Chapter 612
Tan Guiren took Huo Shaoheng to the dining room . Because the house was now using a diesel generator for power, only one light was on in the dining room, as opposed to typically unscrupulous usage . The long dining table was laden with four delicious and fragrant courses and a soup, all authentic Yangzhou cuisine . A lotus blossom-shaped bowl in the middle was filled with a round, fist-sized Lion’s Head meatball paired with crisp greens accented with broth . A beautiful aroma was apparent as soon as they moved closer . On the side was a dish of vegetarian stir-fry, pan-fried shrimp, mushrooms, and vegetables, as well as a bowl of tofu . More than half the food was vegetarian .
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Tan Guiren didn’t hesitate to serve the only Lion’s Head meatball to Huo Shaoheng using the serving spoon . “Try this meatball . It’s Mrs . Fen’s best dish . ”
Mrs . Fen had retired after serving the food, and because she didn’t plan on having Huo Shaoheng stay for dinner, she hadn’t made much food . It was only enough for Tan Guiren’s portion . Yangzhou cuisine was based on small but numerous plates, and one dish may have only consisted of one bite .
Huo Shaoheng was familiar with Yangzhou cuisine since his grandmother had been a southerner and there had been an expert Huaiyang chef at home when she’d been still alive . Yangzhou cuisine was merely a branch of Huaiyang cuisine . He used his chopsticks to pick up the meatball to taste and found it mediocre . It was nothing spectacular and was leagues behind the Huaiyang chef who’d used to work back home . However, Huo Shaoheng didn’t verbalize it but only nodded and said, “It’s pretty good . ”
It was a rare thing for Huo Shaoheng to even give a compliment, but because he still needed to use Tan Guiren, he had no choice but to bite his tongue and act polite .
Tan Guiren didn’t mind . A smile bloomed on her face, and she continued to serve him more food . Mrs . Fen overheard Huo Shaoheng’s mild compliment and secretly shunned him for not appreciating a good thing . However, she didn’t express it outwardly and went to dinner after serving the rice container .
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Huo Shaoheng and Tan Guiren chatted intermittently, so the dinner lapsed into nearly an hour . It was almost 9:00 p . m . by the time they looked at the clock . After they set down their chopsticks, Mrs . Fen then served them tea, and Tan Guiren looked outside to see the rain still yet to cease . It looked like Huo Shaoheng wouldn’t be leaving tonight .
Suppressing the joy in her heart, she left the dining room to help set up Huo Shaoheng’s room . Huo Shaoheng chose a guest room on the first floor, while Tan Gurien and Mrs . Fen both lived on the second floor for convenience . Although Tan Guiren would have preferred for Huo Shaoheng to stay in the guest room on the second floor, he had chosen the first floor himself . She didn’t want to disobey anything he said because he had such a powerful aura .
The power still hadn’t returned after 10:00 p . m . , and because the house’s diesel generator wasn’t a high-capacity model, it was almost depleted after two hours of use . They still had to reserve some power for the next day, so the three of them said goodnight to each other and retired to their rooms .
In the early morning hours, Huo Shaoheng opened his eyes and quietly got up . He wore a black T-shirt, black pants, and only socks as he crept out of his room . First, he went to the living room to find the bugs and pinhole cameras planted there . There was a photo frame on the fireplace in the living room, and behind it were four black button-like things originally used to block the photo inside from falling out, but one of the black buttons had been swapped for a bug . Huo Shaoheng reached out to touch it and ripped the bug off .
After leaving the living room, he walked along the pitch-black hallway to arrive at the dining room where they had eaten earlier . A paper lotus lantern hung from the ceiling, and there were thick strings above the lamp as well as thinner strings holding up the lampshade . And within the thinner strings was a slight protrusion that was the CIA’s latest model of pinhole camera . Huo Shaoheng was very tall, so he only stood at the table to reach out toward the lampshade of the lotus lamp in order to pull the pinhole camera off . He then went to the second-floor hallway where the CIA had actually planted several bugs and pinhole cameras . It would be a disaster if Tan Dongbang really became elected and stayed here, because then the Prime Minister would be under the complete surveillance by a foreign country .
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Huo Shaoheng patiently ripped out all the bugs and pinhole cameras throughout the entire villa . He wasn’t limited to the information from James’s letter but personally combed through the entire villa from top to bottom . He worked from the early-morning hours until the sun was almost up, then tidied up and went back to his room to sleep . He put all the ripped-out bugs and pinhole cameras into a bag, then smashed them to bits using a hammer . He would leave here tomorrow and throw the dust into the ocean .
The CIA agents wouldn’t make a scene even if they couldn’t find the bugs and pinhole cameras, since this was a violation of privacy and was illegal to begin with .
Tan Guiren got up in the morning to find that the rain had stopped . She began to feel a bit irritated and slowly got up, changed, and washed up in the bathroom . After nearly an hour, she finally came out of her room . However, it was Mrs . Fen she saw opening the door and coming out of Huo Shaoheng’s room .
Tan Guiren widened her eyes . “Where’s that gentleman?”
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“He left a long time ago . ” Mrs . Fen was cleaning inside and smiled . “What a clean fellow . He tidied up the room so it doesn’t even look like anyone stayed here . What a nice person . ”
Tan Guiren opened the door to find that there was no trace of Huo Shaoheng . After standing there dumbly for a while, she went out quietly . However, she wasn’t disappointed for long because Huo Shaoheng also came when James visited her three days later .
The two men had made plans and were chatting in the gazebo behind Tan Guiren’s house . The Tans had a large backyard behind their villa, and the gazebo was in the middle of it . With flat fields of emerald grass surrounding it, the backyard was almost one acre . It was impossible to be eavesdropped on in the gazebo with such vast grass fields around . Of course, there were no bugs in the gazebo because Huo Shaoheng and James were both experts who had already checked for them .
In the distance, Tan Guiren sat in the living room on the first floor of the villa as she prepared a fruit platter while watching through the clear French windows, smiling at the two familiar figures in the gazebo in the grassy fields . She was very happy and excited to help these two men—it gave her a righteous feeling .
In the gazebo, James and Huo Shaoheng greeted each other before delving into the main topic . “Gu, are you happy with my gift to you?” James smiled as he held a pipe and put it to his lips .
They had agreed to call each other “Mr . Gu” and Mr . J . ”
“J, I feel like you took advantage of me . ” Huo Shaoheng crossed his legs and leaned against the seat in the gazebo . He also held a cigarette between his fingers but didn’t smoke it . The white smoke gradually floated up from his fingers, obscuring his face in a hazy cloud .
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