“I don’t know about that. I’m not within their system, so that information is very difficult to glean.”
The Special Operations Forces was like a solid slab of iron. Needles couldn’t pierce through, and water couldn’t spill inside. Special Assistant Yang had previously offered the idea of installing senate personnel in the Special Operations Forces, but later on Huo Shaoheng made a sweeping cleanse. Not a single one of their personnel was spared. They were all sent to the military court. After that, they didn’t dare to install personnel in the Special Operations Forces again.
Cai Shengnan felt very uncomfortable listening to Special Assistant Yang’s words. She snickered and replied dryly, “Looks like people really shouldn’t be too thin-skinned. Those with thin-skin are always so timid in whatever they do. My cousin was born to be a match with Major General Huo, but she’s not as thick-skinned as certain people who are shameless enough to latch onto other people’s sides. Can’t they even look at their own fortune and check if it’s worthy of a family like the Huos?”
Special Assistant Yang was shocked for two seconds when he heard this unsuppressed jealousy. He quickly changed his tune and smiled like an elder. “You can’t say that. Gu Nianzhi is actually fairly wealthy. Her family estate is an astronomical amount. I attended two hearings in her inheritance dispute, and while my opinion was insignificant, Speaker Long kept gushing compliments and said I must win her over. He plans to recommend her to our special office of the senate secretariat…”
Cai Shengnan was silent for a while. However, her breathing could be heard clearly, so it was obvious she was feeling very emotional. Special Assistant Yang didn’t speak, either. He waited quietly for a while before hearing Cai Shengnan say, “Inheritance? That should actually be her older sister Gu Yanran’s fortune, right? Didn’t she take advantage of Major General Huo’s power and forcibly fight a lawsuit to divide the family fortune with their biological daughter? Also, she can’t protect her family fortune if she only has money but no power. She has no parents or family. If it were me, I would also clutch tightly to a big tree like Major General Huo. That’s common sense.”
“Oh, that’s not right. The Gu family fortune actually belongs to Gu Nianzhi, and Gu Yanran isn’t even Gu’s biological daughter in the first place. This was already made very clear.” Special Assistant Yang explained in detail to Cai Shengnan.
Because it had been a closed trial, the media didn’t report on it. Only the top-ranking military elite and relevant friends and family attended the entire trial. After the lawsuit was over, Gu Yanran had been imprisoned due to suspicions of “murdering for money.” Her subordinates all scattered when she fell and ran off without a trace a long time ago. Because of this, Cai Shengnan didn’t know many details about the lawsuit at all.
Actually, Cai Shengnan felt the same way as Special Assistant Yang. They believed that Gu Nianzhi only won the estate dispute by relying on He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng, not because of her own abilities.
Now that she heard Special Assistant Yang’s confirmation that Gu Nianzhi was actually the heiress of the massive Gu estate, Cai Shengnan raised a brow and said, “Actually, her inheritance doesn’t mean much, either. Inheritances set up abroad like that are all controlled by trust funds. At most, Gu Nianzhi can receive a monthly fixed share of the estate’s income from the trust fund. There is no way she is eligible or able to control the entire estate.”
“Oh, that I’m not sure about. Miss Cai has worked as a lawyer in the United States, so you must be more knowledgeable in that regard.” Special Assistant Yang appeared particularly modest, and this flattered Cai Shengnan greatly.
Cai Shengnan also took the opportunity to tell him about how foreign trust funds worked, and they finally ended the conversation happily. Setting down the phone, Cai Shengnan walked around the room several times. Although she didn’t approve of Gu Nianzhi shamelessly following Huo Shaoheng around, she was even more worried about Huo Shaoheng’s physical health. But because it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, she had no way of going to a Hua Xia doctor to ask about how to recuperate in this situation.
Afterwards, she recalled that the United States didn’t celebrate the Lunar New Year, so she quickly called an American doctor she was close with. The doctor heard that it had only been an electric shock, so he wasn’t too worried about it. He laughed and asked her not to worry. He said it was only skin trauma and would not damage any muscles or bones. Cai Shengnan patted her own face to discover she had been so nervous that her face had grown stiff.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, she spent the holiday at Prime Minister Tan’s office of the Prime Minister. Her aunt, Cai Songyin, took her daughter, Tan Guiren, around to greet the guests who had come to give New Year’s greetings. Of course, these were all cabinet officials and their families.
Aside from Prime Minister Tan, the highest ranked person to come was probably the Minister of Interior Affairs, Bai Jiancheng. He also brought his daughter, Bai Yueran, with him. Tan Guiren was currently the chief violinist of the Army Cultural Regiment and was also considered enlisted. She belonged in the same system as Bai Yueran. Naturally, she was the one to greet Bai Yueran.
“Director Bai, please try this. It’s authentic cantaloupe from the northwest and was just air delivered yesterday.” Tan Guiren enthusiastically placed a crystal platter in front of Bai Yueran. It was laden with eight slices of cantaloupe.
