Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
This wild pheasant, also known as “guinea fowl” left a deep impression on Gu Nianzhi. This was because she’d tried it once with Huo Shaoheng and the guys. She was full of praises for this dish, but it was a rare opportunity; that was the only time she’d had it…
Huo Shaoheng glanced at Gu Nianzhi and saw that her full attention was on the guinea fowl in his hands, and the corners of his lips curled upwards for a split second. It disappeared after.
Waving the pheasants at Yin Shixiong, who had just come to the door, Huo Shaoheng informed him, “Big Xiong, bring these to the kitchen. We’ll have add-on dishes tonight.”
“Oh, yes!” Yin Shixiong smiled happily as he briskly walked down the steps and took the pheasants from Huo Shaoheng. Then he nodded at He Zhichu, who was squinting at him and said cheerfully, “Have a safe trip, Professor He; see you back at the Empire!”
He Zhichu looked away and smiled briefly. “Sure. See you back at the Empire.”
Gu Nianzhi walked down the steps with He Zhichu and watched him leave in a sleek, custom-ordered, bulletproof Cadillac sedan. She even waved at him reluctantly.
Looking on for a while from the side, Huo Shaoheng pulled her slightly. “Let’s go back. Professor He has already left. He wouldn’t be able to see you anymore.”
Gu Nianzhi pulled her arm back and tilted her head. “We must have manners. Does it matter if Professor He is able to see? So we’re able to do anything we want if no one could see us?”
Huo Shaoheng glanced at her and said expressionlessly, “Yes. It’s good to have manners.” Then he glared at Yin Shixiong, who was ogling at them from the side. “What are you doing that for? Bring these to the kitchen. Personally kill and de-feather them. I’ll cook.”
“Mr. Huo is going to cook?!” Yin Shixiong was pleasantly surprised and didn’t mind being tasked to kill the pheasants anymore. In the past, if he was tasked with something like this, he would’ve complained that he was too much of a talent to be just killing animals—and being mocked at by Gu Nianzhi after.
However, Gu Nianzhi did not do that today. Instead, she swallowed before returning back into the consulate.
Yin Shixiong kept looking back and forth between Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi. Finally, he shifted beside Huo Shaoheng and whispered, “What happened to Nianzhi?”
“She’s throwing a tantrum. Ignore her,” Huo Shaoheng replied calmly, but he followed Gu Nianzhi in the direction she had disappeared to.
Yin Shixiong pouted and mimicked Huo Shaoheng. “She’s throwing a tantrum. Ignore her—how convincing you made that sound, General! I would’ve believed it for another minute if you hadn’t followed her. Now, I wouldn’t believe it for even a second…”
Yin Shixiong headed up the stairs as well, shaking his head. Just then, he saw Chen Lie hiding beside the door, mocking him. “My dear Big Xiong, the intelligence of this 250-watt third wheel is amazing!”
He smiled as well, waving the guinea fowl at Chen Lie. “Doctor Chen, did you hear him, too? Look at Mr. Huo still trying to talk his way through! Saying ‘she’s just throwing a tantrum; ignore her,’ yet following closely behind. I bet he went to Nianzhi’s room!”
Chen Lie laughed heartily and said, “Now, it’s you who have no idea about this. When Mr. Huo said, ‘ignore her,’ he meant for you to ignore Nianzhi. Nianzhi was to be coaxed by him alone. Understand? You stop being a third wheel.”
“What the hell?! Did he really?” Yin Shixiong was so taken aback by Chen Lie’s interpretation that he was almost speechless. However, upon giving it a thought, he felt that it made sense as well. Smiling, he said, “Yeah, seems like it really was that way.”
Both of them entered the consulate, laughing with each other.
Yin Shixiong took the guinea fowl to the kitchen to clean them up personally. Chen Lie had initially wanted to give Gu Nianzhi a check again, but the moment he reached the turn of Gu Nianzhi’s room, he saw Huo Shaoheng entering her room.
Chen Lie smiled widely and pushed his equipment toward Zhao Liangze’s room instead.
…
Gu Nianzhi returned to her room and took out a set of casual wear. She was about to change out of the heavy, silk marine blue dress, which she had worn specially.
Just as she turned around and was about to change, she saw Huo Shaoheng entering her room and closing the door behind him.
Raising her eyebrows, Gu Nianzhi raised her voice. “Huo Shao, you should’ve knocked on the door before coming in… What if I had been changing? That wouldn’t be nice, would it?”
Huo Shaoheng sat down at the single sofa seat beside the window in her bedroom and crossed his legs. Placing his arms on the armrests, he supported his face with a hand on the armrest and said, “Change then. I’ll see which suits you better.”
Gu Nianzhi was shocked. She glared at Huo Shaoheng and was so angry that she was almost speechless.
“What’s wrong, now? You’re shy?” Huo Shaoheng looked at her firmly. Putting his leg down, he stood up from the seat and walked toward Gu Nianzhi.
He walked normally—neither fast nor rushed. He was relaxed and natural, but to Gu Nianzhi, this felt extremely stressful. Hugging her clothes, she moved backward and warned him, “Don’t come here. I said, stop coming toward me!”
