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

"The incident happened suddenly, specifically because the Jiang family demanded huge compensation from their studio. Ms. Song's friends were also temporarily detained pending trial due to the lawsuit filed by the Jiang family. It seems that Ms. Song couldn't bear to see her friends go to jail. So... during this time, she has been trying to contact you. Just a few hours ago, Ms. Song went to the Jiang family and asked Director Xu about your schedule. She was in a car accident on her way to Haishi."

Zuo Xiangnan glanced at Pei Zhan's expression and continued, "Miss Song's emergency contact number is yours. The police station couldn't get through, so they contacted the company. The people in the secretariat just received the notification and immediately sent me a message."

Pei Zhan frowned. "Where is Lu Yuanzhou?"

Zuo Xiangnan: "He's on a business trip, so he probably doesn't know about Miss Song's situation yet. It was found out before that what Xue Ruyao did was indeed unrelated to Miss Song. Before they planned to defraud those funds, Miss Song had already left the studio."

...

Jiang Hua woke up from her nap and saw that it was only 8:30. Pei Zhan hadn't returned yet. She couldn't stay idle in the hotel by herself, so she simply agreed to Bao'er's invitation to join the group chat.

There were only about ten people in the group, all of whom were wealthy young men from Shanghai with some status and influence. Bao'er had told them her requirements, and the meeting was to be held on a cruise ship on the Bund opposite her hotel, with about ten people in total.

Jiang Hua tidied herself up, put on makeup, and after leaving her hotel room, she took the elevator downstairs to the entrance, ready to get into the car arranged by the hotel. She was waiting for the car when...

"Mr. Xiang, could we reconsider the withdrawal of investment...?"

"What else is there to consider? Who told you to offend the Du family? Now you're thinking of reviving yourselves and attracting investment? You should ask Rong Xingzhi if you can save your own lives."

"Exactly, of all people to mess with, they had to pick on the Du family. They don't know what's good for them."

Jiang Hua was wearing a black coat, her long legs were exposed, and her long black wavy hair was draped over her shoulders. When she heard the voice next to her, she turned her gaze and saw Rong Xingzhi's assistant.

"Oh, whose poor little thing is this?"

Han Jie watched helplessly as they got into the car. He grabbed his hair and squatted on the ground until he heard a pleasant voice from above. He looked up and saw an unforgettable, stunningly beautiful face. "Miss Jiang? What are you doing in Haishi!"

"You want to keep squatting on the ground and talking to me?"

Han Jie stood up. Jiang Hua looked at his unkempt and haggard appearance, which was completely different from the one she used to see.

"It's President Rong. The company has been seized, and the cash flow is in trouble. Most of the investments have been withdrawn. These people... before this incident, they were not like this at all. There's even an insider in the company who stole the company's core technology. Now a rival company is going to sue us for theft. If this matter isn't resolved quickly, President Rong will really go to jail."

Jiang Hua raised her eyebrows slightly. "He didn't go to the Du family to beg?"

"He and that Miss Du haven't made up yet?"

Han Jie shook his head. "President Rong... refused."

"Actually, if he just loosened his grip and agreed to the Du family's conditions, the company would be out of danger. But he... really doesn't like that person from the Du family. No matter how I try to persuade him, President Rong won't listen."

How come she didn't realize that Rong Xingzhi had such a principled side?

Just then, the hotel driver arrived. "Ms. Jiang, you can get in the car now."

Jiang Hua glanced at the disheveled person and said, "Since we're already here, let's come together."

Han Jie got into the passenger seat, while Jiang Hua sat alone in the back. She had changed her mind about the party and followed him to where Rong Xingzhi was.

The car wound its way through the alleyways, finally arriving at a place where people looked up at the dilapidated building in front of them.

Han Jie said somewhat awkwardly, "Ms. Jiang, all of Mr. Rong's properties have been seized, and he is injured, so he can only stay here temporarily. Please don't mind."

As I got out of the car and looked up at the dilapidated building under the night sky, a sense of familiarity washed over me.

Pei Zhan had lived in a similar dilapidated building before, but after he made money, Jiang Hua never came to such a place again. The house was on the second floor, and motion-sensor lights turned on with every step. In the corridor, a slight cough could be heard. "You just go about your business. My eyes are beyond repair. Don't waste your time on me."

