He Zhichu stopped in his tracks, his shimmering, sultry eyes flashing. "Gu Nianzhi, you have a lunch meeting at noon. Did you forget?"
Gu Nianzhi looked up in shock. "I have a lunch meeting. Why didn't I know about it? Why didn't anyone notify me? "
"Now that you know, I'll inform you on the spot. Can't I?" He Zhichu's voice was even colder than his attitude. "If you have time, spend more time thinking about your profession. Don't just think about buying breakfast for people. Who are you to him? If his wife in China knew about this, would he have a good reputation? I'm not an errand girl. "
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips. Of course, she didn't specialize in running errands for others, but when He Zhichu mentioned Brother Huang's wife, Gu Nianzhi had to be careful.
She let go of He Zhichu's sleeve, feeling a little flustered. "… Professor He, I didn't mean anything by it. Senior Brother Huang's wife wouldn't misunderstand, right? I'm just buying breakfast … "
He Zhichu lowered his eyes, his long black eyelashes covering his shimmering almond-shaped eyes. "If you only buy breakfast for Goldie? Do you think others will misunderstand? "
"Ah?" Gu Nianzhi let out a long sigh. She couldn't help but think back to when she was still at C University. Mei Xiawen had bought her breakfast every day, and he had only bought it for her. Everyone had tacitly agreed that Mei Xiawen was pursuing her.
It seemed that doing so would indeed cause misunderstandings.
However, if she wanted to get closer to Senior Brother Huang, buying breakfast was one of the methods.
"Then what should we do? I don't want his wife to misunderstand … "Gu Nianzhi walked forward with a headache and left He Zhichu in the hallway.
He Zhichu put his hands in the pockets of his black trousers. He couldn't believe that Gu Nianzhi had left on her own.
He turned to look in the direction of the Speaker's office, then turned back to look at the slender figure in front of him, whose shoulders drooped as if she had been struck by a blow. He then looked up at the ceiling of the hallway before finally accepting his fate and striding forward to catch up to Gu Nianzhi. He suggested stiffly, "If you don't want Little Huang's wife to misunderstand, you can buy breakfast for other people as well. If you buy it for someone else, even if his wife finds out, she won't misunderstand. "
Gu Nianzhi stopped in her tracks, her dark eyes dancing with joy. "Yes, yes, yes! Professor He was really experienced. Let's do this. I'll buy breakfast for others right away. "With that said, he walked towards the small restaurant that sold breakfast.
He Zhichu followed behind her and couldn't help but cough. He said nonchalantly, "I don't have any experience. I'm just talking about human nature. By the way, you're in luck. I'll give you a chance. I haven't had breakfast today, so you can buy me one too. "
Gu Nianzhi turned around and looked at He Zhichu strangely. "Professor He, don't you never eat breakfast? He only drinks red wine … I've heard about it from my classmates. "
He Zhichu's gaze instantly froze, and the roots of his teeth itched. He sneered. "You're smart again now? Didn't you say that you would get a stomachache if you skipped breakfast? You were just trying to persuade Goldie, but what about now? It seems that your feelings for Goldie are not ordinary. "
Gu Nianzhi wanted to bang her head against the ground. She felt like she couldn't reason with him. She turned around abruptly and rushed into the restaurant. "Five more English breakfasts!"
The chef in the tall white hat packed five breakfast cartons for her, and the cashier printed out a receipt. "Seventy-five yuan."
Gu Nianzhi took out her wallet and sadly discovered that she only had a little over 50 yuan in cash.
She still didn't have an American credit card, and she couldn't bring any of the Hua Xia Imperial credit cards that Huo Shaoheng had given her. She usually withdrew money from Zhao Liangze.
Fifty US dollars a day was usually enough for her, but she didn't have enough in an emergency like this.
Gu Nianzhi's tiny face flushed red. She stammered, "I-I-I … Can I just have three?"
"No way. These are all freshly made. If you don't want them, who should I give them to? "The dark-skinned girl at the cashier arrogantly refused to give her a" refund. "
"Then I …" Gu Nianzhi turned around and looked at He Zhichu. "Professor He, can you lend me some money?"
He Zhichu was already furious with Gu Nianzhi.
It wasn't easy for him to get breakfast prepared by Gu Nianzhi, but in the end, he had to pay for it himself.
With a sullen face, he took out his black card and handed it over.
The dark-skinned girl's expression changed instantly. She smiled widely at He Zhichu. "Thank you, Mr. He."
After swiping the card, Gu Nianzhi walked out with He Zhichu with the five breakfast cartons. She handed one to him. "Professor He, here's your breakfast."
He Zhichu pursed his lips and took the carton from her. His voice was still sharp. "This doesn't count, because I'm treating everyone to breakfast. If you want to clear your name, you'll have to buy it again. "He turned around and left.
