In the fiery red royal poinciana, a fairy-like girl dressed in white was smiling lightly, her eyes filled with affection.
The afternoon sun in June was scorching hot, but it was nothing compared to this scene that made Huo Shaoheng’s heart crave something so much, and his pulse quicken.
Huo Shaoheng’s heart skipped a few beats.
He narrowed his dark eyes and smiled, “What are you doing sitting here?”
Gu Nianzhi looked up and pointed to a bird’s nest diagonally above them. “I’m protecting this bird’s nest from the dove.”
Doves taking over a magpie’s nest?
Huo Shaoheng couldn’t help laughing. “This bird’s nest is a magpie’s nest?”
“Yes, there are two little magpies. They’ve lived here for a long time. Don’t you know?” Gu Nianzhi raised her chin at him. “Come and take a look if you don’t believe me.”
Huo Shaoheng supported himself with one hand on the railing of the balcony and jumped onto the royal poinciana, landing right next to Gu Nianzhi.
The thick royal poinciana was hard and sturdy, so it could bear the weight of two people easily.
The two of them stood up.
Huo Shaoheng looked up at the bird’s nest.
Gu Nianzhi stood next to him, her arms around his waist. She rubbed her head against his chest and said, “I like this place so much. It’s cool and the air is fresh. I plan to stay here and play forever.”
Huo Shaoheng rubbed her head helplessly, “You mean stay in the tree?”
“Yes, it’s so fun here. I’ve been sitting here alone for more than an hour and I’m not tired of it,” Gu Nianzhi smiled as she took out her phone and waved it around. “I have a phone, so I’m not alone anywhere.”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You can play with your phone anywhere; why do you have to play it in the tree?”
Gu Nianzhi’s big, bright eyes twinkled as she said in all seriousness, “Because the signal is strong in the tree.”
Huo Shaoheng responded, “…”
It sounded so reasonable that he was at a loss for words.
“Let’s go eat. Aren’t you hungry?” Huo Shaoheng hugged Gu Nianzhi’s shoulder. “Let’s play after lunch and a nap.”
Gu Nianzhi was indeed a little hungry. She nodded, “Okay, what are we eating today?”
She and Huo Shaoheng jumped back down to the balcony from the tree. They went to the bathroom to wash their hands and change their clothes before going down to eat.
Before she came down, Huo Shaoheng called Yin Shixiong.
“Young Master Huo, what’s the matter?”
Huo Shaoheng was on vacation. The two deputy chiefs-in-charge of the special operations forces were Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze.
These two people were also his personal secretaries.
Huo Shaoheng wore a Bluetooth headset as he stood at the entrance of the official residence. He looked at the huge royal poinciana in front of Gu Nianzhi’s window and estimated the size of the branch Gu Nianzhi had been standing on, he said to Yin Shixiong, “Prepare some wood for me, as well as glue, nails, and heat insulation.”
Yin Shixiong said, “…”
Are they building a house?
Huo Shaoheng smiled, “I’m building a tree house for Nianzhi. Yes, it’s on the royal poinciana outside her room.”
“Yes, Chief! I’ll go prepare the materials right away!”
Huo Shaoheng added, “Nianzhi will be taking a nap for two to three hours after lunch. Let’s work together. Three hours should be enough to build a tree house.”
He had visualized the tree house to be small, about four square meters. It just needed to be large enough for her to sit and lie in.
…
In the office building of the headquarters of the special operations forces, Yin Shixiong put down the phone and could not help but grin for a long time.
Zhao Liangze sat in front of the computer and studied the computer system on Gu Xiangwen’s submarine. He looked up and saw Yin Shixiong saunter up to his computer desk. He rolled his eyes at him, “Big Xiong, we haven’t seen each other for only a few months; how are you getting more retarded?”
“You’re the one getting more and more retarded!” Yin Shixiong rested his hands on his desk and said as if he was in a dream. “Little Ze, Young Master Huo just called me. Do you know what he wants me to do?”
“What can you do?” Zhao Liangze snickered and picked up his glass of water to drink and said, “Be a slave? Or sell your body?”
“You’re the one who’s the slave and prostitute!” Yin Shixiong smacked Zhao Liangze on the head and said, “Young Master Huo wants me to find wood, glue, nails, and insulation. He wants to build Nianzhi a tree house!”
Pfft!
Zhao Liangze spat all the water on the screen.
“What did you say?!”
“I said, Young Master Huo wants to build Nianzhi a treehouse! Tsk tsk, he’s really spoiling her like his daughter…” Yin Shixiong walked around the office with his hands behind his back and said with a frown, “Young Master Huo has set the bar too high, how are we supposed to live?!”
Zhao Liangze glanced at him and said, “You can be like me. If you don’t find a girlfriend, you won’t have any pressure.”
