962 Not Let Go
But so what if she had been underage? He did what he did and hid what he hid. He had also made Chen Lie swear an oath under military orders. Gu Nianzhi didn’t need to read the military orders to guess what the contents were.
At the time, he must’ve been very worried that other people would find out about it. After all, he had still been her guardian at the time, and she was indeed a minor. Gu Nianzhi also knew that if Huo Shaoheng’s political enemies learned about this incident, then he really wouldn’t be able to have a career.
However, she still felt a bit uncomfortable about it. Struggling out of Huo Shaoheng’s arms, Gu Nianzhi lowered her head and turned around to leave.
“Where are you gong?” Huo Shaoheng grabbed her arm. “It’s already so late, just sleep here.” He was actually worried about Gu Nianzhi backing herself into a corner and doing something silly. After the call from Chen Lie earlier, Huo Shaoheng still had “psychological trauma” on his mind.
“No, I’m going back to sleep in my own room.” Gu Nianzhi shook her head stubbornly. “Huo Shaoheng is too impressive. You can completely fool a weak woman like me whenever and wherever you want. I don’t dare to appear around you anymore. You might just sell me off at any time, and I’d be the one helping you count the money!”
Where was this even going? The rock in Huo Shaoheng’s heart fell to the ground, then he discovered that this rock had directly dropped on his own feet. Helpless, Huo Shaoheng followed Gu Nianzhi out and to her bedroom.
“You should go back. I won’t do anything silly.” Gu Nianzhi calmly got into bed and pulled up her covers.
Huo Shaoheng didn’t act ambiguously, either. He turned around to close the door and turned off the lights. Then he returned to Gu Nianzhi’s bedside and removed the covers to lie down.
Gu Nianzhi shoved him. “Go back to your own room. How will I stand it if Auntie sees this?”
“It’s fine. I’ll go back to my own room before Ms. Song comes out,” Huo Shaoheng said without room for negotiation, drawing Gu Nianzhi into his arms. “Hurry up and go to sleep. I’ll wake you up.”
Gu Nianzhi had fussed all night and had also done that physically exhausting thing with Huo Shaoheng, so she was extremely tired. She didn’t have the energy to push Huo Shaoheng again, so she fell into a deep sleep right in his arms.
Huo Shaoheng noticed that she had finally stopped fussing, and he was finally able to sigh in relief. Taking out his phone to check before going to sleep, he noticed Chen Lie had sent over a series of “hanging” emojis to express his sincere regret.
Huo Shaoheng set down his phone without any comment or reply to Chen Lie.
…
Gu Nianzhi seemed to have only taken a short nap before seeing that the sun had risen. Huo Shaoheng had indeed disappeared from her side. Stretching lazily, she sat up in bed to see the room filled with suns.h.i.+ne s.h.i.+ning through the white gauze curtains.
After sitting dazedly in bed for a while, Gu Nianzhi removed her blankets and got up. She happened to hear someone knocking on the door. Song Jinning’s voice could be heard from the doorway. Gu Nianzhi quickly went over to open the door. “Good morning, Auntie.”
Song Jinning wore a teal cashmere cardigan and white wool trousers, and looked at her with a refres.h.i.+ng smile. “Breakfast is ready. You and Shaoheng can go eat. I’ll be leaving now.”
Gu Nianzhi grabbed Song Jinning’s arm in surprise. “Auntie, where are you going? Are you going to give New Year’s greetings?”
“I don’t give New Year’s greetings.” Song Jinning patted her shoulder. “I need to go to the laboratory. I ran several programs last night, and now I have a new idea.” She pulled out Huo Guanchen’s phone and waved it. “There’s also this. It’s waiting for me to crack the pa.s.sword.”
Song Jinning left in a whirlwind, and Gu Nianzhi watched her leave with great admiration as she disappeared at the stairs of the hallway.
