973 Pa.s.serby A and Pa.s.serby B
Gu Nianzhi went into her room and sat on the sofa. She opened the video of Ma Qiqi and Yin s.h.i.+xiong’s engagement and watched it a few more times. Putting other scenes aside, Gu Nianzhi was the most envious of how this couple had parents and relatives to share the moment with. Besides his mother, father, and uncles, Yin s.h.i.+xiong had grandparents from both his paternal and maternal sides too. Ma Qiqi had grandparents from both her paternal and maternal sides as well, but they had not gone to Yin s.h.i.+xiong’s hometown.
However, when they got married, they might have to hold a banquet for both their families. That would be… so many relatives!
That was how a wedding should be…
Huo Shaoheng followed her upstairs and knocked on the door of Gu Nianzhi’s door. Upon seeing that she had not locked her door, he opened the door and entered her room.
He saw Gu Nianzhi sitting on the sofa, engrossed in whatever she was watching on her phone. Huo Shaoheng sat beside her but it did not take her attention away from the screen. “…What’s so nice about looking at the engagement party of others?” Huo Shaoheng took the phone away from Gu Nianzhi’s hands and did not allow her to watch it anymore.
“Give it back! This is the engagement party of my best friend and best brother. Why can’t I watch it now?” Gu Nianzhi could not help but roll her eyes at Huo Shaoheng. “I think you’re just jealous.”
Huo Shaoheng shook his head speechlessly. “Me? Jealous? I just didn’t expect Big Xiong to use such an extravagant but impractical way to propose.”
Gu Nianzhi fumed the moment she heard that. “Extravagant but impractical?! Huo Shao, then what is extravagant and practical to you? Can you provide me with an example?!”
“Why are you so agitated? You want that as well?” Huo Shaoheng leaned diagonally on the sofa and used one hand to support his head, watching the angry Gu Nianzhi.
“What has that got to do with me?” Gu Nianzhi refused to be tricked by him. “This is the proposal ceremony that Brother Xiong prepared for Qiqi. He would have achieved his goal as long as Qiqi was happy. As for your opinions, Huo Shao, they are not relevant and would never affect the couple at all. In their eyes, you are nothing but a pa.s.serby.”
Huo Shaoheng nodded. “Alright. I am pa.s.serby A. That must make you pa.s.serby B?”
Gu Nianzhi felt defeated. All her anger dissipated into the air. With a dejected tone, she said, “Yes. I am pa.s.serby B.”
That was why she was fated to be with pa.s.serby A…
Huo Shaoheng added the last sentence in his mind. However, seeing how Gu Nianzhi was feeling down, he changed the topic. “I managed to get you the past year’s questions of the hiring exercise from the Senate. Do you want to look through them?”
To a scholar, looking through questions was a daily necessity. They do it when they were in a good mood, and do it when they were not in a good mood. When a scholar was in an average mood… It was nice for them to look through a couple of sets of questions to calm themselves down.
Gu Nianzhi’s attention was successfully moved. “There are exam questions as well?!”
“Yes. When the secretary’s office of the Senate runs a hiring exercise, there are two rounds, the written exam and the interview. From past experiences, the exams are made up of the same questions, and they vary based on the positions. The questions will be relevant to the jobs that the applicants are applying for.”
Gu Nianzhi immediately replied, “Send it to me soon. I will sleep after looking through them.”
Huo Shaoheng gestured for her to go to the computer. “I have already sent it to your email.”
Gu Nianzhi got up and went straight into her room, as there was a computer in there that was set up for her. After Gu Nianzhi left, Huo Shaoheng took out his phone and sent Yin s.h.i.+xiong a text. “Big Xiong, your marriage report did not pa.s.s its requirements. I have returned it. Get it redone.”
…
From the second day of Lunar New Year to the fourteenth day, Gu Nianzhi spent every day helping Zhao Liangze, who was in Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, to synchronize the connections between him, the Nandou Satellite system, and the computer program in the Hua Xia Empire. When she was free, she looked through the examination questions for the Secretary Office job in the Senate.
As for Huo Shaoheng, he left Di Capital completely during this time. He was truly busy.
Ever since Gu Nianzhi had returned to stay in his living quarters in the Special Forces Headquarters, Huo Shaoheng did not have to worry about her safety. Therefore, he made use of the opportunity to greet the lower-ranking soldiers who were on duty during the lunar new year with General Ji.
He was accompanying General Ji for this trip this time around as the a.s.sistant Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Military Supreme Council. The area he was in charge of did not include only the secret department of the Special Forces anymore. He had to go around the entire army to visit everyone.
