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

Chapter 294 It's understandable that you've hated me all these years.

Pei Zhan noted it down.

When Jiang Hua woke up, she felt a little better. She saw Pei Zhan sitting on the sofa in the room, standing on the balcony outside the door taking a phone call. He seemed to catch a glimpse of Jiang Hua, who was already awake, and hung up after a few words. He put away his phone and went into the room, sitting by Jiang Hua's bedside. When Jiang Hua saw him, she remembered how disheveled she had been in the attic. She looked away from him with a somewhat awkward indifference. Pei Zhan just smiled faintly, unconcerned. He reached out and tidied a long hair hanging on her nose. His eyes were still red and swollen. He said softly, "Grandpa is fine now. He's been discharged from the hospital."

“I just called Aunt Xu and asked her to pack your usual clothes and send them over.”

"You'll be staying here for a while. There are still some places that need tidying up. Lie down for a bit longer, then I'll go help Uncle Lan."

Jiang Hua remained silent, feeling sullen. She felt that Pei Zhan was completely unfamiliar to her. If it weren't for his face, she would have doubted that the Pei Zhan she married in her previous life was the same person as him now.

"Whatever." Jiang Hua's voice was a little hoarse, and she looked pale and weak. She probably had put all her energy into crying, and now she felt powerless.

The gray-blue roof tiles gleamed softly in the sunlight, and the wooden doors and windows bore the marks of time. Several old trees stood in the courtyard, their lush foliage providing much-needed shade. Inside, antique furniture filled the room, exuding a faint scent of wood.

While Jiang Hua was asleep, Pei Zhan was busy cleaning the place. He repaired all the damaged tables, chairs, and things in the downstairs hall, taking advantage of the tools he had. He was busy the whole time, and just when he finally caught his breath, Jiang Hua woke up. The courtyard was now clean and no longer as messy as before.

Pei Zhan transferred several servants from Jinsha Shallow Bay to take care of Jiang Huai's daily life. Pei Zhan had considered everything very thoroughly, and the servants he found were mainly to put her at ease.

As Jiang Hua came downstairs, she saw Uncle Lan holding a ladder at the front door, with Pei Zhan standing on the ladder, fixing the light outside. She was stunned for a moment when she saw this scene, until Uncle Lan reacted and asked, "Miss, why did you come down?"

Pei Zhan, standing on the ladder, glanced at her. With his sleeves rolled up, revealing half of his strong arm, he turned the light bulb. The moment Uncle Lan turned on the light, the entire hall became brightly lit.

Pei Zhan rinsed his hands at the tap by the door and saw Jiang Hua in the kitchen tie up her long hair, find an apron, open the refrigerator and find some ingredients. Pei Zhan went over and already guessed what she was going to do. "Do you need my help?"

Jiang Hua looked at the bunch of greens in her hand, somewhat puzzled, "Do you... know how to cook longevity noodles?"

"She's already showing the demeanor of a virtuous matriarch." With that, Pei Zhan took the things from Jiang Hua's hands. "I'll help you; you boil the water."

No matter what he does, he seems to be omnipotent.

In the end, Jiang Hua did nothing. Pei Zhan turned on the stove and washed the pot. She just watched the water boil and then put in the noodles. At first, she felt it wasn't enough, so she only put in one at a time. In the short time it took Pei Zhan to turn around, Jiang Hua had cooked a whole pot of noodles. When he saw the water overflowing, Pei Zhan quickly turned off the stove.

Jiang Hua immediately pulled her hand back after being scalded by the boiling water. Pei Zhan took her hand and rinsed it with cold water, revealing a red mark on the back of her hand. He told her, "There was too much noodle."

Jiang Hua frowned. "I just thought the amount was too small, but who knew that the noodles would expand so much as soon as the water boiled."

"Who does Mrs. Pei intend to feed the leftovers?"

Jiang Hua: "Go ahead and eat it, you can eat anything anyway."

"What are you doing?" Suddenly a deep and powerful voice came from behind. The two looked over and saw Jiang Huai, who had just returned from the hospital, and her father walking in.

When Jiang Huai saw the two people in the kitchen, he still had a stern expression, but he ended by saying, "Don't burn the kitchen down."

Pei Zhan: "Yes, I will definitely be careful."

Jiang Huai looked at the lights in the hall again. "Did you fix these?"

Pei Zhan: "Just doing it as a favor."

Jiang Huai: "Not bad."

"Remember to stay for dinner tonight."

Pei Zhan nodded in response.

"Huahua, come with me."

Jiang Hua paused for a moment, glancing at her father beside her. She was still a little unprepared for how to get along with her 'grandfather' and what to say. However, Jiang Huai had already gone upstairs on his own. Jiang Weiguo sat in a grand chair next to him, and Lan Shu made him a cup of tea, telling her, "Go ahead."