Gu Nianzhi pouted. She took the other four breakfast cartons back to her office at the Committee of Appropriations. She placed them on Mary's desk and winked at her. "Mary, I'm treating everyone to breakfast."
Mary grinned from ear to ear. She happily shared the food with the people who had come to work that day.
Gu Nianzhi sat quietly in her small office for a while. She turned on her computer and logged into her account to see if there was anything to do today.
There were no projects waiting to be approved or uploaded in the Committee of Appropriations' system.
She thought about it and opened the history file to look at the projects that had been uploaded in the past.
She remembered the dates that Zhao Liangze had told her yesterday. She tried to pull up the records for the last three months.
Because she already had Zhao Liangze's reminder, Gu Nianzhi immediately discovered that the Congress had indeed allocated funds to the Navy two months ago.
In terms of quantity, it was a huge amount.
How interesting.
Gu Nianzhi suddenly understood what He Zhichu meant.
This was the most interesting place in the US Congress.
If the source and direction of the funds were to be considered, many questions could be easily answered.
Congress approved so many projects every year that even the members of Congress didn't know how many there were.
But not every project was implemented.
Only in the Committee of Appropriations could one see which of the projects approved by the Congress were real and which were just fishes in troubled waters.
In other words, even a mountain of documents and a watertight speech could lie. Only the flow of money could not.
Gu Nianzhi felt like she had discovered a new continent. She spent the entire morning in her office, focusing on the records of previous appropriations.
She was shocked when He Zhichu's call came in.
Gu Nianzhi unlocked the phone, her eyes still glued to the computer screen. "Professor He, what's up?"
"Lunch meeting. Did you forget?" He Zhichu's cold voice came from the phone.
Gu Nianzhi nodded and quickly logged out of the system. She turned off the computer and picked up her small backpack to walk out of the Committee of Appropriations.
"I'll wait for you at the front steps of Capitol Hill." He Zhichu hung up.
When Gu Nianzhi came out, she saw a shiny black Rolls-Royce parked in the empty space in front of the Capitol Hill steps.
Was this it?
Gu Nianzhi looked around and saw only one car parked there.
Parking was usually not allowed here.
He Zhichu poked his head out of the backseat. "Come here. What are you waiting for?"
Gu Nianzhi quickly walked over and opened the door to sit in the backseat.
"Drive." He Zhichu ordered the driver in front.
Gu Nianzhi remembered a joke that people who drove Rolls-Royces had to have chauffeurs because if they drove, people would think they were the chauffeur …
She lowered her head and smiled faintly, unable to contain her laughter.
When He Zhichu saw her smile, his pent-up frustrations immediately dissipated and he smiled back.
The car stopped at a French restaurant in DC and He Zhichu led her inside.
The two of them actually got a private room in this famous expensive restaurant!
It was rare for American restaurants to have a private room, regardless of whether it was high-end or low-end.
Gu Nianzhi sat down happily and waited for the waiter to serve the food, but she still didn't see anyone.
"Professor He, wasn't there supposed to be a lunch meeting? Where is everyone? "She looked at the door of the private room and asked in confusion.
"Isn't everyone here?" He Zhichu picked up his knife and fork to cut up a medium steak and drizzle it with sauce.
Gu Nianzhi finally understood. "Just the two of us? How is this a lunch meeting … "She grumbled as she cut up her crab-cake and ate slowly.
"Can't two people have a meeting?" He Zhichu didn't even look up as he picked up a wine glass and handed it to Gu Nianzhi. "Give me the red wine."
Gu Nianzhi quickly picked up a bottle of red wine from the table and poured a shallow glass for He Zhichu.
"Today's lunch meeting is about your recent work. I heard you've been hanging around the various offices of the Committee of Appropriations? "He Zhichu listed out everything Gu Nianzhi had done for the past few days.
Gu Nianzhi sweated as she listened to him. So there were spies around her as well …
"Got it, I'll work hard from now on." She didn't argue with He Zhichu and obediently admitted her mistake. She then remembered the tip of the iceberg she had seen from the Committee of Appropriations' internal system and giggled. "I kind of understand what Professor He meant."
"What do you mean?"
"You said that the Committee of Appropriations is the most useful department in Congress?" Gu Nianzhi poured He Zhichu another shallow glass of red wine. "I've discovered that it is indeed the case. I'm confirming my suspicions. "
"Oh? Tell me about it. " He Zhichu didn't expect Gu Nianzhi to have a clue so soon. He picked up his glass and took a sip of red wine. He looked up at Gu Nianzhi over the rim of the glass.
Gu Nianzhi shook her head. "It's not time yet. I'll explain it to Professor He when I have everything figured out."
