Novel Full Cai Shengnan instantly burst into tears. The tears weren’t caused by the pain itself. Rather, they were caused by the fact that Gu Nianzhi had struck her across the nose, which caused it to tingle and, in turn, involuntarily caused tears to flow.
Gu Nianzhi was caught off guard and stared at her own hands in astonishment. “Did it really hurt that bad? Lawyer Cai, you almost ripped my ears off, and I didn’t even cry. Yet you’re here crying because of a simple slap…”
Cai Shengnan also felt ashamed over crying in front of Gu Nianzhi and wiped the tears with the back of her hand. “This is a biological response to a stressor, aren’t you aware?” she said, defending herself. “Besides, don’t you dare use self-defense to blur the lines and downplay the fact that you hit someone. If you can threaten to sue Mr. Cai for an unintentional transgression of his, I can also sue you for this slap!”
“Sue me. I’ll keep you company.” Gu Nianzhi rubbed her ears, carefully situating the mask that Cai Shengnan had yanked off.
Cai Shengnan recalled Gu Nianzhi’s swollen and inflamed face from before and began to feel uneasy.
Why did her auntie want her to confirm whether or not Gu Nianzhi had indeed been injured?
She really had been injured…
She had already seen the wound on television two days ago. Seeing it up-close and in-person today, it looked even more severe.
Her delicate skin was severely damaged, and it appeared inflamed and swollen.
Cai Shengnan’s eyes flickered, and she said viciously, “Fine, just you wait for my demand letter.”
“Right back at you,” Gu Nianzhi shot back. “Don’t forget, I’m a lawyer as well.”
Cai Shengnan stuck out her fingers to point at Gu Nianzhi, then stormed away.
Only then did the other employees of the secretariat surround her and inquire sympathetically, “Little Gu, are you all right? Do you need some rest? The wound on your face seems like it’s gotten worse.”
“Such a fine-looking girl, it would be pitiful for that facial injury to tarnish her beauty.”
Gu Nianzhi had no intention of continuing her work. She packed her belongings, requested a leave of absence from the new person in charge, and then left her work area.
First, she went to the Special Operations Forces’ temporary command center to meet with Huo Shaoheng.
Only after she arrived did she realize that Huo Shaoheng wasn’t there. Only Yin Shixiong was currently there to oversee the members of the Special Operations Forces’ final preparations before the big election.
“Nianzhi, that Cai Shengnan didn’t do you any harm, did she?” Yin Shixiong asked, concerned. He pointed to the dozens of surveillance monitors in front of him, saying, “I saw what happened when she yanked off your mask.”
Although Yin Shixiong had also witnessed Gu Nianzhi slap Cai Shengnan in return, he didn’t think that there was anything wrong with that response.
From his point of view, the person to instigate was always the guilty party, and they deserved whatever act of vengeance would follow.
Gu Nianzhi touched her ears, still feeling some lingering pain, and muttered, “That woman was acting like a maniac, suddenly ripping my mask off. She almost yanked my ears off with it. Big Xiong look, does my ear look alright to you?”
Gu Nianzhi tilted her head so that Yin Shixiong could inspect her ear.
When Yin Shixiong looked closer, he realized that her ear was indeed scraped, and there was some dried-up blood on the tip of it.
“Screw her! And she says she’s a prestigious lawyer from the US! Someone with her morals?” Yin Shixiong huffed and puffed as he brought out the first aid kit, took the cotton swab and ointment out, and rubbed it on her ear.
“It’s not unusual.” Gu Nianzhi gasped and hissed, the ointment stinging her ear. “Don’t think American lawyers are all high and mighty. To Americans, other than members of Congress, lawyers are about the most despicable beings there are. In this industry, if you don’t have any limits, it is easy to lose all morality. As long as they can escape legal repercussions, there are no limits on what they can do.”
Yin Shixiong chuckled as he packed the first aid kit back up. “Nianzhi, you will never become one of those people. I’ll have to pretend I don’t know you if you do.”
“Of course I won’t. There are good lawyers, and I’m one of the good guys,” she said as she giggled. The ointment had alleviated the pain. She looked around again, then asked, “Where’s Huo Shao?”
She refrained from brazenly calling Huo Shaoheng because this was a busy time, and she didn’t want to bother him. She also didn’t want to stir up any trouble for herself, for that matter.
If he was on another assignment, that was all the more another reason not to bother him.
