Huo Shaoheng was silent as he glanced at Huo Jialan. He couldn’t bear seeing Gu Nianzhi looking so confused and was about to call her over when she suddenly launched another verbal attack.
In face of an unexpected change to the situation, Gu Nianzhi now understood why she had a lingering feeling of unease—it was Huo Jialan’s parents! Logically speaking, Huo Jialan’s father was the eldest son of the Huo family and her mother was the eldest daughter-in-law, so they should both be important members of the household. However, Gu Nianzhi had already been here for two days and had yet to hear anyone mention them, and even Huo Jialan herself didn’t say anything about her parents. Today was the first time she heard Huo Jialan talk about her father. Gu Nianzhi clapped her hands and spoke solemnly, “That’s even better. Miss Huo, we share the same goal of healing Mrs. Song, so we can find out your father’s whereabouts as soon as possible. Isn’t that right?” Her argument was irrefutable and even Grandfather Huo, who had been watching the debate from upstairs, began to nod. However, he immediately shook his head again, to himself. Gu Nianzhi wasn’t one of the Huo’s and it was clear she knew nothing about the family. But this is also proved that Huo Shaoheng was someone who kept his private affairs out of his professional life—he had treated Gu Nianzhi like his mission and part of the job, so although he had raised her for six years, he hadn’t mentioned a word about his family to her. Of course, Grandfather Huo would have never imagined that rather than Huo Shaoheng not mentioning anything, he merely hadn’t had the time to do so.
Huo Shaoheng had originally intended on tellig Gu Nianzhi everything about the Huo family that evening, but his plan had been derailed what with everything happening so quickly. However, this kind of situation was nothing to Huo Shaoheng. He had faced situations thousands of times that had been more complex and dire than this, and the ability to adapt was one of the most important benchmark qualities examined in a member of the Special Operations Forces. In order for Gu Nianzhi to be by his side, she had to become accustomed to such unexpected situations. Huo Shaoheng remained resolute he folded his hands behind his back and observed.
Although Huo Jialan was older than Gu Nianzhi, she obviously lacked her ability to debate, and wasn’t blessed with the same intelligence. Her jaw dropped as she listened to Gu Nianzhi twist the incident into a positive light, taking Song Jinning away right under her nose! How could this be?! Huo Jialan couldn’t accept this outcome and her eyes circled the living room—Grandfather Huo Xuenong on the third-floor staircase, Uncle and Aunt Zhang’s family standing at the second-floor staircase, as well as their children, Zhang Wenna and Zhang Wenjie, looking on, their faces perturbed, at the heated exchange in the living room. She looked at her Uncle, Huo Guanchen, and was shocked to see that he actually seemed convinced. As for Aunt Bai, her eyes were dim as she looked back at her with pity. Bai Jinyi’s gaze was the straw that broke the camel’s back—Huo Jialan trembled and couldn’t hide it anymore. Recalling her mother’s pale face as she had lain on the bed, Huo Jianlan’s face transformed rapidly. She flushed, then blanched before she finally broke down. Bawling, she pointed at Song Jinning beside Gu Nianzhi and screamed at the young girl, “I won’t allow you to take her away! I won’t allow you to take that b*tch away! Did you know that my mother took sleeping pills and committed suicide because of her?! What right does she have to pretend to be crazy when did all those shameless things?! She’s crazy, right? She has amnesia, right? I’ll have her stay crazy for the rest of her life! Let her be d*mned by her amnesia for the rest of her life! She has to pay for what she did to my mother!”
Gu Nianzhi suddenly felt like her heart was suspended in the air, swaying but stuck, unable to go up or down. She even felt a moment of dizziness. This was all very different than she had expected; could she be wrong? She cast Huo Shaoheng a helpless look, but he only looked blankly back at her.
Huo Jialan collapsed in Bai Jinyi’s arms and trembled as she cried, “I knew it! I knew it ten years ago! Father didn’t disappear! You were all lying to me and mother! He wasn’t even left with a whole corpse because he died protecting that b*tch!”
“Enough!” Gu Nianzhi couldn’t stand listening anymore and decided to stand up for Song Jinning since no one else would. She was an outsider anyway and could be speak impartially. Her voice was strong and clear. “Huo Jialan, please speak respectfully. Swearing doesn’t make you any more justified or relatable; right now, it only makes you detestable.”
