No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

Chapter 289 Starting Over

"Five months is the limit. The best-case scenario is to find a suitable heart in these last three months. If we miss the optimal time, even if the heart transplant is successful, no one can predict whether your wife will be able to wake up." The doctor's tone gradually became heavy.

Pei Zhan held her hand, and if Jiang Hua were awake at this moment, she would be able to feel the slight trembling when someone held her hand.

A flood of negative emotions overwhelmed him. "Get out..." he said, his voice suppressing these emotions, as if struggling in pain.

The doctor left silently, leaving Pei Zhan's deep gaze fixed on Jiang Hua on the bed, who was not very lively. After receiving the antipyretic injection, Jiang Hua was now feeling as if she had been soaked in water, completely drenched. Although she was clearly uncomfortable, she was not consciously trying to express her feelings.

There was nothing he could do but endure it. Pei Zhan looked at Jiang Hua, who was unconscious, and frowned uncomfortably. He reached out and stroked her face, comforting her softly, "Everything will be alright soon."

Jiang Hua was fully awake. When she woke up, the room was quiet except for a bedside lamp. When she subconsciously looked at the French windows, she saw bright light shining through the gaps in the heavy curtains.

Looking at Pei Zhan, who was sleeping soundly beside her with his hand still on her waist, and with her head resting on his arm, Jiang Hua felt a little dazed. Looking at the ceiling above her head, she vaguely remembered that someone seemed to be talking last night.

She seems to have a fever.

I reached out and touched my forehead; it felt cold, but I couldn't quite feel anything.

The fever seemed to have subsided, because she felt sticky all over, which made her uncomfortable... but her pajamas seemed to have been changed.

Jiang Hua moved slightly, and the person beside her reacted as well. Pei Zhan opened his bloodshot eyes and subconsciously tightened his arms, pulling her close. The two pressed together, as if testing Jiang Hua's body temperature. As if still worried, he withdrew his hand from her waist and touched her forehead.

"Are you hungry? Aunt Xu made some porridge, I'll go get it for you." His deep, magnetic, and languid voice sounded like he hadn't woken up yet. Pei Zhan was indeed still half asleep. After confirming that Jiang Hua's temperature had gone down, he waited until noon before lying down.

"I want to eat wontons," Jiang Hua suddenly said, "and then get me a glass of water."

Pei Zhan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, revealing a deep, dark color that spread out in the depths of his eyes. He looked into her eyes; both of them seemed to be half asleep, but Jiang Hua's eyes remained bright. "Mmm," he responded. After that, Pei Zhan lifted the covers and got up, making sure to cover her up again. He then put on his slippers, buttoned up his pajamas, and went downstairs.

When Xu Qiulan went upstairs, she brought a bowl of white porridge, knocked on the door and entered the room. Seeing that Jiang Hua had already woken up, she was afraid that she would not be able to adapt to the bright light outside, so she turned on the room light.

"Young Master Pei, please have some porridge first, so that you can have some to fill your stomach. He's worried that you might feel uncomfortable if you stay hungry. This is... what you wanted to eat. It was also Young Master Pei who said that you should eat it before the main meal."

Jiang Hua sat up weakly, and Xu Qiulan fed her the medicine and porridge. She had no strength left...

"What about him?"

Xu Qiulan: "Young Master Pei drove to the market to buy groceries, saying he wanted to make wontons for Miss. Miss fell ill after returning last night, and many family doctors came. It would be better for Miss to stay home less on rainy days in the future. If she really misses Miss Bao'er, as Young Master Pei said, Miss Bao'er can come over anytime, or... be brought to stay at our home for a few days."

Jiang Hua: "Would he really be that kind?"

"I'm afraid it's all an act."

As an observer, Xu Qiulan told Jiang Hua, "If Young Master Pei were really faking it and there was something to gain, he probably wouldn't have signed those agreements with Miss in the first place. If he really wanted to scheme against Jiang Hua, he wouldn't have signed them in the first place. It's a thankless task, so why bother to go to such lengths to take care of Miss every step of the way?"

“I think from the beginning, Young Master Pei didn’t like Miss, but he didn’t like that Mr. Pei was forcing him to marry her. Young Master Pei is a strong-willed person with a strong sense of self-respect. He had a good marriage, but suddenly he was forcibly broken up. Anyone would feel uncomfortable in that situation. Fortunately, Young Master Pei has now pulled back from the brink and realized his true feelings. Miss… no longer needs to worry about Mr. Pei’s future for the Jiang family.”

