Gu Nianzhi sat between Yin Shixiong and Ma Qiqi, listening to them sing. When Zhao Liangze came in, Gu Nianzhi turned around to glance at him.
When Zhao Liangze turned on the TV, Gu Nianzhi also listened to the news. It was exactly what she was interested in.
She couldn’t help but turn around to go over and sit down by Zhao Liangze on the couch. Propping her chin up with both hands, she said with a frown, “…The fire was so powerful at the time, wasn’t everything burned up? How did they test for DNA?”
Zhao Liangze knocked on her head and said with exasperation, “It was only a fire caused by a tanker. Do you think this was a high-temperature furnace at a crematorium?! The human body isn’t burned to ash that easily. Only the external skin was burned.”
Gu Nianzhi frowned and felt a bit disgusted. She quickly waved her hands. “Fine, fine. Brother Ze can stop explaining. You’re so well educated, okay?”
“As if I’m as well educated as you? The genius girl has graduated. Where are you going to make a fortune at?” Zhao Liangze was not in a very good mood, so he lazily leaned back on the sofa and stretched out his long legs. Picking up a pistachio from the table in front of him, he deshelled it and threw it in his mouth. He only chewed it quickly before spitting it into the garbage can. “What is that? It’s completely bitter!”
Gu Nianzhi looked at Zhao Liangze with confusion. “Brother Ze, are you not in a good mood?”
“How could he not be in a good mood?” Huo Shaoheng’s deep and magnetic voice traveled from the dining table. “He’s already won the beauty’s heart, how could he be in a bad mood? Punk, you want to go to heaven too?”
“Oh? He’s won the beauty’s heart?! There is a situation, there is a situation!” Gu Nianzhi’s eyes instantly glittered, her inky eyes appeared like sparkling stars. “Which beauty’s heart did you win, Brother Ze? Hurry up and tell us!”
Zhao Liangze stared flabbergasted at Huo Shaoheng. “Huo Shao! What are you talking about?!”
“Still trying to deny it?” Huo Shaoheng slowly turned around to glance at him. However, he kept the corner of his eye on Gu Nianzhi’s eyes… black as jade and shiny as lacquer.
“Parking lot.” Huo Shaoheng only said those two words.
Zhao Liangze immediately pursed his lips and chuckled nervously. “Huo Shao really does know everything. I can’t hide anything from you.”
Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo Shaoheng, then at Zhao Liangze. Her glittering eyes kept blinking. “Huo Shao, what adult-rated scene did you see in the parking lot?”
“Right, a young person like you shouldn’t be asking all these kinds of questions.” Zhao Liangze bent his finger and flicked it at Gu Nianzhi’s head. “All you care about is gossip!”
“So what if it’s gossip?” Gu Nianzhi laughed as she avoided him. “A life without silly gossip would be as lonely as snow! Brother Ze, hurry up and tell us. Which beauty was it?!”
Zhao Liangze finally composed himself and stared blankly at Gu Nianzhi. He lowered his voice and said, “…Even you know about it?”
“Know about what?”
“…Which beauty? What do you mean by that?” Zhao Liangze’s feeling of unease grew even stronger.
It wasn’t a surprise that other people knew he liked Bai Yueran since he’d never concealed it before.
But he’d thought that he was the only person who’d noticed Bai Shuang liking him…
So it turned out that everyone could tell?
Then… wouldn’t this be very humiliating for Bai Shuang?
Zhao Liangze had a bit of a headache. Looking at the red wine on the coffee table, he grabbed a wine glass to pour himself some.
Gu Nianzhi was completely confused. She couldn’t guess which person was with Zhao Liangze.
But looking at his unhappy expression, could it Bai Shuang?
He wasn’t able to be with the person he liked, so he’d no choice but to be with the person who liked him.
Gu Nianzhi inched over to his ear to whisper quietly, “…Brother Ze, Bai Shuang is pretty good too. Don’t be upset…”
He shouldn’t make it so obvious either. How would Bai Shaung feel?
Zhao Liangze took a sip of red wine and gave her a sidelong glance. “What are you guessing? Don’t speak nonsense.”
“Could it not be Bai Shuang?” Gu Nianzhi was shocked. “Then how could you not be happy if it’s Director Bai? That doesn’t make any sense!”
Huo Shaoheng finished eating and smiled faintly when he heard Gu Nianzhi speaking nonsense to Zhao Liangze.
He came over carrying a cup of tea and sat down next to Zhao Liangze. He replied dryly, “Yeah, didn’t your wish come true already? Punk, you’ve won Director Bai’s heart and you’re still not satisfied? Who are you making this poker face for?”
When Huo Shaoheng, the man who historically never revealed his emotions, actually said that Zhao Liangze was putting on a “poker face,” Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but grumble to herself. But Huo Shaoheng still had his authority, so she didn’t dare rebel against him. She quietly stood up and went over to sit by He Zhichu.
He Zhichu had been quiet the entire time. Holding his phone in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other, he looked down as he sat on the long couch across from Gu Nianzhi. He kept scrolling on his phone. She had no idea what he was looking at. He appeared extremely bored.
“Professor He, are you feeling tired?” Gu Nianzhi thoughtfully brought over a bottle of spring water to He Zhichu. “Please stop drinking wine. How will you drive later?”
He Zhichu looked up, his shimmery, sultry eyes seeming to sparkle like water under the private room’s chandelier lights.
He squinted as he took the bottle of spring water from Gu Nianzhi and opened it to take a sip. He remarked coolly, “I’m not driving, you’ll drive.”
