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

Jiang Hua looked into those deep black eyes, and the sharp, unfamiliar emotions in them gradually faded away. Pei Zhan hugged her, and his deep voice sounded above her head, "Mrs. Pei, you know how to feel sorry for someone now?" His voice softened.

"Who cares about you? You deserve it." Jiang Hua pushed Pei Zhan away. She was still angry and more concerned about his unfounded accusations of distrust when the incident happened. "When the Jiang family had their accident, I only told Huo Tingshan what happened. As for why Zhou Yan turned out this way, it wasn't my doing."

"I'm telling you all this because I don't want to be blamed for something I didn't do."

"I won't say too much. I can pretend that your favoritism towards Zhou Yan never happened."

He has always been like this, thinking of her as utterly wicked, and has never truly believed in her.

Jiang Hua still cares about what happened in the past…

"You can apply the medicine yourself."

As Jiang Hua was about to leave, Pei Zhan grabbed her wrist, turned his head to look at her, and said, "...I'm just angry. You've never forgotten Ji Liangchuan all this time, playing the songs he wrote for you, but in your heart...I've never been there."

"Just because of one piece of music? That's because, of all the pieces I can play in their entirety, this is the only one..."

"Was it you who caused the power outage at Yulong Bay before? You've already abandoned the Jiang family, so why did you do this?"

If Kager hadn't said those things to him, Jiang Hua wouldn't have known what Pei Zhan had done. She thought... Pei Zhan was truly heartless. Back then, his father forced him to marry his fiancée, and he didn't like marrying her, so he coldly and eagerly wanted to see the Jiang family fall step by step.

Pei Zhan: "Because of you..."

Because she didn't want to see Jiang Weiguo end up in such a situation.

"But what you did to me before was really too much."

"You said that if you don't want to end up on the streets, the only way to survive in this world is to work hard..."

"My fate can only be to become a victim."

"You still said..."

“In the past, Miss Jiang wasn’t exactly kind to me.” Seeing her aggrieved look, like a rose with thorns that had folded itself away, now only beautiful and radiant, Pei Zhan picked her up and sat her on the sofa. Jiang Hua sat on his lap. “Can we take down that sign at the front door?”

"It's been sitting here for a long time."

Jiang Hua used to dislike him, and she had plenty of time to drug him and stuff his room with all sorts of unattractive rich women, including men...

Verbal insults might be considered mild for Jiang Hua; she has been subjected to countless public humiliations.

Without strong resilience, no one could withstand Jiang Hua's 'pranks'.

"Trying to back out? Dream on, I'm going to leave it there indefinitely..."

Jiang Hua had always been pampered since childhood and had never had to put up with anyone's attitude, let alone suffer such a great injustice from anyone, except for Pei Zhan, who... seemed to be her nemesis.

When she applied the medicine to his wound, she deliberately disinfected it with alcohol and pressed the cotton swab firmly against it, making sure to check his expression. Pei Zhan, however, acted as if nothing had happened.

"continue?"

Provoke her?

He seems to truly not feel pain.

It seems like this matter is over, but it also seems like it isn't. There's something strange about Jiang Hua that she can't quite put her finger on. She feels like something's not quite right.

But I can't quite put my finger on it...

Jiang Hua was absentmindedly applying the medicine, unaware of the somber look that fell upon her face.

It's truly remarkable how ruthless he is to himself; if the wound were any deeper, it would have pierced through his entire palm. "If the wound were any deeper, if it hurt any more... you would remember it." Jiang Hua suddenly said this. "Compared to Song Qingran, you always stand by her side unconditionally."

“Pei Zhan…aside from providing me with material support and handling company matters, you treat me…not at all like you used to treat Song Qingran.”

“Pei Zhan, if I hadn’t had a heart transplant, I don’t think… we could ever be together.”

Because her heart wouldn't allow it.

"But it's so strange, I still like you..."

Pei Zhan paused, his eyes darkening further.

Jiang Hua didn't know who the original owner of the heart that was transplanted into her was, but... no one knew better than Pei Zhan.

...

Doctor: "The heart transplant was done through a patient donation, and we have proof from our medical staff. However... when she came to the hospital, she was indeed very close to death. Medical resources were limited, and I understand how your family feels, but... I'm really sorry, we've done our best."

Zhou Yan: "No, no... Brother, that car accident was premeditated. No matter how heavy the rain was, Ah Xu would never have crossed the road recklessly."

"How is that possible? How could there be no surveillance footage... Only a few hours have passed, how could it not be captured? Where are the troublemakers?!"

