Chapter 537: Bros before Hos (4)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It wasn’t a secret that Gu Nianzhi had lost her memories, because too many people knew about it. Moreover, because of that, the Special Forces had spent so many years trying to look for her family to no avail. Shrugging her shoulders, she said casually, “Nothing much, I just don’t remember.”
“Don’t remember?” Gu Yanran’s narrow eyes widened, and she repeated to herself, “How could you not remember? Do you really not remember anything? Mom, Dad, me… Our home… How could you not remember?”
“I have no idea.” Gu Nianzhi knocked on her head lightly. “I want to remember, but there’s no way. The moment I try to think about what happened that year, I get an unbearable, splitting headache.”
“What? Headache? That’s serious.” Gu Yanran became worried. “How long has it been hurting for? Do you want to get it checked? I know the best brain surgeon and neurology doctors in America. I can contact them and bring you over for a check up?”
“No, no, it’s okay. I’m fine as long as I don’t think about what happened in the past.” Gu Nianzhi put her chopsticks down and had a sip of plum wine. “Besides, I’ve found you and Dad. All the more reason I won’t have to think of the past anymore.”
Gu Yanran nodded in agreement. “No wonder. Sigh, I’m too careless. Your name is already Gu Nianzhi, and it didn’t even occur to me to check if you were my sister. It led us to have to travel another big round before we could be reunited.”
Speaking of which, Gu Nianzhi was reminded of He Zhichu. She moved closer to Gu Yanran and tried to ask, “Sis, have you known Professor He for a long time already? He seems to know you well…”
“Well… quite, but not exactly.” Gu Yanran smiled knowingly. “I got to know Lawyer He about three or four years ago. Got to know him because of some family matters we had to settle. His a.s.sistant, Wen Shouyi, was my representative.”
Gu Nianzhi did not have a good impression of Wen Shouyi, so she pouted and moved back to her seat, quietly digesting what Gu Yanran said. If what she said was true, that He Zhichu only got to know Gu Yanran three or four years ago, and it was only that time that the He’s and Gu’s got involved with each other, then why did He Zhichu behave as though he had known her for a long time? And He Zhichu did have a lot of evidence indicating that he really had known her for a long time…
However, about three or four years ago, Gu Nianzhi was already being well protected in the Hua Xia Empire Special Forces Headquarters in C City. She had no opportunities to meet He Zhichu as well then.
How strange.
“You guys really got to know each other only three or four years ago?” Gu Nianzhi poured Gu Yanran another cup of wine. “I thought the He’s and Gu’s were close family friends…”
Gu Yanran sighed and said sadly, “Haha, it’d be great if we were…” She held Gu Nianzhi’s hand on the table. “Then I wouldn’t be in such a difficult position. Nianzhi, I used to be the only one supporting the entire Gu family. Thankfully, you’re back now. We can work together towards a common goal, so those people won’t dare to harbor ill thoughts about our family’s a.s.sets anymore.”
“Those people? Who?” Gu Nianzhi had heard about the incident from Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao Liangze where Gu Yanran was kidnapped by a group of masked snipers. It was because of this that she and Huo Shaoheng had spent the night together. Gu Nianzhi was uncomfortable each time she thought about it. However, she knew that it wasn’t totally Huo Shaoheng’s fault, and Gu Yanran, judging by her behavior now, seemed like she did not have feelings towards Huo Shaoheng, so she suppressed her unhappiness and jealousy. Whether she was upset or jealous, as long as it did not put others in a bad position, it was merely a normal way of expressing emotions as a human.
“I don’t know who they are, either.” Gu Yanran shrugged. “Nianzhi, since you don’t remember anything from the past, let me tell you, our father, Gu Xiangwen, is an extremely outstanding scholar and engineer. He invented many things that were, and are still, useful for everyone and had them patented. Our annual income, if we were to just base it on patent collection, is already a huge figure.”
“Oh.” Gu Nianzhi merely acknowledged it and had no other form of reaction.
Gu Yanran secretly observed Gu Nianzhi’s expression when she told her about their family’s income. She realized that Gu Nianzhi wasn’t interested in the Gu’s wealth. She secretly nodded in agreement. If she were someone who merely wanted to pose as Gu Nianzhi, she’d have looked excited at the mention of their wealth, and Gu Yanran would have to be wary of her. However, it seemed like Gu Nianzhi really didn’t care about it. Of course, it might be due to her amazing acting, if she was doing it. A meal wouldn’t allow Gu Yanran to see through her. Gu Yanran decided to wait and see.
Gu Nianzhi really wasn’t interested in the Gu’s wealth. To someone who donated a million US dollars without batting an eyelid, wealth was just a figure to Gu Nianzhi.
“Look at you. It really seems like you don’t know anything about the Gu’s.” Gu Yanran said, smiling awkwardly. “Well, it’s no wonder. You have a boyfriend like Huo Shao, so you wouldn’t need to bother much about the Gu’s, but no matter what, you’re a daughter of the Gu’s. Let me prepare a good dowry for you when you’re getting married, okay?”
“Why are we talking about dowry now? That’s so old fas.h.i.+oned.” Gu Nianzhi laughed and changed the topic. “Sis, what about you? Where’s my… future brother-in-law?”
Gu Nianzhi had initially wanted to say, “brother-in-law,” but she observed that Gu Yanran had no ring on her left ring finger. Therefore, she knew that Gu Yanran wasn’t married and changed her sentence to, “future brother-in-law.”
