It wasn’t clear if the one at the front was so agitated that he lost his grip, or if he was faking it to create trouble. He raised his voice. “Don’t you dare threaten me! I’ve been here many times and have never come across anyone who stirs things up like you! To go so far as to accuse me of indecency… When was I even indecent towards you?! Do you think that you’re drop-dead gorgeous?! Get off your high horse!” he said, holding onto the notepad that Gu Nianzhi had handed to him for registration. He slammed it down in front of Gu Nianzhi.
It was not clear if she did it on purpose, but in response, Gu Nianzhi leaned forward all of a sudden, acting as if she was speaking to the high-ranking secretaries right behind her.
The man slapped the notepad squarely across Gu Nianzhi’s face while her head was bent forward! It was equivalent to giving her a tight slap in the face!
Her skin that was as delicate as porcelain jade and would redden even if touched lightly. This was especially so when it came to her face. Her complexion was even fairer.
The moment Gu Nianzhi was hit in the face by the notepad, half of her face reddened and immediately became noticeably swollen.
Gu Nianzhi covered her face. She then raised her head and glared at the person who’d hit her in annoyance. “You’re really putting on airs! Still in office and you dare to assault a staff member of the Senate!? Fine! You want to create breaking news?! I’ll do as you wish!”
She turned to the high-ranking secretaries behind her and said, “You guys, you’re not going to just stand by and watch me get bullied by these outsiders, are you?”
While they did intend to stand by and watch as things unfolded, they weren’t going to go as far as to rejoice at her misfortune after she was struck in the face. The fact that they’d dared to hit her meant that they had no qualms about doing the same to them.
There were actually no ranking differences between secretaries. The so-called junior secretary and high-ranking senior secretary titles were based on age and experience, not on administrative ranking.
The looks on their faces changed as well. They were veterans of the Senate, so naturally, they knew how to kick up an even bigger mess. Moreover, in the past few days, it seemed like people had been staying at the Senate to obstruct them left and right.
Unfortunately, they had the prime minister’s residence’s special permits, meaning that, under normal circumstances, they could not be chased out by the Senate’s police or guards. But now that they’d this, they couldn’t blame them for being rude.
With someone’s quick press of a button, sirens started blaring in the Senate building. Upon learning about the disturbances, the security guards in the Senate building came running over.
With their police batons in hand, they exclaimed, “What’s the situation? What’s the situation?!”
“The three PR personnel from the prime minister’s residence are being unreasonable. They hit one of our staff members!” a high-ranking secretary said as he pointed at the three PR personnel standing across from them and flushing with shame. They then pointed at Gu Nianzhi and said, “This is the staff member who was hit. I’ve already called for an ambulance. We’re sending her to the hospital for a checkup.”
“You’re doing all this on purpose, aren’t you?! It was just a smack with the notepad, and you want to get it checked out?!” The expression of the person who’d “accidentally” smacked Gu Nianzhi with the notepad changed. “You guys are setting me up on purpose!”
“Sure! We made you come to the Senate, we made you behave indecently towards me and humiliate me, and we made you slap me!” Gu Nianzhi started crying instantly, her tears staining her beautiful face like raindrops rolling off pear blossoms. It was a moving sight. She gave off a sweet-tempered aura, her earlier display of valiance in her face-off with the trio from the PR Department of the Office of the Prime Minister completely gone.
Her soft and silky hair covered half of her face, revealing only the side that was red and swollen. Her injury looked even more shocking when compared to her untouched skin, which was as fair as white jade. This was all being recorded by the surveillance cameras.
It just so happened that Huo Shaoheng had brought along some assigned personnel with him for the impromptu monitoring of the elections. He saw everything clearly through the vehicular monitoring system that connected the in-vehicle infotainment center to the central control room.
…
The security guards in the Senate building surrounded the three troublemakers immediately.
“Please keep an eye on them, we’ve already called the police. The police and ambulance will be here shortly,” one of the high-ranking secretaries from the Senate’s Secretarial Office said as he reported the same to Speaker Long and Special Assistant Yang.
Special Assistant Yang was the first person to rush over.
He couldn’t help but laugh when he first received the news. However, the moment he walked out of his office, he had a solemn look on his face, quietly angry.
When Special Assistant Yang got to where Gu Nianzhi and the rest were, he asked in a serious tone, “What’s the matter? What happened?”
A high-ranking secretary pointed at Gu Nianzhi and said furiously, “Special Assistant Yang, the PR personnel committed an assault! We saw him do it with our own eyes!”
Gu Nianzhi was wiping her tears away with a piece of tissue. She moved to the side silently, looking pitiful.