"Since things have come to this, why don't you try to resolve your inner conflict, Miss, and give Young Master Pei another chance..."

“This morning, while Miss was still unconscious, I heard Mr. Pei on the phone. He canceled his work for the past two weeks to make time for you.”

Hearing this, Jiang Hua remained expressionless, but her heart was no longer as indifferent as before; instead, it began to stir, rippling with emotion.

Has everything from the past life truly changed completely?

Will Pei Zhan not be with Song Qingran in this life?

Just as Pei Zhan said, the Pei Zhan of the past life is not the same as the Pei Zhan of the present. Before everything in the past life happened, Jiang Hua herself could already feel that many things had changed. So, would her father never leave her again?

According to the course of events in the previous life, the Jiang family should now be facing a huge financial crisis and need to sell a large number of shares to obtain funds to fill the gap.

At this moment, she should be abroad receiving treatment in preparation for her second heart transplant, taking endless medications and undergoing countless tests every day.

Not to mention, there's the Golden Sands Shallow Bay, which even the powerful and wealthy in the capital can't buy now. This Golden Sands Shallow Bay used to be called 'Imperial Palace,' which was considered extremely disrespectful both then and now. It was only later that the name was changed back to Golden Sands Shallow Bay.

“Aunt Xu…it’s a fact that Pei Zhan betrayed me and had an improper relationship with Song Qingran…”

"It's true that he said I'm not as good as Song Qingran..."

He said that Song Qingran was her bottom line, and that was also a fact.

"During the six months I was in the car accident, he wasn't busy with company matters at all; instead, he spent that time with Fan Hua Jin..."

What... Back then, the young lady was seriously injured, and the heart she finally found was damaged again by this car accident. She almost died on the operating table and did not survive. For the first three months, Jiang Hua was bedridden and unable to move. When she was in so much pain that she could hardly bear it, the young lady endured countless days and nights all by herself.

At that time…Master Pei was not there, not because of business, but because…he went to see another woman?!

Xu Qiulan looked surprised, almost dropping the bowl, and looked at her with heartache and sorrow in her eyes.

But seeing Jiang Hua so calm as she told her all this was what broke her heart the most.

"These past six months, six months of being together day and night, are still less than the time I've spent with Pei Zhan in the three years I've known him..."

“Whenever I think about these things, I feel like it’s not such a big deal. I don’t have the same obsession and pain as before. I feel like I’ve let go, but I can’t forget him or accept the mistake he made by letting go. But then I tell myself that my marriage with Pei Zhan was just a transaction. He doesn’t care, so why should I care?”

"Aunt Xu, tell me? What exactly is the reason...why..."

Xu Qiulan hurriedly told Jiang Hua, "Miss, that's not true. Young Master Pei has always had you in his heart."

"Sir had previously checked Song Qingran's information, including all her hospital reports. Song Qingran is still a virgin; she has never had contact with a man."

"Is Young Master Pei taking care of her and keeping her in such a beautiful place just to provoke the young lady?"

"After all, back then, Young Master Pei didn't have feelings for you, and he was even more dissatisfied with this forced marriage. If... he really liked that Miss Song, how could he not have had a relationship with her during those six months together?!"

Jiang Hua looked at Xu Ma with suspicion. "Dad told you all this?"

Xu Qiulan: "I only found out about these things because I overheard Mr. Pei's conversation with the teacher outside the study."

"Time will tell. Miss, you can give Young Master Pei a little more time. If everything Young Master Pei is doing is fake and just putting on an act, he will eventually be exposed."

"It won't be too late for the young lady to find a way to expose us then."

“No one lives in the past forever, Miss… You are still young and have many more decades to go. Whatever you do, you must look forward. The past… you should let it go!”

Should I really let go?

Forget all the suffering from your past life... as if it never happened.

Accept everything as it is, and start anew…

Jiang Hua hesitated, or perhaps it was because even the people closest to her and most trusted were speaking up for Pei Zhan, and her heart began to waver.

Before, Jiang Hua had also imprisoned herself in the prison of her past life memories, locking herself away and recalling those painful memories again and again, making them more deeply ingrained in her mind.

"Okay... I'll give him one last chance..." Perhaps because of Xu Ma, she made a final decision to overturn the past and start all over again.

If... Dad survived this life and didn't die...

