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

Pei Zhan sighed, stepped forward, hooked his arm around Jiang Hua's slender waist, pressed his other hand against the back of her head, and pulled her into his embrace, letting her lean against his chest. Jiang Hua struggled a little but couldn't break free, and could only be held tightly in his arms. Pei Zhan was very tall, and Jiang Hua wasn't short either, just reaching his chin. "Isn't your wife just after me because I can make money, am good in bed, and last long?"

“Huahua, no matter how much time passes, everyone will grow old one day. Even then, in my eyes, you will always be the most beautiful Mrs. Pei.”

“When you’re unhappy and take it out on me, you can be Pei Zhan’s wife. If anyone bullies you, you can also be Mrs. Huo and use Mrs. Huo’s rights. No one will do anything to you.”

"All I want is for you to live a simpler life every day. Mrs. Pei only needs to think about how to spend money. I will take care of the rest."

“It’s not that I’m reluctant to deal with Song Qingran. I’m just waiting for her to make a mistake. If she doesn’t, she can continue living her own life. If her goal is just to sow discord between my husband and me… I already made it very clear to her last time that I will not divorce you, and everything she does will be in vain.”

Has he met Song Qingran?

Jiang Hua frowned, about to lose her temper, when she remembered that she had indeed met Song Qingran before, and there was a conversation between them, as well as a recording pen. Jiang Hua hadn't listened to the whole thing at the time, so it must have been around that time.

She seized on the key point in Pei Zhan's words, "What if she makes a mistake? Would you protect her?"

Pei Zhan: "No."

“But your mother will. She likes Song Qingran so much that even if she makes a mistake, she will let her get away with it.” Jiang Hua’s words still carried some emotion.

Thinking about it, Song Qingran is indeed a remarkable person. The people around her ruined their futures because of greed. One went to jail, another was forced to drop out of school and accumulated a lot of debt, while she... seems to have done nothing wrong. Could she be blamed?

Sometimes, Jiang Hua felt that she hadn't done anything wrong. Apart from this person being a bit of an eyesore, she really hadn't done anything wrong.

Every time something happens, she manages to escape unscathed. For her friends, she pays such a high price to help them repay their debts. As a friend, Song Qingran doesn't seem to have wronged anyone.

Regardless of her motives, the help she provided was genuinely practical.

Even so, Xue Ruyao, sitting in prison, still suspected her with the utmost malice.

She subtly implied to Jiang Hua that it was Song Qingran who pushed them into the abyss, making them greedy little by little, and watching them be swallowed up. She was essentially saying that it was all Song Qingran's fault.

They each went their own way, forgetting that Song Qingran was indeed an invisible hand subtly guiding them. Yet, each time, it was the two of them who made the choices, not her. This was precisely Song Qingran's greatest brilliance.

Knowing how to manipulate human nature, she only needs a few words to sometimes give Jiang Hua a vague and confusing feeling. She seems neither bad nor evil.

Pei Zhan: "Once she recovers, I will send her abroad."

"You don't need to have any contact with her. I don't have a deep relationship with her. The only thing I can do is to take care of her in her old age and see her off when she dies. That's enough for me."

Jiang Hua is attached to the past and has always lived in it, while Pei Zhan is more concerned about their future.

"Then why don't you get rid of Xu Zhoulan? Since he's so dangerous to you, why keep him around?"

Pei Zhan looked down at the woman in his arms. Their eyes met, and Jiang Hua blinked her innocent big eyes, seemingly unaware that there was anything wrong with what she had just said. Pei Zhan smiled inexplicably, "Yes, he has been put in prison."

"How did your mother get into the hospital? When... did she have this accident?" During this period, there was indeed no word from her, and Jiang Hua had no idea.

Jiang Hua unconsciously wrapped her arms around the man's waist, leaned back slightly to look at him: "Three months ago, I was seriously injured and fell into a coma for a while. I only recently woke up."

"Didn't you go and check?"

Pei Zhan: "Someone will take care of you."

Jiang Hua felt that he was indeed quite heartless, "Then you are quite a heartless person."

Pei Zhan: "I will always side with Mrs. Pei, whether it's the other way around."

"I'm just telling the truth."

Pei Zhan suddenly squatted down, lifted her up by her buttocks, and Jiang Hua instinctively hooked her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. "What are you going to do?"

Pei Zhan turned around, picked her up, and carried her downstairs. "Let's go do something ordinary with Mrs. Pei."

When Kagel saw the person coming downstairs, seemingly having made up, Pei Zhan put her down once they reached the bottom. "The Huo family's old mansion will have to be rebuilt sooner or later. It can't remain empty forever. As the matriarch of the Huo family, you really need to put more effort into the old mansion. This way, you can enjoy your retirement with Mrs. Huo in the future."

