Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
So, Gu Nianzhi looked like this when she dressed maturely…
She looked even more alluring than usual with slight smokey eye makeup, which contrasted greatly with her fair skin. The bridge of her nose was so perfectly straight; it looked like she’d used a ruler to guide its development. Upon applying some shimmering, coral-colored lipstick, she was the perfect example to challenge a man’s sense of self-control.
She’d selected a pearl blue body-con dress, which accentuated her figure exceptionally well. It looked like a second skin on her.
Huo Shaoheng’s gaze darkened. He reached out a finger and pointed at Gu Nianzhi: “…Remove your makeup.”
Gu Nianzhi pouted. She wanted to ask, “Didn’t you want me to look slightly more mature?”
However, seeing Huo Shaoheng’s darkened gaze—and Chen Lie and Yin Shixiong, who seemed like they were eager to see some show unveil itself—she stopped herself and rolled her eyes at Huo Shaoheng before returning to the room to remove her makeup.
Chen Lie was initially a little afraid, but when he saw Gu Nianzhi roll her eyes at Huo Shaoheng, the feeling of shock overpowered his fear. “Wow! Our Nianzhi isn’t afraid of you anymore! Mr. Huo, you’re in danger now—there’s actually someone who isn’t afraid of you!”
“Why should she be afraid of Mr. Huo?” Ye Zitan looked at Huo Shaoheng curiously and looked back at Chen Lie, who was smiling so elatedly. Moving toward Chen Lie, she asked softly, “I thought Nianzhi’s makeup was really pretty even though it made her look mature. Nianzhi is still young. She hasn’t even reached 20 yet…”
Chen Lie was even happier upon hearing that. He moved closer to Ye Zitan and whispered, “I thought so, too. How beautiful! But someone has issues with their eyesight. I think it’d be better if he went to the optometrist for a check.”
Huo Shaoheng glared at Chen Lie, then returned to his seat at the head of the table in the meeting room. Tapping on the documents on the table, he said, “We don’t have much time left. You’re not here in Barbados as tourists. You’re here on the sponsorship of our country and our army; we have to do our jobs well.”
Chen Lie’s lips twitched. He did not joke around anymore but gave Ye Zitan a little shove and sat down on Huo Shaoheng’s right.
“I’ll be bringing Nianzhi and Chen Lie to the hospital to visit Gu Xiangwen in three days. Big Xiong, you’ll go with us and be in charge of the local security. Little Ze, you’ll still be in charge of our communications. Dr. Ye, you’ll remain on standby at the embassy. The equipment that Chen Lie ordered will arrive within these couple of days. You’ll be in charge of receiving them. Check to see if they made the right delivery.”
Even though they were able to return for an exchange or refund if they did not get the orders correct, they needed the equipment urgently. Thus, they had no time to wait for an exchange, anyway.
“Yes, Sir.”
Everyone nodded and accepted their tasks.
Huo Shaoheng handed Chen Lie and Ye Zitan a document. “Go and have a look. I still have some things to inform Big Xiong and Little Ze.”
What he was about to say should have been regarding the things the Special Forces had to do. Chen Lie and Ye Zitan did not wish to know more anyway. Standing up, they replied, “We will go back first, then.”
After Chen Lie and Ye Zitan had left, Huo Shaoheng related Gu Yanran’s request to Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze. “Her main objective is still to arrest the masked snipers. However, we do not know much about them. How can we arrest them like that? What do you think?”
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze looked at each other for a while before Yin Shixiong went to retrieve the video footage of the snipers at the airport the other day. He turned to Huo Shaoheng and Zhao Liangze. “Mr. Huo, Little Ze, look at these snipers. How many were they? How many died eventually?”
Zhao Liangze looked at Yin Shixiong’s computer screen for a minute. “…About eight? We killed seven right there, and the last one took Gu Yanran and escaped but got killed by Mr. Huo in the sea.”
Huo Shaoheng shook his head, tapping on the meeting table lightly with the back of his pen. “I did not kill that guy. Gu Yanran did.”
“What?! That’s amazing!” Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong exclaimed at the same time. They had not heard Huo Shaoheng mention anything about that day. Since he’d initiated the incidents for that day, it piqued their interests. They could use the excuse that knowing the truth could help them discover the mastermind behind everything.
Huo Shaoheng went silent for a while and was about to begin talking when the door was opened again. Gu Nianzhi entered the meeting room with nothing but skincare on her face. She had removed the heavy makeup.
She had also changed her outfit. Gone was the body-con dress. Instead, she had selected a light turquoise silk blouse with butterfly sleeves. It had a big but elegant ribbon tied with a sash around the collar area of the blouse. For her bottom, she had selected a pair of long white trousers made from a combination of linen and silk, and it accentuated her long legs. She had tied her hair into a low ponytail and looked clean and fresh instead of seductive and alluring compared to her previous outfit.
Huo Shaoheng breathed a sigh of relief and waved for her to go over to him. “Nianzhi, sit here.” He pointed at a seat beside him.
This seat was in the middle as well, but it was beside Huo Shaoheng. However, it wasn’t a corner seat; she was merely sharing the space in the middle with Huo Shaoheng.
