Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Isn’t it normal to have your accounts frozen since you are in the middle of an inheritance lawsuit right now?” Jin Wanyi reminded Gu Yanran softly.
“Do I need you to remind me?!” Gu Yanran glared at Jin Wanyi. Her usually gentle expression had disappeared into thin air. “But those are my personal bank accounts! Gu Xiangwen’s bank account can be frozen, but why did they freeze mine as well?!” The moment she was agitated, she simply just left out the term “father,” even.
Jin Wanyi saw that Gu Yanran was almost spitting on her. She took a step backwards and turned sideways. “Are they related accounts? If they are, then your account would definitely be frozen as well.”
Gu Yanran took a deep breath and clenched her fists to will herself to calm down. “What is a ‘related account?’ That was an account that I opened in my own name. The money in it is all my own money.” Gu Yanran was in a state of panic. Her face was unnaturally flushed.
Gu Yanran swallowed her anger and asked her accountant for the hotline for VIPs of the bank. The customer relations officer was extremely polite and provided great service. However, they could not help much.
The officers insisted that they had received a notice from the court to freeze the accounts, and therefore, they were merely following orders. As to why her account was included in the list, they asked her to get her answer from the court.
Gu Yanran hung up the call with a solemn expression and rushed down to the car as she pushed Jin Wanyi aside. In the parking lot, Gu Nianzhi, Ma Qiqi, and Yin Shixiong had just exited from the elevator, talking and laughing happily. There were two more men following behind them.
Upon seeing Gu Nianzhi, Gu Yanran did not even bother to look for the judge. She shouted, “Gu Nianzhi, what right do you have to get the court to freeze my own bank account?! You want to pursue your right to the inheritance, and I am already allowing you to do so. What, you don’t even want to let my own money go now?!”
Gu Nianzhi looked her up and down and snickered. “Your own money? When did you have your own money? You’ve never worked a day in your life and never earned a single cent, and you are here telling me about ‘your own money?’ Why now? Just because you have a bigger face?”
Gu Yanran’s eyes turned red. She clenched her fists and walked towards Gu Nianzhi. “Why can’t it be my own money? I have been handling the inheritance for the Gu family. How is that not a type of work now? Don’t you forget, you were the one who said that the contracts I signed helped the Gu family earn a total of three billion US dollars!”
“Your memory is really not very good is it?” Gu Nianzhi’s tone had some form of sympathy. “I remember clearly that I said you earned that three billion US dollars by forging my father, Gu Xiangwen’s signature. The ones that you signed using your own name were all illegal contracts, and they caused the family to lose three billion US dollars. You have to stop taking the credit of others and claiming it as your own. You also have to stop attributing your failures to others.”
“I don’t care whose name it was, it was money that I earned when I was handling the inheritance! What about you? When the family was facing hard times, where were you?! Oh, you were busy bootlicking the major general of Hua Xia Empire weren’t you? And you think you have the right to accuse me right now?!” Gu Yanran vented all her anger at once. “If you dare touch any of my money, I will fight it out with you!” With that, Gu Yanran ran towards Gu Nianzhi with the intention of attacking.
Ma Qiqi panicked. She ran over in an attempt to stop Gu Yanran. However, Yin Shixiong pulled her back and glared at her, hinting something to her. Ma Qiqi was taken aback. She turned around to see Gu Nianzhi step aside easily and trip Gu Yanran. A loud thud was heard as Gu Yanran tripped and fell face down.
“Miss Gu!” Gu Yanran’s bodyguards ran over and quickly helped her up.
Yin Shixiong stepped in front of Gu Nianzhi and shouted at the bodyguards, “What are you guys trying to do?! This is the courthouse parking lot, and you guys dare to look for trouble?!”
The moment he shouted, police officers began to come over to them. Gu Yanran’s bodyguards did not dare to wreak havoc. They huddled around Gu Yanran and left quickly.
Gu Nianzhi looked in the direction where they were walking and saw Jin Wanyi getting out of Gu Yanran’s limousine. She looked in their direction, and her eyes met Gu Nianzhi’s. Then, she turned around and got onto her own BMW and quickly left.
Secretary Cao and Assistant Yang, who were watching off to the side, walked towards them. They shook hands with Gu Nianzhi, Yin Shixiong, and Ma Qiqi before saying their goodbyes.
“Nianzhi, the hearing today was exciting as usual. I look forward to your performance at the next hearing.” Secretary Cao was admiring Gu Nianzhi more and more, and had decided to tell General Ji about Gu Nianzhi’s capabilities. He would really love to have Gu Nianzhi work at the secretary’s office. It would be a much better job compared to working in a law firm…
Gu Nianzhi smiled and chatted with Secretary Cao for a while before walking him to his car. After Secretary Cao had left, Assistant Yang went to Gu Nianzhi and looked her up and down with furrowed brows. He suddenly asked, “Which lawyer did your court trial training for you?”
The lawyers from bigger law firms were well prepared. They usually had practice trials for their amateur lawyers who were going into court. Amateur lawyers could use these practice sessions to experience the questions that might be asked during the actual trial so that they would be better prepared. It was not the same as merely memorizing normal documents and information. Good practice trials could mimic real trials very well.
Assistant Yang felt that Gu Nianzhi would be able to have such quick responses because she had an excellent practice trial.
Gu Nianzhi shook her head. “I have never participated in any practice trials. I merely looked for my own information and prepared on my own.”
“Oh, really?” Assistant Yang chuckled. He could not believe it and labeled Gu Nianzhi as tight-lipped about secrets.