“Me? My driving skills aren’t that good…” Gu Nianzhi laughed as she deshelled a few pistachios and placed them on the pure white and gold-rimmed bone china plate in front of He Zhichu.
“You driving skills aren’t that good? I think that your driving skills are very good..” He Zhichu passed his phone to Gu Nianzhi. His voice was very quiet like it was emitting from the bottom of his heart and dispelling before it even reached his throat. “Look at how this car was driven. Roller coasters are on about the same level.”
His voice was tinged with some anger, but it was suppressed. However, Gu Nianzhi was so sensitive that she noticed it right away.
“Professor He, what are you talking about?” Gu Nianzhi looked at him quizzically. “I really don’t know how to drive and only got my driver’s license last year. There are only a scant few times that I’ve driven…”
He Zhichu could feel a vein about to burst in his forehead. His fingers glided over the phone and immediately pressed the button to play a video.
In the dreary winter morning, a bright red sports car stood out on the highway…
Gu Nianzhi instantly widened her eyes and looked at He Zhichu’s phone in disbelief.
Wasn’t… Wasn’t this the surveillance video of her driving on the highway that morning?!
Where had He Zhichu gotten this from!?
Gu Nianzhi stared at He Zhichu with shock, unable to speak.
Gu Nianzhi wouldn’t have been surprised at all if Huo Shaoheng had been the one to produce this surveillance footage.
But He Zhichu… Where did he get it from?!
Although Huo Shaoheng was still speaking with Zhao Liangze, most of his attention was focussed on Gu Nianzhi.
When he looked up at that moment, he instantly saw her flabbergasted expression.
His brows furrowed slightly. “Nianzhi, what is it?”
Gu Nianzhi was more panicked than ever, so she didn’t dare to look at Huo Shaoheng. She was terrified he would be able to read the change in her expression.
But she couldn’t refuse to answer him either. If she didn’t speak, then Huo Shaoheng would immediately notice that something was wrong.
But Gu Nianzhi instinctively didn’t want Huo Shaoheng to know about the video on He Zhichu’s phone. She already knew this wasn’t something that could be easily explained.
He Zhichu also watched Gu Nianzhi pointedly. His lips curled slightly into a half-smile, but there was no trace of amusement in his eyes.
Anger, fear… fear and a bit of reckless self-abandonment.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t understand this. She instinctively covered He Zhichu’s phone.
Huo Shaoheng had already come over by then. He sat next to Gu Nianzhi and reached out to move aside Gu Nianzhi’s wrist. Gu Nianzhi lost her grip and He Zhichu instinctively grabbed her hand.
As soon as his palm splayed open, his phone quickly hurtled down and was caught by Huo Shaoheng.
All the color drained from Gu Nianzhi’s face at that moment. Her plump, curvy lips were trembling and even her palms were sweating.
He Zhichu could feel the sweat on her palms, as well her trembling arms. He finally felt a bit better, so he couldn’t help but squeeze her hand to indicate that she didn’t need to be scared.
But how could Gu Nianzhi not be scared?
Her mind quickly spun as she contemplated how she would help He Zhichu smooth this over. She wanted to claim she had done it and then transfer the video to He Zhichu’s phone.
From the angle of a surveillance camera in the video He Zhichu had just shown her, it had obviously been taken on the highway.
All the surveillance cameras on the Imperial Capital’s highways belonged to the government.
If He Zhichu’s phone contained these videos, didn’t that mean he had hacked the Imperial Capital traffic police’s surveillance systems?!
Gu Nianzhi’s mind was in a panic. She didn’t even have time to think about when He Zhichu had suddenly developed such high-level computer skills…
Quickly casting a look at Huo Shaoheng, she discovered that he appeared completely unmoved.
He casually leaned on the sofa, his fingers sliding over He Zhichu’s phone as he replied calmly, “…Nianzhi, were you looking at these things just now?” As he spoke, he passed He Zhichu’s phone to Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi was stunned as soon as she looked at it.
The webpage that Huo Shaoheng was looking at was actually a website for luxury car sales.
The pages of luxury cars flashed before her, each vehicle equal or superior to the red custom Ferrari Huo Shaoheng had gifted to her…
He Zhichu had changed the content on his phone without detection.
Huo Shaoheng hadn’t seen the highway video that Gu Nianzhi had been watching.
Gu Nianzhi closed her eyes, clutching both hands to her chest. She almost couldn’t catch her breath.
“…Is there water? I need to have some water, ice water.” She was so anxious she was about to explode.
He Zhichu passed an unopened bottle of spring water to her and snickered. “If that’s all the guts you have, then I guess it’s fine. You don’t need to drive me.”
Huo Shaoheng threw the phone back to He Zhichu. “Professor He wants to give Nianzhi a graduation gift?”
He Zhichu caught the phone and nodded with a half-smile. “Right. I asked her to choose one, but she refuses. Actually, am I such an outsider to her? She’s already graduated and I’m no longer her professor. She’s also no longer my student.”
That statement was too provocative.
Even the distracted Zhao Liangze sensed it too.
He glanced at He Zhichu, then looked at Huo Shaoheng. Finally, he looked at Gu Nianzhi. She was sitting between the two men and looking like an ant on a hot frying pan. Zhao Liangze suddenly broke into a smile.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest, then said languidly, “Right, I love seeing silly gossip! A life without silly gossip would be as lonely as snow!”
Unexpectedly, he returned Gu Nianzhi’s teasing words directly back to her.
