Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The intense red blaze on the national emblem was wrapped up in the middle of a layer of golden sheaves of wheat. It was like the sun bathing the earth with sunlight from an extremely high place. It was also like Huo Shaoheng’s smile. His lips were slightly raised. They only outlined a little smile, and yet it was like the sunlight shining down. His lips had a bit of irresistible allure. Hot breath hit her directly in the face. Gu Nianzhi felt a bit dizzy… She closed her eyes under the heat of the sun. She maintained a still posture as she opened her eyes and watched Huo Shaoheng walk leisurely toward her.
“Why didn’t you call me? Hm?” Huo Shaoheng stood firmly in front of her. His voice was deep and sweet-sounding. It was a bit magnetic, like a warm current that entered the ears and eyes, then went down and made her internal organs all warm. Her insides were all densely packed together as she was struck by his intoxicatingly simple and kind voice. She felt like a roller was slowly grinding her into powder, and when the wind blew, it all went flying.
Gu Nianzhi held her cell phone tightly in her sweating palm. “So infectious,” she thought. It was truly foul play! Gu Nianzhi was a bit indignant. She tried hard to speak calmly. “Huo Shao, thank you for your help. It was you who called President Zhan?”
Everything that Gu Nianzhi had experienced in the court reception room just then came back to her mind. She looked at Huo Shaoheng, who was standing in front of her with a smile on his face. What else did she not understand? Huo Shaoheng must have given the head of court a call.
Huo Shaoheng immediately knew what she was thinking upon seeing her confused expression. He turned and looked across the street. “We’ll talk in the car. This place is inconvenient.”
Instead of the Bentley, Gu Nianzhi saw an ordinary-looking Benz SUV parked across the street. “Is there something else?” Gu Nianzhi hesitated. She didn’t want to get into Huo Shaoheng’s car.
“You don’t want to watch the excitement?” Huo Shaoheng leaned back a bit. “Let’s see how Gu Yanran takes the court summons… then I’ll drive you back to school.” He knew Gu Nianzhi had taken a taxi there.
Gu Nianzhi was immediately interested. “We can really go watch?”
“Follow me.” Huo Shaoheng turned and walked across the street.
Gu Nianzhi hesitated for a second then followed him. The two of them got in the car. Again, Gu Nianzhi asked, “How did you know I would encounter trouble at the court?”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t look at her as he casually held onto the steering wheel and said, “That’s common sense.”
“You are looking down on me.” Gu Nianzhi became frustrated. However, while she knew that she would have been able to come up with ideas that would make the court file the case, it would most certainly not have happened that day if Huo Shaoheng hadn’t acted on her behalf. She would have missed the best opportunity, and Gu Yanran would most certainly have escaped. If she wanted to find her in the future, then it would be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. That was why she was even more confused.
She was in low spirits for a while. She was genuine and sincere when she said to Huo Shaoheng, “Thank you.”
Huo Shaoheng shot a glance at her. The corner of his mouth raised. “You’re welcome. It’s something that I should be doing.”
Gu Nianzhi was speechless. Her face was a bit red, but she still maintained her calm demeanor as she looked away. She watched as the cityscape flew by outside the car window and said, “Today’s Monday. Don’t you need to work?”
“Yes, but now’s break time.” Huo Shaoheng turned the steering wheel, got on the highway, and headed toward Gu Yanran’s condominium. Half an hour later, they arrived at the luxury condominium’s precinct in Sanhuan.
The court personnel who came to deliver the court summons arrived a bit later. Gu Nianzhi craned her neck as she watched from inside the car. A few property management personnel came out by the gate house and went to confirm whether the court summons was real or fake, then they called Gu Yanran.
Huo Shaoheng started his car and immediately drove inside. When he was at the gate, he craned his neck and told the court personnel, “If I were you, I would go to that building’s underground parking lot and wait there. You will certainly be able to stand by a stump and wait for the hare to bump into it (1).”
