The Gu family’s wealth was indeed quite hefty.
Gu Xiangwen had accumulated an astronomical amount of wealth in just over 30 years.
All these had already been calculated when Gu Nianzhi and Gu Yanran were fighting over the assets. On the surface, the assets included deposits, patents, gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, paintings, company shares, trust funds, and so on.
However, in reality, most of the assets had either been squandered away by Gu Yanran or ‘donated’ to the ‘Angel in the World’ Foundation.
Gu Nianzhi was fighting the ‘Angel in the World’ Foundation to recover the assets. These assets were clearly recoverable and did not require much effort on her part.
At that moment, she was most concerned about the other assets, especially the technological products that she did not know about. These included the submarine ‘Cereus I’ that Huo Shaoheng and the others had just discovered.
This submarine had not been involved in the previous dispute with Gu Yanran.
Gu Nianzhi had called Ye Xuan specifically to ask about the submarine.
Just as expected, Ye Xuan did not know anything about the submarine.
Gu Nianzhi was still doubtful as to whether Gu Yanran was aware of it.
As she sat in front of the computer to sort out all of Gu Xiangwen’s assets, she couldn’t help but chat with Huo Shaoheng, who was reading a book by her side.
“Huo Shao, do you think Gu Yanran knows about my father’s submarine?”
Huo Shaoheng sat on the recliner next to her with a book on his head. He was taking a nap.
Gu Nianzhi’s father had left behind a lot of things that involved military technology. Gu Nianzhi was the current owner and Huo Shaoheng did not intrude on her personal space. If she didn’t take the initiative, Huo Shaoheng wouldn’t interfere.
Now that Gu Nianzhi had asked for his opinion, Huo Shaoheng replied, “It’s hard to say.”
Even Huo Shaoheng thought it was hard to discern. Hence, Gu Nianzhi was curious. “Why?”
“She might not know about it, because this submarine is very high-tech. Maybe your father kept it a secret well. Since Gu Yanran isn’t his biological daughter, it’s possible that he kept it from her.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded thoughtfully. “What if she knows?”
“What if she knew about it but kept it a secret from the start…” Huo Shaoheng took off the book covering his face and stared sharply at Gu Nianzhi. He said plainly, “Then we have to reevaluate Gu Yanran.”
Gu Yanran had committed a crime and she could have been executed many times over.
However, Huo Shaoheng had kept her in custody all this time because his instincts told him that something was wrong.
It was inexplicable, but he felt that there was something wrong with Gu Yanran and Gu Nianzhi’s legal battle over the property, as well as her explanation of the whereabouts of Gu Xiangwen and his wife.
He couldn’t confirm that she was lying because they didn’t know the truth. Hence, there was no evidence to prove that she was lying.
Additionally, people who lied had motives. Gu Yanran had admitted to using her biological father to pretend to be Gu Xiangwen in order to seize and transfer the Gu family’s property to herself. What motive did she have to cover up the true cause of Gu Xiangwen’s death?
Or did she know that Gu Xiangwen was dead?
Gu Nianzhi frowned and thought for a moment. She said, “Now that you mention it, I also feel that there is something wrong. To be honest, I thought that it was quite strange when we were battling the lawsuit. If she knew that my parents were dead and I was missing, she would have waited seven years to be the sole heir. Wouldn’t she have simply taken over the Gu family’s property that way? Wouldn’t it be adding insult to injury if she made her biological father lie in a hospital bed in a vegetative state for so many years?”
“She subsequently said that it was because you were missing and that she was worried you would come back to compete with her for the assets. Hence, she used the adoption as an excuse to take advantage of her biological father and make him pose as Gu Xiangwen in order to deceive the world and affirm that you were adopted and she was the biological child.”
Huo Shaoheng told Gu Nianzhi what they had extracted from Gu Yanran.
This explanation was impeccable.
However, Gu Nianzhi thought for a moment and said, “How on earth did she know that my father had passed away? She once said that he died in the plane crash.”
“Yes, your father’s holographic avatar had explained very clearly that the plane did not crash. Instead, he was kidnapped and forced to land in the waters at the Cape of Good Hope.” Huo Shaoheng sat up from the recliner. “From this, do you think Gu Yanran knew the truth and lied, or did she lie without knowing the truth?”
Gu Nianzhi paused, and her expression gradually darkened, “If she didn’t know the truth, which means that she doesn’t know the whereabouts of my parents, then lying would still reasonable. If she lied after knowing the true cause of my parents’ death… then doesn’t that mean that she has already colluded with the Japanese right wing?”
“She’s definitely in collusion.” Huo Shaoheng said with certainty. “The question now is how much she’s colluded. Was she the mole who tipped them off about your parents’ death, or was she the accomplice?”
Gu Nianzhi thought about her parents’ tragic situation and the rims of her eyes could help but turn red.
She turned to look at the computer and sniffled.
Huo Shaoheng handed her a tissue and comforted her gently, “… If you want to cry, just cry. Your parents already know that you’ve been a little crybaby since you were a child.”
