Chapter 543: Guiren (5)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Are you sure?” General Ji did not seem to trust what Huo Shaoheng had said. He had been “threatened” too much by Huo Shaoheng these past couple of days and realized that he could not understand what was on Huo Shaoheng’s mind anymore.
“Definitely,” Huo Shaoheng replied steadily, a small smile creeping up the corners of his lips and a pen twirling in his hand. The pen dotted the paper occasionally, staining it.
General Ji was lost in his thoughts for a while. Since the marriage application and political review all passed, getting the letter of approval would be in line. Why should he stop Huo Shaoheng at this juncture? Moreover, Huo Shaoheng really wasn’t getting younger…
General Ji nodded, defeated. “Okay, I’ll get Secretary Cao to take you to finish the paperwork.” He paused, then tried to scare Huo Shaoheng again. “We have already agreed that Nianzhi is still young, and you’ve got to consider that as well, about how it’ll affect your career. It would be best to marry her only after her father wakes up. Then she’ll have her biological father attend her wedding. Wouldn’t that be much better? Don’t you think?”
“Mm…” Huo Shaoheng nodded calmly. “I’ve already said that we wouldn’t be married immediately. I can’t do anything if General Ji doesn’t want to believe my words.”
“Fine, fine. It’s not that I don’t believe you. I’m merely reminding you. Actually, it’d be better if you were to finish all your paperwork in one go…” General Ji chuckled for a good while before hanging up.
Huo Shaoheng did not hesitate. He returned to his mansion and had a shower, and then he prepared all his documents. Finally, he drove to the Military Supreme Council. Even though it was a Saturday, the people on duty prepared Huo Shaoheng’s documents diligently, as his was classified as a “special case.”
Huo Shaoheng checked the documents in the meeting room. He looked through every single one of them carefully, word by word. There were 14 signatures from the members of the committee on his marriage application. The political review had the stamps of the members as well, in addition to a reference number to easily file it.
He looked carefully again at the grade and level of the review. He only stopped upon confirming that it was the top grade review. That was because with the top grade review, the chances of them denying the documents would be lowest.
Huo Shaoheng put the two sets of documents in his bag. Then, standing up, he turned to General Ji’s secretary, Secretary Cao, and thanked him. “Thank you for your hard work, Secretary Cao.”
“No worries, no worries! Major General Huo is too polite.” Secretary Cao was a middle-aged man in his forties. Looking at Huo Shaoheng, he smiled widely and said, “I’ll now take Major General Huo to get the letter of approval.”
“Sure, thank you.” Huo Shaoheng took his bag and stood up. He followed Secretary Cao to the Army’s secretarial department to obtain his letters of proof and approval.
He was an active duty soldier and was at the rank of Major General. The management needed to write a special letter of proof and approval if he was to get married. It was a military marriage that was protected, and they had to go through some steps to keep it secret.
Looking at the highest-ranking secretary stamping his letters of proof and approval, Huo Shaoheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With these documents, he would be able to marry Gu Nianzhi any time…
After settling the issue that he was most worried about, Huo Shaoheng realized that he was feeling more relaxed than he imagined he would be. Did he care about this so much? Huo Shaoheng curled the corners of his lips into a smile and placed his bag on the passenger seat beside him. Starting the engine of his car, he left the Military Supreme Council.
As the car entered the Sanhuan expressway, Huo Shaoheng activated his Bluetooth earpiece and called Gu Nianzhi. It rang for a long while, but no one picked up. He glanced at his watch. It was almost noon. Could it be that the little lazy bum is still in bed?
Huo Shaoheng thought for a while before whipping out his phone and opening his GPS tracking system. The avatar representing Gu Nianzhi was a four-leaf clover. The little four-leaf clover on the map indicated that she was in the Sports Stadium of B University.
She’s exercising in the sports stadium? Huo Shaoheng knew how much Gu Nianzhi hated exercising. He looked up at the sky for a bit. The sun did not rise from the west today… Feeling curious, he turned his steering wheel and headed towards B University instead.
He arrived at the entrance of the Sports stadium at about one in the afternoon. Turning the engine off, he got out of the car and looked at his phone. The little four-leaf clover was coming closer to the entrance. Huo Shaoheng put away his phone. Leaning against the sleek black door of his car, he lit a cigarette and took a long puff. Holding the cigarette in one hand, he rested the other on his car, eyes fixed on the main door of the sports stadium.
After a while, Gu Nianzhi, Ma Qiqi, and He Zhichu exited the stadium, talking and laughing happily. He Zhichu asked calmly, “Had your lunch already?”
“Not yet! Is Professor He going to give us a treat?” Ma Qiqi’s eyes lit up, and she nudged Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi smiled and shook her head. “You’re thinking too much, Qiqi. What professor He meant was that he was going to have lunch, and he’s trying to get us to leave.”
He Zhichu glanced at her. “Did I say that?” He paused, then continued, “I heard that there’s a pretty good Hubei restaurant near the south gate. Do you girls happen to like Hubei dishes?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Ma Qiqi nodded enthusiastically. “Professor He likes Hubei dishes, too?”
He Zhichu neither disliked nor liked them, but Gu Nianzhi liked them. Even though He Zhichu wasn’t looking at Gu Nianzhi, his words were meant for her. “Since you like it, let’s go there together. It’s boring to have lunch alone, anyway.”
Gu Nianzhi smiled and turned her head. From the corner of her eyes, she saw someone extremely familiar.
Really?
At this time?
And this place?
Why was he here?
