1001 Lovesickness Was No Illness
Gu Nianzhi could feel her heart acting like an old engine. After sputtering violently several times, it completely stopped beating. She sat across from Tan Guiren, hearing her crisp voice echoing next to her ear, watching her bright red, tiny lips continuously moving before her.
She could hear every word she said, yet she was unable to put the words she said together to comprehend. Like a patient with dyslexia, she could see every word before her, yet she was unable to recognize the meaning of the words. She slowly straightened her back and tightly gripped the silver spoon. She exerted so much strength that she nearly twisted the spoon.
Tan Guiren was a bit overwhelmed as soon as she mentioned Huo Shaoheng. “That night I wasn’t feeling well and tossed around, unable to sleep. I thought that I was going to die. Suddenly, the door was kicked open, and a man as strapping as a god stood at the entrance. He wore a helmet and balaclava, with a large pair of sunglasses covering half his face. I couldn’t see what he looked like. At that moment I didn’t know who he was, so I instantly sat up and my heart nearly leapt out of my throat. The person broke the lock to my cage with one gunshot, then reached his hand out and said, ‘Miss Tan? Hurry up and come with me. Your father sent me here to rescue you.’
“Miss Gu, you don’t understand how ecstatic I felt at that moment. At the moment of life and death, someone fell from the sky and said my daddy had sent him to rescue me. I instantly lunged over without any pride to latch onto his leg to beg him to save me… That place really wasn’t a place for humans. All those people were beasts! They didn’t show mercy even to the children!”
The scene of Huo Shaoheng rescuing her had replayed countless times in Tan Guiren’s heart. Even now, every action and every word spoken was still vivid in her mind and engraved in her heart.
Tan Guiren reached out to grab Gu Nianzhi’s hand to shake. She said to Gu Nianzhi with emotion, “Miss Gu, do you understand how I feel? All the things my daddy and mommy have done for me?! They were able to ask Major General Huo to save me, so how can I stand idle when my daddy and mommy are in trouble? Miss Gu, I’m begging you. Please don’t sue my daddy and mommy, ok?”
Gu Nianzhi finally came back to her senses and languidly removed her hand from Tan Guiren’s. Her entire body trembled slightly. Although there seemed to be countless honey bees flying into her head and buzzing, making her unable to concentrate or think, she still tried hard to clear her thoughts and attempted to ask calmly, “You’re saying that your father was the one who sent Major General Huo to the United States to rescue you? But your father was only the minister of justice at that time and was not yet the prime minister. What right did he have to send a major general to go save someone abroad?”
“Oh? That… I’m not too sure about…” Tan Guiren began to stammer. At that moment, she recalled her mommy had reminded her to never tell anyone else about how Huo Shaoheng went to rescue her. Tan Guiren stuck out her tongue guiltily.
“You’re not sure?” Gu Nianzhi raised a brow and suppressed the discomfort and displeasure in her heart. Spreading her palms, she said to Tan Guiren, “You’re not sure? Then I find it very difficult to believe you.”
“I’m telling you the truth! I swear to God that I didn’t tell you a single lie!” Tan Guiren grew anxious and raised her hand to swear.
Gu Nianzhi squeezed Tan Guiren’s hand while shaking her head. She replied dryly, “Then you’d better tell me clearly. I’m a lawyer, so I only believe in evidence and logic. I won’t believe something without logic.” It was very obvious that Gu Nianzhi still believed there was something wrong with Tan Guiren’s narration about how Huo Shaoheng said he had been sent by her father.
From the perspective of jurisdiction, Tan Dongbang had only been the minister of justice in the cabinet at that time. Huo Shaoheng was a major general in the military and the chief of the Special Operations Forces.
Aside from them not even belonging to the same system, Huo Shaoheng’s position was naturally no higher ranking than Tan Dongbang’s. However, it was certainly no lower than Tan Dongbang’s, either. So who gave Tan Dongbang the authority to send Huo Shaoheng abroad to rescue his daughter?
Gu Nianzhi left Tan Guiren without any choice. She then recalled how Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng used to be boyfriend and girlfriend, so they couldn’t be considered outsiders if they were that intimate, right? It should be fine to tell her this?
Tan Guiren gritted her teeth before saying quietly, “Actually, it wasn’t my father who had the authority to send Major General Huo to rescue me. He begged someone from the military and asked them to step in to rescue me.”
“Oh? Really?” Gu Nianzhi discreetly pushed the recording pen a bit closer to Tan Guiren. “There are so many capable people in the military. Why did your father have to go ask for Major General Huo?”
Tan Guiren’s face flushed. She answered honestly, “My mommy told me that her friend recommended him and said that Major General Huo was the most capable. He would be sure to rescue me as long as he stepped in.”
“Your mommy’s friend? Who? Do you know them?” Gu Nianzhi rested her head on her fist, leaning on the coffee table. Her gaze was gentle yet attentive. She regarded Tan Guiren coolly.
“I don’t know them.” Tan Guiren shook her head. “My mommy works in media and has many friends, but she never allows me to meet those friends.” Tan Guiren’s life was actually very simple. All she did was practice violin, read books, travel from campus to her home, then from her home to campus. Tan Dongbang and Cai Songyin had protected her too well, so she was truly a princess in an ivory tower.
