…
When Huo Shaoheng walked out of the Special Operations Forces building, his deep-set eyes began to squint.
The sun had already risen.
The grape purple sky was illuminated with a milky white glow that embellished the edges of the clouds. The sun hid behind cloud layers, in preparation to emerge.
Huo Shaoheng had stayed up all night again, but he wasn’t feeling sleepy at all. Contrarily, he was still very excited.
However, this couldn’t be observed at all.
His steady footsteps calmly left the building as he returned to his official residence.
It wasn’t 6am yet, so Huo Shaoheng changed into his casual clothes and went to the training center to complete his daily mandatory morning exercise, a 10-kilometer cross-country obstacle run.
By the time he came back, he was drenched in sweat and it was already 7am.
He walked through the door carrying the warmth of sunshine with him. Taking off his casual jacket, he had a black T-shirt on as he turned to begin removing his shoes. Suddenly, he saw a lithe body crouch down and set a comfortable pair of shoes at his feet.
It was Gu Nianzhi.
He looked down to see her inky and smooth hair flow like silk down her back. He suddenly felt a bit warm.
It was probably because he needed to run an extra 10 kilometers earlier…
He vaguely thought about this as he picked Gu Nianzhi up from the ground and set her on the shoe rack by the door. With one hand supporting the back of her head and the other holding her waist, he leaned down to kiss her.
Gu Nianzhi gripped the hem of his T-shirt with one hand and gently responded to his kiss. Her other hand rested on his incredibly muscular shoulders.
They were kissing passionately when a great thump sounded from the living room, like someone had fallen over.
Huo Shaoheng let go of Gu Nianzhi before burying his face in the crook of his neck to pant quietly.
Gu Nianzhi’s lively eyes swept past Huo Shaoheng’s broad shoulders as she watched Yin Shixiong crawl up from the floor with a wide grin on his face. He straightened the coffee table he knocked askew.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes turned into crescents as she smiled.
Inhaling deeply, she was intoxicated by Huo Shaoheng’s scent.
He must have just finished exercising, so he still had a faint sweatiness on him. It didn’t smell bad but carried the explosiveness of male hormones.
Like a summer sea breeze caressing her face, it was balmy and carried the unique saltiness from the ocean.
Huo Shaoheng detected her little movements and his heart turned into jelly―he loved her dearly. He gently moved her off the shoe rack and kissed her forehead, “Did you have breakfast yet?”
“I just got up, so I haven’t eaten yet. I was waiting to have breakfast with you.” Gu Nianzhi held his hand while they walked to the living room.
“Good girl. I’ll go take a shower. You can go to the dining room first and wait for me to have breakfast.”
Huo Shaoheng gently patted her shoulder before heading to the spiral staircase.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t even hide the smile on her face when she walked into the living room.
Yin Shixiong was already sitting in the dining room and raised an open morning newspaper to block his face.
When Gu Nianzhi recalled Yin Shixiong’s earlier embarrassment in the living room, she couldn’t help but ask breezily, “Brother Xiong, why did you forget how to walk earlier? You even tripped in the living room.”
She clearly knew that Yin Shixiong had likely witnessed her being intimate with Huo Shaoheng, so he was frightened into falling over. However, she pretended to not know anything at all.
Yin Shixiong revealed a corner of his eye as he snuck a glance from behind the top corner of the morning paper. He finally sighed in relief when he saw Gu Nianzhi was alone and set down the morning paper to grumble sullenly, “Didn’t you know that you’ve violated conduct by openly displaying public affection so early in the morning?!”
Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes, “This is Huo Shao’s official residence, so it’s not a public place. I didn’t even blame you for peeping on us, and you’re trying to accuse me?!”
Yin Shixiong laughed, leaning his body forward and whispering quietly, “…Didn’t you guys break up already? Are you two back together now?”
Gu Nianzhi picked up her cutlery to spread peanut butter on her toast. She replied casually, “Not yet, I’m still thinking about it…”
Yin Shixiong thumped the table, “Don’t try to fool me! Just look at you two. The two of you were kissing so much that your lips were going to merge! And you’re telling me you’re still thinking about it? You almost melted in Huo Shao’s arms already!”
Gu Nianzhi’s cheeks turned pink as she glared at Yin Shixiong, “Why are you talking to me like that? Didn’t Qiqi teach you to pretend not to see these kinds of things, even if you actually saw them?”
Yin Shixiong turned to jelly as soon as he heard Ma Qiqi’s name. He didn’t bother arguing with Gu Nianzhi anymore and replied tiredly, “I haven’t been seeing Qiqi lately.”
Because of the interim elections, Yin Shixiong had been staying in the Senate building for nearly two weeks now. He hadn’t even left the Senate building for a minute.
Gu Nianzhi quickly consoled him, “Are you feeling alright today? Go see her soon, then you can study, eat, and shop with her.”
The only thing on Yin Shixiong’s mind was the issue of his marriage request.
Huo Shaoheng had interrupted him and kept making him rewrite it so much that his hands were nearly cramping from all the writing…
Yin Shixiong’s eyes turned as he sneakily sat down beside Gu Nianzhi to whisper, “Nianzhi, is Huo Shao pursuing you?”
Gu Nianzhi discreetly shifted away from him, “Speak properly if you have something to say, don’t try to sneak around.”
Yin Shixiong chuckled, “I have a favor to ask you. No, Qiqi and I have a favor to ask you.”