"It will be cured." Jiang Hua took a few steps and saw through an old window that Rong Xingzhi was holding a medicine bowl and personally feeding a woman medicine.

The aroma of traditional Chinese medicine wafted out.

In the corridor, there were still burning charcoal fires for decocting medicine.

Han Jie: "Miss Jiang, this is President Rong's mother. She has poor eyesight. Please go to the next room."

Rong Xingzhi was wearing a thin knitted sweater, and there was a noticeable scar on the back of his hand. Hearing the knock on the door, the man looked over.

Han Jie: "President Rong, Miss Jiang is here!"

At this moment, the woman on the bed suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice, "Miss Jiang? Is she your fiancée? Xingzhi, I've never heard you mention her before."

Rong Xingzhi was taken aback. His gentle and refined face showed a hint of contemplation. He explained slowly, "No, just a friend."

"You should rest first," he said, tucking her in with the blanket.

He got up and went next door, where he saw Jiang Hua, dressed in luxurious casual clothes, standing in front of a desk, fiddling with the ceramic objects in his room. "What... are you doing here?"

Jiang Hua: "I heard you've fallen on hard times, so I came to see you make a fool of yourself."

Rong Xingzhi stepped forward, poured a cup of water from the kettle, and placed it beside her. "The cup has been washed."

Jiang Hua glanced at the glass of water in front of her, which had a tacky red floral pattern. She pulled out a chair, sat down, and held the glass of hot water in her hands to warm them. "Du Yuesheng likes you so much. Once you enter the Du family, everything in the Du family will be yours."

"Now that you've rejected them, and this is how you ended up, don't you regret it?"

Rong Xingzhi said, "My affairs have nothing to do with Miss Jiang."

“You shouldn’t have come here. Sit for a while. Miss Jiang can go back soon. Otherwise, someone might worry about your safety and come looking for me. It’s not easy to explain when a man and a woman are alone together.”

Jiang Hua laughed inexplicably, "Rong Xingzhi, why are you still acting like this? If anyone's at a disadvantage, it's me. Why are you acting like I'm going to do something to you!"

"Tell me, how much does it cost?"

"No need." He refused decisively, and Jiang Hua hadn't expected him to refuse so readily.

Jiang Hua: "You don't want the company anymore?"

"My affairs are none of your business."

In the past, Jiang Hua would have definitely humiliated him severely and then transferred him away, but now... she refuses to do so.

Rong Xingzhi is a good person in every way, with a good personality, but he is not good at opening up to people. He exudes a coldness that no one can get close to, and it is difficult to see what he is really thinking.

Previously, Jiang Hua did not know that Rong Xingzhi was also a mother with cancer. If it were an ordinary person, facing bankruptcy and being burdened with debt, anyone would be unable to bear it and would be in unbearable pain. However, Jiang Hua did not see any of this in him, as if all of this had nothing to do with him.

"You clearly had a way out, yet you insisted on driving yourself to your death, Rong Xingzhi... what are you thinking!"

Jiang Hua looked at him, but he didn't even have the courage to look her in the eye. His gaze drifted indifferently to the night outside the window. "...I'm just tired and want to rest for a while." His voice seemed to come from beyond the heavens, making Jiang Hua feel that for a moment, Rong Xingzhi had let down his guard and seemed more real to her.

"I founded New Creation Technology to cure my mother's cancer. Now her disease has been cured, although she can no longer see, but... that's enough for me."

Jiang Hua was somewhat skeptical of what he said. How could anyone be willing to give up everything they had and become an ordinary person again after all this? Power and money are the greatest temptations for men. They are not content with what they have now and will try every means to climb up step by step, no matter how many people they sacrifice or how many people they step on to get to the top.

Now someone is telling her that the reason he climbed the ladder was only to cure his mother's illness, and now that his goal has been achieved, he can give up everything?!

"I do not believe!"

Rong Xingzhi withdrew his gaze, his warm, jade-like eyes looking at her with the gentle light of stars. He simply smiled slightly, "Miss Jiang used to think I was a liar, but now that I'm telling the truth, you don't believe me?"

"If you really only wanted to cure your mother's illness, why didn't you just tell me in the first place?"