Huo Jianlan was so angry she choked and coughed violently. Bai Jinyi hastily patted her back and shook her head at Gu Nianzhi. “Gu Nianzhi, I didn’t expect you to have such a sharp tongue. Do you know that Jianlan’s mother’s suicide caused her pain for the rest for her life? How can you pour salt on her wound?”
Gu Nianzhi inhaled deeply in an attempt to compose herself and said steadily, “I didn’t know that Huo Jialan’s mother committed suicide. I only know that she shouldn’t call Mrs. Song names. Mrs. Song—”
“You’re still calling her Mrs. Song?!” Huo Jialan looked up from Bai Jinyi’s arms and at Gu Nianzhi with a tear streaked face. “Just you wait, I’ll show you something!” She shoved away Bai Jinyi and ran upstairs to her room.
The Zhang family on the second floor gaped at her and didn’t even blink. Huo Jianlan stormed into her room and reappeared soon after, carrying a stack of old yellowed envelopes. The one on top appeared newer and well preserved.
“Gu Nianzhi, are you ready? Do you want to see what this is really all about?” Huo Jianlan held the stack of envelopes and looked at Huo Shaoheng standing behind Gu Ninazhi, who was still expressionless.
Huo Jialan felt a little smug. No wonder they said sons grew up to be heartless—someone like her Elder Cousin who had been in the army for over a decade, he’d long trained to become emotionless. Or perhaps he didn’t care or even had feelings anymore? His mother’s scandal was about to go public, but he remained calm…
Huo Jianlan almost pitied him. If he didn’t even care about his own mother’s reputation, then why did she have to cover up for him? Let everyone see that b*tch’s true colors, she thought vehemently.
Gu Nianzhi stared at the envelopes in Huo Jialan’s hands and then looked up at Huo Shaoheng. He was quiet and neither made a move to stop nor encourage her. His face was stoic as he stood on the sidelines, as though it had nothing to do with him.
Gu Nianzhi’s heart tugged; maybe Huo Shaoheng had had a rift with his mother? She took the envelopes from Huo Jialan without another word and tilted her head, “Let me see what the “earth-shattering” secret is.” Picking the most well-preserved envelope on the top, she opened it to find a pressed flower bookmark with two lines written on it, “Locking our tear-filled eyes, regretting not meeting you before becoming betrothed.” It was signed in a beautiful small script, “Jinning.” Gu Nianzhi’s face fell as she grabbed the rest of the envelopes like they were a ball of flames.
“What? Are you scared?” Huo Jialan smirked, she stretched out her arms and spun clumsily. “Look, paper can’t hide fire. What’s meant to be revealed will be revealed one day.”
Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo Shaoheng again, but he averted his gaze—his expression remained calm and even his breathing was still normal. It was obvious that Huo Shaoheng had impressive cultivation and composure. Gu Nianzhi’s heart also stopped racing and she glanced at a few of the remaining letters. They were love letters written to “Huo Guanyuan.” Huo Shaoheng’s father’s name was Huo Guanchen, then Huo Guanyuan must be…?
Huo Jialan saw Gu Nianzhi stare blankly at the name and laughed mirthlessly, crying out, “I just wished that he could’ve burnt these unsightly letters before he died! Then my mother wouldn’t have found them afterward…”
Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo Jialan and frowned, “Your mother had found these?”
“Yes. Jialan’s mother was a very strong woman. She didn’t say anything when she found the letters and suffered in silence. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she took sleeping pills to commit suicide.” Bai Jinyi sighed with regret, “That was… over ten years ago?”
It was the year that Huo Jialan had come home from school to find her mother lying motionless on the bed with a suicide note. Although her mother had asked her to burn all the letters, Huo Jialan had refused. Her family had been ruined, her parents dead because of that woman—she couldn’t suffer in silence like a martyr and get depressed like her mother had. She had decided to show them to Grandfather Huo, Huo Guanchen, and Huo Shaoheng, who had just started his second year of university. “Do you know what she was like before she got sick? A sl*t who used her beauty to attract all sorts of attention! Otherwise, why would my father lose his life for her? You see her as normal right now, but do you know what she was like before? Only you don’t know, you outsider! If it weren’t for Aunt Bai, she would’ve been long locked up in a mental asylum, maybe even receiving electric shock therapy…that’s how unstable she had been.”
