze glanced at her with a sneer and said, “You didn’t like to wear skirts when you were a kid because you were fat.”
Gu Nianzhi’s face turned purple in anger. “…It’s not noble to hit people in their sore spots!”
Zhao Liangze pursed his lips and gave a perfunctory apology. Now he felt even more confused than before.
He hated himself even more because he was clearly aware that Bai Shuang had a problem. It may be a big problem, but he still loved her so much. He was hopelessly in love with her…
Gu Nianzhi saw that Zhao Liangze’s mood was even more depressed and stopped arguing with him. She thought for a while and finally said, “Bai Shuang has experienced a lot of things in life, and she never had anyone to trust and rely on. The last straw was when she saw you kissing Director Bai that day…”
She lost her lover, her father, and her job. Her father was reviled by everyone for his crime of treason. Bai Shuang was once a proud and admired daughter, so all of these events were probably unbearable pains in her life.
Gu Nianzhi tried to put herself in Bai Shuang’s shoes and was able to appreciate the change in her mindset.
However, Gu Nianzhi did not want to excuse Bai Shuang if she really made an unforgivable mistake.
She didn’t care about the tragic psychological journeys of criminals.
There were more than enough miserable ordinary people, but not everyone who experienced misfortunes would commit crimes.
When most people encountered difficulties, they chose to face and overcome them.
Only a very small number of cowards and people with inherently dark minds would retaliate against society and harm others.
Everyone must have their own bottom line in life, and this was the principle that Gu Nianzhi had always adhered to.
She was only analyzing the change of Bai Shuang’s behavior for Zhao Liangze’s sake.
She didn’t want to see Zhao Liangze sad.
Zhao Liangze said with a gloomy expression, “I thought that might be the reason…”
After a while, Zhao Liangze took a deep breath and asked, “Is it too late if I go lay everything on the table with her and ask her to give up her entire plan now?”
Zhao Liangze still thought Bai Shuang had a slim chance of redemption, as long as she had not committed a serious mistake.
Gu Nianzhi shook his head and replied dryly, “Brother Ze, I think that would be inappropriate.”
“Firstly, we don’t have any evidence, and all our opinions are based on inferences. I study law, and the law emphasizes evidence. Logic alone without evidence is not enough to convict someone.
“Secondly, what if Bai Shuang actually just wants to change her mindset and become a new person? For example, many girls will choose to cut off their long hair and start again after getting their hearts broken.
“Thirdly, let’s take this back to the first step. If Bai Shuang is really… colluding with others in order to harm us, I am not willing to give up this opportunity,” she finished.
“Opportunity?” Zhao Liangze was shocked. “How can there be any opportunity? Isn’t it a trap? Think back to everything she has wanted to do, wasn’t it just to get us hooked?” he asked.
To be honest, Bai Shuang did a very clumsy job. Not only did she fail to deceive espionage experts like Zhao Liangze and Huo Shaoheng, but even an amateur like Gu Nianzhi could see that something was wrong.
However, Gu Nianzhi’s perspective was different from Zhao Liangze’s.
“Brother Ze, do you know why Alex and I came to Cape Town?” she replied quietly.
“I heard from Alex that you are looking for something?”
“Yes.” Gu Nianzhi nodded. “We actually have no clues at all. We only know that the item is in Cape Town. But Cape Town is such a big place, so how would we find it? Are we looking for a needle in a haystack? How long would we need to search for? Bai Shuang took the initiative to come to me with clues, and I can’t give up this opportunity, even if I know that she may have ulterior motives. Do you understand?” she said.
Even if it was a trap, she still had to take a look.
The person working behind the scenes clearly understood her mentality and threw a bargaining chip that she could not resist.
Even if this was a fire pit, she had to jump in.
“…In other words, you have to go no matter what,” Zhao Liangze said.
“Yes, I must go no matter what.”
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips. “That’s a clue from my father, I can’t give up on it,” she explained.
Zhao Liangze did not say anything more.
Since they had to go, it was useless to think about it.
This was his task and responsibility.
Regardless of if he had to face life and death or threats to his safety, he had to go through water and fire at the sound of one command.
…
The two of them drove for a while on the vast coastal embankment. After seeing that it was almost time, Zhao Liangze turned the steering wheel towards the financial street in the city center.
The French bank was in the middle of the financial street. It used to be the largest foreign bank in Cape City, but now it was only considered second-rate.
From a distance, they could see a figure wearing a red dress standing in front of the bank. She was as easy to recognize as a landmark.
In truth, Bai Shuang had a graceful figure and looked very good in a red dress.
She had always looked crisp and bright in the past, so she might have appeared a bit tacky in a red dress.
But now she possessed a sharpness like the finest blade. It miraculously cut through the vulgarity to make her become gorgeous and not tacky, with a very strong aura.
Zhao Liangze’s eyes were a little blurred when he looked at Bai Shuang like this.
“…Bai Shuang was never very confident in the past. Every time we went out to eat or attend a concert, she had to go to the bathroom to tidy up her makeup several times. Not even a single strand of hair could be out of place,” he said.
But now Bai Shuang stood in front of the bank building with her long, shoulder-length hair tousled in the wind. However, she didn’t care at all, and her large bright eyes seemed to glow. The expression on her face was extremely excited.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help saying, “She was pursuing you back then, so of course she was not confident in herself. Now she…”
Gu Nianzhi was afraid that Bai Shuang had already given up on Zhao Liangze.
Gu Nianzhi instead said it silently in her heart.
She had experienced the stages of a secret crush and a public relationship, so she knew how a woman’s mood changed during those two stages.
“That’s impossible!” Zhao Liangze automatically objected. “I know that she still loves me. Her eyes can’t deceive me.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
