Chapter 899: My Heart Goes Out to My G.o.ddess
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Nianzhi had just realized that there were many top searches regarding Cai Shengnan on the internet. She knew the moment she set eyes on them that online technicians had purchased them and were now pus.h.i.+ng them upwards in the search results.
The moment she remembered how rude Cai Shengnan had been in the parade square of the Special Forces the other day and almost embarra.s.sed Huo Shaoheng, Gu Nianzhi felt a sense of anger rising in her.
Since you like being in the top search results, let me help you!
She hacked into one of the accounts of the technicians that Cai Songyin had hired and sent out a new topic using that account.
#Cai Shengnan, an ageless woman with looks 100, figure 150, and brains 250.
After that, thinking that it was another mission, they did not bother to read it carefully before buying it and pus.h.i.+ng it up to the top result…
…
Cai Shengnan looked at that top search making its way up from tenth place to eighth, and then to fourth. It had already surpa.s.sed the three decent top search topics.
She could not help but feel annoyed.
What nonsensical topic was this?!
Looks 100, fine. She still had some confidence in that. But figure 150?! Were they trying to make fun of her weight by adding that extra 50 at the end?!
Having lived in America for too long, Cai Shengnan was accustomed to seeing beauty as being fit and lean. She had been staying active by going to the gym frequently and was slightly on the muscular side. It didn’t stand out in America, but when she returned to the Hua Xia Empire, she realized that she was at least a size or two bigger than the girls who were considered beautiful…
Fine. Weight aside, perhaps she had given it too much thought.
However, that brains 250 was definitely embarra.s.sing to her!
The person with the highest IQ in the world was Einstein. He had an IQ of 278. Usually, someone with an IQ of anything above a 140 would be categorized as a genius.
She’d had her intelligence tested before. She’d scored an IQ of 180. However, to the public, she had promoted herself to have an IQ of 200.
Therefore, the moment she saw the hashtag on the top search with “brains 250,” she immediately realized that this was definitely anything but praise!
Also, the phrase, “ageless woman.” That phrase was usually only used on women who were above the age of 40. When the phrase was used on those women, it was really nice praise.
However, she was only 29!
She was not at the age where people would say that she only looked young, was she?!
People should never talk about two things about a woman, her weight and her age. To Cai Shengnan, IQ should be included as a taboo as well. However, this topic covered all three of those!
She had no idea where her little aunt had managed to hire these internet technicians. Each of these top search topics attacked her most vulnerable points. When would she fire them?!
Although Cai Shengnan was furious, she remembered that she was live on television right now. Therefore, she did not show any expression on her face except for a graceful smile. She continued looking around the meeting hall, awaiting the results of the vote.
Cai Songyin and Tan Guiren entered and stood beside Tan Dongbang. Tan Dongbang immediately looked relieved and touched.
He hugged Tan Guiren before taking Cai Songyin’s hand and raising it up. He was showing the camera the “truth” and greeting the audience at the same time.
Sure enough, seeing that his wife and daughter were present to give him support, the discussion about him from the netizens began improving.
At the same time, the top search about Cai Shengnan was still spreading like wildfire. The most popular was #Cai Shengnan, an ageless woman with looks 100, figure 150, and brains 250.
Netizens who were humorous found it funny, so they began using it to entertain both themselves and others, coming up with emojis and memes using that top search topic.
Cai Shengnan took a look at her phone occasionally and was furious at the ongoing discussions about her.
All the effort that she had put into her professional image – generous, mature, smart, and professional – was all ruined by one top search. Now, whenever people saw the name Cai Shengnan, people would not think about how good she was, but how funny she was…
Thankfully, the voting would save her professionalism to a small extent. She comforted herself in that knowledge.
Two hours later, the voting had ended and the relevant personnel began tabulating the votes. Due to being conducted on an electronic voting system, the tabulation did not take much time at all.
Shortly after the voting ended, the results came out.
“…We shall now announce the results.” The Speaker for the lower house of Parliament announced formally. “There is a total of 660 speakers in the lower house of Parliament. 630 were present, and 30 were absent. There were 600 votes cast while 30 were forfeited. We received a total of 600 official votes, 350 of which voted in favor of the impeachment of Prime Minister Tan Dongbang.”
Cai Shengnan’s heart sank. How had so many people voted in favor of the impeachment?
She had estimated that there would be two-thirds of them who would vote not in favor of the impeachment!
However, although the number of people who’d voted in favor was way higher than what she had expected and had also pa.s.sed the fifty percent mark, according to the rules, there had to be a two-thirds majority in favor before the impeachment would go through. Therefore, Cai Shengnan had still won this round.
There were less than two-thirds of the speakers in the lower house of Parliament who had voted in favor of the impeachment. Therefore, in the lower house of Parliament, this impeachment would not be valid.
After that, the tabulation for the votes from the upper house of parliament was also released.
Senior Speaker Long appeared on the screen of the meeting hall in the lower house of Parliament to announce the results of the vote in the upper house of Parliament.