Yin Shixiong hadn’t heard Gu Nianzhi asking after Huo Shaoheng’s whereabouts for a long time, and he promptly smiled. “Huo Shaoheng returned to the station to work. I’m the one in charge here. I just remembered; I have something that needs to be delivered to the station. Can you help me deliver it to him?”
If Yin Shixiong had really needed to have something returned, he would not have needed Gu Nianzhi to do it.
The actual reason he asked was to give her a valid excuse to visit Huo Shaoheng without her having to forgo her pride.
Gu Nianzhi smiled bashfully, took the piece of paper that Yin Shixiong handed her, and tactfully said, “I coincidentally have the spare time.”
Yin Shixiong watched her leave the Parliament building, feeling amused, and immediately called Huo Shaoheng.
“Huo Shao?” he said.
“What?” Huo Shaoheng typed away furiously at his computer.
Yin Shixiong hurriedly reported, “Huo Shao, Cai Shengnan just came to the Parliament building to see Nianzhi. The two got into some sort of conflict, and now Nianzhi is heading over to the station to see you.”
Huo Shaoheng was in the Special Operations Forces central control room back at headquarters conducting research on the issues with Hong Kangquan’s microchip tracker.
They had already initiated full surveillance on Hong Kangquan.
So far, Hong Kangquan hadn’t done anything suspicious.
As a result, Huo Shaoheng began to wonder whether or not Tan Guiren’s words could be trusted.
Was Hong Kangquan really the mastermind behind Cai Songyin’s scheme?
When he heard that there was a heated encounter between Cai Shengnan and Gu Nianzhi, Huo Shaoheng’s typing paused. Wearing his Bluetooth headset, he stood up from his computer, asking, “There was a fight? What was it about?”
“Cai Shengnan ripped Nianzhi’s mask off and scraped her ear in the process. Nianzhi slapped her across the face.” While relating Gu Nianzhi’s response, Yin Shixiong snickered maliciously.
Huo Shaoheng frowned. “Why did she rip Nianzhi’s mask off?”
“Who knows, perhaps out of dislike? That mask was extraordinarily hideous! Why would you give her such a mask?” Yin Shixiong smacked the desk. “Panda colors only look cute on pandas, they look absolutely bizarre on people!”
Huo Shaoheng ignored him. That mask was custom made for her. Yin Shixiong didn’t need to know all the specifics.
“Is there anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.” Huo Shaoheng hung up and resumed working for half an hour. He finished part of what he had been working on. Only then did he dig a piece of a cigarette out of his pocket, walk out of the central control room, and return to his official residence.
He didn’t go in and quietly smoked his cigarette under a tree by the front door instead.
Spring in the imperial capital boasted clear skies, tender green leaves, and gentle breezes.
He didn’t have to wait long for Gu Nianzhi’s red sports car to pull up.
He squinted and readily tossed the cigarette in the garbage can on the corner.
Gu Nianzhi parked her car in the parking lot in front of his residence. When she stepped out of the car, she found Huo Shaoheng standing in front of his place, silently eyeing her.
“Huo Shao.” Gu Nianzhi walked towards him with the paper bag that Yin Shixiong gave her. “Big Xiong told me to bring this to you.”
Huo Shaoheng accepted the paper bag, then redirected his gaze towards the ointment on her ear. He inched closer to straighten out a few strands of hair, and carefully inspected the wound. “Does it hurt?” he asked.
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “It hurt a lot, but it’s better now.”
Huo Shaoheng held her hand and led her towards Chen Lie’s medical building.
When Chen Lie saw Gu Nianzhi walk towards him with her panda-colored mask on, he smiled mischievously. “Nianzhi, what’s the matter? Is your wound causing you discomfort?”
He made goofy expressions at Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi grumpily removed her mask and said, “The old wound has healed, but now there’s a new one. Brother Chen, look at my face. Just because I said a little more than I should, this is what happened. And my ears…”
“Treat her ear first. It has been scratched.” Huo Shaoheng said softly from behind her.
The playful smile instantly vanished from Chen Lie’s face. “Scratched? Who would dare scratch your ear?! Whoever did must have had some nerve!”
Gu Nianzhi felt warm inside. She was bullied at the Senate, yet when she returns to Special Operations Forces, she received an outpour of affection.
She moved in front of Chen Lie and pointed at her ear. “Right here. When Cai Shengnan ripped off my mask, she scratched my ear as well.”
“Cai Shengnan ripped off your mask?! Who gave her the right to?!” Chen Lie asked, stunned. He exchanged a worried glance with Huo Shaoheng and muttered, “This is really way too dangerous…”