Chen Lie walked in with a breakfast tray stacked with his favorite food. He heard what Huo Shaoheng had just said, and frowned heavily. “Boss, you can lecture Little Ze and Big Xiong all you want, but why are you dragging me into it? When have I ever been a gossip? Tch, what an insult! Don’t you know what everyone calls me in the military general hospital? I’m Dr. Icy Cool Dreamboat over there!”
Pffffft!
Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong burst into laughter.
“What? You don’t believe me? Well, I’m not going to treat you the next time you fall sick, then!” Chen Lie played his trump card.
Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong immediately began to suck up to Chen Lie. They pulled out a seat for him, and poured him a glass of milk. “Have a seat, Brother Chen. Are you tired? Do you want us to feed you?”
“Bah, go away!” Chen Lie shot Huo Shaoheng a glance, before turning to survey the dining hall. He asked, surprised, “Huh, where’s Nianzhi? And Mrs. Song?”
The orderly in charge of the dining hall quickly spoke up. “Mrs. Song informed me that she wants to have her breakfast in her room. Do you want to ask Mrs. Song to come to the table instead, General Huo?”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Huo Shaoheng replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. He looked at the breakfast on the table, and added: “Take Nianzhi’s breakfast tray to her room, and bring it back once she’s done eating.”
“Yes, sir.”
The orderly lifted Gu Nianzhi’s breakfast tray and walked to her bedroom. He knocked on the door, but no one answered.
He pressed the intercom beside the door and spoke into it. “Miss Gu, I brought you your breakfast.”
Gu Nianzhi was in the middle of a shower. She heard the orderly over the intercom in the bathroom, and hastily turned off the water. She said loudly, “You can leave it in the living room, thanks! I’m still in the shower, you can open the door and come in. It isn’t locked.”
“Okay, I’ll leave your breakfast on the coffee table in the living room.” The orderly opened the door, set the breakfast tray on the table, and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He returned to the dining hall.
Zhao Liangze saw the orderly, and asked anxiously: “…Did Nianzhi eat her breakfast?”
The orderly shook his head. “Miss Gu was in the middle of a shower, sir. I left the tray on the coffee table.”
Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong breathed a sigh of relief. The two exchanged a look as they tried to hide the smile on their faces. They knew what was up: Nianzhi was taking a shower because Zhao Liangze had said she smelled of sweat.
“Oh, our little girl is beginning to care about her appearances. She’s all grown up now, hahahaha!”
Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong felt like proud fathers. They laughed heartily.
Huo Shaoheng did not react. He continued eating his breakfast, his face entirely devoid of expression.
Chen Lie was still annoyed at Huo Shaoheng for calling him a gossip. A sly smile crept over his face; he turned to the orderly and asked: “Miss Gu was in the middle of a shower? How did you enter her room, then?”
The orderly was a young man of 17, younger than Gu Nianzhi, and was extremely honest. He answered seriously: “Miss Gu told me to enter the room myself, because she didn’t lock the door.”
“She didn’t lock the door…?” Chen Lie said with cunning emphasis. He kept sneaking looks at Huo Shaoheng. “So she doesn’t lock the door when she’s taking a shower? Tsk tsk, the little lady shouldn’t make a habit out of it. She’s safe enough here, but if she gets used to it and forgets to lock the door when she’s taking a shower elsewhere… oh my, I can’t bear to think what might happen…”
Chen Lie’s sharp eyes saw Huo Shaoheng’s fingers tighten on his knife and fork, but only for a split second. After that momentary, almost imperceptible lapse of control, he continued eating his breakfast with all the calmness of a placid lake.
The major general ate unhurriedly, showing no signs of anxiety. After he had finished his food, he leisurely drank a small cup of coffee, before turning to Zhao Liangze to say: “You told me yesterday you had some documents to send over to me. I have some time now, send them over.”
Zhao Liangze was still in the middle of his breakfast. He almost choked on his food, and had to quickly down an entire glass of juice to keep from choking. “I’m still in the middle of preparing those documents. Do you want them now, Mr. Huo?”
“Yes, right now. I have to attend the meeting with the military’s Supreme Council in the afternoon, but I have some free time before that.” Huo Shaoheng got up and strode out of the dining hall without another word.
“Yes, sir!” Zhao Liangze immediately abandoned his breakfast and hurried off to prepare the documents for Huo Shaoheng.
Chen Lie rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he watched Huo Shaoheng’s retreating back. He was impressed: the son of a gun had gotten even better at hiding his feelings.
He had not been able to catch the slightest change in the major general’s expression, and he was his closest friend!
What amazing composure!
