Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Song Jinning had spent her entire life on research. Her love with Huo Guanchen had already been a thing of the past. Now, other than research, the only other thing that was of any importance to her was her only son, Huo Shaoheng. Therefore, her son’s lifelong happiness was of utmost importance to her.

“Who would dare to?!” Song Jinning took a step forward, pointed at Huo Guanchen, and raged, “The person who thinks that way has a mind so warped, may he be condemned! Don’t put those dirty thoughts you guys might have onto my son! Nianzhi was 12 when Shaoheng was her guardian, but Shaoheng did not develop feelings for her at that time! Grow some brains, will you?!”

“Even if you don’t think so, what if there are people who do?!” Looking at his wife, who spent nearly her entire life in the confines of her laboratory, a sudden pang of longing flashed in his mind. She had always been a princess, but he was never a prince…

“If someone – anyone – were to malign your daughter-in-law like that, what on earth are you doing as a father?!” Song Jinning’s finger was so close, it was about to jab Huo Guanchen in the chest. “Instead of stepping out to defend them, you’re trying to use underhanded methods to put them down. Are you even human?!”

Huo Guanchen was furious. He couldn’t understand why Song Jinning was this unreasonable, and he waved his hands in frustration. “Enough! This isn’t up to you to control. Don’t mess things up.”

“Not up to me to control?!” Song Jinning was fuming. “I am Shaoheng’s mother. How is this not up to me now?”

Huo Guanchen felt guilty when asked that question, so he tried to be stern. “I did not say that as a father, I opposed this as the Director of the Political Department in the Army.”

“I see. So now you remember that you’re the Director of the Political Department?” Song Jinning laughed coldly. “But everyone else thinks of you as Shaoheng’s father. So what do we do about that? Why don’t we do it this way, in order for you to be more ‘impartial,’ severe ties with Shaoheng. Then it won’t matter to us anymore whether you disagree or not!”

“Severe ties with Shaoheng?! Dream on!” Huo Guanchen had already lost his wife. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his son as well. Moreover, he had high hopes for this son of his. He had always hoped for Shaoheng to climb to places he could never reach. Therefore, he cared a lot about Shaoheng’s selection of life partner.

“Me? Dream on? Haha! I, on the other hand, really want to see if I am dreaming.” Song Jinning waved her fists as fair as jade in front of Huo Guanchen. “I’ll make sure you lose him as your son if you continue to oppose.”

Huo Guanchen frowned, and his brows furrowed for a good while. He still shook his head eventually. “If Shaoheng really disowns me as his father all because of Gu Nianzhi, I’ll oppose this even more.”

“You’d oppose this, even if Shaoheng wanted to disown you as his father?”

“Yes. Even if Shaoheng were to sever ties with me, I’d still oppose this.” Huo Guanchen said firmly, “I’m doing this for his own good. He’ll understand in time.”

Song Jinning did not wish to speak to him any longer. She did not understand how she had fallen for someone like him in the first place anymore and had still loved him for so many years…

Taking a deep breath and suppressing her inner thoughts, she asked Huo Guanchen, confused, “Don’t they just have to love each other in order to get married? What on earth are you thinking about, exactly? When you married me, did you marry me so that you could have a smoother career progression as well?”

Huo Guanchen was taken aback. He retorted instinctively, “How can you compare them with us back then? Back then, we were nobodies. Of course we could marry anyone we wanted. However, Shaoheng is different now…”

“Haha, how different? His rank is way higher than yours back then, so why can’t he choose the girl he wants to marry? Then why should he be a major general?” Song Jinning scoffed. “Forget it. You can’t get reason into your head. I’m just a busybody and stupid enough to even try and reason with you.”

Huo Guanchen was so angry that he almost felt his blood vessels constricting. Song Jinning turned and left after she was done talking. A sky blue figure moved in front of him, and the white scarf on her neck swayed along with the wind, looking like a cloud from the sky had just descended in front of him.

Huo Guanchen’s heart skipped a beat. He reached out to Song Jinning and grabbed her arm. “Jinning, you came here just to quarrel with me?” he asked in a low voice.

“No, I don’t quarrel with people.” Song Jinning did not even turn around. “I came to reason with you, but you refuse to see where you went wrong. I’m just wasting my time. Let go of me.” Song Jinning wrenched her arm out of Huo Guanchen’s grasp and strode out of the Huo’s family mansion.

After she exited the mansion’s iron gates, Song Jinning turned around and looked at the place where she stayed for more than 20 years. She felt that it looked unfamiliar all of a sudden. Had 16 years changed Huo Guanchen, or had he been like that all along, only it hadn’t shown because he had nothing to lose back then? Song Jinning felt really confused. She walked quickly and left the main grounds of the army, returning to her Institute of High Energy Physics laboratory.

…

Huo Shaoheng had just exited from a meeting early in the morning when Zhao Liangze came up to him and whispered, “Mr. Huo, your father is here. He’s waiting for you in the small meeting room over there.”

Huo Shaoheng took a look at his schedule for the day. “Do I have anymore meetings today?”

“Not today, no. Only the one you just came out of.” Zhao Liangze scratched his head awkwardly. He knew that Huo Shaoheng wanted a reason not to see Huo Guanchen. It was a pity Huo Guanchen’s rank was higher than Huo Shaoheng’s, so he could see Huo Shaoheng even without making an appointment. Huo Shaoheng handed Zhao Liangze the documents in his hands to take back to his office and headed towards the small meeting room with a stern face.