The PR personnel begged for Special Assistant Yang’s forgiveness the moment they saw him. “Special Assistant Yang, it’s all a misunderstanding! It really is! We were forced by your staff member to sign on the notepad, and we accidentally bumped her face with the notepad as we were returning it to her… We really didn’t intend to hit her! You can ask your secretaries about it!”
The high-ranking secretaries looked at each other but none of them spoke.
Special Assistant Yang gave Gu Nianzhi a scan, and intending to smooth things over, said, “Seems like it really was all a misunderstanding. I know these people, they’re not like that. Think about it, they are personnel of the PR Department of the Office of the Prime Minister. They have a lot of working experience and are probably the most reasonable people out there. Why would they hit anyone in the Senate building? It’s inconceivable. I think that this is a misunderstanding. Nianzhi, you’re too careless as well. A little knocking and bumping around is inevitable, how can you call the security guards over from something like this? This is too, too much of a fuss over a minor issue.”
Seeing that there might be hope, their good impression of Special Assistant Yang increased. Besides, they had been familiar with him from the start. This was just them following instructions to stir things up. They had no intention of having a falling-out with Special Assistant Yang.
They all nodded their heads in agreement. “Special Assistant Yang, you’re the sensible one! That’s what I said! How is it possible for Speaker Long’s subordinates to be so unreasonable? She was obviously the one who provoked us, yet she says that we hit her! Preposterous!”
Eloquence was key for PR personnel, they had to be persuasive. Even if the fact of the matter was not what they’d said, it would be alright as long as they were convincing and sounded real.
Special Assistant Yang looked modest and docile. He smiled bitterly and said, “Please don’t say that. I believe that Miss Gu’s provocation was not intentional. She is a new intern and is not familiar with the rules and practices here. It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have assigned her to such a complicated task. Out of respect for Speaker Long, please don’t hold her responsible for this.”
Gu Nianzhi was flabbergasted by how Special Assistant Yang was handling the matter. First, someone slaps you on the left side of your face, and now you were letting them slap you on your right side!
Oh wait, that’s not right. This was not Special Assistant Yang letting them slap him on the right side of his face after they’d slapped the Senate’s on its left. It was him sacrificing someone else’s face for the right slap!
Gu Nianzhi was not going to take this lying down. She was definitely not going to sacrifice her face and be slapped again.
She knew for sure that the three officials from the PR Department had come to create trouble, why was it being spun hat she was the one who’d provoked them?!
In any case, she had her own goals regarding the prime minister’s residence. How would she achieve those goals without making a big deal out of things?
Gu Nianzhi’s expression turned somber. She raised her voice to say, “Special Assistant Yang, I don’t agree with this. You can’t just take their word for it and say that I was the one who provoked them. Am I a staff member of the Senate or are they? Are you siding with outsiders now?”
Special Assistant Yang scoffed, put his hands in his pockets, and said as he shook his head, “Nianzhi, you’re being childish. We’re all serving the community, why are you talking about factions now? Siding with the outsiders… tsk tsk, I haven’t heard anything that immature since graduating from high school.”
Unwilling to submit, Gu Nianzhi simply turned her head obstinately and said, “No, if we don’t make things clear today, I’ll quit! I’ll call the police! I was assaulted in the Senate building and I want my injuries examined!”
The trio’s expression changed. They said to Special Assistant Yang nervously, “This is the Senate, a place outside the law. Even if we did hit her, we have immunity. I mean, haven’t you seen fights in Senate buildings before?!”
Without waiting for Special Assistant Yang to smooth things over with more cliché phrases, Gu Nianzhi said, “Even if the Senate is a place outside the law, and there’s immunity, that applies only to senators. May I know which one of you is a senator? You? Me? None of us are senators! What right do you have to say that there’s immunity?! Let me tell you, no one hits me and gets to walk away with it!”
The three troublemakers from the PR Department of the Office of the Prime Minister grew anxious. They didn’t look too good.
Of course, they knew that “immunity” referred to the senators’ immunity from prosecution if physical conflicts occurred between senators. Their purpose for stirring up trouble had been to provoke a senator into hitting them…
In that case, they would have been able to use what Gu Nianzhi had just pointed out to sue the Senate and the senator. That would decrease the legitimacy of the Senate’s decision. It might even result in the senate’s proposal being overturned.
How embarrassing it was that Gu Nianzhi had “slapped” them in their faces first!
“What do you mean?! We already said that it was all a misunderstanding, what do you still want from us?” The leader of the three troublemakers tried to take the high road. “Everyone’s so busy, so we can understand how you feel. Forget it, we’ll take the blame. We’ll also pay for your medical bills. When the time comes, you can bring your medical invoice to the Prime Minister’s residence to settle accounts. Let’s go, guys!”
As soon as he waved his hand, they all prepared to run off.
“Stop right there!” Gu Nianzhi got anxious. “You’re now absconding from your crimes! You’ll receive an even heavier sentence!”