Gu Nianzhi thought that she had missed him too much, causing everyone to look like him. However, that person really looked like him. Even though it was just a glance, it made Gu Nianzhi turn back to take another look. After taking a closer look, Gu Nianzhi opened her eyes wide.
It’s really him!
It’s Huo Shao!
She almost lost control of herself and ran directly towards him. Thankfully, Ma Qiqi and He Zhichu were still with her. That made her use the last bit of her control and not run over. She followed Ma Qiqi and He Zhichu down the steps slowly, then she walked towards Huo Shaoheng.
Even though she walked normally for the first few steps, her speed began increasing after that. She almost jogged to Huo Shaoheng. Panting slightly, she said, “Huo Shao, why are you here?”
Huo Shaoheng had already seen her the moment she exited the stadium. He had intended to walk over to surprise her, but seeing that Ma Qiqi and He Zhichu were with her, he decided against it. He remained standing by his car. He gazed deeply at Gu Nianzhi and acknowledged, “Yeah. Came nearby for a meeting, so I popped by to take a look at you.”
“Oh yeah?” Gu Nianzhi’s eyes turned to little crescents with her smile. The perspiration on her forehead had dampened the stray hairs around her face, and with the pink flush from her exertions earlier, her sparkly eyes stood out even more.
Huo Shaoheng tucked her hair behind her ear. “You’re drenched with perspiration. Why didn’t you have a shower before coming out?”
“Not used to the showers in the stadium, so I wanted to go back to the dormitory to shower,” Gu Nianzhi explained and remembered that Ma Qiqi and He Zhichu were waiting for her. She turned around and looked at them apologetically. “Professor He, Qiqi, I can’t join you guys for lunch anymore…”
He Zhichu looked at Huo Shaoheng and asked coldly, “Since Mr. Huo is here, why don’t we have lunch together?”
Ma Qiqi was hinting at Gu Nianzhi through her winks as well. Gu Nianzhi took a deep breath and took a peek at Huo Shaoheng. Then, she asked softly, “Huo Shao, do you want to go with them?”
Huo Shaoheng contemplated for a while before replying, “You guys have to shower first, yes? Shower before having lunch.” This meant that he had not rejected the invitation.
He Zhichu rolled his flirtatious eyes before telling Gu Nianzhi and Ma Qiqi, “Nianzhi, Qiqi, you girls go back for a quick shower and change of clothes. Then we’ll meet at the entrance of the Hubei restaurant. I’ve already made reservations.”
Since He Zhichu had already said that, and Huo Shaoheng did not object, Gu Nianzhi accepted the invitation daringly.
Turning on the engine, Huo Shaoheng opened the door for Gu Nianzhi and Ma Qiqi, and took them back to their dormitory for their shower. As he was closing the door, Huo Shaoheng turned to He Zhichu. “What a good example Professor is setting for his students by encouraging them to be healthy and active.”
The corners of He Zhichu’s lips twitched, but he couldn’t bring himself to smile. “You flatter me, Mr. Huo. See you later.” Waving his hand, he walked towards the parking lot.
Huo Shaoheng got into his car and drove the girls back to their dormitory. Ma Qiqi felt awkward only after entering Huo Shaoheng’s car. She realized that Gu Nianzhi and her boyfriend didn’t really talk, so she felt really uneasy. She jumped out of the car immediately the moment they arrived at the lobby of their dormitory and walked to the entrance.
When she arrived at the entrance, she bumped into the senior who was interested in her. “Where have you been, Qiqi? You did not pick up my calls.” The senior had been waiting for her for a while now and had been worried that something might have happened to her. He only breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her.
Blushing, Ma Qiqi raised her tennis racquet. “I went for a game of tennis. Is senior looking for me?”
It seemed like the senior was blushing as well, but he mustered up all his courage and said, “I want to take you to a movie. Are you free?”
“Movie? It’s only noon now…” Ma Qiqi felt odd. Don’t movie dates happen at night?
“Yes. I bought the tickets for the night show, but we can have a meal first before we catch the movie.” It seemed like the senior had come prepared. They’d be able to spend more time together like that.
Ma Qiqi understood his intentions and blushed further. Her face now seemed like a ripened apple. Seeing that Gu Nianzhi was still in the car with her boyfriend, she made her decision. “Sure! Give me five minutes. I’ll go and get changed!” She had already had a shower at the stadium, unlike Gu Nianzhi, who was still drenched with sweat.
“Sure. I’ll wait.” The senior was seemingly more relaxed now that she had accepted his invitation, and he smiled handsomely. Ma Qiqi blushed again. She ran into the elevator and into her room. Changing into a cute dress, she patted on some rose powder to brighten her face. Then, she matched her outfit with a little bag before rushing back down.
“Four minutes and 50 seconds.” Ma Qiqi pointed at her watch. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” The senior shook his head. “Let’s go. There’s a Japanese restaurant near the south gate. Do you like sushi?”
“Of course!” Ma Qiqi was a food lover. She’d enjoy it as long as the food was delicious. Ma Qiqi sent He Zhichu and Gu Nianzhi a text as she walked. Professor He/Nianzhi, something cropped up. I cannot join you guys for lunch anymore. Enjoy your lunch!
…
Gu Nianzhi’s phone beeped in Huo Shaoheng’s car. Looking at her phone, she saw that it was a text from Ma Qiqi. Huo Shaoheng sat in his car and remained silent all the while and only turned to ask when Gu Nianzhi’s phone beeped, “Something happened?”