Chapter 1402: A Better Today
Her whole body trembling from crying, Gu Nianzhi turned around and clutched Huo Shaoheng’s collar tightly.
She sobbed and stammered, “Where are my parents? Where did you put them?”
“They’re on the boat, you…” Huo Shaoheng had just finished speaking when he realized that Gu Nianzhi was already exhausted and had finally fainted.
The huge emotional trauma, coupled with exhaustion from running the entire night, was something that even an iron man wouldn’t be able to withstand.
Huo Shaoheng carried her in his arms and walked towards the guest house.
At this time, the sky was bright and the sun was rising over the sea.
Huo Shaoheng took one step at a time and steadily carried Gu Nianzhi back to her residence.
Chen Lie had already been called over by Song Jinning and was waiting at the door of the guest house.
Seeing Gu Nianzhi with her eyes closed in Huo Shaoheng’s arms, Chen Lie quickly took a step forward and asked worriedly, “What happened to her? Did she fall asleep or faint?”
“She probably fainted.” Huo Shaoheng carried her into the suite.
He went to the bathroom first to wash her hands and feet, dry her hair, change her out of her wet clothes, and then he wrapped her in a towel before he carried her out.
Xiao Ye was supposed to do all this for her, but Huo Shaoheng didn’t hesitate and didn’t look embarra.s.sed at all. Xiao Ye quietly withdrew and waited in the living room with Yin s.h.i.+xiong, Chen Lie, and Song Jinning.
They were already engaged anyway, and they were going to get married soon, so it wasn’t a big deal.
After carrying Gu Nianzhi back to the bed, Huo Shaoheng called Chen Lie in to check on her.
“She’s fine. She has a slight fever, but her temperature isn’t too high.” Chen Lie examined her as he said, “Give her a shot of glucose. She’ll be fine after a day’s sleep.”
Huo Shaoheng was slightly relieved and said, “The ceremony is at night. Will she be able to wake up?”
“She should be fine. She’s in good health and will recover very quickly.” Chen Lie glanced at Huo Shaoheng, then packed his medical kit and left.
He still had a lot of things to prepare for today, so he couldn’t stay here with Gu Nianzhi for the entire time.
There were still a few big shots in the luxurious presidential suite on the fourth floor waiting for him to report on this mission.
Huo Shaoheng leaned over and kissed Gu Nianzhi on the forehead, then let Xiao Ye and Yin s.h.i.+xiong watch over her while he went to report on his work to the big shots.
Song Jinning brought her laptop over and stayed with her.
..
Gu Nianzhi woke up in the evening and saw Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Xiao Ye sitting on the sofa opposite the bed, and song jinning typing on her laptop. She was in a daze.
“What time is it?” She asked in a daze. Feeling a little thirsty, she licked her lips.
Xiao Ye turned to look at her and quickly said, “It’s past five in the afternoon. What’s wrong?”
Seeing her licking her lips, Xiao Ye poured her a gla.s.s of water.
Gu Nianzhi rubbed her temples and remembered what had happened from last night to this morning. She also remembered the last thing Huo Shaoheng said to her,”… I’ll take you to see your parents.”
She struggled to sit up and said weakly, “Where’s Major General Huo? He said… he would take me to see my parents…”
Xiao Ye felt a headache coming on and thought she was still delirious. She quickly coaxed her, “You still want to see them? Didn’t you see them this morning?”
Gu nianzhi replied with a “huh”, “I saw them? Where?”
“The rainbow.” Xiao Ye quickly said, “Major General Huo personally created a man-made rainbow for you. Don’t you remember?”
Only Major General Huo could come up with and create such a surreal rainbow!
Her gaze gradually becoming fixated, Gu Nianzhi stared at Xiao Ye in a daze. “That rainbow was man-made? Did Major General Huo make it rain? My parents didn’t come to visit me?”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong saw that Gu Nianzhi’s mental state wasn’t quite right, so he quickly pushed Xiao Ye away and comforted Gu Nianzhi gently. “No, that rainbow this morning wasn’t man-made. You know, man-made rainbows can only spray water and create a small rainbow that’s less than a meter tall in front of you. How can you create a rainbow that’s more than one meter tall all the way into the sky? Am I right? — It was a real rainbow.”
That was also true. The rain was real rain. Although it was man-made, the rainbow appeared naturally.
That was because rainbows were formed when different colors of light refracted differently in the water.
When sunlight pa.s.sed through a certain angle and was refracted by the water droplets in the air, the seven colors that made up sunlight would arrange themselves in a certain order and form a rainbow that looked like an arch bridge.
Gu Nianzhi looked at Yin s.h.i.+xiong for a while and completely understood.
She didn’t want to brush off Yin s.h.i.+xiong’s good intentions, so she lowered her head and lowered her eyes. “Okay.”
Song Jinning had already called Huo Shaoheng.
Huo Shaoheng heard that Gu Nianzhi had already woken up, so he quickly said, “Give the phone to Nianzhi.”
Song Jinning took the phone and handed it to Gu Nianzhi. She said gently, “Nianzhi, it’s Shaoheng.”
Gu Nianzhi reached out to take the phone and said softly, “h.e.l.lo.”
Like a kitten that had just woken up, her voice was soft and delicate.