The court personnel couldn’t help but smile and nod and say, “Ok, we will go in a bit.”
Huo Shaoheng took Gu Nianzhi along with him as he drove to the precinct’s underground parking lot to wait.
…
At that moment, Gu Yanran was very unhappy in her condominium. She was just thinking of going out when she received the property management personnel’s phone call.
“What?! Court summons?! It must be a mistake!” Gu Yanran roared angrily. “I’m a Barbadian. What is Gu Nianzhi suing me for?!”
“Miss Gu, we don’t understand, either. Please come out and bring your passport. The court personnel said that considering that the case involves a large sum of money, you won’t be able to leave the country. You must hand over your passport.” The property management personnel hung up after she finished speaking because the person didn’t want to face Gu Yanran rebuking them.
Gu Yanran was so angry that her face was red for a short while before turning white. She hugged herself and walked around the room a few times. She called Ye Xuan again, but nobody picked up the phone.
Gu Yanran was unwilling to give up. She tried calling him again for several minutes. Only then was she able to confirm that Ye Xuan was really not going to answer her calls. She was in a state of panic, so she simply sent Ye Xuan a text. “Xuan, Gu Nianzhi is suing me. She wants to split the family property with me. They want to seize my passport. Please come over and help me! You’re the only one I have left!”
After the text was sent, Gu Yanran just stared at the cell phone unwaveringly as she waited for Ye Xuan to text back. Now it was completely different from before. Before, it didn’t matter when she texted Ye Xuan, Ye Xuan would text her back within seconds, then he would call her. He had never been indifferent. She waited a full 15 minutes. Ye Xuan’s side was deathly still. He didn’t reply, and he didn’t call.
However, the property management personnel called again. “Miss Gu, if you don’t come down anytime soon, I will need to let them in.”
Gu Yanran didn’t have any other choice. She could only say, “I’ll be down right away. Don’t let them in.”
She carried her little purse on her shoulder. She planned on going down and getting her car in the parking lot. Then she would drive away out the back and go straight to the airport. Her private plane was waiting for her there.
As a result, the moment she arrived at the underground parking lot and got to her car, a few men in dark purplish-blue court uniforms appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They held onto a court summons and delivered it right in front of Gu Yanran. “May I ask if you are Miss Gu Yanran? This is a court summons. Please sign it. Also, your passport has to be turned over in advance.”
Gu Yanran could never have imagined that these people would block her in the underground parking lot. She couldn’t help but gnash her teeth and say, “This is private property. What right do you have to harass me? I can sue you for infringing on my privacy!”
Gu Nianzhi sat in Huo Shaoheng’s car and leaned on the window as she watched eagerly. She laughed so hard that her sides were about to hurt. “What major did Gu Yanran study? I think she didn’t even learn the basics of law. Has she really been to college?”
Most of the Hua Xia Empire’s college students had learned the basics of law. Although not everyone could become a law expert, they did have common knowledge of the law.
One of Huo Shaoheng’s hands hung on the steering wheel, while the other hand held onto the hand brake as he moved it. He calmly said, “She attended Saint John College in England. It’s a school that specializes in training British stewards.”
Gu Nianzhi was speechless. She turned her head and was in awe when she asked, “You even know this?”
“Just looked into it.”
“You’re looking into Gu Yanran?”
“Yes. It was too difficult to look into Gu Xiangwen. That’s why I changed the path and started from Gu Yanran. As a result, I really did find out some interesting things.” He didn’t say anything else. He reached toward the little refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. He twisted off the lid and took a sip.
It was like a hundred claws were scratching her heart. Her heart was very itchy as she listened to him. If it weren’t for the little bit of logic left in her, she would have acted like a monkey and done her utmost to torment Huo Shaoheng by throwing a tantrum. She would go to any extreme to make him talk immediately…
(1) Idly wait for an opportunity or for something lucky to happen.
