Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi watched the burning tanker.
Professional firemen began extinguishing the fire on the tanker as the tanker driver was taken to the side of the road for questioning.
He was completed numb with fear and wasn’t as aggressive as he’d been when arguing with the older woman that morning. He fiercely wiped his tears and said, “Sir, I don’t know what happened! I was driving normally when there was suddenly an issue. I only took one glance and it seemed like I’d lost a tire… The road was slippery, so there was nothing I could do!”
Several traffic police officers stood on the side to record the cause of the accident.
The two cars that had burned down to their frames became the key targets of the investigation.
Gu Nianzhi glanced at her watch. “It’s already 7:30 in the morning and I have my thesis defense at 8…”
Huo Shaoheng turned on his Bluetooth headset and said a few things to his personnel before telling Gu Nianzhi, “Let’s go, I’ll get you out of here.”
He walked back to his car and began driving ahead of her.
Gu Nianzhi went to her car and followed Huo Shaoheng down the highway.
Huo Shaoheng had special identification so he faced no obstructions the entire way. They exited the highway soon after and arrived at the entrance of B University.
He took several calls on the way, all related to the results of the investigation on the Ishihara Corporation.
Afterward, he received a call from Yin Shixiong telling him that he had already arrived at Gu Niannzi’s dorm at B University. He asked when Huo Shao would be arriving…
Huo Shaoheng didn’t want to see Yin Shixiong’s face.
That fellow had been working alongside him for so many years, yet he’d lost all his tact as soon as he got a girlfriend.
Huo Shaoheng parked in front of the entrance to B University but didn’t go in. He called to Gu Nianzhi, “Good luck on the defense. Call me once you’re done.”
Gu Niaznhi stopped her car and asked, “…Does Huo Shao still have business to attend to?”
Huo Shaoheng nodded, “We have the results from the earlier investigation, I need to go back to take a look at them.”
Gu Nianzhi agreed, then anxiously drove inside alone.
…
He Zhichu had been waiting for nearly half an hour inside the small conference room where the defense was to occur.
The desk was laden with the lava cake set that Gu Nianzhi had ordered, but she hadn’t arrived yet.
The thesis defense would begin in half an hour, so He Zhichu had to call Gu Nianzhi’s number.
Gu Nianzhi had just driven to her dorm building.
She picked up He Zhichu’s call and laughed. “Please don’t worry, I’ll be there right away. I just got back to my dorm and I need to pick up some things.”
He Zhichi was finally reassured, then casually turned on the wall-mounted TV in the small conference room for some background noise.
It was time for the morning news segment, yet all the TV channels were broadcasting the same breaking news.
“…Around 7 this morning, a traffic accident occurred on the two-way highway on the Fourth Ring Road. A tanker collided with two cars coming from the east and west directions on the two-way highway, causing a fire. Although the passengers inside both cars perished on the scene, no other casualties occurred. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.”
He Zhichu sat behind the long conference table in the conference room and casually glanced at the TV.
The blazing flames on the tanker burned until black smoke covered half the sky.
It was on such a scene that a bright red Ferrari appeared especially out of place.
He Zhichu was just about to look away when he suddenly saw this very familiar looking sports car. The corners of his eyes couldn’t help but begin to twitch.
Wasn’t that Gu Nianzhi’s car?
As the TV station’s camera changed scenes, he could see a tall, slim figure standing in front of the bright red Ferrari. It looked like Gu Nianzhi…
…
Gu Nianzhi returned to her dorm and saw Yin Shixiong point the phone at her as soon as she opened the door. He exclaimed loudly, “Little Ze! Do you see this? Nianzhi just opened the door to come in!”
Ma Qiqi also rushed over and grabbed Gu Nianzhi’s hand to say, “Nianzhi, are you okay? Big Xiong scared me to death with what he was telling me earlier. I kept saying he was exaggerating too much!”
“I’m fine, Brother Xiong loves to exaggerate.” Gu Nianzhi blocked them with her hands and laughed. “Brother Xiong, what are you doing?”
“I’m doing a live stream!” Yin Shixiong looked up at her with a smile, then said to the phone, “Little Ze, do you want to say something to Nianzhi?”
Gu Nianzhi walked over to take a closer look.
“Brother Ze?” Gu Nianzhi cheerfully waved her hand at the phone. “Long time no see!”
Zhao Liangze carefully studied Gu Nianzhi to see that she was wearing a sapphire blue, short style down coat. It didn’t appear bulky like a down coat. It looked very cool.
“Nianzhi, are you okay?” Zhao Liangze greeted her. “We saw the accident this morning and felt so scared that our hearts were going to leap out of our chests!”
Gu Nianzhi shook her head with a smile. “I’m fine, sorry to make you guys worry.”
