Hello, Mr. Major General

The moment Huo Shaoheng had decided on something, he didn’t have second thoughts on it. He was a man who believed in action and looked down on idle theorizing.

“Why would there be a need for an MRI?” Huo Shaoheng snapped back to reality and began questioning Chen Lie’s actions. He squinted. It hid some of his penetrating glare, but it was still as stressful.

Chen Lie hated being glared at like this by Huo Shaoheng. It felt like an eagle looking at its prey, and it always stressed him out tremendously.

Taking a handkerchief, Chen Lie wiped the beads of perspiration off his forehead and stammered, “T-There… There are s-some injuries to Nianzhi’s posterior spine. Of course, it wasn’t as bad as her old injuries; it’s just a slight shift. I’ve already fixed it for her. She will be fully healed after lying in bed for about half a month, or two weeks.”

“A shift in the posterior spine but you tell me it’s not a serious injury?!” Huo Shaoheng cracked his neck, strode up toChen Lie, pulled him up by the collar m, and said menacingly, “Write a report stating its severity. I need it.”

Chen Lie nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, yes! I’ll do it right now, if you’ll just put me down! How can I do it if you’re still holding me?”

Huo Shaoheng let go of his grip. Chen Lie slipped down and fell due to his weak legs. He held on to the wall behind him for support, and then stumbled to his table.

Huo Shaoheng stared coldly at Chen Lie from behind until he was done with the report.

“Where is Nianzhi?”

“At the ward. I’ve just done a corrective operation on her, so she has to be in bed for the next 10 days.” Chen Lie pointed at the written instructions before continuing, “Her injuries are special, so she cannot be moved around. Mr. Huo, you must let her stay here.”

He knew Huo Shaoheng’s character. He would want Gu Nianzhi to stay at home even if she needed bed rest. Huo Shaoheng didn’t like for her to spend the night outside.

However, the situation was indeed serious this time around. Gu Nianzhi’s taboo for her injury was any, and every, form of movement.

Huo Shaoheng fell silent. Holding on to the report, he walked towards the ward to take a look at Gu Nianzhi.

…

Gu Nianzhi closed her eyes as she lay on the white hospital bed. Her complexion was fair as ever, but he saw something odd under the covers out of the corner of his eye. He removed one of the of the blankets.

Gu Nianzhi was secured tightly onto the hospital bed with bandages. She could only lie down while facing the ceiling. She couldn’t even move a finger.

She has to maintain in this position for…10 days? Anger rose in Huo Shaoheng as he realized this.

Someone must pay the price for this incident, the vengeful thought swirling in his mind.

Huo Shaoheng turned and left Gu Nianzhi’s ward.

Hearing the door open, Chen Lie rushed out. However, he only managed to see the retreating back of Huo Shaoheng as he left the building.

Chen Lie decides to call Zhao Liangze and inform him of Gu Nianzhi’s injuries, alerting them also of Mr. Huo’s anger; he asked them to keep a lookout.

Zhao Liangze was just as shocked when he heard about Gu Nianzhi’s injuries.

“Docter Chen, is it really that severe?”

“It’s as real as it can get.” Chen Lie was slightly unhappy about the unintentional doubt to his prognosis. It was hard enough not to be able to behave like the professional he really was in front of Huo Shaoheng, but in front of people like Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze, he was still undoubtedly one of the best doctors around.

“I didn’t mean it that way, Doctor Chen. I’m just so shocked!” Zhao Liangze apologized frantically.

Zhao Liangze banged his fists on the table. “To think that I had spoken up for that Xu Piaohong and asked Mr.Huo not to pursue the matter anymore! Now we know how cunning she actually is! Causing so much pain to Nianzhi—we definitely have to pursue this! I won’t allow it to be left as it is!”

…

Xu Piaohong’s home was in total chaos on Saturday afternoon as well.

They had gone to General Ji’s residence immediately after leaving the supermarket, wanting to find out about Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng.

