He Zhichu stopped and his peach blossom eyes flashed, "Gu Nianzhi, you have a lunch meeting at noon, did you forget?"
Gu Nianzhi looked up in shock, "I have a lunch meeting, how come I didn't know about it? No one informed me?"
"You know now, can't I let you know on the spot?" He Zhichu's voice was colder than his attitude, "When you have time to think more about your professional work, don't think about buying breakfast for others. Who are you?" Man? His wife back home knows about it. Doesn’t your reputation sound good?—You’re not an errand girl.”
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips. Of course she didn't run errands specifically for people, but when He Zhichu mentioned Senior Brother Huang's wife, Gu Nianzhi had to be cautious.
She let go of He Zhichu's sleeves and felt a little panicked, "... Professor He, I don't mean anything else. Senior Brother Huang's wife won't get it wrong, right? I just bought breakfast... "
He Zhichu lowered his eyes, his long black eyelashes covering his twinkling peach blossom eyes, "If you only buy breakfast for Xiao Huang alone? Do you think others will misunderstand it?"
"Ah?" Gu Nianzhi let out a long sigh, and couldn't help but think of when she was still in C University, Mei Xiawen bought breakfast for her every day, and only for her alone. Everyone assumed that Mei Xiawen was chasing her. .
It seems that this is indeed very misleading.
But if she wants to get closer to Senior Brother Huang, buying breakfast is one of the ways.
"What should we do? I don't want his wife to misunderstand..." Gu Nianzhi walked forward with a headache and threw He Zhichu into the corridor.
He Zhichu put his hands in the pockets of his black suit pants and couldn't believe that Gu Nianzhi left alone like this.
He turned his head to look in the direction of the speaker's office, then looked back at the slender figure in front of him whose shoulders were slumped as if he had been struck. Then he looked up at the ceiling of the corridor, and finally strode forward resignedly to catch up with Gu Nian. He stopped and suggested stiffly: "If you don't want Xiao Huang's wife to misunderstand, you can buy breakfast for others. If you buy it for others, his wife won't misunderstand even if she knows."
Gu Nianzhi stopped, his dark eyes jumping with joy, "Yes, yes! Professor He is really experienced, let's do it this way. I'll buy breakfast for others right away." After saying that, he walked to the snack shop selling breakfast. go.
He Zhichu followed her, had to cough, and said lightly: "I have no experience, I am talking about human nature. By the way, you are lucky, I will give you a chance, I didn't have breakfast today either , you buy me one too."
Gu Nianzhi turned around and looked at He Zhichu strangely: "Professor He, don't you never eat breakfast? You only drink red wine... I heard it from my classmates."
He Zhichu's eyes suddenly condensed, and his teeth were itching. He sneered: "Are you smart again now? Didn't you say that skipping breakfast will cause stomachache? Just now, you persuaded Xiao Huang, what now? It seems that you really care about Xiao Huang. Huang’s thoughts are unusual?”
Gu Nianzhi almost wanted to fight for the ground with her head. She had an indescribable feeling. She turned around suddenly and rushed into the snack room, "Five more English breakfasts!"
The chef wearing a tall white hat packed five breakfast cartons for her, and slapped a receipt at the cashier: "Seventy-five yuan."
Gu Nianzhi took out his wallet and sadly found that he only had more than fifty yuan in cash in it.
She doesn't have an American credit card yet, and she can't bring any of the Chinese Empire credit cards that Huo Shaoheng gave her. She usually gets money from Zhao Liangze.
Fifty dollars a day's pocket money would have been enough, but in such an emergency, she didn't have enough.
Gu Nianzhi's face turned red and she stammered, "I, I, I... can I just have three portions?"
"No. These are freshly made. If you don't want them, who can give them to you?" The black girl at the checkout counter looked arrogant and refused to "return" her goods.
"Then I..." Gu Nianzhi turned around and looked at He Zhichu eagerly, "Professor He, can you lend me some money?"
He Zhichu was already so angry with Gu Nianzhi that he lost his temper.
I finally wanted to eat the breakfast prepared by Gu Nianzhi, but in the end I had to pay for it myself...
With a sullen face, he took out his black card and handed it over.
The black girl's face changed instantly, and she smiled so brightly at He Zhichu, "Thank you, Mr. He."
After swiping the card, Gu Nianzhi followed He Zhichu out with five breakfast boxes, and handed a breakfast box to He Zhichu, "Professor He, your breakfast."
He Zhichu pursed his lips and took the paper box from her hand, his voice still sharp: "This time does not count, because I invited everyone to have breakfast. If you want to clear your suspicion, you have to buy it again." After saying that, he turned around and left.
Gu Nianzhi curled his lips, carried the other four breakfast cartons back to the Appropriation Committee Office where he was staying, put them in front of Mary's desk at the front desk, and winked at her: "Mary, I'll treat everyone to breakfast."