Huo Shaoheng listened to her and stopped. He was about an arm’s length away from her, looking at her fixedly.
Even though Huo Shaoheng stopped because she had asked him to, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but grumble inside due to his actions.
He has never been so obedient in the past; what has made him so outside of the norm today?
Most likely, it was due to her being too upset, or perhaps it was because Huo Shaoheng knew her too well. Looking at how Gu Nianzhi’s expression changed, the smile at the corners of Huo Shaoheng’s lips became more prominent.
Nodding, he said, “Ok. I’ll be going back now, then.” He turned and left.
Gu Nianzhi was even more shocked now. She held onto her clothes while watching Huo Shaoheng leave. She wanted to ask him to stay, but she felt too embarrassed to do so. However, seeing him leave like that, she felt even more horrid.
As she was feeling a mixture of anxiousness, annoyance, anger, and disappointment, Huo Shaoheng stopped in his tracks. Making a turn, he returned to sit down on the single seat sofa. After just a few steps, Gu Nianzhi felt like she was on an emotional roller coaster, going over many mountains and rivers.
She felt her eyes water. Lowering her head, she hugged her clothes and walked toward the bathroom. The sofa was located between the bathroom door and the table at the south wall of the bedroom.
Gu Nianzhi walked briskly past him. Huo Shaoheng reached out and held Gu Nianzhi’s wrist and looked up at her.
Gu Nianzhi refused to look at him. Looking somewhere else, she said flatly, “…Let go.”
Huo Shaoheng looked at her wrist. It was so frail and thin; it was really unexpected that such a frail-looking wrist could save two grown men from such scary waters of the blue hole…
His calm heart skipped a beat, and he pulled on that wrist, pulling Gu Nianzhi into his embrace.
Huo Shaoheng hugged her tightly on his lap. Then, holding the back of her neck, he kissed her.
Her lips still had some bruises. It felt slightly painful when he sucked on them. Gu Nianzhi couldn’t hold back anymore. Hitting Huo Shaoheng, she struggled in his embrace and wailed, “…Don’t be like that! Being passionate and cold, however you wish… I can’t take it anymore… Is it fun to play around with my feelings like that? Seeing me feeling all this nonsense for you—does it please you so much? Stop trying to bully me! I don’t want you anymore! I will never want you anymore!”
As she said, “I don’t want you anymore,” she pulled on his clothes and cried her heart out.
Huo Shaoheng continued kissing her. He didn’t care how she struggled in his embrace or hit him. He continued kissing her as if he wanted to console her with those kisses. The tip of his tongue gently licked the bruises on her lips, tracing the shape of them, and eventually entering her mouth. Their tongues intertwined.
Gu Nianzhi tried very hard to push him away. Using her tiny tongue, she attempted to push Huo Shaoheng’s tongue out. However, the moment she used some strength, Huo Shaoheng’s breath deepened, and he kissed her harder.
He held onto her head firmly. She could not move. Her lips were forced open; he was having his way.
Her tears flowed uncontrollably. They fell in between their lips, wet and salty, penetrating into their hearts. Perhaps, love tasted like that.
Gu Nianzhi was lightheaded from the kisses. Her tears gradually stopped, and she stopped resisting him. She just lay in his embrace comfortably with slightly swollen lips as he continued sucking on them, not allowing her to say anything out of anger…
After the long kissing, they were both slightly out of breath. Gu Nianzhi was still sobbing occasionally. She snuggled in his embrace like a child who had been wronged, looking for comfort in a parent. If this was the source of her distress, what else could she do?
Huo Shaoheng patted her on the back and cleaned her face with some tissues from the table. Lowering his head, he touched her nose with his and asked softly, “…Still angry?”
Gu Nianzhi snorted and buried her head in his chest. “Don’t think a kiss and a hug can buy me over this time around. It won’t be so easy.”
“Oh… What else do I have to do, then?” Huo Shaoheng asked expressionlessly, but a hand had already begun to roam.
Gu Nianzhi gasped. She grabbed his hand and said with a mixture of anxiousness and anger, “I didn’t mean this! This… This… wouldn’t work either!”
“This… This… What is this?” Huo Shaoheng held onto her, continuing to roam with his hand. “What do I have to do? Just let me know, and I’ll gladly oblige.”
“You wish!” Gu Nianzhi struggled.
Huo Shaoheng removed his hand reluctantly and hugged her tightly. “Don’t squirm on my lap. You might’ve sparked something.”
“Whatever happened to your self-control, Huo Shao?” Gu Nianzhi mocked mercilessly. “How can you go on missions like that?”
Huo Shaoheng handed her the dress and leaned backward on the sofa. Smiling, he supported his head with one hand, squinted at her, and used the other hand to caress her slightly swollen lips. “That’s why I’m thankful that we’re not enemies… If my opponent were to send out my Nianzhi, I’d have no choice but to surrender.”
“Oh? Really? Am I that amazing?” Gu Nianzhi was so happy at his words that she forgot about everything else.
This sentence might have been one of the most romantic things Huo Shaoheng had said to her throughout their relationship…
