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

The doctor in the white coat nodded coldly. “That’s part of my job, go ahead.”

Smith glanced at Gu Nianzhi. She took out a list of questions prepared from earlier and asked the doctor each one. “Who is the patient in here?”

“Seth, he was brought in from the Munich District Court last night.”

“What illness does he have?”

“He was injured during a fight, second degree concussion, swollen and bruised eyes, damaged vision in the left eye resulting in near blindness, fracture of his left fibula, various lacerations on his arms.” The doctor spoke in German, and the month of studying Gu Nianzhi had done finally paid off. However, she didn’t understand many of the medical terms and only got the gist with Smith’s translation.

“What a pity.” Why didn’t they just beat him to death? Gu Nianzhi and Smith shared the same thought.

The doctor was speechless. After questioning him, Gu Nianzhi passed the list of questions to the doctor. “Please read it and sign at the bottom if there are no errors or omissions.”

The doctor appeared shocked and glanced up at her like he had never signed such a document before. Smith often dealt with these situations in the US, so he pointed to the signature line. “Here. Sign it, and we’ll go.”

The doctor gave Smith another suspicious look before carefully reading the question list from Gu Nianzhi in its entirety and finally signing his name at the bottom. He passed it back to Gu Nianzhi and glanced at her before walking to Seth’s bed and bending down to check his injuries. Seth was still wailing horribly, his voice hoarse and grating.

Gu Nianzhi put away the document and didn’t want to stay a moment longer. She gave Smith a look. “Smith, let’s go.”

Smith nodded and didn’t say anything to the doctor before walking out of Seth’s room with Gu Nianzhi. They got into the business car and Gu Nianzhi finally asked Smith, “What do you think about Seth’s injuries?”

Smith smiled casually. “Doesn’t matter if they are real or not, there’s no way he can get bail with us watching.” The doctor had signed the list of questions, so he faced possible legal punishment if he was lying. Gu Nianzhi was reassured and crossed her arms as she rested her eyes in the car. It was the first time she felt a bit lonely. Thinking back carefully, although her known memories began from the age of 12, she had had either Huo Shao or Professor He at her side these past seven years. Both of these men made her feel safe, but of course she trusted Huo Shao more and felt more assured with him. She could tell He Zhichu still had reservations about her.

Gu Nianzhi frowned when she realized what she was thinking about. Her emotions were all over the place when she thought about how He Zhichu had already left Germany, and while Huo Shao was still there, she had no idea where to find him. If he was still in Germany, he must know she had also arrived. Li Haiqing’s case had shaken the entire country, and the plaintiff’s lawyers specially hired from the United States were getting full coverage. Although Gu Nianzhi didn’t appear on the video, anyone who knew her could recognize her as the voice of the female lawyer. She believed that Huo Shao must know she had come to Germany, but he probably hadn’t reached out to her all this time, because his mission was especially classified…

…

After Gu Nianzhi and Smith left Seth’s room, the doctor came over to remove the splint from Seth’s left leg so he could check it. A long, swollen scar puffed up over it and looked frightening. Smith stopped wailing and glared at the doctor as he rasped, “It hurts like hell. Can you give me some painkillers?!”

“Painkillers?” The doctor turned around to roll his eyes at him. “If I hadn’t cut your leg open with a blade, you would have been exposed today. Those American lawyers are very keen. Do you know what the consequences are if they find out your injuries actually aren’t that serious?”

“I don’t care about the consequences!” Seth gritted his teeth and slammed the bed. “I want to tear that woman apart! I hate her guts!”

“Stay here and be good. It wasn’t easy for your parents to get you out of the detention center, so listen to their instructions and stop causing trouble.” The doctor called the nurse to change Seth’s dressing and also administered drugs to knock him out so he could sleep for a while. Although Seth’s injuries weren’t as serious as what was on the chart, he was truly hurt because the beating was real. To make it even more realistic, they pulled out all the stops and actually beat him up. Of course, they avoided critical areas when beating him and hit where he was tough and muscular. Seth’s face was bruised and swollen, so no one would suspect anything.

…

After they left the hospital, Smith first escorted Gu Nianzhi back to the Hilton Hotel before taking the car for a meeting at the law firm’s new branch. The other three lawyers were already waiting for him there. Gu Nianzhi was alone in the hotel room as she arranged court records from the past few days to check for errors or omissions. She also researched information and wrote her defense for the civil suit. She busied herself until late at night and only looked at her watch when she got hungry. It was already 10pm. She wanted to send Ma Qiqi a message or call her so they could have a chat. But at that time, it was around 5am in the Hua Xia Empire, so Ma Qiqi must have still been sleeping. She couldn’t call. However, Gu Nianzhi suddenly got excited and opened the instant messaging app on her phone to send Ma Qiqi a message.