“Future brother-in-law?” It was Gu Yanran’s turn to laugh. “Your sister here isn’t as lucky as you. I’m already 25, but still single.”
“What? How can that be? Sis you’re so pretty. You haven’t had a boyfriend before?” Gu Nianzhi looked at Gu Yanran all over, not believing her words.
“Used to have a boyfriend, but we broke up,” Gu Yanran said matter of factly. “You don’t expect your sister to be almost 26 already and still be a virgin?”
Gu Nianzhi blushed at the mention of that, lowered her head, and ate some vegetables quickly. Gu Yanran watched Gu Nianzhi blush. Her almost jade-white fair skin on her ear lobes had turned a bright shade of pink. When the lights from the top of the room s.h.i.+ned on her, you could see the fine hair on the back of her neck, like the hair of a baby, so soft and fragile. A lady who was only about 18 or 19, beautiful from top to toe, looking as young as ever, she really looked like a flower just about to blossom…
Gu Yanran sighed thoughtfully and looked at her watch. “Why did Huo Shao disappear for so long?” Taking a call would take up almost half an hour?
Gu Nianzhi looked at her watch as well. “Oh yeah. Was there an emergency?”
Gu Yanran knew Hua Xia Empire’s Minister Feng from the Secret Service well. She knew all along that Huo Shaoheng’s ident.i.ty wasn’t that of a normal person, but it wasn’t until Xu Piaohong leaked the secret that time when the video of her and Huo Shaoheng went online that she confirmed her guesses. That a man like him with such high authority and power would love her little sister so much, Gu Yanran felt truly happy for her.
Gu Yanran looked at Gu Nianzhi’s watch from the corner of her eyes. It caught her attention and she asked, “Did I see correctly? This watch has a female version? I’ve asked them many times, but they told me that they only manufactured the male version for this design.”
Gu Nianzhi pulled her sleeve down and covered the watch. The corners of her lips curled upwards uncontrollably. She said as calmly as possible, “Huo Shao gave it to me. He said that he got them to customize it. He has one, and this is mine.”
“What? It’s a couple’s watch!? No wonder!” Gu Yanran exclaimed. “Huo Shao is such a capable person. He could even get the people from that proud brand to customize a set of couple’s watches for him!”
Gu Nianzhi smiled and remained quiet. Standing up, she said, “Let me go and see if anything is the matter.”
Before she could exit the room, the door opened. It was Yin s.h.i.+xiong. He popped his head in and asked, “Nianzhi, something cropped up. We have to go. Mr. Huo asks if you want to leave with us.”
“What? So fast?” Gu Nianzhi hesitated and turned around to look at Gu Yanran. She saw that she sat at the table filled with good wine and food, but she was all alone. Loneliness was written all over her face.
When Gu Yanran saw what happened, she waved to Gu Nianzhi and said, “Go, go. Huo Shao is more important than me. Don’t throw tantrums anymore.”
“Since when!?” Gu Nianzhi retorted but continued, “Then I’ll leave now, sis. Let’s keep in touch.”
“Sure.” Gu Yanran raised her gla.s.s and took a sip of wine, but did not turn around to look at her.
Gu Nianzhi could tell that she was unhappy, but asking her to sacrifice Huo Shaoheng and remain with Gu Yanran, wouldn’t she be stupid? Sighing, she followed Yin s.h.i.+xiong out of the restaurant to the parking lot. Yin s.h.i.+xiong opened the car door for her, and Gu Nianzhi looked into the car. Zhao Liangze sat knowingly at the other end of the back seat. Huo Shaoheng sat in the middle, looking like he was waiting for her.
Gu Nianzhi smiled at him and said awkwardly, “Huo Shao, you can leave now if you have something on.” However, in her heart, she was thinking, You’ll be dead if you leave now…
Huo Shaoheng frowned and looked at her. Reaching out his hand, he said, “Come in.” He sounded a bit stern with a slightly strict tone that she was so familiar with, something she couldn’t bring herself to say no to. Pouting, she entered the car.
Fan Jian started the engine in no time and drove into the night towards the south gate of B University. No one spoke along the way. Gu Nianzhi and Yin s.h.i.+xiong were the talkative ones usually, but they were both quiet now. As for Zhao Liangze, he wouldn’t talk if no one else started talking.
Huo Shaoheng draped an arm over the seat on Gu Nianzhi’s back habitually and rubbed his temples using the other hand. He was almost expressionless, but it was clear that something rather urgent had cropped up.
Gu Nianzhi began feeling uneasy. She wanted to probe, but with so many people in the car, she couldn’t bring herself to whine in front of everyone, so she remained silent like everyone else. However, it took her a lot of effort to remain quiet.
After a painfully long time, they finally arrived at the lobby of Gu Nianzhi’s dormitory. Fan Jian, Yin s.h.i.+xiong, and Zhao Liangze exited the car, leaving the couple with some personal s.p.a.ce for a while. With no outsiders around, they felt more at ease.
Huo Shaoheng pulled Gu Nianzhi’s shoulders lightly, and she took the cue and leaned into his embrace. After finding a comfortable spot, she remained there contentedly. Huo Shaoheng caressed her head, feeling her soft, silky hair and took a deep breath. He thought of the mission that he had to face shortly and Gu Nianzhi’s uneasiness, and finally told her, “Nianzhi, I’ve submitted a request for marriage to the management.”
Gu Nianzhi was shocked speechless. “@[email protected]”