Chen Lie gave Huo Shaoheng’s back a thumbs-up.
Yin Shixiong stared at him, baffled. He stuffed his mouth with mashed potatoes and cheese, and mumbled with his mouth full: “Doctor Chen, what do you mean by that?”
Chen Lie smiled cheekily. “I was just complimenting General Huo. Look at him, he’s as steady and as inscrutable as a mountain. I don’t think anything can faze him now.”
“Well, duh! That’s what sets him apart from the rest of us. Why else do you think he’s a major general, while I’m just a lieutenant colonel, even though we’re the same age?” Yin Shixiong rolled his eyes. “Dr. Chen, you should learn a thing or two from Mr. Huo. You’ve been stuck at the rank of senior colonel for ages now.”
This was a sensitive topic for Chen Lie, and it angered him to hear Huo Shaoheng’s personal secretary tease him about it. He shouted: “Get out!”
He wished he could shoot daggers out of his eyes at Yin Shixiong.
Yin Shixiong chuckled. He leisurely popped two dumplings into his mouth, one after the other, before sauntering out of the room.
…
Huo Shaoheng returned to the second floor, and hesitated before the door to his suite. He looked at the opposite door, the door to Gu Nianzhi’s room, and decided to pay her a visit. He walked over and opened the door.
The orderly had been telling the truth: the door wasn’t locked. He noted the untouched breakfast tray on the coffee table—was Gu Nianzhi still in the shower?
Huo Shaoheng locked the door behind him. He made his way across the living room to the bedroom further inside.
The bathroom was inside the bedroom.
He walked into the bedroom, but did not hear the sound of running water from the bathroom.
The silence puzzled Huo Shaoheng. He called out: “Nianzhi?”
Gu Nianzhi was in the bathroom, rubbing body lotion into her skin as she stared at the bottles of perfume on the dressing table. She could not decide which to use.
She was momentarily taken aback to hear Huo Shaoheng’s voice. She hurriedly wrapped a bath towel around her and walked out of the bathroom. “Huo Shao? Is there a problem?”
Huo Shaoheng turned around and saw Gu Nianzhi standing before him.
Drops of water rolled off her dark hair. Her bath towel, wrapped around her chest, was only long enough to reach her thighs.
She was fresh out of the shower, and her skin shone like a lustrous pearl. She seemed to glow all over.
Huo Shaoheng swallowed heavily. He said in a low voice: “…Who taught you to bathe without locking the door?”
Gu Nianzhi looked around, perplexed. “We’re in your official residence, Huo Shao. It’s 100% safe in here. In fact, I feel safe enough to run around naked.”
“Are you insane?” Huo Shaoheng knew Gu Nianzhi was right about his residence being secure, but he could not stop the anger welling within him. He took a few steps towards her, his expression solemn. “Care to repeat that?”
Gu Nianzhi took two steps backwards, alarmed. She tightened her hold on the bath towel around her and summoned the courage to say: “Am I wrong? Everyone here is nice and respectable, they would never do anything to me. And even if there’s a bad egg among them, your residence is so heavily monitored they’d be arrested before they can try anything! Why should I be afraid? Why do I have to lock the door?”
“And you think that makes it okay for you to take a shower without locking the door? To run around naked?” Huo Shaoheng frowned heavily at Gu Nianzhi. She was too relaxed around men. Was she merely careless, or had he failed to educate her properly?
Gu Nianzhi did not understand why Huo Shaoheng was angry. She blinked her large, misty eyes at him as she said in a small voice: “…It was just an example, it’s not like I plan on running around naked… I know the men here wouldn’t dare lay a finger on me, but I’m not that shameless to walk around in my birthday suit, you know…”
“Couldn’t you have come up with a better example?” Huo Shaoheng clasped his hands behind his back. He made no move to close the remaining distance between himself and Gu Nianzhi. “Remember to lock the door when you take a shower next time. No exceptions.”
“Well, at least I locked… the bathroom door… yes, of course…” Gu Nianzhi suddenly remembered that she had not locked the bathroom door either…
She tried not to think about it. She nodded and said, a little guiltily, “Don’t worry, I’ll remember to lock the outer door next time.”
Huo Shaoheng could tell something was wrong from her tone. “…You locked the bathroom door just now, right?”
If Huo Shaoheng hadn’t asked, Gu Nianzhi could have kept quiet about it, and it wouldn’t have counted as a lie.
But Huo Shaoheng had asked, and she had to answer him.
She recalled how furious Huo Shaoheng had been a moment ago, and was worried he would be even angrier with her if she told him the truth.
Tears swirled in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.