Gu Nianzhi poured herself a glass of milk, “What is it? Something to do with you and Qiqi? I will help as long as I can help.”
Yin Shixiong was overjoyed and quickly replied, “Well here’s the thing—I’ve submitted our marriage request several times already, but Huo Shao hasn’t approved it yet. He keeps asking me to rewrite it and I’ve already rewritten it many times!”
Gu Nianzhi was unperturbed, “I might not be able to help you with this. Marriage requests are very solemn matters, so I don’t want to get involved. This is also related to Qiqi’s lifelong happiness, so Huo Shao must be rejecting it because you haven’t it written well enough. Good luck, Brother Xiong! I’ll be supporting you!”
Her words were sweet-sounding but had no intention of helping him at all.
Yin Shixiong glared at her, “Brother Xiong doted on you for nothing!”
At that moment, Huo Shaoheng finished his shower and walked downstairs in a clean military uniform. He asked energetically, “…What do you mean you doted on her for nothing? What is Big Xiong talking about?”
Yin Shixiong’s face turned pale with fear as he quickly stood up to pull the chair out for Huo Shaoheng. He respectfully asked him to sit down and said, “What do you mean, I was only joking around with Nianzhi. Isn’t that right, Nianzhi?”
Gu Nianzhi nodded with a giggle, “Right, Brother Xiong was saying his marriage report was difficult to write, so he asked me to help him write it. I didn’t agree to it, so Brother Xiong said he doted on me for nothing.”
She found a random excuse, so Yin Shixiong was able to sigh in relief and discreetly gave her a thumbs up from under the table.
Huo Shaoheng sat down beside Gu Nianzhi and said with a smile, “Big Xiong, I was already planning on approving your marriage request. What is it? You still think it’s not good enough and want to rewrite it a few more times?”
“Oh?! Really?!” Yin Shixiong was so happy he was about to jump up from his seat, “Didn’t you say you still needed to consider it some more?!”
Yin Shixiong had assumed he was going to be rejected and needed to rewrite it again.
Huo Shaoheng was thinking about how it was going to happen sooner or later anyway…
However, he didn’t bother explaining before grabbing his own breakfast, “I’ve already considered it for a few days and saw how sincere you were. I planned to approve it so you would stop bothering me about it.”
Yin Shixiong clasped his hands together and was about to worship Huo Shaoheng like a god.
He didn’t even bother eating breakfast. He only grabbed a beef bun before telling Huo Shaoheng, “Huo Shao, I’ll take the day off and tell Qiqi the good news!”
“Go on. Bring Qiqi home for dinner when she is free.” Huo Shaoheng waved his hand behind him.
Yin Shixiong ran outside without seeing his gesture.
Gu Nianzhi laughed so hard she nearly sprawled on the table.
Huo Shaoheng ladled a bowl of millet porridge for her, then served a golden, crispy fried donut and two delicate little fish shrimp soup dumplings in front of her.
Gu Nianzhi ate two pieces of toast, drank porridge, had the donut, then cleared away all the shrimp soup dumplings on the dining table.
After devouring all her food, she laid on the chair and lamented, “I gained at least two pounds just from eating breakfast.”
Huo Shaoheng, “…”
His gaze discreetly swept across Gu Nianzhi’s increasing perky chest as he naturally changed the topic, “Are you busy today?”
Gu Nianzhi shook her head, “Not really, but I plan to go back to work at the Senate tomorrow.”
She planned to take a week or so off, but by the fourth or fifth day, she was already sick of it.
It really felt terrible to not have anything to do.
Huo Shaoheng nodded, “Come to the Central Control Room with me later. I need to tell you about a certain situation.”
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes sparkled, “Is this related to Hong Kangquan, Tan Dongbang, and Cai Songyin?”
She had always wanted to know what ended up happening to them.
However, this was within the jurisdiction of Huo Shaoheng and his men’s work, so Gu Nianzhi didn’t dare to ask if they didn’t take the initiative to mention it to her.
Huo Shaoheng laughed, “I guess you could say that.”
…
After having breakfast, Gu Nianzhi followed Huo Shaoheng to the Central Control Room.
She was now familiar with everyone there, since they had shared experience and “fought a war together.”
Although it was on a smokeless battlefield, the fear and intensity were no less than that of a traditional battlefield.
The bond between fellow soldiers was stronger than friendship since they had experienced life and death together.
Gu Nianzhi walked inside, waving and greeting everyone before finally walking into Huo Shaoheng’s private office.
Huo Shaoheng had his own office in the Central Control Room.
He typically didn’t go inside since he worked in the lobby with everyone.
He would only go into his own office when he had to deal with a confidential assignment or needed to hold one-on-one meetings with his subordinates.
Gu Nianzhi walked inside and closed the office door. She sat across from Huo Shaoheng’s desk as she patted her chest with curiosity, “What is it, Huo Shao? You are being too serious and I’m feeling very scared…”
Although she claimed she was “scared,” her expression didn’t reveal any fear at all.
Huo Shaoheng ignored her and turned on the computer, “Come here, I want to show you something.”
Gu Nianzhi got up to stand beside Huo Shaoheng so she could look at the computer monitor with him.
There were three wide-screen monitors on Huo Shaoheng’s desk. The middle monitor displayed an invalid IP address.
A four-digit, invalid phone number that claimed to be an “international number.”
Gu Nianzhi was very familiar with that particular IP address. She pointed to it and said, “Isn’t this our old friend? What is it? Are they also Hong Kangquan’s comrade?”
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