Bai Yueran picked up a toothpick to spear a piece of cantaloupe and placed it in her mouth. The sweet, fragrant juice instantly awoke all her taste buds. “Yes, it’s pretty good to have fresh cantaloupe on the first day of the Lunar New Year. And it’s even better that it’s from the northwest, too.” Bai Yueran squinted as she ate happily.
Tan Guiren sat beside her, and they had cantaloupe together. They spoke quietly and the atmosphere was very harmonious. Cai Shengnan walked over and sat next to Tan Guiren. She sat across from Bai Yueran and also reached out to eat a slice of cantaloupe while asking Bai Yueran, “Director Bai, I just heard from someone that Major General Huo went to General Ji’s home to give New Year’s greetings. But for some reason, his personal secretaries didn’t go with him.”
Bai Yueran laughed. “That’s our system’s internal affair.” She then asked, “Why is Miss Cai asking about this?”
Cai Shengnan laughed heartily and answered with grace, “I’m worried about Major General Huo. I heard that his right arm was injured. His day-to-day living must be very inconvenient.”
Bai Yueran was also very shocked. “Major General Huo injured his right arm? When was this? Why didn’t I know about it?”
Huo Shaoheng had injured himself when completing the system’s annual inspection the last day of the Lunar New Year, so of course Bai Yueran wasn’t aware. Cai Shengnan had learned about this when she was on the phone with Special Assistant Yang just now. However, she would not reveal her source of information and merely answered vaguely, “I heard about it from a friend. My friend happens to be at General Ji’s home giving New Year’s greetings.” The fact that her friend was able to go to General Ji’s home to give New Year’s greetings meant he was not a regular person.
Bai Yueran glanced at her but kept silent. However, Tan Guiren couldn’t sit still when she heard this. Ever since she was asked by Huo Shaoheng’s mother, Song Jinning, to become a couple with Huo Shaoheng’s father, Huo Guanchen, she had been humiliated and angry for a very long time. She already made up her mind to not contact Huo Shaoheng again.
Song Jinning was Huo Shaoheng’s mother, and if she disliked Tan Guiren so obviously, Tan Guiren didn’t want Huo Shaoheng to be stuck in between her and his mother. Because of this, she took the initiative to distance herself from Huo Shaoheng. In the past two weeks, she automatically blocked out all news about Huo Shaoheng despite working in the Military Cultural Regiment.
The Military Cultural Regiment was the gossip hub, so she could glean all sorts of news every day. This was especially the case for someone like Huo Shaoheng. He was a young yet high-ranked, incredibly handsome, bachelor senior general. He was the daily conversational topic for everyone. Although Tan Guiren had endured it painfully in such an environment, she kept enduring nevertheless.
It wasn’t until the moment she heard about Huo Shaoheng’s injury that she felt the emotions she had painfully suppressed for two weeks burst through like a dam in the springtime, pouring out fiercely. Tan Guiren endured continuously until she finally couldn’t help asking, “Cousin, why isn’t Major General Huo recuperating if he’s injured? If his personal secretaries aren’t with him, who is taking care of him?”
Cai Shengnan was precisely waiting for her to ask this. She snickered quietly. “Who else could it be? It’s the almighty Gu Nianzhi, of course! She’s now following Major General Huo around as his little nurse. Cousin, it’s not like I want to gossip about you. But you only lost to Gu Nianzhi when it comes to the face.”
“Miss Cai, please be careful with your words.” Bai Yueran frowned when she heard Cai Shengnan speaking about Gu Nianzhi that way. She felt very displeased. In her heart, she considered Gu Nianzhi as under the scope of the Special Operations Forces. She was a young girl who grew up in their Special Operations Forces, so Bai Yueran couldn’t stand other people talking about her like that. Moreover, Bai Yueran did happen to know quite a bit about Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng’s relationship. It wasn’t like what Cai Shengnan said at all.
Cai Shengnan needed to elicit the feeling of a common enemy in Tan Guiren’s heart, so she replied scathingly, “Could I be wrong? That Gu Nianzhi clearly broke up with Major General Huo already, yet she’s following him around shamelessly as a little nurse. Major General Huo’s injury isn’t actually too serious, and Gu Nianzhi doesn’t even have the qualifications of a nurse. As for why Gu Nianzhi is doing this, isn’t it an obvious trick that everyone knows about?”
Cai Shengnan placed a glass of milk tea before Tan Guiren and concluded, “All in all, this woman is too utilitarian. Since she’s so cunning, and cousin is so naive, you’re not even her opponent.”
“Silence!” Bai Yueran couldn’t stand listening anymore. She quickly stood up and placed both hands in her trouser pockets as she spoke grimly, “Miss Cai is truly an internationally renowned lawyer. Your ability to set fire in three nests and four bridges is to be reckoned with.”