General Ji, however, did not want to talk about this. All he told them was that Huo Shaoheng was Gu Nianzhi’s legal guardian and that she had grown up with Huo Shaoheng. Therefore, she wa extremely important to him.

Xu Piaohong and her mother breathed sighs of relief and had been about leave when the video surfaced on the internet.

The person in charge of handling social media platforms in the army had notified the marketing department almost immediately as it involved Huo Shaoheng. However, the news had still spread and within a short while General Ji had gotten wind of it.

Huo Shaoheng was his favorite and this matter was now a concern in a breach of security to the Special Forces. There was no way General Ji would be left out of this.

General Ji’s personal secretary quickly rushed over to report this to him, but saw that the main leads of the video were at General Ji’s house. He looked at Xu Piaohong sternly and whispered something to General Ji. Then he took out his phone and showed Genera Ji the video.

He handed a pair of earphones for General Ji to watch the video with so that he could hear the conversation, in order to avoid any awkwardness with Xu Piaohong and her mother present.

However, General Ji had a fiery temper.

His expression changed from shock to fury, and he couldn’t even say anything anymore after he was done watching the video.

Looking at the mother and daughter who were just about to leave his house, he called out to them. “Wait a minute!”

Mrs. Xu turned and assumed that General Ji intended to make them stay for lunch. She rejected politely and said, “Thanks for the thought, General Ji, but we will be having lunch at home. We don’t wish to trouble you at all.”

“Have lunch?” General Ji laughed bitterly. “Who do you think would want to make you stay for lunch?”

He looked at Xu Piaohong and asked coldly, “Piaohong, you saw Huo Shaoheng this morning?”

“Oh, yes. I did!” Xu Piaohong quickly nodded. “Some things happened in the supermarket, and my mum and I came over here to see if there was really anything to it.”

“Oh?”

He had thought that Xu Piaohong was a straightforward and gracious lady, but it seemed that she knew how to play innocent when she was in trouble as well.

Seems like she wasn’t what I thought she would be,” he thought.

General Ji sighed. He knew he was partly at fault for this, since he should have never been so blinded by how positive Xu Piaohong’s impression on him had been. The mother and daughter had obviously taken advantage of this.

“Can you tell me what happened?” General Ji asked as he sat down on the sofa in his living hall.

“Erm, well, we met Major General Huo, but then he declined that he was him. So…” Xu Piaohong trailed off, embarrassed. “You know that I’ve always been a straightforward person, and can never take anyone lying to my face. So…my tone and attitude hadn’t exactly been the most polite.”

She ended her confession by playfully sticking out her tongue, just like a child would do while pretending to be cute when asking for forgiveness after getting herself into a mess.

General Ji only felt disgusted.

“You revealed his position in the army just because he refused to accept your greeting?!” General Ji’s voice rose in anger all of a sudden. He stood up suddenly, pointed at Xu Piaohong, and yelled, “Who on earth do you think you are to him? You should have known the extreme importance and necessity for secrecy for his rank! And now you’ve compromised it!!” General Ji panted heavily before shouting with as much force as he could muster, “Leave NOW! Never ever come to my home again!”

Xu Piaohong and her mother were humiliated and frightened. They stood at the entrance in shock, paralyzed by General Ji’s anger.

Mrs.Ji heard General Ji’s yell and came out of her room quickly. “Ji, can’t you speak properly? How can she take it if you speak to her like that?” She put a hand on his chest, in order to calm him down.

“Haven’t you had a good impression of Piaohong all along? Teach her properly if she’s done something wrong—!”

“She hasn’t just made a mistake. She violated the law.” General Ji cut off his wife’s words. He glared fiercely at the cowering women. “Don’t even think of pleading. Nothing will help you, even if Speaker Long or Prime Minister Dou try to plead on your behalf. Xu Piaohong, go back and await corporal punishment. Get lost and don’t ever come again.”