Gu Nianzhi’s tears instantly disappeared.
She turned to look at Huo Shaoheng and said angrily, “Who’s a little crybaby?! Why am I crying so much?!”
Huo Shaoheng smiled but didn’t say anything.
Gu Nianzhi then thought back to the moment when she arrived at Huo Shaoheng’s side seven years ago. She would often scream at the top of her lungs…
At that time, Huo Shaoheng was only in his twenties. When faced with a chubby 12-year-old crying bag, he must have had a headache, right?
Gu Nianzhi blushed and glared at Huo Shaoheng. She turned to look at her computer screen and tapped her keyboard while mumbling, “Crying before the age of 18 is not considered crying… how can a minor not cry? At least I haven’t cried much since I turned 18.”
Huo Shaoheng, “…”
She was now four months away from turning 20. Counting from the time she turned 18, it had been less than two years, hadn’t it?
How ridiculous…
Huo Shaoheng was noncommittal. He stood up and pulled over a stool to sit next to Gu Nianzhi. He watched her search the computer.
All of the Gu family’s financial information had been digitized and stored on the computer.
Gu Nianzhi’s powerful computer skills had finally come in handy.
She wrote a few small programs to search for the content she needed in the vast sea of computer data.
Huo Shaoheng saw her blushing and quietly changed the topic.
He looked at the program she had written and said, “What kind of content are you looking for?”
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips in embarrassment and did not speak.
Huo Shaoheng propped his head on his hand and leaned against her computer desk. He glanced at her. “… still angry? What’s wrong with a little crying bag? I love a little crying bag.”
Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes. She didn’t believe him at all. “Huo Shao, doesn’t your conscience hurt when you say things like that?!”
“Then what do you want me to say? That you’re annoying? That I can’t wait to throw you out when I see you cry?”
At that time, he really wanted to throw her out, but a certain little crying bag had been hugging him all this time, making it impossible for him to throw her out… She had been hugging his leg since she was a child.
Gu Nianzhi slammed the table angrily. “How can you say that? You should say that no matter what I am, no matter if I’m a little crying bag or a little laughing bag, you love me so much that you can’t help It!”
Huo Shaoheng smiled as he watched her do whatever she wanted. He nodded and said, “Yes, you’re right.”
Gu Nianzhi turned around and prodded his chest proudly with her hand. “Don’t patronize me!”
“I’m not patronizing you.”
“Really?” Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes. “Then repeat what I said just now.”
“What did you say?” Huo Shaoheng wanted to play dumb. He couldn’t say something so shameful and childish.
“I knew you were insincere and still playing dumb.” Gu Nianzhi looked at him disdainfully. “And you said you weren’t patronizing me.”
“I really wasn’t.”
“Then repeat it again. Just say that no matter who I am, you will always love me to the point of being unable to extricate yourself!” Gu Nianzhi pointed her phone at Huo Shaoheng, intending to record a video of him saying this.
Of course, she had to be careful when leaving voice evidence.
Huo Shaoheng thought for a moment and repeated with a smile, “Okay. No matter who I am, you will always love me to the point of being unable to extricate yourself. Are you satisfied?”
“Yes! That’s more like it!” Gu Nianzhi’s first reaction was to be overjoyed. She felt refreshed and every pore on her body felt as if she had just gone to a spa. She felt extremely comfortable.
However, she quickly regained her senses after replaying it on her phone.
Damn it!
She had been tricked by Huo Shaoheng again!
“No, no, you’re wrong!” Gu Nianzhi chased after him to correct herself. “You should have said no matter who you are, I will always love you to the point of being unable to extricate myself!”
Huo Shaoheng suddenly took out his phone and smiled. “I know you love me. You don’t have to make that vow again and again.”
He had also recorded the video and had quickly used an editing software to edit it.
He turned on the playback on his phone and saw a bright and beautiful girl with big eyes smiling at his phone. “… No matter what you are, I love you so much that I can’t extricate myself!”
She cut him off as if she was confessing to him.
Gu Nianzhi was so angry that she wanted to pounce on him and hit him.
Of course, she was quickly ‘violently suppressed’ by Huo Shaoheng.
After the commotion, Gu Nianzhi was so tired that she lay in his arms and said, “Delete that video.”
“I won’t delete it.” Huo Shaoheng refused. “But I’ll encrypt it and save it. I’m the only one who can open it.”
“What’s there to see?” Gu Nianzhi’s eyes reddened at the thought. “You’ve never said anything like that to me…”
Huo Shaoheng picked up a tissue and gently wiped her eyes. “I’ll say it. Record it.”
Then he picked up Gu Nianzhi’s phone and opened the video recording. “No matter what kind of person Gu Nianzhi is, I love you so much that I can’t help myself.”
This was probably the first time Huo Shaoheng had expressed his love for her. Although his tone was flat and didn’t sound like the ‘Heavenly Thunder that lit up the earth’ that she had envisioned, it wasn’t easy for him to say the word ‘love’. Furthermore, there were so many words in the phrase ‘I love you so much that I can’t get out of it’!
