Hello, Mr. Major General

“Professor He told you?” Zhao Liangze became serious. “Are you sure about this? It is really related to the Gus in Barbados? Can it be trusted?”

They had many reasons to doubt He Zhichu, but they could not let Gu Nianzhi know this. Gu Nianzhi wasn’t from the army, after all. Therefore, they had to withhold a substantial amount of information from her.

Gu Nianzhi closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and said slowly but clearly, “Yes, we definitely can trust this. Can I speak to Huo Shao now, please?”

Her voice sounded a little impatient.

She honestly did not have the mood or the time to joke around with Zhao Liangze at this point in time. After spending six to seven years looking for her background, she had finally found it. She couldn’t wait to share the news with Huo Shaoheng and listen to his opinions on this.

Zhao Liangze sensed the impatience in her voice and got a shock. This seemed serious. After contemplating, he said, “Mr. Huo left early in the morning to meet someone. He did not bring his personal phone. Would you like to call his work line?”

“He left early in the morning for work?” Gu Nianzhi asked in shock. “It’s only about seven in the morning over at your end, isn’t it? Huo Shao isn’t even in the army; why would he have to leave so early?”

Zhao Liangze smiled sheepishly. “Because we had to accommodate Miss Gu’s schedule. Mr. Huo tried to arrange a time to meet her to discuss some official matters with her yesterday, but she said that she only had time during her morning jog and tea. Therefore, Mr. Huo went over to meet her first thing in the morning.”

Gu Nianzhi frowned. “Is it time to discuss official matters during a morning jog and tea time? Such entitlement…”

“What did you say, Nianzhi?” Zhao Liangze could not tell Gu Nianzhi more regarding Gu Yanran, as the higher authorities in the army were already involved. It turned a private issue into an official one, so it was inconvenient to let Gu Nianzhi know any more.

Gu Nianzhi sighed and pushed her feelings of unhappiness aside. “I’ll call Huo Shao on his work line, then.”

Zhao Liangze knew that Gu Nianzhi was an extremely sensible girl. She would never call Huo Shaoheng on his work line if she could help it. Knowing that she was sensible, Zhao Liangze couldn’t hold it in much longer. Trying his best to let her in on as much as he could, he warned her softly, “Mr. Huo is currently trying to settle something really urgent. Nianzhi, bear with it if you can. If you are unable to handle anything, you share it them to Brother Ze and Brother Xiong. We will definitely be able to help you.”

Gu Nianzhi smiled and walked to the window of her room, holding onto her phone. Looking at the night scenery of her school, she tried her utmost best to calm herself down and replied Zhao Liangze, “Brother Ze, I will not be a burden on you guys. I know Huo Shao is in Barbados and met Gu Yanran. This thing I needed to speak to him about is something regarding the Gus and Gu Yanran directly.”

She did not say that it was directly related to her, as Zhao Liangze had already revealed slightly that he guessed that she had some personal matters she wasn’t able to solve. She did not want him to misunderstand further.

“Yes, I understand.” Zhao Liangze hung up and poured himself a cup of coffee in a daze. Turning to Yin Shixiong, who was recording some information on the computer, he said, “Nianzhi just called and demanded to speak to Mr. Huo, saying that she needed to speak to him about the Gus here. Do you think Professor He told her anything?”

“Huh? Professor He?” Yin Shixiong turned around in shock and stood up from his desk. “You sure? Did Nianzhi say anything?”

“She was vague. She only insisted on looking for Mr. Huo.” Zhao Liangze hit his forehead a couple of times with his fist. “I keep having a feeling that something big is about to happen.”

“Just observe,” Yin Shixiong replied calmly. “We’ll just make sure that we do our jobs well. We wouldn’t be able to control anything even if there were to be even more changes.”

“Yes. I’m overinvested.” Zhao Liangze finished his coffee in one gulp and returned to his laptop.

The only way to calm himself down was to work.

…

In another villa on the beach belonging to the Gus, Gu Yanran wore a set of white clothes meant for playing badminton and a matching white headband. On her feet was a pair of navy blue badminton shoes as she sat in the middle of the outdoor balcony amid the garden. Right in front of her was an unobstructed view of the Caribbean Sea, and there were even seagulls flying in the clear blue sky. Due to the distance between the villa and the ocean, one couldn’t hear the waves. Instead, only the tranquility and magnificence of the ocean were in view from the villa.

Huo Shaoheng was wearing his shades and stood on the balcony, looking ahead, admiring the view with folded arms.

“Miss Gu really knows how to enjoy herself. Building a villa here in the middle of the mountain and jungle, blocking the sea breeze and filtering the humidity. This is a perfect place for a holiday villa.”

“Mr. Huo does appreciate good things.” Gu Yanran took a fork and picked up a piece of smoked meat, placing it gracefully in her mouth. Then she took a couple of red grapes harvested from her very own vineyard and ate them with the meat, enjoying her breakfast very much. “Mr. Huo, are you certain you don’t want to have some?”

Even though Huo Shaoheng was holding his temper, he did not show it at all. “No, thank you. I’ve already had my breakfast, and I’m full,” he replied calmly.

“What a waste. I prepared some breakfast for you as well, you know?” Gu Yanran shook her head disappointedly and continued, “This steak is done rare. It melts in the mouth. You sure you don’t want to give it a try?”

Huo Shaoheng shook his head and sat down opposite Gu Yanran. “Can we discuss official things now? May I know, where is Mr. Gu, please? When are you intending to move him to America?”

Gu Yanran smiled cheekily, and two deep dimples appeared on her cheeks. “Can’t Mr. Huo see that I’m having my breakfast?”