Jiang Hua immediately pulled her hand back; she was trying to take advantage of everyone.

Jiang Hua then went to the study next to Jiang Huai on the second floor, where she saw several red boxes on the floor. Jiang Huai took out a key from the study cabinet and opened another large wooden box. "What are these on the floor?"

Jiang Huai: "These are all birthday gifts from my former students. According to seniority, you can call them uncles or elders. Pick one you like."

Jiang Hua casually opened a few items, which were mostly tea, porcelain, and wood carvings. However, most of them were expensive teas, and there were also some novel trinkets that she had never seen before. After browsing for a while, Jiang Huai thought she didn't like any of them, "Don't you like any of them?"

Jiang Hua probably didn't want to disappoint him, so she finally chose a piece of steel that looked like crystal or glass, saying, "This looks pretty, and I can keep a few fish in it."

However, Jiang Hua was unaware that what she was holding was an expensive decorative antique unearthed from the Kingdom of Liuli, a gift from the Shen family. Jiang Hua didn't know much about antiques and thought it was just a modern decorative item from an ordinary auction.

"What's so interesting about a glass bowl?"

"These are some embroidered silk panels that were shipped from Suzhou. Take a look and see if you like them."

Jiang Hua flipped through them, looking at these old antiques, and found them extremely boring. "These things can only be looked at and not used. The only thing that can be eaten is this tea."

"And these porcelain vases, there are already so many, we're almost out of space."

"Just send over whatever you don't need. I'll have Uncle Lan return it to them later."

Jiang Hua suddenly remembered something, "Don't you never accept gifts?"

Jiang Huai: "Some of them were sent from above, and I couldn't refuse them, so I had to distribute them among the people."

Jiang Hua didn't understand these things and didn't know much about who he was talking about. Jiang Hua never came into contact with people of such high status. The person she had met with, the one with the most power, was Shen Yebai.

Jiang Huai took out a white bead from a red box. The bead was about the size of a baby's fist.

“This luminous pearl is your maternal grandmother’s dowry. I’ve kept it all this time. If you’re afraid of the dark at night, you can put it by your bedside.”

Jiang Hua had never seen such a large luminous pearl before. The largest one she had ever seen was about the size of the gemstone ring she was wearing on her ring finger. She had never seen anything bigger than that.

Just then, Jiang Huai noticed the antique gemstone on Jiang Hua's hand. He was instantly shocked, his expression turning serious. "Where did you get this ring from?"

Jiang Hua: "You mean this? Pei Zhan gave it to me."

"Take it off and let me see." Jiang Hua was surprised by her grandfather's tone; why had he suddenly become so serious? She took it off and handed it to him. "Is there anything strange about this ring?"

This is not... the Huo family...

No, impossible. When this ring was given to Qingcheng by the Jiang family back then, he had already returned it to Huo Tingshan. How could it be on Huahua's hand now? Every detail on it is unique, and no one can replicate it, let alone forge it. There are very few people in this world who have truly seen this ring. It represents the Huo family's status, and moreover, this ring represents the status and position of the Huo family's matriarch. How could he possibly mistake it? It's exactly the same as the ring that Huo Tingshan gave to the Jiang family back then.

Jiang Huai frowned, his gloomy expression lingering. Jiang Hua noticed his pale face and feared something was wrong with him, as he had just returned from the hospital.

Huo Tingshan quickly regained his composure. "It's nothing. This ring is quite valuable. Keep it safe and don't lose it." He glanced at Jiang Huai and returned it to her. Could it be... that he is Huo Tingshan's child?

The heir to the Huo family?

Huo Jue?

"Grandpa, I want to know why you divorced Grandma and married someone from the Wang family?"

"If the Jiang family hadn't gotten involved with the Wang family, Mom..."

Jiang Huai had waited countless years to hear the word "Grandpa".

Jiang Hua put the ring back on.

Mentioning Mom, Grandpa's face turned serious again. He said, "Because of a past relationship, I met Xuemei first, and we were already at the point of discussing marriage. I was about to go to the Wang family to propose. But then things changed, and the Jiang family fell into crisis, needing the support of your maternal grandmother's family. For the sake of the Jiang family, I had no choice but to form a marriage alliance with the Luo family. Yuzhu and I were betrothed since childhood, but we didn't have much affection for each other at first. Back then, marriages were arranged by parents and matchmakers, so I had to marry your maternal grandmother. I had to let her down first. With your maternal grandmother around, I only thought about the Jiang family's business. I completely broke off relations with Xuemei and never thought about continuing to entangle with her. It's just that we were not meant to be. Over the years, I developed feelings for your maternal grandmother. We always treated each other with respect. I was out in the world, and she managed the household affairs perfectly. After marrying her, I never thought about anyone else, only about living a good life with your maternal grandmother."