"Brother, it's them...it's the Jiang family, it must be the Jiang family. They deliberately caused this car accident for A-Xu's heart. You checked, didn't you? Jiang Weiguo, the chairman of the Imperial Jewelry Group, has been looking for a heart match for his daughter. A-Xu just had a full-body checkup not long ago. They must have planned this all along..."

"The Jiang family only wants Ah Xu's heart to save his daughter..."

...

Jiang Hua had never bandaged anyone's wounds before. She took the bandage and wrapped it around the wound on Pei Zhan's palm, making it look ugly and like a rice dumpling.

The maid brought food into the study, and the two ate a little something in the room.

Suddenly, a dazzling light appeared on the horizon, and fireworks exploded, illuminating the entire night sky. Jiang Hua had never seen such beautiful fireworks before. They had their own shape, resembling a large, beautiful rose, and would slowly drift down as petals fell.

Two figures stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the fireworks over the island not far away, their shadows intertwined behind them.

Pei Zhan looked at the person beside him, noticing the view outside the window reflected in her eyes, her eyes shining brightly.

"like?"

Before Pei Zhan could get a reply, there was a knock on the door of the study behind him. "Young Master, the airflow is stable, we can return to the capital at any time."

Jiang Hua finally showed a reaction on her face, "It seems I can go back before the Lantern Festival ends tomorrow."

"Rest first, we can go back when it's light."

Before she could even admire the beautiful fireworks, Jiang Hua remembered something else. "No, I don't want to stay here anymore. After I go find Huo Tingshan, we'll go back immediately... I've noticed that people with the surname Huo seem a bit off in the head."

Kagel watched Jiang Hua leave the study, then looked at the people directly in front of him. This fireworks show was specially prepared for today.

"Young Master, we should tell Young Madam the truth. Some things... although we did it a little late, at least we won't miss anything."

Pei Zhan's gaze suddenly sharpened as he looked at Kagel. "What...what did you say to her?!" His tone was icy and accusatory.

"I just didn't want to see the young master and young mistress torment each other because of some unnecessary misunderstandings, so I simply said some things to the young mistress that weren't wrong."

Pei Zhan: "What kind of words do you think are not wrong?"

Kagel repeated those words.

"I only concealed part of what you said, but it was useful, wasn't it? You and the young mistress had no other choice in that situation. At least... the misunderstanding has been cleared up now."

"You... can still propose to the young mistress and hold a normal wedding ceremony after returning to the capital."

"As long as the Zhou family's affairs are not exposed, the young mistress will never know."

...

Jiang Hua went to find Huo Tingshan. When Zhou Yan was brought before her, she had lost her former arrogance and was only afraid of Huo Tingshan in front of the Huo family patriarch.

Zhou Yan: "Mr. Huo, it really wasn't me. Please let me leave. I'll pay back the money slowly. I don't want to stay here any longer."

"For the sake of us being from the same root... I really can't take it anymore..."

Jiang Hua hid in the shadows and did not show herself in front of Zhou Yan. Huo Tingshan destroyed those contracts of servitude and gave her a sky-high compensation of 100 million yuan. This money... was enough for Zhou Yan to live a superior life anywhere without having to do anything.

Zhou Yan was surprised to receive the money. She left with tears of gratitude before Jiang Hua finally appeared.

"I have never seen anyone treat their enemy like this. Being soft-hearted is not a good thing."

Jiang Hua: "Then what do you think I should do?"

Huo Tingshan: "Do whatever you want. I'm letting her go this time, but based on my understanding of this type of person, she won't let you off the hook. If you don't want her to die, she'll want you dead, and she might even destroy everything you have."

"A good person doing good deeds is not necessarily a good thing."

“Bad people…the dark side of their hearts gets immense satisfaction from doing the next bad thing.”

"She wouldn't realize she was wrong unless she was facing death."

"In this world, only the strong have a voice. You are still too weak."

Jiang Hua felt that Huo Tingshan's words sounded exactly like someone else.

Like Pei Zhan?

This was a thought that popped into her head out of uncertainty, but after thinking about it, she still felt it was impossible.

If he really were Huo Tingshan's son and the heir of the Huo family, he would have to be out of his mind to stay with the Jiang family. He's been working for the Jiang family for so many years, earning only three million a year, which isn't even enough for her to buy bags and jewelry. He works hard without complaint and still has to endure her insults.

Even if they have ulterior motives and want to deal with the Jiang family, all it takes is a word from Pei Zhan.