"Because... I don't want to owe anyone anything."

Jiang Hua: "..."

Rong Xingzhi: "Our statuses are not equal. For me, only the exchange of interests can put me on an equal footing, allowing me to negotiate with those in higher positions. Whatever you want, I can give you, it's fair. If I make a request, it's something I want, and what I get will become a debt. I don't want to... owe anyone anything."

"Miss Jiang's initial purpose in approaching me was simply to get me to marry you and help you manage the Jiang family business. Perhaps... if I had agreed, things would have been much easier for me now, but none of this is what I want."

Jiang Hua propped her head up with her hand, looking at him contentedly and listening carefully to what he was saying. "So what do you want?"

Rong Xingzhi: "Hold an art exhibition."

Jiang Hua: "That's... all?"

Rong Xingzhi: "Otherwise, what does Miss Jiang think I want?"

She was surprised and felt that this was the kind of Rong Xingzhi who would actually do things.

Jiang Hua saw the wound on the back of his hand, and she knew how he got it.

"You really don't like Du Yuesheng at all?"

"She even committed suicide for you."

Rong Xingzhi: "I don't like it."

Jiang Hua asked curiously, "So who do you like? You don't actually like men, do you?"

To everyone's surprise, the moment she asked the question, Jiang Hua saw Rong Xingzhi frowning slightly. He didn't speak, nor did he answer Jiang Hua's question. "My affairs are none of your business."

"Now that you know the answer to the question, Miss Jiang, you may leave."

"No delivery."

As Rong Xingzhi stood up to leave, the door suddenly opened, and the woman lying on the bed brought in a plate of dried persimmons. "Xingzhi, we finally have a guest. You've only been here a short while. Why are you leaving already?"

"Little girl, what's your name?"

The room wasn't very big. Jiang Hua stood up and helped the woman to her seat.

"We didn't buy much food at home, only some persimmon cakes that I dried myself." Rong's mother had to have her eye removed because the cancer had spread to her eyeball to save her life. She took a persimmon cake from the snack plate and put it in Jiang Hua's hand. "Try it. If you like it, there are still some at home. Take some back with you."

As a pampered young lady born into privilege, Rong Xingzhi assumed that Jiang Hua would look down on such vulgar things. Moreover, she was a germaphobe and disliked eating food that others had touched. Rong's mother's hands were chapped and calloused, which were obviously unsightly compared to Jiang Hua's clean and tender hands.

"Then I'll try it." Jiang Hua had never eaten it before, let alone seen it. She took a bite and said, "It tastes pretty good."

The woman laughed happily, "I'm glad you like it, Xingzhi... Go to the closet in my room and take all the persimmon cakes back to her."

Rong Xingzhi got up and left.

Hearing the footsteps leaving, Rong's mother touched her hand, which was fair and tender. "May I touch your face?"

"I've never seen anyone bring a woman home before, in all my years of life."

Rong Xingzhi, carrying a red plastic bag filled with stuff, went next door and witnessed this scene…

Jiang Hua bent down, took the woman's hand, and placed it on her eyebrows and eyes. "Go ahead and touch me, but I'm wearing makeup, so please remember to wash your hands if you get any on them, Auntie." Rong's mother gently touched Jiang Hua's face with both hands, her movements very careful. With each touch, the woman's smile widened. "You are very beautiful."

"certainly…"

...

A private hospital in Shanghai.

When Song Qingran woke up and saw the person standing by her bed, she suddenly threw off the covers, ignored the needle in her hand, got out of bed, and threw herself into the man's arms. "...Mr. Pei, I thought you really didn't care about me anymore."

"I called you and looked for you in many places, but you weren't there."

She cried on his chest, her tears soaking his suit.

"Mr. Pei, I beg you..."

"Please let Ayao and the others go!"

“Ayao did all this just to pay off her family’s debts; she was forced to do it.”

Pei Zhan pushed her away, but the girl in his arms clung tightly to his clothes. The moment he touched her, he could feel her body trembling. "You need to rest."

"As long as you don't sue Ayao, I'll agree to anything you want."

Song Qingran knelt down in front of him, looking up with her red, tear-filled eyes, "I know it's our fault, I promise you... we will definitely pay back the money."

"You know they're my best friends, I can't... just ignore them..."