Mary smiled so hard that she happily shared the food with a few people who came to work today.
Gu Nian sat quietly in his small office for a while, then turned on the computer, logged into his account, and saw if there was anything to do today.
There are no grant projects waiting for approval and upload in the Appropriations Committee’s system.
She thought for a while, opened the history file, and checked the previously uploaded grant projects.
Thinking of the dates Zhao Liangze told her yesterday, she tentatively called up the allocation records for the previous three months.
Because Zhao Liangze had already given some advice, Gu Nianzhi suddenly discovered that two months ago, Congress had indeed allocated funds to the Navy.
Judging from the quantity, it is really a huge amount.
How interesting.
Gu Nianzhi suddenly understood what He Zhichu meant.
This is indeed the most interesting place in the U.S. Congress.
If we look at the source and flow of each allocation, many questions can be easily answered.
Congress approves so many projects every year that even members of Congress themselves sometimes don’t know how many there are.
But not every project ends up being implemented.
Only in this Appropriations Committee can we see clearly which of the many projects Congress approves every year are real and which are just fishing in troubled waters.
In a word, tons of documents and watertight words can deceive people, but only the flow of cash cannot deceive people.
Gu Nianzhi felt as if he had discovered a new world. He spent the entire morning in his office, concentrating on reading previous allocation records.
When He Zhichu's call came, she was shocked.
Taking the phone and opening it, Gu Nianzhi's eyes still didn't leave the computer screen, "Professor He, what's the matter?"
"Did you forget about the lunch meeting?" He Zhichu's cold voice came from the phone.
Gu Nianzhi said "Oh", quickly exited the system, turned off the computer, picked up his small backpack, and walked out of the Appropriation Committee Office.
"I'll wait for you at the steps in front of Capitol Hill." He Zhichu said and hung up the phone.
When Gu Nianzhi came out, he saw a shiny black Rolls-Royce parked in the open space in front of the steps of Parliament Hill.
Is this this car
Gu Nianzhi looked around and saw only this car parked here.
Parking is generally not allowed here.
He Zhichu poked his head out of the back seat and said, "Come here, what are you waiting for?"
Gu Nianzhi hurriedly walked over, opened the car door, and sat in the back seat.
"Drive." He Zhichu ordered the driver in front of him.
Gu Nianzhi remembered a joke, saying that people who drive a Rolls-Royce must use a chauffeur, because if you drive yourself, others will think you are a chauffeur...
She lowered her head and smiled, looking like she couldn't help laughing.
When He Zhichu saw her smiling, his depressed mood suddenly cleared away, and he smiled slightly.
The car stopped at a French restaurant in DC, and He Zhichu took her inside.
The two of them actually entered a private room in this famously expensive restaurant!
Regardless of whether American restaurants are high-end or low-end, there are very few that have private rooms.
Gu Nianzhi sat down happily. When the waiters had served their dishes, she didn't see anyone coming.
"Professor He, didn't you say there was a lunch meeting? Where are the people?" She looked at the door of the private room and asked doubtfully.
"Isn't he here?" He Zhichu picked up the knife and fork, chopped a piece of medium steak finely, and poured the sauce on it.
Gu Nianzhi understood now, "Just the two of us? How can this be called a lunch meeting..." She muttered, cutting into her crab-cake and eating it slowly.
"Can't we have a meeting between two people?" He Zhichu picked up the wine glass and handed it to Gu Nianzhi without raising his head, "Give me the red wine."
Gu Nianzhi hurriedly took a bottle of red wine on the table and poured a small glass of it for He Zhichu.
"Today's lunch meeting is about your recent work. I heard that you often hang out in various offices in the Appropriation Committee?" He Zhichu listed everything Gu Nianzhi had done in the past few days.
Gu Nianzhi was sweating profusely after hearing this, and secretly thought that there was an informant around him...
"I know, I will work hard in the future." She did not talk back to He Zhichu, and admitted her mistake very obediently. Then she remembered the tip of the iceberg that she had glimpsed from the internal system of the Appropriation Committee today, and said with a smile: "I kind of understand Professor He. That’s what I meant.”
"What's the meaning?"
"You said that the Appropriations Committee is the most useful department in Congress?" Gu Nianzhi poured another glass of red wine for He Zhichu, "I found that it is indeed the case. It is confirming my thoughts."
"Oh? Tell me." He Zhichu didn't expect that Gu Nianzhi would have a clue so quickly. He picked up the wine glass and took a sip of red wine, then looked up at Gu Nianzhi from the rim of the glass.
Gu Nianzhi shook his head, "It's not time yet. I'll tell Professor He after I completely figure it out."
"That's fine." He Zhichu wiped his mouth slowly with a napkin, "But remember not to leave it too late, otherwise there will be no birthday gift."
