Gu Nianzhi was stunned into silence by the news for a few seconds, then jumped up from the couch to ask Huo Shaoheng, “What’s going on? What happened? Huo Shao, what else did you do?”
Huo Shaoheng stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at her. “I went to the Prime Minister’s official residence to bring all the guests to the base to assist with the investigation. I had just been leaving when you’d called me.”
Gu Nianzhi exhaled sharply, patting her chest and speaking in a raspy voice. “You …you took all the guests?”
“Yes, they all saw the photos, so any one of them have the possibility of leaking them. According to the law of confidentiality, I must monitor them until our soldiers are out of danger,” Huo Shaoheng said her nonchalantly.
Gu Nianzhi knew Huo Shaoheng was under immense pressure. First of all, although the guests at the Prime Minister’s official residence that day weren’t truly powerful people, they were still the direct or distant relatives of powerful people—the sons and daughters of certain ministers, the nieces and nephews of certain senators, or young people who worked in the Imperial Administration themselves who may not have high authority, but still wielded power. There were a total of 200 people, yet Huo Shaoheng said that he had locked them all up?
“Then Professor He, you took him too?” Gu Nianzhi frowned as she clenched her fists. She was well aware of how much power He Zhichu had in the United States. “Professor He is a lawyer himself. You have to be careful, Huo Shao.”
“We have our own legal department as well.” Huo Shaoheng leaned against the bedroom door. “But, you can still see your Professor He if you want. You can ask him what he wants so you don’t have to go all the way to campus.”
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t helped rolling her eyes at him. “Huo Shao, what do you mean by ‘my’ Professor He? When did he become mine?”
“Isn’t he your instructor?” Huo Shaoheng raised his brows at her.
“He is my instructor, but it sounded weird when you said that he’s mine.” Gu Nianzhi now regretted picking at the word choice and quickly changed the topic. “That’s fine then. When can I see Professor He?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll pick you up then.” Huo Shaoheng turned and left.
Gu Nianzhi stood in a daze in the middle of her room for a while, then laid on the bed. New Year’s Day had been tumultuous indeed.
…
After Huo Shaoheng left Gu Nianzhi’s room, he didn’t return to his own room but went to the third floor to check on Song Jinning. She had slept for nearly the whole day and typically wasn’t tired at night. The light peeking through the bottom of her door verified this.
Huo Shaoheng raised his hand and knocked. “It’s me.”
Song Jinning sat alone on the sofa in the living room and was using the computer. It truly amazed her that the internet had developed to this degree. When she had studied abroad in the United States, she had seen this type of intranet at the lab where the US Military was working with her university. Never had she imagined that 16 years later, the intranet would become a world wide internet that countless people would depend their on for their everyday lives. Hearing the knocking and Huo Shaoheng’s voice, Song Jinning rubbed her eyes before putting the laptop on the small coffee table in front of the couch and getting up to open the door.
“You’re not sleeping yet?” Huo Shaoheng stood at the door and asked politely. The mother and son had interacted this way 16 years ago, and from an outsider’s view they acted like strangers to each other. But they both knew they had a unspoken connection.
Song Jinning rubbed her temples with a tired smile. “I slept all day and can’t sleep now. Do you want to come in and sit for a bit?”
Huo Shaoheng still had business and shook his head. “That’s ok. I just came to see whether you’re getting used to living here,” He paused before he continued and said, “I’m going to a meeting at the military headquarters tomorrow. They will certainly reopen the case about the lab accident 16 years ago and ask you to assist with the investigation.”
Song Jinning nodded quickly. “I also want to find out where things went wrong. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to help.” Aside from the investigation, Song Jinning also had to get involved with Bai Jinyi’s lawsuit.
Huo Shaoheng suddenly thought about Gu Nianzhi and how he’d briefly entertained the idea of her being Song Jinning’s defense lawyer. However, she had just graduated from university and he wasn’t sure if she was even qualified to go to court.
“Ok then, you try to get some rest soon.” Huo Shaoheng didn’t want to disturb her anymore and turned to leave. As he walked down the stairs, he called Gu Nianzhi who was was still awake, as he’d expected.
She picked up quickly. “Huo Shao? What’s the matter?”
Huo Shaoheng asked her as he walked outside, “Nianzhi, are you qualified to go to court as a defense lawyer yet?”
Gu Nianzhi perked up instantly. “Defense lawyer? Huo Shao, are you going to court?”
“Why are you getting so excited about going to court?” Huo Shaoheng chuckled. “Not me, but my mother… it’s her lawsuit against Bai Jinyi.” The most important part of the case was a matter of life or death—it concerned his Aunt, Luo Xuexin. But, with Luo Xuoxin’s case, the plaintiff was the prosecution and Gu Nianzhi couldn’t possibly act as the prosecutor. She would also never be the defense lawyer of the accused, Bai Jinyi. Song Jinning suing Bai Jinyi was an additional case, and Gu Nianzhi would be able to represent her if she was qualified.
Gu Nianzhi understood what he was implying and promptly said, “I can defend in court as long as a lawyer in good standing can endorse me.”
“Oh? You still need someone to endorse you?”
“Yeah, I passed the bar exam already but don’t have enough experience yet, so I can’t get a law license for now.” Gu Nianzhi pouted. “I have six months experience of interning at the US Congress, but I need to intern at a domestic law firm for another six months before I can apply for a license.”
Huo Shaoheng couldn’t help thinking about He Zhichu when she mentioned interning at the US Congress. He Zhichu was the one who had given Gu Nianzhi that opportunity, so she’d gone there for six months. However, if she just needed endorsement, Huo Shaoheng could provide her with many qualified lawyers. Since this wasn’t a problem, Huo Shaoheng felt relieved. “Then, you can prepare the case and represent my mother as her defense lawyer.”
Gu Nianzhi agreed happily and so, planned to study the legal provisions tomorrow in order to prepare for the lawsuit between Song Jinning and Bai Jinyi.
Huo Shaoheng told her to go to bed and hung up the phone. He left his official residence and went to where the Special Ops detained suspects and criminals, as well as witnesses. Huo Shaoheng had ordered the guests to be locked up in the area prepared for suspects, since all the people, theoretically, had the possibility of leaking the photos. They were all considered suspects. Among the group was also Bai Yuran and Bai Shuang, two people the Special Ops was very familiar with. However, it was business as usual and Bai Yueran was not released because even given her affiliation.
Huo Shaoheng arrived to where the suspects were detained and went to He Zhichu and Wen Shouyi’s cells first. They were locked up in two narrow rooms right next to each other. Huo Shaoheng stood at the door with his hands folded behind his back as he glanced at Wen Shouyi and He Zhichu. He then pointed at He Zhichu’s room and said to the soldier standing by, “Bring Lawyer He out to assist with the investigation.”
“Major General Huo, our Professor He isn’t feeling well. Can you please let me stay in the same room as him?” Wen Shouyi grabbed the metal bars of cell door of her own room anxiously as she pleaded with Huo Shaoheng.
Huo Shaoheng slowly shifted his gaze over to her and stared at her hard. “You recognize me? Who are you? What kind of relationship do you have with Lawyer He?”