Since General Ji had been nurturing him as his successor, he could not allow Huo Shaoheng to remain in the background forever. Therefore, General Ji was letting Huo Shaoheng get familiarized with the work done in other areas of the army.
This visiting of the lower-ranking soldiers during the lunar new year was the first official trip that Huo Shaoheng had attended as the a.s.sistant Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Military Supreme Council. The trip was not publicized and was heavily protected. Only select media members were allowed to go along with them to doc.u.ment the process and report on it to the public.
For half of the month, Gu Nianzhi did not contact Huo Shaoheng. Occasionally, when Huo Shaoheng called her at night, Gu Nianzhi would be talking about work with Zhao Liangze, who was in South Africa, or her phone was turned off while she looked through the examination questions. After a couple of futile attempts to call Gu Nianzhi, Huo Shaoheng stopped trying.
Although Gu Nianzhi did not contact Huo Shaoheng, she could still see him on the news on a daily basis. He was wearing a military hat most of the time, standing beside the old but energetic General Ji. He was low-key and silent most of the time, still exuding the aura of being stable and mature. No one could ignore his presence.
Although his face was never clearly shown to the public from the media coverage, the aura that he exuded was so attractive that even the most handsome idol could not compare. In no time at all, Huo Shaoheng had become one of the top-searched people on the social media platforms in the Hua Xia Empire.
Every single day, people gushed over his appearance on the television.
#Have you watched the news today?
#Handsomeness
#I never thought that I would look forward to the news every evening!
#That soldier is so handsome I want to marry him!
#The army finally did something right
#All of a sudden, I dream of protecting my country
Every single time Huo Shaoheng appeared on the television, he also appeared in the top searches the next day. Not even General Ji had expected such popularity.
And there was not even a clear image of Huo Shaoheng’s face!
How had this popularity surfaced?
Huo Shaoheng did not wish to have this much publicity attached to him. Therefore, after discussing this with the media who were following them, it was agreed upon that footage of Huo Shaoheng would only be allowed to show his back view to the public. Therefore, even unclear images of his face were removed.
However, even when only his back was shown, the clever fans managed to point him out.
#Totally cannot believe that such a handsome person would have such a handsome back as well!
#My dear soldier has a gorgeous back that I want to hug him from behind!
#I only thought that I could fall for people based on their looks or voices. Little did I realize that I could fall in love with someone from their back!
#My dear soldier, does your mother know that you have such a beautiful back?!
#Protesting that the media is jealous of good looking people! You are purposely not showing my dear soldier’s front view!!!
The comment section on the social media platform of the media company seemed like it was the lunar new year every single day.
Those who were gus.h.i.+ng, those who were nitpicking, those who were arguing, those who were using all their efforts to make him famous, and there were haters, fans and hackers who created fake accounts to gossip about Huo Shaoheng… They all made official social media accounts so lively and popular that the channel finally got a taste of what it was like to be an influencer.
It felt toxic because it felt so good!
It did not feel like giving it up!
…
Gu Nianzhi had taken the important job of connecting with Zhao Liangze, who was in South Africa. She could finally understand how tough the daily work of Huo Shaoheng and his men was after working in the Special Forces for some time.
They had to be on full-alert all day, every single day. It was a challenge of the brain, and physical and focal powers, as a high level of each of these were required. Especially when Gu Nianzhi was reminded that what she was doing might affect the lives and deaths of countless people, she felt even more responsible to do it right. She did not dare to hold back any of her energy.
When she finally returned to Huo Shaoheng’s mansion at night, she would look through the exam questions. Doing that, to her, was a form of relaxation.
Then, before turning in, she would have a couple of minutes left to look through Weibo and keep herself updated on the news around her. However, the moment she opened the application and saw those comments from the crazy fans of Huo Shaoheng, her head would ache.
She had already been extremely heartless and blacklisted many people. However, the main page still had countless news stories on Huo Shaoheng. To be more accurate, they were stories about how people were gus.h.i.+ng over Huo Shaoheng.
Just like that, Huo Shaoheng had become famous overnight. Gu Nianzhi felt that something was amiss.
True, Huo Shaoheng was handsome, so handsome that anyone would lose themselves and fall for him the moment they set their eyes on him… He could have mesmerized many people with his looks, but the problem was he had never shown his face before!
How could he have such a huge fan base just based on his side profile and back view? How was it possible for him to get into the top searches multiple times? No matter if you believed it possible or not, Gu Nianzhi did not.