Xie Qingying had no idea that Assistant Yang had attended the past few hearings and had even spoken to Gu Nianzhi before.
She had thought that they did not know each other.
Out of courtesy, she looked at Gu Nianzhi and Huo Jialan, wanting their approval before introducing them to him.
Gu Nianzhi looked at Assistant Yang and remembered the fourth hearing when Xie Qingying and Xie Dezhao were her witnesses. Assistant Yang was not present. Therefore, he was able to pretend that he did not know her.
Gu Nianzhi did not wish to expose Assistant Yang on purpose, but every single time Assistant Yang was around, she felt like she was being picked on.
She did not understand how she had offended him, but she did not want unfair treatment.
Moreover, she did know him. There was nothing to hide. She did not like to be pretentious. Why did he have to pretend during moments like this?
Gu Nianzhi put down the ceramic spoon that she was holding and smiled at Xie Qingying, “Cousin, it’s okay. We’re not important people. Assistant Yang wouldn’t remember us even if you had introduced us, so why bother?”
Xie Qingying was startled. There was a hidden meaning behind Gu Nianzhi words…
She looked at Gu Nianzhi, then Assistant Yang. She smiled. “Do you know each other already?”
Assistant Yang was unhappy with Gu Nianzhi’s intention to embarrass him. His brows furrowed. “What’s this lady trying to imply? Your words are harsh. Did I offend you in any way?”
“Nope, you didn’t. What makes you say so?” Gu Nianzhi smiled at him. “Because we had just met last week in court, and even talked. You remembered my name then, but apparently you’ve forgotten it just a week later. So would you remember, really? You’re a busy man; it would be natural to forget. Cousin, did I say it correctly?”
Xie Qingying understood. “You mean, Assistant Yang was present at the past few hearings?”
“Yes. He asked where I had my trial court practices at.” Gu Nianzhi smiled and continued to expose him.
Assistant Yang acknowledged, “Oh, you meant that? My apologies, I had indeed forgotten. Given the nature of my job, I am meeting tens, if not hundreds of people on a daily basis, and I talk with all of them. You can’t expect me to remember every single detail, can you?”
Gu Nianzhi smiled lightly, picked up her coconut juice, and sipped it through a straw. “Given Assistant Yang’s limited capability, it’s normal to forget. It seems like Senior Speaker Long’s office is short of capable candidates…”
Gu Nianzhi was merely kidding, but Assistant Yang’s expression changed immediately and the atmosphere in their room became tense.
Xie Qingying quickly tried to harmonize the situation: “Didn’t Assistant Yang say that you would like me to meet your juniors? It just so happens that I have admired the top students in B University for a long time. Why don’t we head over now?”
Assistant Yang understood that Xie Qingying was trying to make him feel less embarrassed and disliked Gu Nianzhi even more.
Looking at Xie Qingying, Assistant Yang thought that that was what real manners and good upbringing should look like. This was the real daughter from a family that was well to do.
Gu Nianzhi? He chuckled.
Assistant Yang did not even look at Huo Jialan, he merely turned and guided Xie Qingying out of the room.
They entered the VIP room that Assistant Yang was hosting the juniors at. Xie Qingying saw two ladies and three guys. They all looked like students.
Assistant Yang braced himself and introduced each one to Xie Qingying. “These are all undergraduate students of B University from the law program. They are also my high school schoolmates.”
Amongst the five students, two of them would be graduating this year. The other three were still freshmen.
They looked at Xie Qingying with curiosity and nodded towards her.
Assistant Yang thought about it and intentionally introduced the lady who was about to graduate this year to Xie Qingying. “This is Rong Mingxing, she is the top student in this year’s graduating class. She started attending college at the age of sixteen so she would graduate this year at the age of twenty! What a genius!”
Xie Qingying looked at the pretty girl and nodded. “I’m so honored today to have met one of the top scholars of B University. Come, let’s toast with my tea.”
Xie Qingying took the ceramic pot from the table and poured herself a glass of tea before offering each of them a toast.
The ladies drank juice, but the guys had beer. They all had a toast with Xie Qingying.
Assistant Yang’s mood began to get better slowly. With both hands in his pocket, he introduced Xie Qingying to everyone. “This is the daughter of the Xie family. She’s just come back from France. She is a relative of Senior Speaker Long.”
The students were all taken aback and treated her with even more respect than before.
Xie Qingying seized the opportunity to get Assistant Yang out of her VIP room. By going to his VIP room for a cup of tea, she was already doing much more than she had intended to.
After chatting for awhile more and praising all the students again, she bid her goodbye and left.
After she had left, everyone began asking Assistant Yang about her.
“Senior Yang, how are you so close with Miss Xie?”
“Is this the Miss Xie from the Xie family that had gone to France?”
They could only read about people like her from historic books!
Assistant Yang felt important all over again and poured himself another drink. He nodded politely and said casually, “Yes, she is from that Xie family. She’s the relative of our Senior Speaker Long.”
“Oh? Senior Yang, why’s your face turning red? Are you blushing…? Do you… have feelings for her?!”
The guys began kidding around, and all of them went over to give toasts to Assistant Yang.
Assistant Yang had always held the juniors from his hometown in high regard and helped them whenever possible. However, he must be the leader amongst them.
The two ladies exchanged looks, then looked away. They did not join the guys in making fun of Assistant Yang.
This was especially so for the lady, Rong Mingxing, who was about to graduate this year. She turned pale and looked sad.
Assistant Yang noticed the change in Rong Mingxing and felt that his mood became much better.