She turned back to the Senate’s security guard, “Hurry and chase after them! They hit me, are you just going to let them run off like that?!”
However, the security guards didn’t give chase, acting only on Special Assistant Yang’s instructions.
The high-ranking secretaries had witnessed with their own eyes how threatening and arrogant the trio had been. They’d also seen them hit Gu Nianzhi. When it happened, it actually hadn’t been entirely clear from their angle whether or not it was an accident or if it had been done on purpose.
However, there was no doubt that Gu Nianzhi had been struck.
They looked at Special Assistant Yang uneasily and whispered, “Special Assistant Yang, they really did hit her…”
Special Assistant Yang hadn’t expected that within a few hours of meeting her, those wily old birds would actually be sticking up for Gu Nianzhi. He was irked by this but didn’t let it show. He only sighed and said, “I know how you feel, but things have also been difficult at the Prime Minister’s residence these last few days. Don’t go overboard, it’s not good to leave a man with no way out…”
Gu Nianzhi stomped her foot in anger. “If you don’t chase after him, I’ll do it myself!” She yelled, “Catch them! They’re fugitives!” After yelling that, she gave chase.
Special Assistant Yang was dumbfounded.
Wasn’t this too much of an exaggeration?!
Was she actually doing this?!
He’d clearly said that he was not going to look into it!
The three of them sprinted even faster when they heard Gu Nianzhi’s voice. As they approached the exit, they heard a clomping sound coming towards them. It was the sound of footsteps.
Clomp clomp clomp clomp.
It sounded like there was a group of people, but also as if there was only one person after them.
The trio had just run outside when they shuffled to a stop suddenly. One was running too quickly and lost his balance, almost tumbling over because of the inertia!
All they saw at the exit was the Riot Squad. They were standing in a row, aiming guns and wearing bullet-proof helmets. They pointed the muzzles of their guns uniformly at the corridor exit, specifically at the three officials!
“Stop right there!” a soldier thundered. “Kneel with your hands behind your heads! Whoever stands will be shot!”
The trio from the PR Department of the Office of the Prime Minister immediately knelt with their hands behind their heads. They didn’t dare to make a single sound.
A man in black combat boots came strolling out from behind the soldiers. He was wearing sunglasses and a low brimmed military cap that rested right above his eyebrows. He was tall, imposing, and intimidating. He was also a head taller than those huge soldiers.
It was Huo Shaoheng.
Gu Nianzhi ran over, huffing and puffing, but she did not see Huo Shaoheng. All she saw was a row of soldiers lined up at the exit of the corridor aiming their guns at the three officials. She pointed at them immediately and said, “They’ve been causing trouble! And they’re trying to escape because they hit me! I’m calling the police! Please don’t let them go!”
Huo Shaoheng stood there, hands clasped behind his back. He gazed through his sunglasses at Gu Nianzhi, then saw an unusual swelling on her small face. He pursed his lips and asked calmly, “…Who hit you?”
It was only then that she saw Huo Shaoheng. In that instant, she found herself on the verge of tears from stress. All that crying before had been for show, but now it was heartfelt.
But she was in public, so she didn’t run to him. Likewise, Huo Shaoheng couldn’t just walk over to console her. Their eyes met for a moment, then they shifted their gaze away.
Huo Shaoheng walked a few steps forward, took off his sunglasses, and glanced at Gu Nianzhi. Her injury looked even more shocking now that he was looking at it with his sunglasses off.
Huo Shaoheng threw another glance at the trio of men kneeling with their hands behind their heads and asked, “Who hit her? I won’t ask again.”
Intimidated by his cold and authoritative voice, the troublemaking trio from the PR Department of the Office of the Prime Minister finally relented and revealed the culprit.
Two of them pointed at the culprit simultaneously, “It was him!”
Huo Shaoheng put his sunglasses back on, clasped his hands behind his back, looked straight ahead, and said calmly, “Attacking a female staff member in the Senate’s building, escaping, obstructing members of the Secret Service in carrying out their special assignment… That’s three offenses. Hand him over to the police and put him under close surveillance.”
“Yes, sir!” A soldier walked over, apprehended the culprit, then left, dragging the man along with him.
Huo Shaoheng saw Special Assistant Yang running over with other staff members of the Senate. He said calmly, “I was deployed by General Ji to maintain order during the general election. I really didn’t expect the Senate to be the first place that I would have to worry about.”
Special Assistant Yang had a strange expression on his face. “You guys… How are you allowed to maintain internal order? General Huo, haven’t you exceeded your authority?”
Huo Shaoheng stretched his arm out and pulled a document containing the order signed by both General Ji and Speaker Long. “Special Assistant Yang, do you need to verify their handwriting and fingerprints?”
