990 No Other Options

“Professor He, I’ve thought about it, but I was left with no other options the moment he appeared.” Gu Nianzhi lowered his hands away from her head. “Professor He, you’re someone that I really respect. Although I don’t remember our past together, I’ve always felt a sense of familiarity with you, and this feeling is getting stronger and stronger, so I don’t want to avoid you. But if you’ll feel uncomfortable with me around, I can avoid meeting you.”

He Zhichu shut his eyes. This was indeed an outcome that he’d envisioned. He could only say that this outcome was still a tad bit better than the worst outcome he’d predicted.

“Are you silly? Why would I feel uncomfortable whenever I see you?” He Zhihu took a deep breath, pulled Gi Nianzhi close to him, and hugged her. He said in a choked voice, “Just treat me like family, don’t avoid me.” He hugged her tightly and tried his best to hold back the tears that were about to fall.

Gu Nianzhi felt somewhat uncomfortable and struggled unconsciously.

“Nianzhi, let me hug you for a bit, just treat me like your brother. When you were younger you always called me… Brother He,” He Zhichu mumbled with a detached voice. It sounded like he was repressing his emotions deliberately.

The words “Brother He” stirred up Gu Nianzhi’s emotions as well. “Professor He, did I really call you ‘Brother He’ when I was younger? Did you know my parents?”

He Zhichu kept mum as he continued to embrace Gu Nianzhi. The expression on his face read of both grief and joy. It was like having to surrender a priceless treasure to another person after putting a laborious amount of effort into finding and attaining it.

He Zhichu was immensely unwilling to give up, but he couldn’t insist the moment Gu Nianzhi said what she did, that she was”left with no other options the moment he appeared.”

Gu Nianzhi stopped struggling and didn’t ask him about it again. She was somewhat disappointed. However, she could feel how cautious his hug was. It was both gentle and forgiving, and it felt like he would never say “no” to her no matter what she did or said.

It wasn’t clear how much time went by, maybe twenty minutes? Perhaps half an hour?

It was only when her legs started to ache from all that standing that she whispered to He Zhichu, “Professor He, my marriage to Huo Shaoheng, please don’t tell anyone else about it, okay? I don’t actually acknowledge the marriage…”

In her heart, loving him was one thing and getting married was another. A marriage like hers was something that she would never acknowledge.

Zhichu’s response was expected. He laughed bitterly as he said, “Well, of course, you can’t acknowledge it. To marry my… Little Nianzhi so easily, wouldn’t that be too good to be true?!”

Gu Nianzhi composed herself and was about to push He Zhichu away when she heard the sound of someone opening the door from outside. Besides herself, the only other person who had keys to her apartment was Huo Shaoheng.

Gu Nianzhi tensed up, her head starting to throb.

He Zhichu looked like he had arrived at some sort of realization. He let go of her swiftly and rushed out of the bedroom like a gust of wind.

He got to the living room just as Huo Shaoheng was entering the apartment. “Huo Shaoheng, you despicable piece of scum! How dare you swindle her into marriage! Are you really doing whatever you want just because she has no one to protect her now?!”

Without even giving him the chance to explain himself, He Zhichu threw a punch right at Huo Shaoheng’s face!

Huo Shaoheng was right, he knew that He Zhichu had not left the apartment.

In the face of He Zhichu’s incoming punch, Huo Shaoheng instinctively tilted his head to one side and avoided it. At the same time, he raised his arm and moved forward.

All of a sudden, Gu Nianzhi recalled that Huo Shaoheng had injured his right arm. Although it had happened a month ago, she wasn’t sure if he had fully recovered.

“Professor He, Master Huo’s right arm is injured, you…” She realized, even before she could even finish her sentence, that He Zhichu was charging towards Huo Shaoheng’s right arm, and even more ferociously than before!

His kicks and punches were forceful. He even utilized a swinging kick. His long legs greeted Huo Shaoheng’s right arm without a moment’s hesitation!

Gu Nianzhi covered her face and crouched in a corner. She could not bear to witness such a scene.

Huo Shaoheng and He Zhichu started fighting in the living room. It wasn’t clear whether the two were flaunting their fighting skills or if they were just being very mindful of not messing up Gu Nianzhi’s living room. Whatever the reason was, Gu Nianzhi’s living room remained as clean and tidy as it had been before during the 45 minutes of brawling between the two of them ensured. Only their faces and bodies were all scratched up. The two of them had been weaving through the open spaces and furniture in the living room.