There's absolutely no need for him to stay in the Jiang family and act alongside her for so many years.

Otherwise... what would he be after?

“Now I finally understand why Mom disapproves of you.” Jiang Hua crossed her arms and turned to leave, adding a few more words, “Too self-righteous.”

Even if his mother had been with him back then and had taken the position of matriarch of the Huo family, it wouldn't necessarily mean he would behave himself.

What he longs for is only because he didn't get it, and that's why it's worth missing...

With so many women around him, one after another, it's impossible to get a single genuine feeling from someone like him. And the women around him are all different.

Jiang Hua walked out of Huo Tingshan's territory, and the car was parked not far away. Kagel opened the passenger door.

The man already in the car looked at her and asked, "Is everything taken care of?"

Jiang Hua: "Pretty much."

"Let's go straight to the airport. Is everything packed?"

Pei Zhan: "Mm."

The car that the bodyguards drove up was full of gifts that Jiang Hua wanted to take back for Bao'er. She bought them in Liasco before leaving, and the prices weren't too expensive.

After the plane took off, Jiang Hua took her medicine and soon fell into a drowsy sleep, leaning on Pei Zhan's shoulder. Her hand rested peacefully in his palm. Pei Zhan took the ring out of his suit pocket and put it back in its original place.

It's okay, we...

There is ample time.

Jiang Hua felt that nothing was more pleasant than waking up and seeing her familiar bedroom as soon as she opened her eyes.

She slept so soundly that she didn't wake up even after the plane landed and on the way back to Yulong Bay by car...

She changed her clothes and went downstairs.

At 10 a.m., the snow outside had melted a bit, and the sky was clear.

Xu Qiulan: "Young Miss, you're awake."

Good morning, Aunt Xu.

Good morning, Miss.

Pei Zhan was playing chess with Jiang Weiguo, his gaze following Jiang Hua as she came down from upstairs. Jiang Weiguo rarely paid attention to him, and he could still concentrate on playing chess with him.

Jiang Weiguo understood without saying a word, smiled and said, "Let's call it a day."

"My injuries have finally healed, and I haven't had much rest since I got back. I'll eat something and go upstairs to rest for a while."

You can think carefully about what I just said.

"Everything Huahua did before was for the sake of the Jiang family. They were afraid that there would be no successor to take over. You will also grow old and become exhausted. You will need an heir who can take over your position. No matter what, no one is closer than your own children. With such advanced medical technology now, there will always be a way to take over your children."

Jiang Hua came out of the kitchen with a glass of freshly warmed milk in her hand and walked over. "Are the gifts on the table from the Shen family?"

"Yes, Ye Bai knew you were back, so he sent people to deliver all the New Year's gifts that hadn't been sent before. One for you and one for Bao'er."

"Don't forget to visit the Shen family later. While you were away, Bao'er kept me company at the old house quite a bit."

"When you go, don't forget to bring a piece of calligraphy or painting to deliver to me."

"It's good that you're back before nightfall. We're going to your maternal grandfather's place tonight."

Jiang Hua looked at Pei Zhan and asked, "Are you alright?"

Pei Zhan: "It's alright."

Even if she didn't ask, Pei Zhan wouldn't let her go to the Shen family alone.

In fact, Jiang Hua rarely visited relatives, and she had never been to her maternal grandfather's house. Every year, she would have Uncle Wang deliver gifts, and that was enough.

During the Lantern Festival, Shen Yebai was mostly not at the Shen family's old house.

Uncle Wang drove them there.

Jiang Hua contacted Bao'er in advance.

Shen Yebai knew she was back, and Bao'er couldn't possibly not know.

As soon as she stepped into the old house, Bao'er rushed out and hugged her, "Huahua, I missed you so much."

Upon entering the hall, they found other people besides themselves. These people were all from collateral branches of the Shen family, and Jiang Hua only recognized a few of them. The members of the main Shen family immediately spotted the newcomers.

The old patriarch sat in the center of the main seat, while Grandma Shen held her grandson in her arms. Upon seeing Jiang Hua, the older generation of the Shen family were all delighted. "Huahua, come and sit down..."

We were just talking about you.

Jiang Hua stepped forward and glanced at Pei Zhan beside her.

Pei Zhan: "Go."

Jiang Hua stepped forward and saw Xu Xiangjun coming down the stairs. She was following behind Shen Yebai, her hair was tied up and adorned with a dangling hairpin, and she exuded a gentle and dignified aura.