“…The votes from the upper house of Parliament are as follows: There are 100 members in the upper house of parliament. All were present to submit 100 official votes. 60 voted in favor of the impeachment. This number does not satisfy the two-thirds majority requirement. Therefore, the impeachment had not pa.s.sed in the upper house of Parliament.”
Senior Speaker Long banged his gavel and announced officially that the impeachment of Prime Minister Tan Dongbang had not pa.s.sed, and that Tan Dongbang would continue in his position as Prime Minister of the Hua Xia Empire until his term was up.
“That is great!”
“We have won!”
Tan Dongbang hugged Cai Songyin gratefully as he emotionally exclaimed, “Songyin, thank you! Thank you!”
Cai Songyin hugged him back with equal vigor, presenting the image of a perfect wife.
Only Tan Guiren was truly happy for her father.
With tears in her eyes, she looked sincere and attentive as she bowed to all the speakers in the meeting hall, thanking them no matter which side they had voted on. Her white dress flowed elegantly behind her as she bowed, making her look like an angel.
Very soon, the footage of her bowing had been uploaded on to the internet.
The comments were mostly from nerdy boys. “My heart goes out to my G.o.ddess…” said most of the comments.
…
Gu Nianzhi was watching the television with Ma Qiqi in the dormitory. Neither was surprised by the outcome of the votes.
Ma Qiqi still screamed twice to show her anger.
Gu Nianzhi did not feel a thing. Peeling an orange, she said without even raising her head, “This was something that had been decided some time back. To be honest, I’m rather surprised to see that there were more than half of them who were in favor of the impeachment.”
Although it was not a two-thirds majority, it was way better than getting less than half.
By surpa.s.sing 50 percent, it meant that most of the speakers were unhappy with his behavior. This would affect how much support he would be able to get when he made political decisions in the future.
Although the two-thirds majority was required for the impeachment to go through, when it came to the approval of political policies, only 50 percent of the votes were needed to pa.s.s a policy. Therefore, it was rather clear that Tan Dongbang would not be having an easy time as the Prime Minister for the next five years.
Ma Qiqi sighed and leaned back against the sofa while hugging her little bolster. “…This Cai Shengnan is quite good.”
She’d been able to handle all 700 speakers in the Senate in just one month. That showed how truly efficient she was. There were some things about Cai Shengnan that Gu Nianzhi admired, but due to what had happened the other day, she did not wish to admit it.
Scoffing lightly, Gu Nianzhi remained quiet.
Ma Qiqi flipped over on the sofa and supported her head with her hands. Then she asked Gu Nianzhi curiously, “…I think I remember something about Prime Minister Tan owing you money, doesn’t he? Has he returned it to you yet?”
Staying in the same dormitory as the debtor of the Prime Minister… She was excited just thinking about it!
She was referring to the illegal gifting of money from Gu Yanran to Prime Minister Tan. Tan Dongbang and his wife had been accused of mishandling the funds meant for the election. Eventually, Gu Yanran had taken out money from her own pocket to pay off the amount that was misused. That had helped Tan Dongbang get off the hook in that case.
Recently, Gu Nianzhi had raised the matter of splitting the inheritance of the Gu family with Gu Yanran. Gu Yanran had attempted to murder Gu Nianzhi in an attempt to pocket all of the inheritance from the Gu’s. The court had since removed her rights to the inheritance.
After that case ended, Gu Nianzhi had asked He Zhichu to send Tan Dongbang and Cai Songyin a lawyer’s letter of demand, asking for the three billion US dollars that Gu Yanran had given them out of the Gu’s inheritance.
Tan Dongbang and Cai Songyin were doing their best during the impeachment. Of course, they would not want other issues to come to light and affect their efforts. Going through another lawsuit over illegal monetary gains with Gu Nianzhi would not be good for their public image. Therefore, within the shortest time possible, they had sold all their properties and investments, then borrowed one billion US dollars from their connections to gather the three billion US dollars for Gu Xiangwen’s inheritance funds.
This was because Gu Xiangwen was still categorized as a missing person. He had already been missing for seven years, so the court had p.r.o.nounced him to be deceased. The ruling would be in effect for six months.
If no challenges to the ruling were made in that time, Gu Nianzhi would be allowed to receive all of his inheritance. But for now, Gu Nianzhi was still herself. She had not become the wealthiest woman in Barbados. Although she had won the lawsuit, the money hadn’t gone to her yet. It was still in the inheritance fund of Gu Xiangwen.
Gu Nianzhi shrugged. “They have returned the money to my father’s inheritance fund.”
Ma Qiqi nodded. “That is good then. If not, we would never let them off so easily.”
“Yes. If they did not return it, we would not let them off! Go get them, Qiqi!” Gu Nianzhi gave Ma Qiqi part of the orange that she had just peeled.
Only after taking a bite off the orange did Ma Qiqi realize that Gu Nianzhi was teasing her like a dog! She threw the orange away and pounced towards Gu Nianzhi while pretending to bark!