Then, pricked by guilt, Huo Shaoheng decreased his strength. With that, the fight between the two evenly-matched opponents was put to rest. The victor emerged. He Zhichu delivered a punch that landed squarely on Huo Shaoheng’s back.

Huo Shaoheng stumbled from the impact and sprawled right in front of Gu Nianzhi, who was still crouching in the corner. Huo Shaoheng let He Zhichu kick him, enduring the kicks without a word.

“Stop playing dumb!” He Zhichu stopped kicking. He walked towards Huo Shaoheng and gazed at him coldly. At that moment, he wanted to step on Huo Shaoheng. “Do you have no sense of shame?! With your status and position, do you really need to force Nianzhi into a marriage?! Did you really think that being a general would be all that? You’re just playing around with her!”

Huo Shaoheng looked up at Gu Nianzhi. “You told him everything?”

Gu Nianzhi was still covering her face, but she nodded almost imperceptibly.

“I will not acknowledge it! And Nianzhi will not acknowledge it! Stop dreaming!” He Zhichu couldn’t help but to kick Huo Shaoheng once more. “Get up and fight, why don’t you!? Don’t even think about feigning injury to draw sympathy!”

Huo Shaoheng rolled over in an instant and avoided He Zhichu’s vicious kick. He was in front of Gu Nianzhi and had one knee on the ground. He turned and looked at He Zhichu, then said in a cold voice, “He Zhichu, I’m trying not to make you look bad here, don’t push it.”

“Don’t push it?” He Zhichu asked furiously. “You used your status and position to trick an innocent orphan into a marriage! A marriage without a proposal or a wedding ceremony! And now you’re shamelessly saying that you’re trying not to make me look bad? You wanted to marry her, but did you ever ask me about it?!”

“Why would I have to seek your approval on this? Who are you to her?” Huo Shaoheng stood up and grabbed hold of Gu Nianzhi’s arm at the same time. He pulled her up from the corner.

“I…” He Zhichu stuttered, his Adam’s apple moving. He clenched his fists and continued in a hoarse voice, “She just recognized me as her brother, which means that I’m her only kin in this world. Don’t you think you need my approval on this?”

“Brother?” Huo Shaoheng blinked. “The blood-related kind?”

He Zhichu’s expression soured instantly. “My foot! You’re the one that’s blood-related to Gu Nianzhi!”

Huo Shaoheng said nothing.

Gu Nianzhi was also silent.

Gu Nianzhi let go of his hand and said, “…What’s the matter with you two? The two of you are making it sound like it’s bad to be related to me. There’s nothing I want more than to find my loved ones…”

Both Huo Shaoheng and He Zhichu looked at her.

Huo Shaoheng pulled her to his side, pointed at He Zhichu, and said, “Are you sure you want him as your brother? The two of you are not even blood-related, why be each other’s siblings?”

Gu Nianzhi felt somewhat embarrassed. Although she relied on and respected He Zhichu much like kin, it still felt awkward when He Zhichu said aloud that she had agreed to regard him as her brother.

He Zhichu hid the wound beneath his eye and laughed bitterly. “Do you really think I want us to be siblings? What I want is for us to remain engaged, but is that something that you’ll acknowledge?”

“What?””No!” Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi responded in unison.

He Zhichu looked at Gu Nianzhi, then at Huo Shaoheng, and said in a cold voice, “Yes, that’s right. From the moment Nianzhi was born, she was my fiancée. If you’ve got something to say about that, tell it to her parents. Don’t ask me about it.”

“Do you know where her parents are?” Huo Shaoheng probed, hoping to get more information out of He Zhichu.

However, He Zhichu knew better than to spill. “General Huo, if you haven’t found them after all these years, how on earth is it possible for someone like me to succeed in that? Besides, even if I did, do you really think I’d be waiting for you to go pick the fruit? Nianzhi would have long ago been married to me!”

It wasn’t like what he said didn’t make sense.

Given his obsession with Gu Nianzhi, if He Zhichu could find her parents and prove that they were engaged, he would’ve done so eons ago.