Gu Nianzhi squinted and contemplated whether or not she should believe Tan Guiren. She still felt that there was something that didn’t make sense in all of this. And what she understood best was who Huo Shaoheng was as a person. If he was unwilling to do something outside of his area of responsibility, then no one could instruct him to do it.
Was rescuing Tan Guiren considered within the scope of Huo Shaoheng’s area of responsibility? Gu Nianzhi didn’t believe it was. But if this was outside of his area of responsibility, then why did he have to go?
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes quickly swept over Tan Guiren, her heart uneasy. Could Huo Shaoheng really have affection towards this innocent little white flower? Was that why he made the exception to go rescue her?
Or perhaps there was another reason she didn’t know about. Gu Nianzhi remembered clearly what happened at the time. One day, Huo Shaoheng suddenly went abroad. In the beginning, she guessed that Huo Shaoheng went to New York to complete a mission. However, Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze refused to give her an answer. They neither said yes or no.
Soon afterwards, she received a silk scarf Huo Shaoheng sent from Germany. By now she knew that there was something wrong with the silk scarf being sent from Germany. Although Huo Shaoheng really had sent it to her, he had used a French mail forwarding address, not a German one. In short, he wouldn’t let her know that his true location was in the United States. And it was because of this slight coincidence that Gu Nianzhi was attracted to going to Germany.
Afterwards, she was even deceived by a text, which appeared to have been sent by Huo Shaoheng, into going to the Königssee near Munich. She then fell into the enemy’s trap…
The difference from Tan Guiren’s encounter was that Gu Nianzhi didn’t have a high-ranking father who could send the capable Major General Huo to come rescue her. Instead, she had only fallen into a trap because of the silk scarf and text message from “Major General Huo.”
With this thought, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help mocking herself. This was the result of being lovesick… As an orphan girl without parents, she must recognize her own identity and not be too lovesick. Lovesickness was no illness, but the sickness could become lethal… Gu Nianzhi quietly snickered. She thought her past self was pitiful and disappointing.
Tan Guiren waited for a long time, but Gu Nianzhi still hadn’t replied. She couldn’t help but quietly beg her again, “Miss Gu, can’t you accommodate us?! Don’t sue my daddy and mommy! I’m begging you!”
Gu Nianzhi lowered her gaze to look at the completely cooled cappuccino. All the foam had dissipated to reveal the true appearance underneath. It looked like yellow muddy water, so she completely lost her appetite.
After a while, Gu Nianzhi finally mumbled with hesitance, “Miss Tan, I will promise to not sue your daddy and mommy if you can help me with one thing.”
“Ok! I’ll certainly help you if I’m capable of it!” Tan Guiren was very surprised and immediately agreed.
Gu Nianzhi smiled. “Don’t agree so quickly. I still have a condition.”
“Tell me, tell me!” Tan Guiren wasn’t afraid of Gu Nianzhi mentioning a condition. She was worried that Gu Nianzhi wouldn’t mention anything at all and only proceed to sue her daddy and mommy…
“Ok. If you can tell me who gave your mommy the suggestion that Major General go to the United States to rescue you, I won’t sue them.” Gu Nianzhi shrugged. “I’m only very curious and want to know who had such high regard for Major General Huo.”
Tan Guiren thought about it. “I can go ask my mommy about it.”
“You can’t let your mommy know that I’m the one asking you to investigate it.” Gu Nianzhi offered her condition. “If your mommy and daddy discover that I want to know who that person is, then our agreement will be invalidated. I will continue to sue them.”
“I understand! I will never tell them!” Tan Guiren raised her hand again to swear.
This time, Gu Nianzhi didn’t move to stop her. She only nodded coolly. “Ok, I’ll trust you this one time,” she said, although she didn’t have much confidence in Tan Guiren.
Gu Nianzhi was certain that Huo Shaoheng’s incident should be considered confidential. All of Huo Shaoheng’s missions, especially the Special Operations Forces’ missions, were confidential to the public.
When she had desperately tried to glean information from Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze in the beginning, those two had kept their lips clamped shut. They didn’t reveal a single word to her at all. They just allowed her to keep guessing…
But Tan Guiren still revealed this incident to someone who shouldn’t have heard about it, like Gu Nianzhi. Gu Nianzhi had actually already given an additional condition by putting in this request.
If Tan Guiren could keep her promise to help her find that person, then that would certainly be the icing on the cake. It wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t, since Gu Nianzhi already possessed the most critical thing.
Gu Nianzhi shut off the recording pen and nodded to Tan Guiren. “Very well, I’ll give you three days. I will meet you here in three days, at the same time.”
“Ok. I’ll go ask. I won’t let them know it’s because of you.” Tan Guiren nodded quickly.
Gu Nianzhi had to be very careful to not leak intelligence this time, since it involved Tan Guiren taking the initiative to act. After Tan Guiren left, Gu Nianzhi also went upstairs. She sat alone in her seat and didn’t do much for the rest of the day. She only sat in dazed silence.
When the work day was finished, she was the first one to leave the Senate building and returned to her apartment in Hepingli. Turning on her computer, she calmly opened a hacking program to send Cai Songyin’s phone a recording of Tan Guiren from this afternoon. Of course, she edited the part of the recording where Tan Guiren spoke about her kidnapping experience.
Gu Nianzhi also sent a text. “Mrs. Tan, if you insist on suing the original blogger, your daughter’s imprisonment erotica will quickly go viral online.”