Gu Nianzhi did not reject it. She walked over gracefully and sat down beside him. However, she still looked cold and serious, unlike how she’d looked in the past—like she was smiling even though she wasn’t talking.
Huo Shaoheng knew that she was unhappy, but he did not have the habit of giving in to her in front of others. He could give in to her when it was only the two of them; he could give in as much as he could. But when there are others around, he would never admit to any mistakes no matter what. To him, he had already given in by asking Gu Nianzhi to go over and take a seat beside him.
Gu Nianzhi was unhappy. However, after she sat down, she saw that Huo Shaoheng was checking on her out of the corner of his eyes repeatedly. Even if he was speaking to Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong, he still made sure he was able to steal glances at her. She felt better knowing this. Her hand went to Huo Shaoheng’s thigh under the meeting table and pinched on it.
Huo Shaoheng was talking to Yin Shixiong when he felt the pinch. Gu Nianzhi had used too much strength, and it broke one of her nails. She retracted her hand and tried to bite the broken nail off.
Huo Shaoheng noticed what she was doing and took her hand out from her mouth. He said in a low voice, “Biting your nail at this age?”
Gu Nianzhi pouted and showed him the chipped nail: “…Broken.”
Then she looked down and tried to see Huo Shaoheng’s thigh…
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips and took out his Swiss army knife. It contained a nail clipper. He held on to Gu Nianzhi’s soft and fair hand and began clipping her nails for her. As he was doing so, he said, “No more long nails in the future. Clip them off the moment they grow.”
“Okay.”
Huo Shaoheng comforted all her feelings of being upset in an instant. Gu Nianzhi smiled happily and looked around the meeting room. She saw two pairs of eyes about to pop out of their sockets. Feeling proud, she tilted her head upward, feeling like a queen.
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze averted their gazes quickly. One of them looked up at the ceiling, while the other turned to look at the corner of the room. They pretended not to have seen Huo Shaoheng trimming Gu Nianzhi’s nails. Huo Shaoheng, however, did not mind a bit. After he was done clipping the nails, he nagged at Gu Nianzhi for a while before turning to look at Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze.
“That day, on the boat, Gu Yanran pulled the trigger by herself after managing to get her hands on the gun. That shot killed him. I was still swimming over at that time, so I wasn’t in the boat with her then.”
Gu Nianzhi was still feeling sweet and was racking her brains as to how to show another round of public displays of affection. However, that feeling disappeared when she heard such gory narrations of what had happened. “What were you guys talking about just now?”
“We were talking about the day Gu Yanran was kidnapped by the masked snipers.” Huo Shaoheng looked like his usual self. He looked at her and asked, “Do you want to listen as well?”
“Not just Gu Yanran was kidnapped by the masked sniper. It was Mr. Huo who went all-out to save her. He jumped into the sea with strong currents and swam for his life to save her life.” Yin Shixiong did not have to look at the ceiling anymore; he smiled cheekily, seemingly not afraid of anything, and filled Gu Nianzhi in on imaginative details.
“Yes. Then both of them even ended up at a lone island and stayed there for the night.” Zhao Liangze made everything sound even more ambiguous. All he wanted was to make fun of Gu Nianzhi, hoping to see her get jealous.
Of course, what they were looking forward to seeing even more was how Huo Shaoheng would deal with her. They had always thought that their boss only knew how to use his fists in a fight—or for firing guns that could kill people within a mile. They hadn’t expected that he would know how to take a nail clipper to trim anyone’s nails.
Gu Nianzhi looked at Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze suspiciously. Supporting her chin with both hands, she raised her eyebrows. “What did you say? Were the two of you with Huo Shao at that time?”
Yin Shixiong said, “…Nope.”
“Of course not,” said Zhao Liangze.
“Since neither of you were with them, how could you describe everything as though you were there?” Gu Nianzhi retorted coldly. “Don’t forget; you have to face legal consequences if you try to make up stories. Or do you still want to continue?” Her face was stern, and it actually exuded power.
What the hell?! How could they have forgotten about Gu Nianzhi’s eloquence?
“Don’t be angry now, Nianzhi, we were just joking.” Yin Shixiong slapped himself lightly on the face while smiling sheepishly. “To be honest, we have no idea what happened at all. We were also listening to him telling us.”
Huo Shaoheng rolled his eyes at the two of them and was extremely pleased with Gu Nianzhi’s response. Putting an arm on the back of Gu Nianzhi’s chair, he wrote some things with the other hand. “Okay, that’s enough. I did save Gu Yanran and stayed at the lone island belonging to the Gus for a night. But I was waiting for rescue the entire night out on the beach and did not stay in any of the rooms in her villa. Also, I’d like to bring Nianzhi to that island for a look.”
“Is there WiFi on the island?” Gu Nianzhi asked seriously.
“…No.”
“Why should we go anywhere without WiFi?” Gu Nianzhi shook her hand with disinterest. “Let’s just focus on Gu Yanran’s father.”
“But I heard that you stayed there as a child. I still saw your room in that villa.” Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi looked at each other, and he expressed heartache and pity in his eyes.