Huo Shaoheng walked to a place where no one was around and softened his tone.”… You’re awake?”
“Yes.”
“Does your head still hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Do you still have a fever?”
“No.”
“… Can you get up and walk?”
Gu nianzhi rubbed her legs. She seemed fine.
She smiled self-deprecatingly.
With her body, she would probably be fine the next day no matter how she overexerted it.
She nodded. “I can.”
“Okay, you can come with Big Xiong and Xiao Ye.”
“Is there anything else?” Gu Nianzhi asked wearily. She wasn’t in high spirits.
“… Greet your parents ash.o.r.e.” Huo Shaoheng paused. “And you’re going to present flowers.”
That’s right!
This was what Major General Huo had meant when he said that he was going to take her to see her parents…
Gu Nianzhi almost immediately lifted the blanket and jumped off the bed. She said anxiously, “I’ll be right there!”
She rushed into the bathroom and washed her face quickly. She didn’t put on any makeup, and she changed into a more solemn and dignified black dress.
Gu Nianzhi picked up the two cl.u.s.ters of gla.s.s-wrapped evening primroses and walked to Yin s.h.i.+xiong’s side. She said, “Brother Xiong, Major General Huo asked you to take me there.”
“Let’s go.” Yin s.h.i.+xiong took her hand and led her away.
Xiao Ye hurriedly followed behind.
Song Jinning sighed, packed her laptop bag, and followed.
..
Gu Nianzhi followed Yin s.h.i.+xiong, Xiao Ye, and Song Jinning into the temporarily constructed auditorium.
Although it was temporarily constructed, the furnis.h.i.+ngs inside were meticulously done.
A long red carpet ran through the auditorium all the way to the springboard by the sea.
General Ji was wearing a formal military uniform and a military cap. His golden three-star and one-ta.s.sel epaulets stood out in the light.
He stood there without a smile on his face.
Speaker Long and Prime Minister Bai were in suits, while grandfather Xie was in a traditional chinese-style suit.
The four of them stood side by side at this end of the red carpet.
Upon seeing Gu Nianzhi and the others enter, General Ji waved at her.
Gu Nianzhi looked at Yin s.h.i.+xiong and then at Xiao Ye.
The two of them pushed her at the same time. “Go.”
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips and walked over with two bundles of night epiphyllum wrapped in cellophane.
General Ji made way for her, and she stood in the middle of the four of them.
Surrounded by the four bigwigs, Gu Nianzhi felt uncomfortable.
But she didn’t dare to move, and stood there stiffly.
The atmosphere in the auditorium gradually became heavy, and even the air seemed to have stopped flowing.
Gu Nianzhi felt a little suffocated.
But this feeling of suffocation didn’t last long. She saw eight soldiers in military uniforms carrying two coffins down from the springboard and walking towards the red carpet.
Her heart beated wildly
Her body trembled uncontrollably as she looked ahead with empty eyes.
General Ji raised his hand gently and held her arm.
Gu Nianzhi glanced at General Ji. Her large eyes were red and swollen.
General Ji felt anguished insidenguishe. He pursed his lips and said softly, “Go, child. Go and give your parents flowers.”
In the auditorium, the Colonel Commandant was announcing the ceremonies one by one.
The national anthem was played, the military music was played, and a small honor guard of the three armed forces was holding a gun.
As if they were being inspected, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the soldiers who were slowly moving forward while carrying the coffins.
Among the eight tall soldiers carrying the coffins with impa.s.sive expressions, Huo Shaoheng was the most eye-catching.
They walked in a neat and orderly formation, then placed two cherry-wood coffins on the ceremonial platform in the auditorium.
The coffins were covered with the bright red national flag and were placed quietly.
Gu Nianzhi held back her tears and walked over slowly with two bunches of night epiphyllum flowers in her arms.
She placed the two bunches of night epiphyllum flowers on the two coffins, then bent down and kissed the coffins devoutly.
When she straightened up, two drops of tears fell again on the pure white petals of the night epiphyllum flowers.
The tears on the petals were crystal clear. Under the lights of the auditorium, the colors of the rainbow seemed to appear again.
Gu Nianzhi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and said in her heart, “… Dad, Mom, these are the tears that didn’t run out this morning. I’m not crying again.”
The auditorium was very quiet. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Gu Nianzhi.
General Ji walked up and stood beside Gu Nianzhi. He addressed everyone with a heavy expression.
“There are two martyrs lying here. They aren’t Huaxia citizens and had never returned to their homeland in their lifetime. However, they are Huaxia descendants. Even though they have never set foot on the Huaxia Empire’s territory in their lives, they have never forgotten that they are Huaxia people.”
“Our nation has experienced many storms and tribulations, but we have always been able to rise from the ruins because of we, the Huaxia people,every single one of us, no matter where we are, have never given up on this land.”
“The last wish of these two martyrs, before they died, was to return to their homeland. They have made great contributions to our country, but they didn’t ask for anything in return
“Because they know what a prosperous and strong country means to every Huaxia person.”
“Some other countries don’t understand our patriotism and think that this kind of love is too narrow-minded.
“I want to say that if you don’t have 5,000 years of history, and haven’t experienced the vagrancy, chaos, and slaughter that our nation has suffered, you have no place to discuss patriotism with us.”