For all the embarrassment he had gone through when he saw Gu Nianzhi just now, he managed to put it all behind him miraculously.
Smiling, he scooped a braised pork ball from the pot for Rong Mingxing. “Oh yes… I thought you liked these? Eat more. You have to eat enough.”
The guys in the room seemed shameless. Seeing what was going on, they began teasing Assistant Yang and Rong Mingxing immediately.
Assistant Yang lit a cigarette and held it with his fingers. He looked at Rong Mingxing’s side profile and could not read her thoughts among the smoke.
Rong Mingxing reminded him gently, “Senior, you should smoke less. You’ve already drank quite a bit today.”
Assistant Yang put out his cigarette and smiled. “Alright. I’ll listen to little Rong. I’ll smoke less.”
Then, he took some marinated fish for Rong Mingxing and whispered, “What do you intend to do after you’ve graduated? Our office is looking to hire this coming spring. Would you like to come and work?”
Rong Mingxing was elated. She had been playing coy with this senior with a high-ranking position for so long because she wanted to have her job upon graduation taken care of.
“Senior, do you mean it? Would my shifting be taken care of as well?”
Assistant Yang fell silent. “…”
…
Only after Xie Qingying had left with Assistant Yang, Huo Jialan whispered, “Nianzhi, Assistant Yang is from the cabinet? Is he the subordinate of Senior Speaker Long?”
Since he was called ‘Assistant,’ he should be of a higher rank and closer to some ministers.
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “Yes, he’s the personal assistant of Senior Speaker Long.”
Huo Jialan kept quiet and began sipping her double-boiled soft shell Chinese turtle soup.
After a while, Xie Qingying returned. She returned to her seat and did not mention what Assistant Yang had mentioned when he was around just now. She merely turned to Gu Nianzhi and Huo Jialan, “Where were we?”
She was referring to the topic that they were on before Assistant Yang had entered their VIP room.
Huo Jialan reminded her, “Qingying, we were talking about getting you on some blind dates! We haven’t even begun, and Assistant Yang came in.”
“Oh yes.” Xie Qingying was interrupted by Assistant Yang and forgot where she was. Then, seeing Assistant Yang, she vaguely remembered that her father would like to match him to her. So she asked, “What do you think of Assistant Yang?”
Huo Jialan raised an eyebrow and looked at Xie Qingying, like she already knew that the question was coming. “Assistant Yang? He looks decent. Handsome and he is quite young, isn’t he? Being able to be a personal assistant of Senior Speaker Long at such a young age, if he did not make any blunders, when Senior Speaker Long retires, then he would be able to be the next speaker, wouldn’t he?”
Gu Nianzhi did not have a good impression of Assistant Yang. However, she did not wish to interfere with how Xie Qingying wanted to choose her life partner. Therefore, she only corrected Huo Jialan, “In order to be a Speaker, the person would have to go through an election and be a minister in the cabinet first. The position of a Speaker is not a promotion within the board; it’s achieved through voting. Even if Senior Speaker Long retires, Assistant Yang wouldn’t be able to be a speaker unless he was elected. This is especially so because an assistant is only a job categorized under a civil servant.”
Huo Jialan was not exactly clear about all these, and she knew that she had said something wrong again. She was slightly awkward, but seeing that Gu Nianzhi was so good with her words, she wanted very much to be in Gu Nianzhi’s good books. Huo Jialan did not retort and swallowed her anger again.
“Oh, so it’s like that? Nianzhi, you know so much.” Huo Jialan praised Gu Nianzhi immensely.
Gu Nianzhi smiled. “This is common knowledge. It’s taught in high school, Miss Huo.”
“High school? Hahaha, it’s been so long; I don’t remember much anymore.” Huo Jialan used time as an excuse to maintain some form of dignity.
Gu Nianzhi did not continue to humiliate her, and she began sipping on the turtle soup as well.
The room became quiet, and it felt awkward.
Gu Nianzhi’s phone rang. It was Huo Shaoheng’s personalized ringtone.
If it was in the past, Gu Nianzhi would not have picked it up so instantaneously. However, she was not comfortable with the dinner. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. Therefore, she picked up the call almost immediately and smiled. “Hello.”
Huo Shaoheng was taken aback. “Nianzhi? Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me. Is there anything the matter?”
Gu Nianzhi was too embarrassed to call him ‘Huo Shao’ in front of Xie Qingying and Huo Jialan, so she just avoided it.
The moment Huo Shaoheng heard that, he knew that Gu Nianzhi should be in some kind of situation. “Is it convenient to talk?” he asked.
Gu Nianzhi stood up and turned to Xie Qingying and Huo Jialan. “I’m going out for a phone call.” She exited the room with her phone and continued her conversation under the big tree outside the restaurant.
“Huo Shao? Is anything the matter?”
Huo Shaoheng was in his car, heading in the direction of B University. “I thought you would be going to the headquarters tomorrow? I have some time tonight, so I would like to pick you up.”
Gu Nianzhi did not even hesitate: “Sure. I can leave now. Where are you at?”
“…I’m on the way. I’ll be reaching your school soon.” Huo Shaoheng looked out of his window. “I’m just a turn away.”
Gu Nianzhi quickly said, “I am at a restaurant. It’s the Huaiyang cuisine just beside my school.” She told him the name of the restaurant.
Huo Shaoheng turned around and realized that he was right at the restaurant Gu Nianzhi was talking about. He also saw Gu Nianzhi on the phone under the tree.
“Head over there.” Huo Shaoheng told Fan Jian. “I see you. Who are you having dinner with?” he asked Gu Nianzhi.