Always Thinking of You: Qiqi, are you still sleeping? I miss you, do you miss me? She sent it and knew Ma Qiqi wouldn’t see it for some time, so she put her phone away.

Ma Qiqi replied the next day. I Love Meng Qiqi: Nianzhi, are you there?

Always Thinking of You: Yeah. What’s up Qiqi?

I Love Meng Qiqi: Nianzhi, when are you coming back? School started, and everyone was talking about you during the first class meeting!

Always Thinking of You: Talking about me? There’s nothing much to talk about. The case is being pushed back, and the results aren’t being announced. The civil proceedings are on schedule for trial. sigh It’s so tough.

Always Thinking of You: Oh? How could that be? These Germans! They’re so two faced! They really were two faced, what a bunch of hypocrites! They began cursing the Germans for being hypocrites since they espoused believing in human rights for all but couldn’t even deal justice in the case of a murdered foreigner. What bullsh*t!

Gu Nianzhi felt much better after cursing with Ma Qiqi to her heart’s content. In the following few days, Gu Nianzhi was going through the court records in her hotel room. She kept rereading the information provided by the police and even pretended to be the defense lawyer to think of ways to defend it. Then she switched and was the plaintiff’s lawyer, attacking the debate points she discovered. Every time she read it, she could glean new information and make new discoveries.

Under the work environment that nearly split her personality, she forgot about the passage of time. Her days were productive and busy. Gu Nianzhi really enjoyed this lifestyle, and the only thing she missed was having Huo Shaoheng by her side. Her longing for him grew day by day, but she had no one to tell. Every time someone called, her heart would hammer madly, but it was never him when she answered.

It was another night when Gu Nianzhi had already gotten in bed. She fell into a groggy sleep and heard her phone chime. Instinctively grabbing her phone, she unlocked it to see it was a message from Ma Qiqi.

I Love Meng Qiqi: Nianzhi, when are you coming back?

Gu Nianzhi rubbed her eyes and held the phone as she laid in bed to reply to the message. Always Thinking of You: I’ll be back once the case is over, at least once the results of the first trial are announced.

I Love Meng Qiqi: These Germans are so annoying, as if they can solve anything by delaying? What a bunch of ostriches. They think people can’t see their ugly butts by burying their heads in the sand!

Always Thinking of You: Hahahahaha… Qiqi, you’re so funny!

They chatted for a while until Ma Qiqi went to class. Gu Nianzhi wasn’t sleepy anymore and was thinking about getting up to read for a bit when she received another text. She had never seen the sender’s number before, and the message was a very simple sentence: Did you get the scarves?

Gu Nianzhi’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Hands shaking uncontrollably, her fingers were so clumsy she mistyped several times. After trying many times, she typed one sentence: Who are you?

The sender was silent for a while, then replied, ? Who do you think? They then reminded her, Don’t tell anyone, you understand what I mean.

Gu Nianzhi nodded furiously and suddenly felt tears in her eyes. An indescribable feeling welled up in her chest, and she pressed her phone against it. Closing her eyes, it was almost like Huo Shaoheng was there with her. She tried to call the number, but discovered it was a fake one. Just as she was feeling confused, she got another text. I can’t speak on the phone right now, don’t call.

That meant he had seen her call just now. Gu Niaznhi didn’t stop nodding, and although the other side couldn’t see her, she apologized sincerely and sent a text back. Ok, be safe.

The other side was silent for some time before replying, I miss you.

Gu Nianzhi’s tears almost fell, but she quickly leaned her head back to hold them back. If he wasn’t by her side, who would see her tears? Because of that, it was better she got used to not crying. Gu Nianzhi rubbed her finger on her phone for a long time before replying, Me too…

The other person waited for a while, then replied, I want to see you. Are you free tomorrow?

Yes, yes, yes! Gu Nianzhi frantically replied, her fingers so clumsy she mistyped and deleted it several times before being able to write a simple message. Not only was she totally free tomorrow, but she would still say the same thing, even if she was actually busy! She remembered checking the weather report. It was supposed to rain tomorrow, but so what? She’d still make it there, even if it rained knives and bullets! No one could stop her from seeing the person she loved!

The other side paused before sending a hug emoji. Ok, come to the Königssee in the Alps at 10am tomorrow. I’ll wait for you.

Gu Nianzhi didn’t hesitate to reply, I’ll wait for you until you arrive! She received no reply but was so excited she couldn’t fall asleep again.