“Ptui! I’m already engaged, and I’ll be the groom getting married next year. I won’t stoop to your level!” Yin Shixiong turned and sat on Zhao Liangze’s computer desk, his long legs propped up on the ground. He said, “But then again, Young Master Huo is so much more devoted to Nianzhi now. I thought I would never be able to witness for this day in my life…”
“Pfft!” Zhao Liangze rolled his eyes in disdain. “You only found out today? Have you forgotten what he did on the 35th day of mourning for Mr. Gu and his wife?”
Yin Shixiong suddenly remembered. He patted his head and laughed. “I really am a pig’s head! I was even the one who arranged those things!”
He counted with his fingers. “First, talk to the newspaper office and have them post the article on the 35th day of mourning for Mr. Gu and his wife. Then, inform some schools and social groups in advance and have them visit the graves of Mr. Gu and his wife at the National Cemetery of Martyrs on that day so that Nianzhi can see it with her own eyes. Such painstaking effort!”
How could there be so many coincidences? It had all been planned for a long time.
Zhao Liangze looked at the computer screen and smiled. “Yes, as long as it makes her happy, all the effort is well worth it. If… I would do the same.”
It was just that he didn’t understand it at the time.
Yin Shixiong rubbed his hands. “We’re going to build a tree house later. Do you want to come with us? Let’s learn a thing or two. We’ll be able to build a tree house easily next time for my son and daughter.”
Zhao Liangze snickered, “Does Qiqi know that you’re in such a hurry?”
“Hehe, of course she knows,” Yin Shixiong beamed at the mention of Ma Qiqi. “Let’s go. After we finish building the treehouse, I can bring Qiqi over to play with Nianzhi.”
The two of them tidied up their office, locked the door, and went to look for materials for Huo Shaoheng.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the entrance of Huo Shaoheng’s official residence with the wood, glue, nails, and heat insulation that Huo Shaoheng had ordered.
They put the things outside and walked in.
Gu Nianzhi had already finished her lunch and went to take a nap.
Huo Shaoheng wanted to build a tree house for her while she was sleeping, so he found an excuse to have her sleep in his suite.
Their suite was directly opposite, so Gu Nianzhi couldn’t hear them when they were building the house on the royal poinciana.
“Young Master Huo, we’ve got everything.”
Yin Shixiong said excitedly, “Are we going now?”
Huo Shaoheng nodded. “Are the things outside? Let’s do it now.”
The three of them changed into a one-piece engineer’s uniform, wore gloves, and carried tools as they walked to the royal poinciana under Gu Nianzhi’s suite.
Zhao Liangze had someone bring a ladder over and said, “I’ll go up and measure the exact size. Then let’s build the thing on the ground and install it onto the tree when we have finished building it.”
Huo Shaoheng and Yin Shixiong stood up the wood and insulation board and started to assemble the treehouse.
Yin Shixiong had bought the specialized materials from the armaments department. Not only was it heat-resistant, but it was also fireproof and waterproof. It was strong and durable.
The size was also just right.
Just like building blocks, the three of them worked for nearly two hours before they finally finished building a simple and elegant treehouse.
Yin Shixiong took a pulley and passed through the branches of the royal poinciana. He then hung the roof of the treehouse. Zhao Liangze exerted force on the other side of the pulley and hung the entire log-colored treehouse up.
When the treehouse was placed between the palm-shaped space in the middle of the royal poinciana, the size was really just right. It was placed right at its center of mass, perfectly balanced.
However, in order to strengthen the treehouse, Huo Shaoheng had nailed many wooden strips between the branches to firmly fix the entire treehouse in the gaps between the branches.
He used movable panels on the roof of the treehouse.
When the weather was good, he could push the two panels on the roof to both sides. Through the tempered glass installed, he could clearly see the fiery red flowers above his head and the blue sky between the gaps in the flowers and leaves.
There was also a rope ladder hanging down in front of the tree house.
If she did not want to walk from the balcony, she could also go down the rope ladder directly.
…
Gu Nianzhi happened to fall into a deep sleep this afternoon.
When she woke up, it was almost four in the afternoon.
Huo Shaoheng’s suite bedroom had thick curtains. The soundproofing was very good, and the central air conditioning was just perfect. She slept soundly as soon as she lay down.
Now that she was awake, she looked at her watch and realized that she had slept long enough.
She lifted the blanket and got up to return to her room.
As soon as she entered, she found that the French windows were wide open, and sunlight shone in through the windows. The room was warmer than Huo Shaoheng’s.
She walked over to close the French windows.
At that moment, the royal poinciana that she was familiar with outside the balcony suddenly looked a little different.
She could not tell what was different, so on a whim, she walked out of the French window.
Standing on the patio, she saw the branches of the Royal poinciana. In the morning, where she was looking at the bird’s nest and playing with her phone, there was a small log-colored house – a tree house that seemed to come straight out from a fairy-tale!