Yin Shixiong ran to the door to poke his head out. “Hmm? Nianzhi, where is Huo Shao?”
Gu Nianzhi shook her head. “He left already. What misconceptions do you have about Huo Shao the workaholic?”
“Oh? He went back?” Yin Shixiong scratched his head and awkwardly helped Huo Shaoheng salvage his dignity. “It’s almost the end of the year, so it’s certainly very busy.”
Ma Qiqi grabbed Yin Shixiong to stop him from saying anything more.
Gu Nianzhi smiled and went into her room to take off her jeans, then changed into a light grey wool suit. She came out and said, “I’m going out for my thesis defense, it’s going to start in about ten minutes. What about you guys?”
Yin Shixiong quickly answered, “Go to your thesis defense, I won’t be able to understand your thesis anyway so I’ll wait for you here.” As he spoke, he even winked at her.
Gu Nianzhi knew he wanted to spend a bit more time with Ma Qiqi, so she nodded with a smile. She draped a hand over Ma Qiqi’s shoulder and said, “Qiqi, you have to help me treat Brother Xiong well. I’ll be going now!”
Ma Qiqi quickly said, “Nianzhi, I want to go with you! I want to listen to your thesis defense!”
“That’s okay, I’ll get very nervous if you go.” Gu Nianzhi pushed her back inside with a smile, then grabbed her laptop and left the dorm alone. She rushed towards the small conference room where the thesis defense was to be held.
On the way there, she received a call from He Zhichu.
Gu Nianzhi answered with a smile, “Professor He, I’m on campus and on my way over. I’ll be there in a minute.”
He Zhichu’s voice contained suppressed anger. “Nianzhi, you got into a car accident this morning?”
Gu Nianzhi was surprised to hear this.
“No, why do you ask?” Gu Nianzhi decided to play dumb in front of He Zhichu since he might not know what Huo Shaoheng knew.
“I saw it on TV.” He Zhichu gritted the words out. “Are you okay? Were you scared?”
The corners of Gu Nianzhi’s lips turned up with amusement. “Professor He, I’m fine! I was peacefully driving over here when the tanker driver probably became fatigued. One of his tires flew off and it hit my car.”
He Zhichu frowned with worry. “Are you really alright? We can postpone the thesis defense if you don’t feel well.”
“I’m okay, my driving skills are superb and could compare to F4 formula drivers! I’m not just good, but the best!” Gu Nianzhi exclaimed with excitement. She was not exhibiting any symptoms of PTSD, nor could he detect any psychological trauma.
He Zhichu realized that she was okay, so he was assured and didn’t want to listen to her brag about herself. He hung up the phone.
Gu Nianzhi sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She had managed to fool He Zhichu.
But how was she supposed to know that the TV news broadcast would then report that the two cars that collided with the tanker belonged to the Japanese Ishihara Corporation!?
He Zhichu was no stranger to the Ishihara Corporation. Their faculty’s brand new transfer student from Japan, Ishihara Taro, was the heir to this corporation.
He thought about it and turned off the TV for now so it wouldn’t affect Gu Nianzhi’s thesis defense.
The professors presiding over the thesis defense began to walk inside and were all chatting about the car accident on the highway that morning.
One professor said, “I just came from the faculty office and we received a call from the police. They were asking if Ishihara Taro was our faculty’s student. It turns out he was one of the casualties in that car accident.”
“Ishihara Taro?” He Zhichu immediately recalled the TV reporting that the two cars belonged to the Ishihara Corporation, so it wasn’t too surprising.
“Right. What a shame. That was the Ishihara’s only son in three generations. The family line ends with him!”
“Let the family line end!” One female professor snickered, “Serves them right! The Ishihara family isn’t an esteemed clan. They shouldn’t think that we would forget their war crimes from all those years ago just because they’ve invested a bit in our nation…”
“Let’s not talk about that.” The male professor expressing pity had once studied abroad in Japan, so he didn’t want to listen to that kind of talk and began to smooth things over.
He Zhichu ignored the two people bickering and merely said, “Classmate Gu is about to arrive. These are the lava cake sets she’s prepared for everyone, please enjoy.”
Just as he was speaking, Gu Nianzhi opened the door to come in. She bowed to all the professors, “Hello everyone, I am Gu Nianzhi.”
…
As Gu Naiznhi was anxiously going through her thesis defense, Hu Shaoheng was having a meeting.
Huo Shaoheng predicted that the Ishihara Corporation would fall into chaos as soon as news of Ishihara Taro and Ishihara Wakashi’s deaths reached Japan.
He was listening to reports from the field personnel.
“Huo Shao, we discovered that the Ishihara Corporation has connections to the charity Angels in the World.”