"Who wants to take care of you in your old age? You're the one who's old, your whole family is old."

She was so young and beautiful.

Qiao Ye stood up. "Mr. Huo, Mrs. Huo."

Pei Zhan nodded and sat down on the sofa with Jiang Hua.

Qiao Ye handed all the design drawings, including the finished ones, to Pei Zhan. "Mr. Huo, you can take a look. These are the completed design drawings. The outline of the buildings was designed by my grandfather himself. He also knows a little about feng shui. I wonder if you two are satisfied?"

“My wife is in charge of this. You can discuss it with her. If she likes it and thinks it's okay, then it's fine.”

Qiao Ye understood; it seemed that this lady was still in charge. He then moved all the design drafts in front of Jiang Hua, saying, "Madam, please take a look."

Looking at the magnificent and luxurious Huo family mansion, Jiang Hua was reminded of the short time she had spent in the Huo family's Pang family mansion where she had gotten lost. She had already thought that old mansion was magnificent enough, but now, compared to it, the Huo family's main residence was indeed superior to all others.

At Jinsha Shallow Bay, just walking out of the bedroom and downstairs to eat is tiring enough for her.

If Pei Zhan hadn't been holding her, she probably would have just wanted to stay in the room.

"Pei Zhan".

"Hmm?" Pei Zhan picked up the teapot brewed by the maid, poured a cup, and gave it to her first.

"I remember the old Huo family mansion was already built, so how come it caught fire and burned down again?"

He slowly picked up the second cup, took a sip, and replied, "Probably an enemy."

Jiang Hua nodded, agreeing that the Huo family did indeed have many enemies.

He stayed with her because he was afraid she would lose patience and get bored quickly. Jiang Hua liked to have someone accompany her when doing these things.

Our real acquaintance took place in a hotel in Haishi, lasting less than ten minutes, before the subsequent avalanche.

Jiang Weiguo went to Haishi on a business trip because he was afraid that if he didn't take her with him, she would cause trouble for him if he left her in the capital. So he simply took Jiang Hua with him when he went to Haishi for inspection. When Jiang Weiguo listened to the meeting of the Haishi branch, Jiang Hua still sat quietly and obediently on the side, sitting there without any regard for her image, half-closing her eyes, propping her head up, and covering her mouth while yawning.

Jiang Hua was still in her senior year of high school and had homework assigned by her teachers. Her teachers were all private tutors, and she didn't need to go to school. Jiang Hua's mind was basically not on studying, so her grades in all subjects were a mess. Jiang Weiguo also had to manage the company, so he didn't have time to take care of her.

With summer vacation coming to an end, Jiang Hua still had to do her homework outside the hotel with bodyguards. Jiang Weiguo was also worried that Jiang Hua would cause trouble while she was alone in the hotel, so he asked Pei Zhan to go and keep an eye on her.

Pei Zhan went to the hotel's presidential suite. At that time, Jiang Hua was lying on the carpet on the floor, her long, slender legs bent back. Jiang Hua was supporting her head with her hand, sighing and twirling the pen in her hand. Looking at the homework spread out on the floor, Pei Zhan went over and saw that all the numbers with circles or zeros on her math homework were blacked out, along with a big turtle.

Two more assignments were 'put' in the trash can.

"How did you get in?"

Pei Zhan stepped forward, picked up the homework from the trash can, and patted off the dust. "Chairman Jiang asked me to watch your homework."

Jiang Hua lay down on the ground in a wide position. Her phone had been confiscated, the hotel's signal had been cut off, and she couldn't go out. This was probably what it meant to feel hopeless. She simply gave up and said, "I didn't write, I'm too lazy to write, I don't want to write."

"Hey? What's your name?" Jiang Hua suddenly had a brilliant idea. She turned her head to look at him. He was still wearing the employee suit uniform of the Haishi branch, with his name tag on it. She moved closer and saw the name on his chest. She slightly curled the corners of her mouth and said his name, word by word, in a soft, melodious voice, "Pei Zhan?"

"Why don't you write it for me?"

"I'll pay you. One book costs ten thousand, and there are six subjects, so I'll give you one hundred thousand. The rest is for your trouble. One hundred thousand shouldn't be too little, right?"

Pei Zhan brushed her off, saying, "Miss Jiang, you've got the wrong person. I only have a junior high school education."

Jiang Hua looked at him in surprise, "Is the hiring threshold for Jiang's branch offices this low now?"