After Assistant Yang had left, Ma Qiqi and Gu Nianzhi got into Yin Shixiong’s car. This time around, Ma Qiqi joined Gu Nianzhi in the back seat. However, Yin Shixiong stopped her. “I still have things to talk to Nianzhi about. I will take you back first,” he told her with a smile.
“Oh? I see…” Ma Qiqi understood and got into the front seat with a smile.
Yin Shixiong started the engine. Ma Qiqi smiled and turned around. “Nianzhi, you really got the court to freeze all of Gu Yanran’s bank accounts?”
Gu Nianzhi snorted. “Of course. Otherwise, it would be nothing but trouble if she continues to move the inheritance.”
“But, if she really has no money left, will it backfire?” Ma Qiqi was concerned for Gu Nianzhi. She was worried that Gu Yanran would do silly things when she panicked.
“She will not be entirely without money,” Gu Nianzhi said calmly. “She still has a lot of cash on hand. She has a lot of jewelry, too. If she wants to, she is able to sell it for money anytime.” However, although she had put it that way, Gu Nianzhi was also thinking about Gu Yanran’s obsession with money… Did she have a phobia of having no money?
The three of them chatted happily in the car, and they arrived at the lobby of their dormitory at B University in no time. Ma Qiqi got out of the car and went up after waving goodbye to Gu Nianzhi.
Seeing that Yin Shixiong kept smiling at Ma Qiqi’s back view and almost wanted to glue himself onto her, Gu Nianzhi was envious and said, “Brother Xiong, you are so compatible with Qiqi…”
Looking in the rearview mirror, Yin Shixiong realized that he was smiling widely at Ma Qiqi’s back view. He stopped himself and coughed. “Qiqi is a good girl. Look at her, how open minded. I said that I had something to talk to you about, and she just went up without asking anything. She is not the jealous type. Girls like that are the type a guy should have.”
“That is only because you and I are worthy of her trust.” Gu Nianzhi praised herself and Yin Shixiong. Of course, the one who deserved to be praised most was Ma Qiqi.
“Brother Xiong, Qiqi is pretty, clever, and capable. However, the best part is that she has an amazing character. She isn’t easily jealous. Her ex-boyfriend cheated on her. However, she did not feel that all guys will cheat just because of that. She is still willing to trust and give her all. Brother Xiong, you have to treat her well.”
Yin Shixiong listened attentively and agreed. “I know. Otherwise, I would never have gone after Qiqi of my own accord. However, Nianzhi, you are so good at analyzing the relationships of others. What about you?”
Realizing that the topic was about to be on her, Gu Nianzhi raised her hand to stop Yin Shixiong. “Brother Xiong, stop. We are talking about work related stuff. Not personal stuff.”
Yin Shixiong laughed bitterly at Gu Nianzhi’s attempt to stop him. “Fine, fine, fine. Work then, work.” He opened a hidden compartment in his car and produced a set of documents for Gu Nianzhi.
“What is this?” Gu Nianzhi lowered her head to take a look but did not open the documents.
“Information about Oda Masao,” Yin Shixiong said emotionally. “Mr. Huo already expected that you would be finding out about the founder of ‘Angel in the World.’ Therefore, he had this prepared for you.”
After pausing, he continued, “Oda Masao did not die in a laboratory fire. He died of… a heart attack…” To put it more accurately, he died of “heart attack” at the hands of Yin Shixiong.
Gu Nianzhi’s mouth fell open. Her beautiful face had an unusual expression of shock. Yin Shixiong admired this rare and unusual expression on Gu Nianzhi’s face and chuckled. “Surprised?”
“…The information I got online said that he died in a laboratory fire.” Gu Nianzhi lowered her head and opened the set of documents.
“Yes. The information online was edited by the Japanese. In the beginning, they reported it as it was—a heart attack. However, after that, maybe they felt that it was rather hilarious to let others know that a researcher who specialized in the area of genetic make-up died of a heart attack, so they changed it to a laboratory fire instead. Actually, for things like that, other than the people around him, no one really would care about it.” Therefore, most news usually would only be noticed for a short period of time. However, that was all Yin Shixiong could tell Gu Nianzhi.
The documents that Huo Shaoheng prepared for Gu Nianzhi also only contained information that she could know. Information that was highly confidential was not included. He would never break the rules to show her something he could not. However, just the information that she could know already consisted of much more compared to what she was able to get from the internet.
She looked through the information quickly, feeling touched and happy at the same time. She also felt a tinge of indescribable joy, just like she would have felt when she was eating cream puffs and feeling how soft they were while they melted in her mouth.
Hugging the set of documents, Gu Nianzhi whispered to Yin Shixiong, “Brother Xiong, please help me thank Huo Shao…”
“Why should you stand on ceremony with us?” Yin Shixiong could not help himself and reached out to ruffle Gu Nianzhi’s hair. “We all watched you grow up. No matter how you end up with Mr. Huo, Little Ze and myself will always be the Brother Xiong and Brother Ze that you can depend on.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded emotionally and acknowledged with a choked voice, “Brother Xiong, also, for my uncle and cousin from the Xie’s, help me ask Huo Shao about them again. Even though we have said that it is set, they have not returned to the Hua Xia Empire ’til now…”
“They are already back,” Yin Shixiong whispered. “However, we did not reveal that to anyone. You should know about it. This case has implicated too many people and things. For their safety, we placed many distractions around. Don’t you worry. We will get this settled for you. Just be prepared to go all out and fight in court!”
