Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Either the Tan’s and the Cai’s could be loyal and just stay in the country and feel that the Hua Xia Empire was the best, or the only other place they could go would be Europe, where the history and culture was rich. Huo Shaoheng looked around and saw a ceramic vase displayed in a corner. It looked like it came from a thousand years ago. It was definitely an antique. He had no idea how she had gotten it.
Tan Guiren looked in the direction Huo Shaoheng was looking and noticed that he was interested in the vase. She quickly explained, “That was from my distant aunt. They migrated to America a long time ago. They’re one of the few relatives we have that migrated to America.”
“A long time ago?”
“Yes. My distant aunt was there during her great-grandfather’s time. If we were to count, the family has been there for about a century.”
Huo Shaoheng understood. That was the period of time when the country was in chaos. After the conversation ended, the living room went into silence again. Tan Guiren mustered her courage and said to Huo Shaoheng, “Really, thank you for this. I wouldn’t have been alive had it not been for you, really.”
Huo Shaoheng knocked lightly on his knee absentmindedly and smiled. “You’re too kind. That is my job.”
“But your rank is so high; you didn’t have to come personally and put yourself in danger. I’m really sorry about that,” Tan Guiren said quickly and stood up to bow to Huo Shaoheng. “Thankfully, you’re okay. If you hadn’t been, I would’ve been living with guilt for the rest of my life.”
Huo Shaoheng remained silent for a while before replying, “You’re overreacting, Miss Tan.” He shifted on the sofa. “Actually, it was along the way for me. I had a mission here, so I just came by since you were around.”
“Really?” Tan Guiren opened her eyes wide and sat down across from him. “But my mother said that they specially asked for you to come over.”
Huo Shaoheng was speechless. He thought about what to say before responding, “I was surprised that your mother thought of me. To be honest, all the soldiers from our country are well trained. Whoever came would also have been able to complete the mission.”
Tan Guiren shook her head. “Nope. You’re different. That night, I wanted you guys to save the kids. You were the only one who went with me.”
Huo Shaoheng took a deep breath and finally said cold-heartedly, “I was only thinking of Miss Tan’s safety. To be honest, the kids were not within my job’s scope of protection.”
“Still, you went.” Tan Guiren laughed. “And after that, you saved that little girl on 5th Avenue. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you.”
The corners of Huo Shaoheng’s lips twitched. He moved his gaze to the rain outside. “…They were coincidences.” After he finished talking, he thought, If Gu Nianzhi heard that, she would’ve shaken her head so hard and not believed a single thing. She’d say that I wouldn’t do anything that I didn’t have confidence in. Since he was like that, how could he be rash? He was immersed in his thoughts for a little while, looking at the fireplace in front of him. He knew Tan Guiren was talking, but he did not hear the details.
“How could this be coincidence? I’m not silly. Not only do I know how to see with my eyes, I know how to feel with my heart as well!” Tan Guiren smiled happily and drew a heart with her long, slender fingers in front of her chest. “My mother’s friend recommended you to her. How could she be wrong?”
“Oh? Your mother’s friend recommended me? That’s surprising. Not many people know me from the Hua Xia Empire.” Huo Shaoheng was finally hearing things that he wanted to hear. He began to probe without showing too much interest.
“Is it really true? Looks like it is!” Tan Guiren chuckled. “You did not leave me with your contact details this time ’round. I was worried that the man’s letter was something urgent, so I called the Hua Xia Empire to get my parents to look for ways to contact you. They couldn’t find any, though. My mother went to look for her friend. It was only then that we got to know that she did not have your contact details, either. Eventually, they asked me what was going on.”
“Did you tell them, then?” Huo Shaoheng was nervous. His heartbeat increased slightly, because if Tan Guiren had told them, most likely he would’ve been able to find out who the betrayer was. He took a huge risk and exposed himself in front of this rather dim-witted lady because he wanted the mastermind outed in order to get rid of him. Huo Shaoheng had thought that Tan Guiren did not know what confidentiality was and would definitely tell her parents everything that had happened. With that, he would be able to find the person.
However, Tan Guiren shook her head proudly. “Of course I didn’t! I knew that you were doing something important. I only felt that this letter must have been really important, but I would never let others know what went on! I didn’t even tell my mother!” She looked at Huo Shaoheng with sparkling eyes, like she was expecting him to praise her.
Huo Shaoheng closed his eyes. It took him some effort to not roll his eyes and blurt out words of sarcasm. Even though communicating with someone with a lower IQ and EQ was really hard to bear, it was way better than facing ruthless opponents. Moreover, he had gone through training and had a much higher level of patience facing different kinds of people. Therefore, he nodded and thanked her.
After their chat, a gust of wind blew, and all the lights in the house went out. Tan Guiren screamed softly. Mrs. Fen, Tan Guiren’s helper, rushed out from the kitchen and shouted, “Blackout! Blackout!”