"How can someone with only a junior high school education get in?"

"Alright, you can leave now. You're useless to me." With that, Jiang Hua stood up and kicked aside the math notebook that was in her way. "I'm going to sleep, don't bother me."

"When my dad asks, I just say I haven't gotten up yet."

When Jiang Weiguo returned that night, he saw that Jiang Hua hadn't moved an inch and angrily cut off her midnight snack. The next day, he found a science student from the programming department to tutor Jiang Hua with her homework. The student explained the problems in a boring way, and Jiang Hua started to get impatient after listening for half an hour. However, she did manage to do half a page of homework.

This continued for three days. On the afternoon of the third day, when Jiang Hua saw that the person who came was Pei Zhan, she found it interesting. "...What's wrong with you today?"

Can you explain the problem?

Pei Zhan dragged a chair over and sat down next to her. "I only said I graduated from junior high school, not that I couldn't do the problems."

Jiang Hua: "Hey, I heard from that person before that you got in through connections. Did that leader take a liking to you and you're getting a high salary?"

"Your Highness's thoughts are not my private matters." Pei Zhan glanced at her and pointed to a question on her workbook. "Look at the question."

After explaining a major problem, Jiang Hua started to lose focus and become impatient, but she was indeed efficient. "I've finished one page."

Pei Zhan also discovered this through his interactions with her. Later, Jiang Hua simply put her homework in the toilet and burned it, then flushed it down the drain. She then sat in front of her phone, which had downloaded a TV series, holding a plate of strawberries, and leisurely watched TV.

Pei Zhan, who was standing nearby, witnessed Jiang Hua's entire crime...

When Jiang Weiguo returned home that evening, he wasn't angry with her. Instead, he was worried about whether she had been burned. He scolded her a few times but didn't say anything more. He continued to do as he pleased in Haishi.

If something happens, it's fine if someone is with her. Jiang Hua has some patience when it comes to things, but if she's alone, she won't listen to three sentences from a stranger.

Forty minutes later, Jiang Hua's phone vibrated. She glanced at the message and then remembered Shen Yebai. She put her hand on her neck and turned around. "Let's call it a day."

"I'm going out."

Qiao Ye: "Alright, I have other appointments this afternoon, so I won't bother Mrs. Huo today."

Pei Zhan: "Going out? Where to?"

Jiang Hua didn't hide anything and said, "I'm going to see a play with Shen Yebai. He bought two tickets. We made plans... for four o'clock this afternoon."

"We have two hours left, so it should be about the same whether we take a car or not."

Jiang Hua tidied herself up, sat in front of the dressing table, and curled her hair. Pei Zhan stood behind her, his hand on the chair, looking at the person in the makeup room. She was without makeup, her lips were naturally red, yet she was stunning enough to make people unable to look away. "When are you done? I'll come pick you up."

Jiang Hua: "Two and a half hours. I'll message you when it's over."

Pei Zhan kept his word. She had her own life and friends, and he wouldn't control her every move. She was still herself.

Pei Zhan sent a car to take Jiang Hua to the theater in the city. The man stood at the door and watched the car drive away.

"Master, is it alright for Madam to be alone with that man from the Shen family?"

Pei Zhan remained silent, put one hand in his pocket, and went upstairs to his study.

When Jiang Hua arrived at the theater, Shen Yebai was already waiting for the play to start. Upon seeing the person who was walking gracefully towards her, Jiang Hua sat down in a familiar seat next to him. She didn't say anything, but Shen Yebai spoke first, "Bao'er sent me a message saying that you're unhappy and asked me to ask you what's wrong."

"It's nothing, just a normal argument." Jiang Hua lazily propped her head up with her hand, watching the stage and quietly waiting for the show to begin.

"I thought you would be very happy that Pei Zhan's status has changed so much, after all, the Shen family needs your help now."

"And the Shen family..."

Jiang Hua smiled and looked at Shen Yebai: "Even without the Huo family, with your abilities, you can still live a good life, can't you?"

"actually…"

Shen Yebai waved his hand, and Xie Huai behind him consciously left. The huge venue was empty except for the two of them. The dim surroundings gave people a sense of security and made them feel calm.

“Chen Yebai…it seems like I’m the only one who’s been living in the past, while Pei Zhan is moving forward. As we move forward, the distance between us is getting bigger and bigger.”

"His identity seems to me to be just that, except that he has another name and is busier. To me, it's no different from before."

“I have everything by his side, but I don’t know why, I still feel like I can’t hold onto anything.”

Shen Yebai suddenly brought him up: "Where's Ji Liangchuan?"

"Do you... still want to be with him?"