Huo Shaoheng’s eyes darkened. He said calmly, “Alright then, since everything’s out on the table, let me first congratulate Nianzhi on gaining an affectionate brother.”

He Zhichu shot him a side glance, crossed his arms, and said, “So you acknowledge that I’m now her brother? That works too. If you want to marry her, you’ll first need to seek my approval. Nianzhi, do you agree to that?”

In her heart, Gu Nianzhi had always thought that it was easier to settle things with He Zhichu, so she nodded obediently. “Professor He… with you checking up on me, I won’t be taken advantage of.”

“You heard that, right?” He Zhichu pulled Gu Nianzhi over to his side and said, “You’d better keep this in mind. From now on, you’re nothing more than Nianzhi’s suitor, so before you meet my requirements, you’re not allowed to go around swindling her again.”

Huo Shaoheng massaged his temples. “Then stop saying so easily that you want to stay overnight in her apartment. Let’s not talk about how you’re not her actual blood-related brother. Even if you were her real brother or father, you ought to keep in mind that the grown son avoids his mother, the grown daughter avoids her father.”

Gu Nianzhi could only feel the tension inside her head.

She was tired and sleepy, and she wanted to chase them out of the apartment so that she could have a good night’s sleep. Her internship at the Senate was starting the next day and she could not be late for that!

Gu Nianzhi raised both her arms up in defeat. “Okay, okay, okay, you’re both right. Now, please get out of my apartment. I’m going to sleep, I will be working at the Senate tomorrow, and I have neither the strength nor energy to deal with the two of you right now.”

Huo Shaoheng glanced at Gu Nianzhi and thought of what she’d said earlier on, about a way to stop Cai Songyin from suing. Could it be related to the Senate somehow?

He wanted to ask her about it but refrained when he saw that it was already past 1:00 A.M. “Go to sleep, I’m leaving.” He looked at He Zhichu. “Professor He, do you want to leave together? I still have some questions for you.”

He Zhichu was both physically and mentally exhausted and simply didn’t have the energy to deal with the crafty fellow and his interrogation. He grabbed his coat from the sofa and said coldly, “I’m exhausted too. If there’s anything you want to talk about, do it later.”

Gu Nianzhi stood in the living room and watched the two of them leave, one after another. She then closed the doors and locked them up. She threw herself onto the bed upon entering her bedroom and blacked out almost instantly.

The issue was finally resolved. She felt the weight lift off her shoulders and slept soundly through the night. It was a night without any dreams.

The next day, she woke up on time at 7:00 A.M.

She rushed to report for duty at the Senate. After washing up in a hurry, she changed into her professional attire, which comprised of a Burberry toggle coat paired with Burberry’s classic check cashmere scarf. She carried her small Hermes Berlin bag with her and left the Hepingli apartment.

Both the Lower House of Parliament and the Senate were located in the heart of Erhuan.

Gu Nianzhi arrived at the entrance and spoke to the security guard. “My name is Gu Nianzhi. Speaker Long has agreed to let me intern here.”

“Please wait a moment,” The security guard said as he contacted the inner personnel and checked the guestlist for the day. After a moment, the security guard said, “I’m sorry Miss Gu, your name is not on the list. Could you be mistaken?”

“That can’t be…” Gu Nianzhi took out her phone hastily and called Special Assistant Yang. She remembered that Speaker Long had Special Assistant Yang help her go through the formalities.

However, Special Assistant Yang could not be reached. The line was either busy or could not be connected.

Gu Nianzhi was aware that the Senate would be particularly busy these next few days, so she did not think about going elsewhere. Besides, yesterday she had only managed to get through to Speaker Long after almost ten phone calls, so she didn’t mind the wait and simply kept calling.

She called for nearly twenty minutes before she got through to Special Assistant Yang. The moment he heard Gu Nianzhi’s voice, he said, “Miss Gu, didn’t you say that you were going to be Speaker Long’s intern? Why are you still not here?”

“I’m here already, I’ve been calling you from the entrance for almost 20 minutes. The security guard says that my name is not on the list. They’re not letting me in.”

Special Assistant Yang said apologetically over the phone, “Oh dear, I’m so sorry, I was so busy yesterday that I forgot to submit both your name and Rong Mingxing’s. Please wait a moment, I’ll come bring you in.”