Hello, Mr. Major General

Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips and said, “Huo Shao, you’ve fallen into his trap. Professor He said that Reinitz liked to play games with beautiful women, but he never specifically referred to me, so why did you mention me?” She was a master of word traps, so he couldn’t have fooled her. Huo Shaoheng was probably the only one who would fall victim to such a trap.

He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng both looked at her, then averted their gazes and turned away. With a defeated expression on his face, Huo Shaoheng said lightly, “Well, seems like I have misinterpreted his words. Professor He is of the legal profession, so I’m no match for him in this word game.”

Gu Nianzhi was momentarily speechless. As far as Gu Nianzhi knew, Huo Shaoheng was no less eloquent than He Zhichu. He Zhichu lowered his eyes, and without saying anything further, slammed the door in both of their faces.

Gu Nianzhi touched her nose and yawned, then murmured, “I’ll go back and sleep some more.”

Huo Shaoheng wanted to take Gu Nianzhi to his official residence, but thinking of Reinitz, changed his mind. “Let’s go.” Huo Shaoheng went downstairs with Gu Nianzhi.

When the two came downstairs, Gu Nianzhi saw Huo Shaoheng’s modified Hummer SUV with the extended military specifications and smiled at Huo Shaoheng. “How can you just park such a car out in the open like that? Aren’t you afraid that others will gossip about you?”

Huo Shaoheng didn’t answer this hypothetical question. He nonchalantly pulled open the car door for her and then got in as well. “Go to the Hepingli Precinct,” Huo Shaoheng instructed the orderly Fan Jian from the back seat.

The Hepingli Precinct was the second-hand housing district Gu Nianzhi had bought her house in. She had originally thought that Huo Shaoheng was taking her to the official residence of his headquarters and was thinking of making up an excuse to refuse. Now seeing him take the initiative by bringing her back to her own residence, she was relieved. Sitting in the back seat, she soon fell asleep.

The fever from the previous night had really exhausted her and depleted her energy. Since sleeping was one of the ways for the human body to heal itself, people who were frail or recovering from serious illnesses often felt drowsy.

When Gu Nianzhi woke up, she found herself in her own bedroom in her apartment in the Hepingli community neighborhood. Sunlight beamed through the partially closed curtains and sprinkled a layer of beautiful gold dust on the bay window sills inlaid with cherry wood.

Gu Nianzhi rubbed her eyes while mumbling and sat up. Raising her eyes, she saw a figure in an upright position sitting at her desk, furiously typing away on the keyboard of his laptop. The computer monitor was packed with dense green data.

She raised her wrist and looked at her watch. It was already past five o’clock in the afternoon. When they had come back from Professor He’s place, it was about nine o’clock in the morning. She had fallen asleep soon after returning, so did that mean Huo Shaoheng had stayed there with her the entire time? That had never happened before.

Gu Nianzhi sat on the bed with her knees folded and looked at Huo Shaoheng’s back with a mirthful expression on her face. Huo Shaoheng had indeed stayed there all day to accompany her.

Although her fever had already subsided, Huo Shaoheng was still not assured, and he had called to have Chen Lie bring him a medical kit comparable to the ones that field hospitals used. After using the advanced medical equipment to ensure that she no longer had a fever or any other physical problems, only then did he permit Chen Lie to leave.

After Chen Lie left, Huo Shaoheng turned on his laptop computer and connected it to the central control system to start working. He had been tracing where the AI programming language had hidden the true data. In the complex and murky world of programming languages, it was a heavy workload to find the hidden data among the masses of codes, and since the sudden appearance of an uncanny magnetic field in C City interrupted his work, his work had been delayed for a while. However, it wasn’t too late for him to get back on track now.

Hong Kangquan had become a wanted fugitive, yet he still had not been located. Huo Shaoheng was sure Hong Kangquan had not crossed the border yet and was still in the Huaxia Empire.

After working attentively for four to five hours, he suddenly felt that his neck was a little sore, so he stretched out his hands to rub it. As if suddenly remembering something, he turned his head sharply.

Gu Nianzhi waved her hands at him with a smile on her face. “I am awake, Huo Shao!”

Huo Shaoheng was momentarily speechless. After turning around to turn off the computer, he got up and walked to Gu Nianzhi’s bed, reached out, and touched her forehead. Her temperature seemed normal. Huo Shaoheng patted her sleepy face. “Are you hungry? What do you want to eat tonight?”