“Shaoheng.” Huo Guanchen saw that Huo Shaoheng walked in with a straight expression and was not sure if he was happy or unhappy.

Sitting down in front of Huo Guanchen, Huo Shaoheng spoke in an official tone, “General Huo, is there anything today?”

He had not greeted him as his father. Huo Guanchen fumed. He initially wanted to come and make peace of some sort, but he couldn’t care less now. He slammed his hand on the table and commanded, “Take back your marriage application immediately! How can you take marriage as a game?!”

Putting both hands on the meeting table, Huo Shaoheng looked at Huo Guanchen sideways and remained silent. His features were so deeply set that he looked perfect – almost like a mannequin. He stood so still, one could almost mistake him as one.

Huo Guanchen was uncomfortable under Huo Shaoheng’s intense gaze. He lowered his head and had a sip of tea. Then, he asked, “Why aren’t you talking? Or are you speechless already?”

Huo Shaoheng shook his head and spoke calmly, “There’s nothing to talk about. There’s no need to waste time.”

“What’s with that attitude?!” Huo Guanchen slammed his teacup onto the table and saw red. “I’m your elder, if we’re talking about age, and I’m your superior, if we’re talking about rank – and you have the cheek to talk to me like that?!” No matter if he was speaking to an elder or his superior, Huo Shaoheng’s attitude towards Huo Guanchen was less than satisfactory in his opinion.

Huo Shaoheng did not falter. Looking away, he looked out the window for a while before replying, “Going by age, this is the headquarters of Special Forces – my place of work. I cannot talk about my personal matters during working hours. Going by rank, please talk about official matters, General Huo.”

“I am talking about an official matter!” Huo Guanchen’s face fell. “Your marriage isn’t a personal matter. Listen up – take back your marriage application!”

“Oh?” Huo Shaoheng smiled. “If my marriage isn’t a personal matter, then you have even less of a right to talk to me about it.”

“What do you mean?” Huo Guanchen’s expression changed. His son had grown up. He was independent now. He wanted to get out from under all the protection he was having. Huo Guanchen felt a mixture of emotions.

“Nothing much. General Ji and the others were happy to see the application. I have no idea why General Huo is opposing.” Huo Shaoheng rapped the table lightly with his fingers. Clonk, clonk, clock. It vexed Huo Guanchen.

Huo Guanchen could accuse others who approved of this marriage of having ulterior motives, but it was different if it was General Ji. General Ji had groomed Huo Shaoheng personally. Everyone knew that General Ji saw Huo Shaoheng as his successor. If General Ji wanted to ruin Huo Shaoheng, he would have many methods to do so. He did not have to use marriage as a trap.

Huo Guanchen hesitated and thought about the repercussions this issue could bring. Eventually, he still shook his head. “I oppose. Even if General Ji were to agree, I would still oppose it. Shaoheng, I’m doing this for your own good. You’re blinded by love now. You wouldn’t know what I mean. Wait ’til you–”

Huo Shaoheng raised his hand and stopped Huo Guanchen. Then, he raised a finger and swung it in front of Huo Guanchen. “General Huo, ‘blinded by love’–such an unprofessional and humiliating description. Please don’t use it in front of me.”

“Don’t parse my words. You know what I mean.” Huo Guanchen frowned and sincerely felt that his son was blinded by love. Otherwise, how could he not see the issue on such a simple case of pros and cons?

“I really don’t understand your intention. Honest.” Huo Shaoheng said expressionlessly. “Why don’t you just be straightforward?”

Huo Guanchen was speechless. Some things he could say in front of Song Jinning, but not Huo Shaoheng. The things he was planning for the person involved, he couldn’t let the person involved know about.

“Why are you not saying anything? My time is precious. I’ll leave now if there aren’t any official matters to talk about.” Huo Shaoheng stood up and bowed slightly, an action to send a guest off. “If it’s any personal matter, you can talk to me over the weekend when I’m resting from work.”

Seeing that Huo Shaoheng was not faltering no matter what, Huo Guanchen recognized his determination, and he could not leave it at that. “Shaoheng, you know that the effort you put in for over ten years might go down the drain if you insist on marrying Gu Nianzhi? You might even be forced to quit or get demoted. You really want to end up like that?” Huo Guanchen looked at him deeply, stood up, and left the meeting room.

As he was walking past Huo Shaoheng, he used the corner of his eyes to see if Huo Shaoheng was still standing there attentively. He did not even turn around. He looked straight ahead, standing straight, looking proud. Sighing mentally, Huo Guanchen left the meeting room.

Huo Shaoheng only left the meeting room a good while after Huo Guanchen had left. Folding his arms, he walked back to his office slowly and opened the windows. The summer scenery was gorgeous, but all he wanted was a cigarette.

…

After rushing for a day and a night, Gu Nianzhi finally managed to complete all the work that He Zhichu had given her before she left for Barbados, including fulfilling her duties as his teaching assistant.

Sometime in the evening, immediately after she was done packing up and was about to call Ma Qiqi to have dinner together, her phone rang. She picked it up and realized that it was Gu Yanran.

“Nianzhi, it’s Sister. I’m here to take you out for dinner.” Gu Yanran sounded cheerful but firm on the phone and did not allow Gu Nianzhi to refuse. “I’ll be at your lobby in a minute. Come down now.”