Huo Jialan looked at Song Jinning with disgust and then said, “She’s much better the way she is now than how she had been before she got sick. I’ll just let her continue to have amnesia, she’s well cared for here and nobody has to worry. So, what are you dissatisfied with? How is this any of your business?” Huo Jialan now thought that she had the upper hand and used every word to jab at Gu Nianzhi.
Not expecting to get herself into so much trouble, Gu Nianzhi’s palms turned cold. She looked helplessly at Huo Shaoheng, who looked grim. He calmly stared at her. Was it because of all these secrets that Huo Shaoheng had been hesitant to say anything? No wonder he had appeared conflicted every time he had seen Song Jinning.
Although he hadn’t stop himself from approaching her, he would always look at her from afar. They couldn’t have been oblivious to what happened in the past. Thinking of Huo Guanchen’s divorce and decision to leave the mentally ill Song Jinning at his side—how many more secrets were still yet to be unveiled? No wonder Huo Shaoheng decided to enlist and leave his family, staying away from home for so many years and not getting involved with the affairs of his elders.
Bai Jinyi looked at the grim-faced Huo Guancheng and sighed. Huo Jialan stabbed her finger at Song Jinning, sadistic glee in her heart as she spoke to Gu Nianzhi, “Do you know when your Mrs. Song, went from Mrs. Huo to Mrs. Song? It was the year that Uncle saw these letters that he decided to divorce her.”
At the time, the written reason for divorce was that Song Jinning had mental illness and couldn’t act as a wife. Of course, Huo Guanchen could never say that the true reason was that she’d had an affair with his older brother.
Gu Nianzhi recalled all the times Huo Shaoheng had been about to mention his mother, but then had stopped himself. It made sense that he had to set aside time to tell her, these private matters couldn’t be discussed plainly. If Bai Jinyi hadn’t rushed over today, would Huo Shaoheng have told her the whole story? She wouldn’t be as shocked as she were now, at leastz Fortunately, Gu Nianzhi managed to react fairly normally. She snuck another glance at Huo Shaoheng, her eyes lingering on his face. This had to be one of the main reasons why he decided to enlist over ten years ago. Suffocated by his family, he had no longer wanted to return. Afterward, he would be the first to accept any mission and didn’t go home unless he had to. He couldn’t face the people at home. Huo Shaoheng spent ten years cultivating peace and strength in his heart. He had been able to stay out of the situation and observe objectively. Gu Nianzhi hypothesized all of this and felt discomforted. She had a feeling that perhaps thing weren’t as dire as they’d thought. Song Jinning was still crazy and Huo Guanyuan was still missing—who knew what could’ve happened between all this?
Huo Shaoheng walked over and took the letters from Gu Nianzhi’s hand. He spoke evenly to Huo Jialan, “I’m going to put away these things for now. My mother will be temporarily relocated—don’t worry, we’ll have an answer for you.” He turned and called out, “Orderly?”
The head of the orderlies on duty for the day ran over, “Chief!”
“Call my personal secretary and have them bring Chen Lie and Dr.Ye over. I’ll be taking my mother to the 6th Military Region headquarters.” Huo Shaoheng commanded them in a concise manner.
Gu Nianzhi’s suspended heart immediately found solace in his calm demeanor and stopped wavering as though she were walking on a wire.
“You’re still going to take her away?” Huo Jialan was so pained she couldn’t stand it and was about to fall over. “Elder Cousin, how can you be so cruel? Are my parents’ lives worth less than your own mother’s?!”
Gu Nianzhi had been holding in her frustration for too long and finally burst. “Huo Jialan, control yourself! How can you ask Huo Shao to agree to your unreasonable request? No matter what, Mrs. Song is still ill and it’s too early to say what truly happened.”
“What do you mean too early?” Huo Jialan snarled as she stormed over to Gu Nianzhi. “So you don’t believe these letters? I’ll tell you that Grandfather and Uncle took them to the best handwriting analysis experts in the military, and he confirmed that these were written by my father and his mother!”
“So what?” Gu Nianzhi was not the least bit afraid. He Zhichu had once complimented her for having the most important trait of resilience as a lawyer. She never gave up on finding a weakness even in the face of hard evidence against her case. She certainly didn’t disappoint He Zhichu and confronted Huo Jialan once again. “Huo Jialan, looks like you and your mother were easily fooled. How can you sentence your absent family member just from looking at a few yellowed letters? You should at least wait until your father is found, or when Mrs. Song has recovered to confront them face to face. Aren’t you taking advantage of the family’s pain by delaying Mrs. Song’s treatment?”