"Ah? - Oh..." Gu Nianzhi nodded, almost forgetting about it, "Then Professor He will wait and see!"
…
While He Zhichu and Gu Nianzhi were having lunch, Zhao Liangze was on a video call with Huo Shaoheng.
After he reported his work, he hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said to Huo Shaoheng, "Master Huo, I showed Nianzhi the data."
Huo Shaoheng's expression did not change at all, but Zhao Liangze suddenly felt a chill all over his body, as if he was suddenly being stared at by a murderous beast.
"Master Huo..." Zhao Liangze spoke slowly, his tone trembling: "I... I... Did I do something wrong?"
"Ozawa, you know that Nianzhi has a photographic memory. If you show her this set of data, can you expect me to say you are right?" Huo Shaoheng felt a little unspeakably irritated. He threw the mouse and took out a I lit a cigarette in front of the computer, took a long drag, and hid my face behind the rising white smoke.
Zhao Liangze lowered his head, not daring to look into Huo Shaoheng's eyes anymore, and muttered: "I, I, I... I just want to find out the truth as soon as possible."
"That shouldn't be shown to her." Huo Shaoheng held the cigarette in one hand, held the mouse in his right hand, and clicked on another file.
There is also a set of data stored there, a set of data on magnetic field changes.
This file was created six years ago.
This set of data from six years ago almost overlaps with the data Huo Shaoheng and the others just discovered.
The latitude and longitude coordinates stored in this file six years ago were exactly a block in City C of the Chinese Empire.
That day, a serious car accident suddenly occurred in this area. Huo Shaoheng, who was ordered to protect the scientists collecting on-site data, rescued a twelve-year-old girl from the burning car.
She is Gu Nianzhi.
"The magnetic field change data in the downtown area six years ago is almost exactly the same as the magnetic field change data at the bottom of the Gulf of Aden six years later. Do you want to show Nianzhi such a thing?" Huo Shaoheng's hand held the mouse tightly, and he wanted to squeeze the mouse. Broken.
"If I'm not wrong, this coincidence of data is definitely not a coincidence. This matter should be related to Nian Zhi. Since we can't solve the situation, we might as well let her find it on her own." Zhao Liangze mustered up his courage and looked up at the other end of the video. Huo Shaoheng said, "Besides, when Huo Shaoying came to the United States with his ideas, wasn't it to break the deadlock? So that more people could show up?"
To put it bluntly, Gu Nianzhi is now their bait.
How can you stir up a pool of spring water without spreading the bait everywhere
Huo Shaoheng's deep eyes were bottomless. He was silent for a long time, and finally acquiesced to Zhao Liangze's approach: "Remember to report at any time." After saying that, he turned off the video, walked to the balcony alone with a cigarette in his hand, and looked outside. The mountains are in a trance.
In the middle of the night, the Special Operations Department station in C City was completely dark, with only the fireworks flickering between his fingers, just like the ups and downs of his mind.
…
After Gu Nianzhi held the "lunch meeting", He Zhichu was sent back to the Capitol Hill Building.
He sat in the car without getting out. He tilted his head towards her and handed her a credit card. "Here, I have something to go out these days. I won't be here. Remember to write a report every day and send it to my email. I will Will check every day.”
"I got it, Professor He." Gu Nianzhi's voice was almost frustrated as he declined He Zhichu's credit card, "Professor He, I can't have this card."
But He Zhichu said coldly: "My graduate students have them. This is the school's fund."
Gu Nianzhi had no choice but to take He Zhichu's credit card and stuff it back into his small backpack.
She lowered her head and walked heavily back to the Capitol Building, first looking for Senior Brother Huang.
Senior Brother Huang saw her coming in and asked anxiously: "Where have you been? Have you had lunch yet?"
"Of course, I'm starving to death." Gu Nianzhi thought that He Zhichu had just left, and no one should know about her "lunch meeting" with him.
Senior Brother Huang took her to a small restaurant on Capitol Hill for lunch.
It's lunch time and there are so many people there.
Gu Nianzhi only ordered a vegetable juice, held it in his hand and found a corner with Senior Brother Huang to sit down.
Senior Brother Huang looked at her vegetable juice with dumbfounded eyes: "... This is your lunch?! No way! You don't have to save money for Senior Brother! Lunch is all bought with a card, we don't have to pay!"
Gu Nianzhi was stunned: "Senior Brother Huang, do you have a credit card? Why didn't I know?"
He Zhichu had just given her one, but Senior Brother Huang obviously had his credit card already.
"Well, Assistant Professor Wen said there are some problems with your procedures, and she is still negotiating with the bank." Senior Brother Huang hurriedly explained, "It's the same with mine. Do you want to buy something else to eat?"
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This is the second and third update of two updates in one, including additional updates with a monthly pass of 4300.
O(∩_∩)O~.
(To be continued.)