"But I forgot that Xue Mei has a very strong personality. She secretly lobbied the powerful in the capital, and the Wang family rose step by step to a position that no one could touch. At that time, all I knew was that she would secretly suppress the Luo family, and your grandmother almost got into trouble several times."

"Back then, I had no choice but to divorce her to protect your grandmother."

“Your mother was not safe with your maternal grandmother at that time, and she always regarded her as a thorn in her side, so I had no choice but to keep her with me.”

“I thought that after I separated from your grandmother and married her according to the vow we made back then, she would stop. Who knew she would become even more outrageous and not even spare the people around me.”

"Until I found out what she had done, we argued several times, and I tried to break up with her many times, but she became a monster because of her deep obsession."

“I’ve been entangled with her for decades. Now that the Wang family has fallen, it’s time for her to shut up.”

I never imagined this would be so... melodramatic!

However, Jiang Hua didn't think it was unreasonable for Wang Xuemei to be so infatuated with her grandfather. After all, she had seen photos of her grandfather when he was young, and he was indeed a handsome man who could charm everyone.

"Did you hate your grandmother back then? After all, she was the one who suddenly broke up your marriage with her. If it weren't for Wang Xuemei of the Luo family, she wouldn't have done those heinous things, and she wouldn't have made your grandmother her inner demon."

"Huahua, most people in this world are not in control of their own lives and have things they have to do. If you have to blame someone, blame the fact that life is unpredictable and no one knows what will happen. So there's no point in talking about hatred."

"I've let your grandmother down, I'm sorry Qingcheng, and even more... I'm sorry to you..."

"I arranged for Qingcheng to marry into the Huo family because I wanted to protect her."

Jiang Hua asked again, "Does Mom... dislike the head of the Huo family?"

Recalling the events of that year, Jiang Huai's eyes were filled with sadness, as if he were recalling some unpleasant memories. "What Qingcheng wanted... was a life of unrestrained freedom. The Huo family was stubborn and opinionated. Even if Huo Tingshan liked your mother back then, the Huo family's requirement for your mother was to be a caged bird, a canary. Huo Tingshan was willful, domineering, and never lacked women around him. How could your mother like such a fickle man?"

"Although the Huo family wields great power, your mother is unwilling to be subservient to others, not to mention... there were other women by his side back then!"

"When Huo Tingshan got engaged to your mother, he only found out later that several women had already borne him several children before her. In the end, he left the capital in a fit of anger, went abroad, and found your father."

Jiang Hua: "Is Daddy... good to Mommy?"

Jiang Huai chuckled, seemingly oblivious, "Just like Pei Zhan towards you, he obeys your every command and always defers to your mother's wishes."

“Your father was very outstanding. Back then, he chose to give up his career for your mother. If he hadn’t chosen to give up back then, his achievements would probably be like Ye Bai’s now.”

Jiang Hua: "Dad... he's so amazing!"

"Then... why did the Huo family leave the capital back then?"

Jiang Huai: "Back then, your mother didn't show up and ran away from the engagement banquet in public. Huo Tingshan, such a proud man, announced to everyone in public that the Huo and Jiang families would have no connection from then on. During that time, when the Wang family took action against the Jiang family, the Huo family turned a blind eye several times. In addition, during that time, there was internal strife in the Huo family and some incidents occurred. I could only respect your mother's choice and let her study abroad to hide for a while."

"She might come back once she figures things out."

"Who knew that your mother would disappear without a trace after that? Even I couldn't contact her, and I thought she would never come back."

"Later... during the succession struggle within the Huo family, Huo Tingshan secretly transferred all of the Huo family's assets overseas. I also knew about this incident. After that... no more news came out from within the Huo family."

"When someone went to the Huo family's gate, they found that the entire Huo family had left the capital overnight."

"He hasn't come back since."

The Huo family left the capital, and the Jiang family lost the Huo family as their protector. When the mother returned, she was surprised to find that she was carrying Jiang Hua, who was several months pregnant. Just before giving birth, she thought she could finally return to the Jiang family and reunite with her family. However, she never expected that death would be waiting for her.

Seeing Jiang Hua's dejection, Jiang Huai comforted her, saying, "Your mother isn't as weak as you think. She never regrets any of the choices she makes, and she certainly doesn't regret meeting your father. They love each other very much, but I understand that Qingcheng loves you more than your father!"

"Losing Qingcheng is the greatest pain of my life, and all these tragedies... are all because of me."

"It's understandable that you've hated me all these years."