She was willing to start over with Pei Zhan.

Just pretend those things never happened.

This time, Jiang Hua finally convinced herself.

When Pei Zhan returned from the market, he personally cooked her a bowl of wontons that evening…

There was a layer of oil floating on the soup in the bowl, and the aroma was very fragrant, different from the one made by Shen Yebai. It seemed like other things had been added.

Pei Zhan picked up Jiang Hua from the bed and sat her on his lap. He took a spoon, blew on it to cool it down, and then placed it to her slightly pale lips. "Have you taken your medicine?"

"Liang will eat." As she spoke, Jiang Hua, feeling dizzy, leaned on Pei Zhan's shoulder. Pei Zhan was stunned by her initiative. He heard Jiang Hua close her eyes in discomfort and say in a weak voice, "You'd better not hide anything from me anymore, or... I'll kill you."

Pei Zhan: "Mm."

The relationship between the two has eased to an unprecedented degree, a fact that is understood by everyone but not explicitly stated.

Jiang Hua took a nap after finishing her meal.

But just when Pei Zhan had a glimmer of hope, it was quickly extinguished by the sudden news.

Pei Zhan hasn't been to the company during this time; instead, he's been staying at Jinsha Shallow Bay, taking care of Jiang Hua every step of the way.

Inside the room, Pei Zhan didn't get up until Zuo Xiangnan called. He went to the study and stood in front of the French windows to answer the phone. "...President Pei, during the recent heavy rain, the surveillance cameras on the dilapidated buildings in the South Park area were broken. When we sent people to repair them, we saw Miss Song go to that location in the surveillance footage. She...went inside."

"Zhou Yan had also been there half an hour before that."

“I suspect…” Zuo Xiangnan watched as Song Qingran walked out of the room in a daze on the surveillance footage, completely lost in thought. “Miss Song knows everything.”

Zhou Yan?

"What if the young lady finds out about this..."

Pei Zhan suddenly roared, "Why are you only telling me now!" The aura around the man instantly became terrifying. Only the sound of light footsteps could be heard outside the study door behind him. As the study door opened, he finally said, "I'll deal with this matter later."

"Have you seen the pair of jewelry I had someone bring back from abroad?"

Pei Zhan: "In the drawer on the left side of the dressing table."

This pair of jewelry was a gift that Jiang Hua had someone bring back from abroad for Bao'er. Recently, flights to Beijing have been delayed and it has been raining, so it should have arrived much earlier.

Today is Jiang Huai's 70th birthday. Jiang Hua didn't want to go, but her father insisted on taking her. Jiang Hua only went as a formality, and planned to come back after giving the gift to Bao'er.

When she went to the Shen family home, Bao'er either kept the door closed or locked herself in her room, refusing to come out to see her.

Jiang Hua found it in the drawer. She had been wondering why it wasn't there before, but she found it in this spot.

The birthday banquet will be held at noon.

Dad and Uncle Wang had already gone to the venue.

It's only eight o'clock, and Jiang Hua is still in a leisurely manner. She's only wearing a slip dress, and her hair is messy and uncombed. Pei Zhan is even less in a hurry. It will take her almost two hours to finish, and it will be more than an hour's drive to get there. They'll arrive at the banquet hall in fifteen minutes.

This is actually pretty much the same...

Pei Zhan went downstairs for a meal, with Kagel serving him. The servants around them were dismissed. "As for Miss Zhou, the transfer order will be issued soon today."

"And we can assure you that there will be no way to return to China within these five years."

Pei Zhan was eating the leftovers that Jiang Hua hadn't finished eating last night. Jiang Hua had a craving for food and wanted to try everything. The servants prepared more than a dozen dishes, all of which she wanted to eat, but in the end she only ate a few bites before stopping. Pei Zhan took care of everything.

"Lu Yuanzhou, is there any news from over there?"

Kagel nodded: "Lu Yuanzhou won the Hualian Financial case within two years, and now he's become quite famous there, achieving instant fame. He should be returning to China in the next three days..."

Kagel: "If you want Lu Yuanzhou to appear at Jiang Huai's birthday banquet, he should be able to arrive before 2:30 pm."

Pei Zhan rolled up his sleeves, skillfully peeled the shrimp shells in his hand, and put them into a bowl beside him. "Have the Huo family send an extra private plane as soon as possible. Don't reveal anything else. Do it as early as possible."

Kagel: "Yes, young master."