Part 2 Hello, Mr. Major General I'm Gu Nianzi

262. Wait for me!

As for Mr. Zhao, Gu Yanran could make neither heads nor tails out of his behavior: was he already taken? Was he completely oblivious? Or was he simply not interested in Miss Bai? The man was charming but polite towards Miss Bai; it was impossible to tell what he thought of her.
Gu Yanran saw Huo Shaoheng turn and walk towards a small lounge in one corner of the hall, partitioned from the rest of the hall by a row of leafy potted plants. She watched him sit down, and then followed after him.
"General Huo, I cannot express how happy I am to see you at this party. Deputy Minister Feng is truly a man of his word." Gu Yanran smiled as she sat opposite him. She raised her wine glass, meaning to clink glasses with Huo Shaoheng. "Cheers."
Huo Shaoheng placed a hand on the back of the sofa, and swirled the wine in his glass with his other hand. His long legs were crossed, and his free hand rested on his knee.
"Miss Gu, please look up the definition for charity, as you seem to have forgotten what it means. It is not a tool for coercion." With that, he set his wine glass down, stood up, and walked away without a second glance.
Deputy Minister Feng pranced gleefully over to Gu Yanran just then. He said, smiling, "Miss Gu, look, General Huo came, just like I said he would."
Gu Yanran could not help but laugh at this. She nodded. "Indeed. Don't worry, I will uphold my end of the bargain."
General Huo had not only come to the party, but also engaged in conversation with her. He had said no more than two sentences to her, but still!
Gu Yanran thought cynically: I can't very well ask Huo Shaoheng to be like all the other boot-lickers, can I?
A spineless man was next to useless.
She needed someone strong enough to protect her massive business, empire, and wealth. She wanted a wild and ferocious lion, not a silly, yapping dog that was all bark and no bite.
...
Gu Nianzhi lay on her bed, shell-shocked. She could not get the image of Huo Shaoheng's smile out of her head.
Her eyes stung. She forced herself to look up, her eyes wide open and unblinking, to stop the tears from flowing.
She lay like this, oblivious to the passing of time, when her phone suddenly rang.
Gu Nianzhi wanted to ignore it, but her phone would not stop ringing. It was beginning to get on her nerves.
She grabbed her phone and was about to turn it off when she saw that Zhao Quan was calling her.
The "Adonis" from the School of Engineering
Gu Nianzhi hesitated, then decided to take the call. "What's up, Dreamboat?"
Zhao Quan snorted. "This isn't the time to be silly, Nianzhi. This is serious."
"What is it?" Gu Nianzhi was, by now, good friends with the students from the Huaxia Student Association.
After Xin Xinggao had been exposed, the Huaxia Student Association had not only issued a scathing statement condemning her, but had also made absolutely clear that they no longer wanted anything to do with her. Gu Nianzhi had naturally had a hand in that, as well.
That had been the best the students could do against Xin Xinggao; she was currently under the protection of the US military, after all.
"Here's the thing: we're having a women's softball match with the Indian Student Association today. We kicked Xin Xinggao off the team, and she joined the Indian team instead. We're one player short. Do you know how to play softball? Can you take her place?"
Gu Nianzhi was eager to get out of her room, away from her jumbled thoughts and traitorous imagination. She was feeling miserable, and was desperate to do something, anything, to vent her frustrations.
"Softball? That's pretty much baseball, isn't it? Sure, I'll play. Wait for me, I'll be right over. What's the address?" Gu Nianzhi got up, her phone held against her ear, and began rummaging through her closet and drawers for her baseball uniform, cap, and bat.
"It's the baseball field over on the west side." Zhao Quan was delighted. "Come over as soon as you can. We have a huge turnout today."
The Special Ops soldiers had taught Gu Nianzhi how to play baseball. She had been good at it, but she had not had many opportunities to play since moving out from the base. She hoped she wasn't rusty; the last thing she wanted was to disappoint her teammates.
Gu Nianzhi changed into her uniform. She walked out of her room and said to Yin Shixiong, "Brother Xiong, I'm going out for a bit."
Yin Shixiong looked over her baseball uniform and the baseball bat in her hand. He smiled and said, "Off to play some baseball?"
"Yup. We're playing against the Indian women's team today. I needed to stretch my muscles anyway," said Gu Nianzhi as she swung her baseball bat, her eyes blazing.