After was.h.i.+ng up, Gu Nianzhi went to the dining room downstairs and discovered that Huo Shaoheng was already sitting at the dining table and flipping through a newspaper. Seeing Gu Nianzhi walk in, Huo Shaoheng folded the newspaper neatly and placed it on the small table behind him. “Have some breakfast. I went out to buy it. The beef buns and millet porridge are your favorites.” Huo Shaoheng pushed a platter of beef buns the size of chicken eggs to Gu Nianzhi. “We’ll go General Ji’s house to give New Year’s greetings after breakfast.”
Gu Nianzhi finished eating breakfast in silence. When she went upstairs to get changed, she expressed her objections. “I don’t want to go. I don’t know them well. Huo Shao, I want to go back to my own house.”
Huo Shaoheng b.u.t.toned up the clasps on his military uniform and replied calmly, “You should go, anyway. General Ji knows that we’re married.”
Gu Nianzhi’s face flushed red once again. She glared angrily at Huo Shaoheng. “How many people know about that?!”
“General Ji is the only one in the military who knows about it, so I must take you to his place to give New Year’s greetings.” Huo Shaoheng b.u.t.toned the top clasp, then put on his leather belt. “Don’t worry, no one else knows. I asked General Ji, and he promised to keep it a secret.”
Gu Nianzhi breathed a small sigh of relief but still asked suspiciously, “You’re not lying to me this time, right? I really don’t want to be fooled like a monkey again.”
Huo Shaoheng nodded calmly. “No, the only people who know about our marriage are General Ji and Secretary Cao, as well as Chen Lie and Zhou Qiyuan. Those four people aren’t blabbermouths.” Even Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao Liangze didn’t know about it.
Gu Nianzhi pouted. “Chen Lie isn’t a blabbermouth? I seem to know a fake Chen Lie.”
Huo Shaoheng smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he remembers this time.”
Gu Nianzhi was very disturbed to hear such threatening words. She hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly pleaded Chen Lie’s case. “Brother Chen didn’t do it on purpose. He’s reliable most of the time.”
“It’s not enough to be reliable most of the time.” Huo Shaoheng appeared very stern. “He needs to be reliable all the time. Chen Lie clearly falls short.”
Gu Nianzhi was speechless. Fine, she had tried her best. When she recalled how Chen Lie and Huo Shaoheng had hidden this from her, Gu Nianzhi began to feel a bit aggrieved.
Huo Shaoheng then turned around to urge her, saying, “How long do you plan to hide our marriage, anyway? How about we take advantage of giving New Year’s greetings and bring some wedding favor candies over as well?”
Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes internally. He thinks giving a few wedding favor candies during Lunar New Year meant they were married? Sorry, Gu Nianzhi wasn’t that cheap. She sat down and refused to leave. “You can go by yourself if you want to bring wedding favor candies. I won’t admit it, anyway.”
“I was only mentioning it. It’s fine if you refuse.” Huo Shaoheng pulled her up. “Hurry up and get changed. We’re running out of time.”
Gu Nianzhi inhaled deeply and headed to her room. Luckily, she had brought over a few pieces of presentable clothing. Because it was the Lunar New Year, Gu Nianzhi changed into a bright red boat-neck cashmere sweater and put on a peac.o.c.k blue seawater pearl pendant. The pearl pendant was the size of her pinky finger and was flattering against the contrast of the bright red cashmere sweater.
Huo Shaoheng was still in his official military uniform and put on a wool military coat as he stepped out with Gu Nianzhi.
…
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, General Ji’s residence in the military housing complex was filled with people and was extremely lively. Gu Nianzhi followed Huo Shaoheng into the residence’s small courtyard. Before they had even walked inside, they heard bursts of laughter coming from inside the house.
“Shaoheng, what a coincidence. You are also here to give General Ji New Year’s greetings,” Speaker Long’s voice could be heard behind them.
Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng turned around together to see Speaker Long get out of the car with several people. Gu Nianzhi was familiar with one of them; it was Special a.s.sistant Yang.