"Sounds good." He Zhichu slowly wiped his mouth with a napkin. "But remember not to be too late, or you won't get a birthday present."
"Oh? Oh … "Gu Nianzhi nodded. She had almost forgotten about that." Professor He, please wait and see! "
…
While He Zhichu and Gu Nianzhi were having lunch, Zhao Liangze was on a video call with Huo Shaoheng.
After he finished reporting, he hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying to Huo Shaoheng, "Huo Shao, I showed the data to Nianzhi."
Huo Shaoheng's expression didn't change at all, but Zhao Liangze suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. It was like being stared at by a bloodthirsty beast.
"Mr. Huo …" Zhao Liangze spoke slowly, his voice trembling. "I … I … Did I do something wrong?"
"Little Ze, you know that Nianzhi has a photographic memory. You showed her the data, and you expect me to say you're right?" Huo Shaoheng felt indescribably frustrated. He threw the mouse away and took out a cigarette. He lit it in front of the computer and took a long drag. He hid his face behind the rising white smoke.
Zhao Liangze lowered his head. He didn't dare meet Huo Shaoheng's eyes. He mumbled, "I, I, I … I just wanted to find out the truth as soon as possible."
"You still shouldn't have shown it to her." Huo Shaoheng switched his hand to hold the cigarette. He held the mouse with his right hand and clicked on another file.
There was also a set of data stored there. It was data on the changes in the magnetic field.
This file had been created six years ago.
The data from six years ago was almost identical to the data Huo Shaoheng and the others had just discovered.
The latitude and longitude coordinates of the file from six years ago were a street in the Huaxia Empire's C City.
On that day, there had been a serious car accident in the area. Huo Shaoheng, who had been ordered to protect the scientists collecting data from the scene, rescued a 12-year-old girl from the burning car.
She was Gu Nianzhi.
"The magnetic field changes in the downtown area six years ago are almost identical to the magnetic field changes at the bottom of the Gulf of Aden six years later. You want to show something like this to Nianzhi? "Huo Shaoheng's hand gripped the mouse so tightly that he wanted to crush it.
"If I'm not wrong, this kind of data overlap is definitely not a coincidence. This must have something to do with Nianzhi. Since we can't break the ice, why not let her find it herself? " Zhao Liangze mustered up his courage and looked up at Huo Shaoheng on the other end of the video call. "Besides, Huo Shao agreed to let Nianzhi come to the United States. Wasn't it to break the ice? So that more people could appear? "
To put it bluntly, Gu Nianzhi was now their bait.
How could they stir up a pool of spring water if they didn't scatter the bait everywhere?
Huo Shaoheng's deep eyes were bottomless. He was silent for a long time before finally acquiescing to Zhao Liangze's actions. "Remember to report back at any time." With that, he closed the video call and walked to the balcony with a cigarette in his hand. He looked out at the mountains in a daze.
The C City Special Operations Forces base was dark in the middle of the night. Only the flickering of the cigarette between his fingers matched his fluctuating thoughts.
…
After Gu Nianzhi's "lunch meeting," He Zhichu sent her back to the Capitol Building.
He didn't get out of the car. He tilted his head at her and handed her a credit card. "Take it. I have to go out for the next few days. Remember to write a report every day and send it to my email. I'll check it every day."
"Got it, Professor He." Gu Nianzhi's voice was almost dejected as she rejected He Zhichu's credit card. "Professor He, I can't take this card."
However, He Zhichu replied coldly, "My graduate students all have it. It's from the university's endowment."
Gu Nianzhi could only accept He Zhichu's credit card and shove it back into her backpack.
She hung her head and walked back to the Capitol Building with heavy steps. She went to look for Brother Huang first.
Brother Huang saw her and asked anxiously, "Where did you go? Are you still going to eat lunch? "
"Of course I am. I'm starving." Gu Nianzhi remembered that He Zhichu had just left, so no one should know about their "lunch meeting."
Brother Huang took her to a small restaurant on the Capitol Building for lunch.
It was lunchtime, so the restaurant was especially crowded.
Gu Nianzhi only asked for a vegetable juice. She held it in her hand and found a corner to sit with Brother Huang.
Senior Brother Huang stared at her vegetable juice, dumbfounded. "… This is your lunch?! No way! You don't have to save money for me! I bought lunch with my card. We didn't have to pay for it! "
Gu Nianzhi was taken aback. "Brother Huang, you have a credit card? How come I didn't know about it? "
He Zhichu had just given her one. Brother Huang obviously had a credit card for a long time.
"Uh, Teaching Assistant Wen said there's a problem with your paperwork. She's still negotiating with the bank." Brother Huang quickly explained. "It's the same if you use mine. Do you want to buy something else to eat? "
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This was the second and third update in a row, including the monthly pass of 4300 plus updates.
O(∩_∩)O~。
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