Gu Nianzhi nodded and replied honestly, “I’m hungry. Starving, actually.” Even though He Zhichu had provided a decadent breakfast for her in the morning, and Gu Nianzhi had declared that she would feel stuffed for at least three days, in reality, she couldn’t survive a day without eating.

Huo Shaoheng also remembered what Gu Nianzhi said in the morning and touched her head. “Fan Jian bought two groupers and some sea cucumber. I’ve also made some scallop and grouper porridge in the saucepan, along with some stew with red dates and sea cucumbers.”

Huo Shaoheng hadn’t even finished speaking, yet Gu Nianzhi couldn’t stop herself from drooling. Swallowing hard, she ran out of bed and towards the bathroom and shouted, “Huo Shao, set the food on the table. I’ll wash my face quickly!”

Huo Shaoheng grinned and headed towards the kitchen to bring out the soup and porridge and set them on the table. As soon as he finished setting the dishes, he heard the doorbell ring. He was bewildered. Who would visit Gu Nianzhi at such an hour? If the visitor was a friend, they’d definitely call beforehand. If the visitor was an unfamiliar person, then they would not have been able to enter the community. The doorman at the front always called to confirm the identity of visitors before letting them in. Who was this person?

Huo Shaoheng went to the door and looked out through the peephole. Standing outside was a handsome blond man in a well-tailored suit. It was actually Reinitz. Huo Shaoheng blinked and opened the door, then said calmly to the surprised Reinitz, “Major General Reinitz, I’m glad we finally get to meet.” Huo Shaoheng had spoken in English.

A look of surprise flashed across Reinitz’s face, but he soon regained his composure. He nodded courteously to Huo Shaoheng, and pretending not to know him, he said in German, “Hello, may I ask if Cereus is at home?” He intentionally used Gu Nianzhi’s English name to imply intimacy.

Huo Shaoheng smiled at him and switched to German. “She is. Please come in.” This was his territory, and Huo Shaoheng had been waiting for Reinitz to walk right into his trap.

Sure enough, when Huo Shaoheng generously invited Reinitz to enter, Reinitz hesitated. However, he quickly nodded and said with a smile, “Sounds great. I’m here to visit Cereus and see if she is feeling better. Yesterday, I was overjoyed to see my old friend again. I drank a little during dinner at the parliament building. Yet later on she said she had a headache, which worried me greatly. Today she did not attend the bilateral talks between the two countries, and I heard it was because she was sick.” As Reinitz said this, Huo Shaoheng thought of that scene on TV he had witnessed on C City’s large outdoor screen last night. The two sat and toasted each other with dazzling smiles and sparks seemed to fly in the air.

Huo Shaoheng didn’t let his displeasure show on his face, and he asked Reinitz to come in with a smile. “Nianzhi did have a fever after returning last night, and the fever only subsided this morning, so she slept all day today and has just woken up. We are just about to eat dinner. Has Major General Reinitz had dinner yet?”

Reinitz immediately said, “Is that so? That’s great. I haven’t had dinner yet.”

Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips, thinking that he was just being courteous and had no intention of sharing a meal with his rival. However, since the words were already out, Huo Shaoheng couldn’t refuse him. “Then let’s eat together. It’s nothing fancy.”

Reinitz had a paper bag in his hand which he handed to Huo Shaoheng. “This is a white sausage that Mother Hannah had made. She used Bavarian domestic pork. Cereus liked it very much when she was in Germany, so I specially brought it for her.”

Huo Shaoheng took the paper bag and looked at it. “Major General Reinitz is too generous.” He asked him, “How do you make this white sausage?”

Reinitz reached out his hand and said, “Give it to me, I’ll make it.”

Huo Shaoheng didn’t reply.

Gu Nianzhi washed her face, changed into casual and comfortable clothes, and walked out of the bedroom briskly while shouting, “Huo Shao! Where’s my dinner?! I’m so hungry I could eat a cow!”

Reinitz couldn’t help but smile when he heard Gu Nianzhi’s voice. Before Huo Shaoheng could answer, he went past Huo Shaoheng, and holding the paper bag in his hand, he said in German, “Cereus, I brought you Mother Hannah’s DIY white sausage! Would you like to eat it tonight? I’ll make it for you right away!”

Gu Nianzhi suddenly came eye to eye with Reinitz’s crinkly blue eyes, and she clamped her mouth shut in surprise. “Reinitz?! Why are you in my house?!”

“Major General Reinitz is here to visit you.” Huo Shaoheng came over with a smile and said in a light voice, “He said that you two drank together last night, and that you happily drank a lot with him.”