Huo Jialan was just heartbroken, but was now dumbfounded. She stumbled back and nearly knelt on the floor as she looked up at Huo Shaoheng. She couldn’t make sense of what he had said.
Huo Shaoheng did not waste time repeating himself and stood next to Grandfather Huo and glanced at his guards. They didn’t need to hear Huo Shaoheng’s order before also tying Huo Jialan’s hands behind her back.
At the door, Zhang Wenna and Zhang Wenjie already raised their hands in fear and shouted, “Don’t tie us up! We’re leaving right away! Right away!” The siblings ran out of Huo Shaoheng’s official residence. Gu Nianzhi couldn’t stifle her laughter—this was the Special Operations Forces headquarters, not some community where high ranking military officers lived. Who allowed them to run around? Sure enough, the guards at the entrance dragged in two unconscious people shortly after and reported to Huo Shaoheng, “Chief, these two people refused to listen to the warnings and ran around outside.”
Qian Shihui had her hands tied behind her back and immediately screamed when she saw her children unconscious on the ground, “Nana, Jiejie! Are you ok?! Don’t scare me!” She was full of regret: she hadn’t wanted to come here to begin with. Because of Zhang Feng’s convincing, she had followed her here and brought the humiliation upon herself!
Grandfather Huo glared at Huo Shaoheng when he saw his grandchildren unconscious, but didn’t scold him because of what the sentinel said earlier. This was certainly not like the community they had lived in. Although it was also heavily guarded, that was only towards external forces: the people residing there could move around freely. At the very least, running around wouldn’t result in the guards catching them and knocking them out with one swift blow. To put it bluntly, Grandfather Huo had underestimated Huo Shaoheng’s cold bloodedness. He frowned at his grandson and felt very conflicted. Huo Shaoheng had indeed lived up to expectations by being decisive and righteous, but Grandfather Huo was furious about how he completely disregarded his family. Grandfather Huo originally had two sons, but the eldest Huo Guanyuan had died to only leave Huo Guanchen. Luckily, Zhang Feng had given him another son, Baochen. He hadn’t lifted a finger to raise this son since he hadn’t even known of his existence. By the time Zhang Feng had brought Baochen home, he was already married and had two kids. Grandfather Huo hadn’t put in any effort and had gotten a son and two grandchildren. At the time, Zhang Wenna had been six and Zhang Wenjie four, so they’d been at their most adorable ages. Grandfather Huo had always thought he had come short to fulfilling his duties as a father, especially since he couldn’t officially make his son a part of the family, even now. As a result, he felt very guilty towards Zhang Baochen and the spoilt Zhang Wenna and Zhang Wenjie. He had truly hoped that Huo Shaoheng would respect Zhang Baochen as his uncle and take care of Zhang Wenna and Zhang Wenjie as his real siblings. It appeared that his purpose was not yet achieved.
Zhang Feng’s hands were tied up and she looked at Grandfather Huo with great sadness. “Elder Huo, just let us go home. Wenna and Wenjie need to be examined right away so that they can be treated in case there’s anything wrong with them.”
The words were laced with poison but Huo Shaoheng paid her no attention. Gu Nianzhi, however was irritated. She crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling as she said haughtily, “Our guards are well trained. Your grandchildren were just knocked out to prevent them from running around and screaming. Do you really need to make such a fuss?”
Zhang Feng frowned and turned to look at the unconscious Zhang Wenna and Zhang Wenjie. “Wenna and Wenjie were raised carefully all their lives. They’ve never been in such strange situations before. I’m very concerned that they will become ill from the shock.”
“They should’ve stayed home, safe from this cold winter weather, since they are so delicate that they’d get sick if the wind is too strong. Who can they blame for barging into someone else’s home on New Year’s Eve, looking for trouble?” Gu Nianzhi huffed.