“Most likely the wind was too strong and cut the electricity.” Huo Shaoheng stood up. His voice was deep and sexy in the dark. Tan Guiren felt an immense sense of security.
“Don’t panic, Mrs. Fen. I remember we have a diesel generator. Go take a look in the basement.” Tan Guiren stood up as well and took two steps forward. However, the room was too dark. Tan Guiren forgot that there was a round stool beside the sofa and tripped over it.
Huo Shaoheng had already gotten himself accustomed to the dark. He also saw that Tan Guiren had tripped. However, he remained where he was, not moving forward to help her. He had saved Tan Guiren from the kidnappers because it was within his job scope. Now that she fell at home, he was not obliged to help her. It wasn’t something life threatening, so Huo Shaoheng remained emotionless.
Tan Guiren laid on the floor for a while before sitting up and rubbing her ankle. It felt like she might have twisted it. Mrs. Fen heard the sound and found a flashlight before rushing over. “Miss? Miss?”
Huo Shaoheng pointed at the sofa. “Miss Tan tripped. She’s okay now.”
Mrs. Fen rushed over and fussed over Tan Guiren. “Miss! Miss! Are you okay?!”
With his arms crossed, Huo Shaoheng asked Mrs. Fen, “Where is the generator? I’ll take a look.”
“In the basement. Exit here, and you’ll see a fight of stairs that brings you straight there.” Mrs. Fen took the flashlight and shook it in the direction of the room.
Bending down, Huo Shaoheng took the flashlight from Mrs. Fen, turned around, and made his way in the direction of the basement. Mrs. Fen was stunned for a moment, and Tan Guiren was blushing furiously. She had thought that he was going to pick her up when he had bent down just now…
Mrs. Fen helped Tan Guiren up and grumbled, “This man is not gentlemanly at all. Miss, you’ve fallen onto the ground, but he didn’t even help.”
Tan Guiren forced a smile. “Can’t blame him. It’s really dark in here. Most likely, he couldn’t see well, either.”
“True.” Mrs. Fen was merely commenting. Seeing that Tan Guiren didn’t seem to mind, an outsider like her shouldn’t think too much about it.
Holding the flashlight, Huo Shaoheng went to the basement. He found the diesel generator in the small room. The villa’s central control room was there as well. There was even a heater and a central cooling system. This was where CIA officers controlled all the tapping devices and pinhole cameras that they installed in this villa. Of course, Thomas had revealed this information to him.
Due to the sudden power outage, the backup power of those devices kicked in. In the dark, one could only see a little red light blinking away. Huo Shaoheng looked at it emotionlessly. Taking out his Swiss Army knife, he neatly cut the wire in two. The red blinking light disappeared. This meant that all the tapping devices and pinhole cameras had stopped functioning.
Then, Huo Shaoheng finally bent down to start the diesel generator. In no time at all, the lights in the villa returned. Everything in the room was easily seen. Huo Shaoheng looked around again before going back up.
Upon returning to the living room, Huo Shaoheng saw that Tan Guiren was still rubbing her ankle. She had only turned on a small, soft light. The dim light made the living room look cosy and warm. Even the storm outside didn’t look so strong anymore.
Putting the flashlight on the tea table, Huo Shaoheng asked, “When will the rain stop?”
Tan Guiren immediately turned on the television to watch the weather forecast. The forecaster was wearing a poncho and saying nervously, “Isabella seems to be getting stronger. The storm will continue through the night. Please be safe, everyone, and try to stay indoors.”
Huo Shaoheng was speechless. Tan Guiren sneaked a peek at Huo Shaoheng’s calm expression and felt secretly happy, but outwardly, she looked calm. “Mr. Gu, why don’t you stay for the night? The villa has many rooms. There are three guest rooms upstairs and one downstairs.”
After thinking about it and looking at the storm outside, Huo Shaoheng looked like he had made up his mind. “If the rain doesn’t stop by 10pm, then I’ll be troubling you tonight, Miss Tan.”
“It’s not a problem at all!” Tan Guiren was exceptionally welcoming. “It’s getting late. Let’s have dinner. Mrs. Fen makes amazing Yangzhou dishes.”
The Tans were from the South. Tan Guiren had become accustomed to the Yangzhou dishes from the chefs at home from the time she was young. That was the reason she brought a helper along who knew how to cook Yangzhou dishes when she needed to travel overseas.
Huo Shaoheng did not like the bland tasting Yangzhou dishes, but he did not reject her offer. He nodded at Tan Guiren politely. “Thank you.” Huo Shaoheng wouldn’t eat anything he hadn’t prepared when he met people as the head of Special Forces. However, when he was on missions, and he couldn’t control the surroundings, he wouldn’t be able to do that. He had to eat and drink what he had to. However, he had actually planned this dinner a long time ago.