She was the one who had told Huo Shaoheng that she only had time to discuss official matters during breakfast, and now, she said that she did not want to discuss official matters during mealtime. She was definitely trying to be difficult.

Huo Shaoheng was slightly pissed off at this, but he managed to hold it in perfectly. He nodded politely and said, “Sure. Shall we wait till you’re done with breakfast then?”

“Sure. It wouldn’t be long.”

As if, Gu Yanran giggled secretly. I would never make this easy for you…

She significantly slowed down her speed. Whenever Huo Shaoheng looked over, she’d look and him and smile gleefully.

“…Ran out of patience already?”

Huo Shaoheng could tell that she was intentionally trying to delay his time, so he took out his phone and began playing with it. Then, slowly, he said, “No problem; take your time. There are white clouds and blue skies, ocean, and waves to look at. With such an amazing view, I can relax a little while waiting for you.”

He sat back and showed a relaxed expression. He even sounded like a rich man who did not care about a thing in the world.

Gu Yanran was taken aback by his response. She looked at him and finished her food gracefully, then began eating porridge.

Just when the two of them refused to give in to each other, Huo Shaoheng’s phone rang. His heart skipped a beat. It was his work line.

Who would be calling this number at this time?

However, using this call as an excuse, he could leave for a little while. Looking at his phone, he was more shocked to see Gu Nianzhi’s number, but he still looked as though it was nothing but a usual call from someone. Turning to look at Gu Yanran, he stood up and said, “Excuse me, I have a call.”

“Go ahead. No worries. I’m not done with my breakfast yet.” Gu Yanran winked at him and smiled happily.

Being able to make the cold and aloof Huo Shaoheng a few days ago behave like this, she felt like she had managed to avenge herself. Growing up, she had never met a man who could ignore her so thoroughly. The thing was, he was exactly the type of man she was interested in.

Huo Shaoheng walked to the side of the balcony and picked up the call. “…Yes?”

Something huge must have happened on Gu Nianzhi’s side for her to call this number during his working hours.

Gu Nianzhi heard Huo Shaoheng’s tone and knew that someone was beside him. She immediately knew that it was Gu Yanran.

Gu Nianzhi lowered her voice to a whisper. “Huo Shao, is it convenient to talk now? This is important. If not I wouldn’t have called this number at this time. I’ve called your personal line countless times but to no avail…”

Huo Shaoheng put one of his hands into his pocket. Standing at the side of the balcony, he faced a direction where he was able to see Gu Yanran out of the corner of his eye.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it wasn’t soft, either. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

Gu Nianzhi took a deep breath and told Huo Shaoheng everything that had happened that afternoon. Finally, she said, “At 6:30 p.m., which was exactly half an hour ago, I got the results indicating that I am the Gu Nianzhi from the Gus in Barbados.”

Huo Shaoheng was extremely shocked by the news. Even though he still looked expressionless on the outside, he was overwhelmed with emotion within. He closed his eyes and took his hand out of his pocket to massage his temples. Then he paced around the balcony a few times, digesting this piece of information.

Gu Nianzhi thought that the call was cut off when there was no response from Huo Shaoheng. She checked her phone many times to ensure that the signal was working well before hearing Huo Shaoheng again. “…Do you still have the test results?”

“Yes; Professor He gave all of them to me.” Pausing, Gu Nianzhi said, “All experiments were done under the witness of Professor He and myself. Most of the experiments were even done by myself under Professor Douglas’s instructions. Therefore, this test is definitely reliable.”

Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips. He hung up the call and sent a text to Gu Nianzhi. “…But you and Gu Yanran are definitely not blood-related. What’s going on?”

Gu Nianzhi replied to his text: “You can be sisters or relatives even if you’re not biologically related as well. Under the law, you can be step-sisters or sisters through adoption; all these are legal and recognized relationships as sisters.”

Huo Shaoheng realized that they had focused on the wrong area in their previous investigation. Moreover, they really had not expected that Gu Nianzhi and Gu Yanran would not be biologically related but were still considered sisters.

Turning to look at Gu Yanran, who was still having breakfast, he was surprised to see that she was looking at him as well. Seeing that he had turned around, she smiled brightly at him and waved.

“Mr. Huo, you’re sure you don’t want to have breakfast together?”

Her voice was loud, and it traveled to Gu Nianzhi’s earpiece as well. However, Gu Nianzhi was already calm and collected. She was more concerned about Huo Shaoheng’s reaction when he learned about her background than Gu Yanran.

Huo Shaoheng came to a decision immediately. “Send all your documents to Little Ze. I’ll go back immediately. Upon confirmation, we might need your help. Don’t hang up; we’ll talk as I walk.”

Huo Shaoheng held the call for a while and walked to Gu Yanran’s dining table. “Miss Gu, something cropped up. I have no time anymore. We’ll leave this as it is today. Goodbye.”

Without waiting for Gu Yanran to react, Huo Shaoheng left the villa.

Looking at Huo Shaoheng’s tall and handsome back, Gu Yanran frowned with her brows furrowed. What was this thing that had cropped up? Was it more important than her father’s whereabouts?

Weren’t these people in a hurry to get her father to their country?

…

The moment Huo Shaoheng got into the car, he told Gu Nianzhi everything about how Gu Yanran had tried to delay the time and how she did not want to reveal Gu Xiangwen’s whereabouts.

Gu Nianzhi knew exactly what and how Huo Shaoheng thought. She reacted instantly and exclaimed worriedly, “What does she want, exactly? Huo Shao, let me go. I’ll get Father’s whereabouts from her. If she dares to not give it to me, I’ll teach her some manners!”