Zhang Feng was displeased to see Huo Shaoheng stay quiet and let Gu Nianzhi bicker with her. She had always been good natured and had never fought with anyone, but she was no weakling and couldn’t stand being insulted. She held her anger in check and finally retorted, “This is the Huo family’s business, so may I ask what Miss Gu’s family name is?”
Gu Nianzhi snickered: this was her dream come true. Raising her brows at Zhang Feng, she shot back, “Oh, so you know that this is the Huo’s family business? May I ask… who are you exactly? What’s your family name?” This was the first time Gu Nianzhi had seen Zhang Feng, so she didn’t know her name or status within the Huo manor. Huo Shaoheng had introduced her to everyone in the Huo family, but had never mentioned her, so this woman certainly wasn’t a part of the family. Gu Nianzhi didn’t mince her words and her little jab indeed hit Zhang Feng’s sore spot.
Zhang Feng’s only regret in life was not being able to be with Grandfather Huo officially and take his family name. “Why do you care what my family name is? At any rate, my presence is more justifiable than yours.” Zhang Feng couldn’t help shooting an icy reply.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t know who this charming looking woman was. Gu Nianzhi had noticed that she was rather intimate with Grandfather Huo and carried a medical box, so Gu Nianzhi guessed she was probably a doctor and wisely stopped speaking.
Huo Shaoheng looked over and remained seated in the sofa.”Your last name is Zhang, first name Feng. You are a nurse for my family, so may I ask what you mean by being justifiable?”
“Mom… stop it now. What’s the point of even winning an argument with a little girl like that?” Zhang Baochen shuffled over to Zhang Feng’s side and gently nudged her shoe with his foot.
Gu Nianzhi looked at Zhang Baochen, then Zhang Wenna and Zhang Wenjie at the entrance, and finally Zhang Feng. She exhaled sharply when she realized what as going on. Previously, she heard Zhang Wenna and Zhang Wenjie call Huo Shaoheng, “Elder Cousin.” Zhang Baochen also called Grandfather Huo, “Dad” from time to time. Although Huo Shaoheng only asked Gu Nianzhi to call Zhang Baochen and Qian Shihui Uncle and Auntie Zhang, she still had a clear idea of the relationship between the Zhang’s and Grandfather Huo. Now that Zhang Feng had appeared as Zhang Baochen’s mother, everything fell into place! So Zhang Feng the old nurse was Grandfather Huo’s mistress… and she dared call herself justifiable?! It was laughable.
“Yes, may I ask what you mean by saying that you are more ‘justifiable’ than I am?” Gu Nianzhi stood behind the sofa Huo Shaoheng was sitting in and baited her, “May I ask how old you are? How would you compare to me? I’m a respectable girl. I don’t dare compare with you about being justifiable.”
Clearly, she was insulting Zhang Feng as being not respectable. Zhang Feng’s facial muscles trembled from anger and her lips twitched. She used all her composure to stop herself from arguing any further with Gu Nianzhi. Zhang Baochen was right, what was the point of fighting with a little orphan girl like Gu Nianzhi?
“Head Nurse Zhang is over 60 years old now. Gu Nianzhi, how old are you? How can you speak to her in this tone?” Grandfather Huo was unhappy to see Zhang Feng so aggrieved and couldn’t help defending her.
Gu Nianzhi was taken aback and reluctantly said to Zhang Feng, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been speaking to you like that. But, you’re fairly old now, so how can you still be a nurse? The retirement age for women in our nation is 60 years old.”
Before Gu Nianzhi even finished her sentence, Huo Shaoheng’s eyes flashed and there was a trace of a smile in his voice, “Yes, Nianzhi is right. Nurse Zhang is already 64 years old; she should be retiring at this age.” As he spoke, he turned to look at Zhao Liangze spectating nearby, “Remember to go to the military after the new year and have them assign a new head nurse to Grandfather. As for Head Nurse Zhang, it’s time you retired and went home to enjoy the rest of your days.”