The two girls laughed their heads off in the dormitory, feeling happy.
…
The senior officers from the military supreme council were watching the live stream of the voting for Tan Dongbang’s impeachment as well.
Huo Shaoheng sat on General Ji’s side, looking calm and collected, never an ounce of shock appearing on his face. Of course, all the people in this meeting room were cunning foxes and looked calm as well.
The people who were always laughing were laughing as usual, and those who typically looked stern were stern as always. No one was acting out of the ordinary.
When the results were released, everyone laughed out loud and praised Cai Shengnan, Tan Dongbang’s lead lawyer.
“This lawyer, Cai, is indeed capable. There are so many people in the Senate, but she managed to get them settled on her side within a month. Incredible!”
“Isn’t it? To keep the votes in favor below two-thirds was already a feat. Old Tan has that niece of his to thank for getting him through this impeachment!”
“I think so too. You see, no matter what, the wife is the best. Who on earth was his mistress?”
“…Gu Yanran, Gu Nianzhi’s elder sister.”
When someone said that, they all looked meaningfully at Huo Shaoheng. Everyone knew that his relations.h.i.+p with Gu Nianzhi was out of the ordinary. He’d even used the opportunity to go to America to rescue Tan Guiren in order to negotiate for approval of Gu Nianzhi’s background check and marriage report.
Someone remembered this and raised his voice to ask Huo Shaoheng, “Shaoheng, how are you and Nianzhi? When are you intending to get married?”
Huo Shaoheng smiled as he shook his head. “It’s not important.”
Because they were already married.
However, the only person who knew about that was General Ji. But they had agreed to keep this a secret for now. Therefore, General Ji was happy to pretend that he did not know a thing. He would never expose Huo Shaoheng.
Huo Guanchen, who was sitting on the other end of the meeting room, was secretly elated. However, he still sighed and said according to what Huo Shaoheng wanted, “What a waste. Nianzhi was not bad really. Although not as good as lawyer Cai, she is still young and definitely has a bright future ahead.”
The senior officers also expressed their views in agreement with Huo Guanchen, but were secretly rejoicing all the while…
General Ji remained silent throughout until everyone left. He had requested for Huo Shaoheng to stay back for a while. “I heard about your father going over to your end for a spot check.”
Huo Shaoheng smiled and put his papers and pen from the desk back into his suitcase. “The results of the check were normal. You already knew about that, I presume.”
“Of course. I do not have to worry when you’re the one in charge.” General Ji touched his almost bald head and laughed heartily. “But that day, you really embarra.s.sed our military performing team a tad too much.”
Huo Shaoheng remained silent. “Then what should I have done to not embarra.s.s them?” Huo Shaoheng shook his head. “Our team is unique in that sense. It is hard for me when they decide to come uninvited.”
“I know.” General Ji smiled as he tried to make peace. “However, Shaoheng, if the water is too clear, there will not be any fish. If a person is too calculative, he will have no comrades. As your position gets more important, you will have to do things even more carefully, Shaoheng.”
“When faced with different problems, it doesn’t work to just chase them away. The military performing team can be seen as not having any authority, but sometimes they seem to have an authority that even I am surprised by. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”
Huo Shaoheng indeed understood where General Ji was coming from. The administrative regulars in the army were all like that. Chuckling, he replied, “I know. Thanks for caring, General.”
“Good.” General Ji patted him on the shoulders. “The military performing team will be holding a performance in the main hall this Sat.u.r.day. The army has requested that everyone with the position of lieutenant and above be present. You go back and give an order. Your department is special. Just get Big Xiong and Little Ze, both the vice-in-charges to go.”
General Ji did not wish for his secret department to be seen in public too often. Huo Shaoheng, Zhao Liangze, and Yin s.h.i.+xiong had already been made public. Therefore, it was okay to let them be seen.
“Yes, sir.” Huo Shaoheng saluted General Ji and left with his suitcase.
…
When he returned to the office in his building, Huo Shaoheng called Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao Liangze over and told them, “General Ji has instructed me just now to get both of you to attend the performance by the military performing team at the great hall today. The army has requested for everyone with the positions of lieutenant and above to be present, but our department is special. Therefore, both of you will go. What do you think?”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong’s face immediately fell. “Mr. Huo, it is Christmas this Sat.u.r.day! I… I… I have had something planned for a long time with Qiqi…” He really did not wish to go to this bullsh*t military performing team performance!
Zhao Liangze was okay with the idea though. He touched his chin and said, “I am okay with going.”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong glared at him and cursed him for not being brotherly under his breath…
Huo Shaoheng lowered his eyes and looked at his schedule. Raising his hand, he said, “Forget it. I will go with Little Ze. Big Xiong will be on leave.”
No matter what, Yin s.h.i.+xiong was already 27 or 28 years old. As their superior, Huo Shaoheng had to think about the future of his subordinates.