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

The next second, Jiang Hua realized what had happened between Xu Zhoulan and Huo Ling. "How old is Xu Zhoulan? How old is Huo Ling? How could this old man do such a thing to such a young girl?"

She was touching up her makeup with the powder compact in her hand. Thinking of Xu Zhoulan's character, Jiang Hua shook her head with disgust and pickiness. That beast is disgusting. His exquisite and beautiful face was full of dissatisfaction.

She was only about eight or nine years older than Pei Zhan, while Xiao Ling was only eighteen and a freshman in college, and Xu Zhoulan... was more than ten years older.

After touching up her makeup, Jiang Hua closed the small mirror behind her powder compact. "When did they start dating? I had no idea."

Pei Zhan rested his hand on his knee, which was covered by black suit pants, and tapped his index finger rhythmically, one tap at a time, "Before entering the jewelry restoration studio."

"I knew it! None of the men in the Huo family are good. Was I wrong before? It turns out they all inherited Huo Tingshan's genes. It's disgusting."

Jiang Hua spoke these words without any hesitation. Last time abroad, Huo Tingshan was already over fifty years old, while the young girl beside him was only in her early twenties, old enough to be her daughter. The youngest was not even as old as Pei Zhan.

"... "

"When you go back, stop wearing that grumpy face. Talk to her nicely. You hear me?"

Pei Zhan: "Mm."

When Pei Zhan gets serious, the oppressive aura emanating from him makes many people in the company afraid of him.

When the car stopped at Jinsha Shallow Bay, Jiang Hua walked into the lobby, with Pei Zhan following behind her, carrying her bag in his hand.

Xu Qiulan immediately came over. She had mentioned before that she was worried the servants here wouldn't be able to take good care of her, so she thought of bringing her over. Jiang Weiguo had the same idea. Xu Qiulan had just arrived today. "Miss, the guest who just arrived suddenly fainted as soon as she came in."

Jiang Hua turned to look at Pei Zhan, then asked with concern, "She fainted? How is she now? Have you called a doctor?"

Xu Qiulan: "The housekeeper made the call to the family doctor, who had just arrived at the guest room upstairs."

Jiang Hua: "Xu Ma, please cook some light porridge and bring it up to her when she wakes up."

Xu Qiulan: "Yes, Miss."

Kagel stood guard outside the guest room on the third floor. The family doctor inside was conducting an examination. Upon seeing the person who had come upstairs with him, he bowed his head and reported, "Miss Huo Ling is fine, just suffering from neurasthenia. She hasn't been resting properly lately, and her fainting spell was due to low blood sugar. The doctor is already giving Miss Huo Ling an IV drip. After she rests for a while, she should be fine soon."

Pei Zhan stood outside the open room door and could see a girl lying on the bed with her eyes closed and her face pale. The doctor was giving her an IV drip.

The man frowned slightly, his tone displeased: "Where are the maids I arranged?"

"Is this how you take care of me?"

Kagel: "Miss Holling dismissed all the servants in the villa, and they usually eat unhealthy snacks and instant noodles. When I called the villa's butler to check on Miss Holling's villa, the refrigerator was full of cold drinks and frozen food."

"I just learned from the school that Miss Huo Ling hasn't been to school for a long time. She's been keeping herself locked up at home and hasn't left the house in a long time."

Pei Zhan: "Nonsense."

"When she wakes up, tell her that I will not let her see Xu Zhoulan."

"Have someone watch her..."

Kagel: "Yes, Master."

After saying those words, Pei Zhan turned and left coldly without looking back. Jiang Hua was surprised that he was such a proper older brother.

"Madam, what are your orders?"

Jiang Hua glanced at the girl inside and said, "Let's clean out a bigger room. Remember to decorate it nicely and prepare some pretty dresses."

Kagel: "Madam, are you planning to let Miss Holling stay here?"

"Won't this disturb your time alone with your master?"

world of two people?

Jiang Hua shook her head: "He's so busy every day, and I'm all alone at home. What's the difference between that and being a widow?"

"It'll be more lively with one more person living in the house."

Kagel understood her meaning. "Yes, madam, I will arrange it immediately."

Jiang Hua came downstairs, just as the maid had finished brewing the medicine. She sat at the dining table, taking sips now and then, playing on her phone as she drank. There were only a few plates of sweet cakes in front of her when Pei Zhan came over. He naturally walked to Jiang Hua's side, picked her up, and let her sit on his lap. He took her spoon and fed her, his gaze fixed on the phone she was playing on.

She was browsing social media forums. Jiang Hua clicked on a list of handsome college heartthrobs and looked at their photos. Pei Zhan frowned. "Is this all you look at?"

Jiang Hua paused in drinking her medicine, her eyes darting around. "Otherwise what?"

"However, most photos nowadays are heavily edited and look fake."

"I remember there was a guy named Xie Qin at the high school across from ours. He was quite handsome, and the school forum was flooded with posts about him. Later... he got expelled for fighting, and I don't know where he transferred to. He had a dimple when he smiled." There aren't many handsome guys that Jiang Hua can remember at a glance, and he was one of them.

Jiang Hua had attended school before, and it was the most expensive elite high school in the capital city. After school, Uncle Wang came to pick her up. He was being blocked by thugs outside the junior high school across the street. Jiang Hua only glanced at him briefly at the time, and she didn't know what happened afterward.

Wuchuan, Chengde University?

"Him? Isn't he pretty handsome?" Jiang Hua clicked on the post that had been pinned to the top of the school forum's list of the most handsome boys for eight years. After all these years, his photo hadn't been taken down. He was undoubtedly the number one handsome boy in junior high school. The familiar profile came into Pei Zhan's eyes. The sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy in the photo was at the age of high spirits. His eyes looked at people with arrogance and disdain. His eyebrows and eyes always carried the arrogance and sharpness that a young man should have. He had a cold and noble aura all over him.

"You know him?" Jiang Hua glanced at him.

Seemingly unwilling to discuss it, Pei Zhan looked away and said, "Drink your medicine."

Jiang Hua opened her mouth, scrolled to the last few messages, and saw the reply from "Unfortunate": Xie Qin! He's been married for a long time, and he and Shen Li have two children.

After reading this message, I left the forum; there wasn't much else to see.

"There are so many handsome men, and Huo Ling is still young and doesn't understand things. Why not find a few more for her to choose from? If she can't have them all, she can have them all. There are bound to be a few she'll like."

Pei Zhan turned off her phone for her, as if afraid she would look at it even once more: "..."

"She can, but you can't."

"I'll handle this; you don't need to worry about it."

Jiang Hua: "Do you understand girls?"

"You don't even understand me, yet you want to meddle in your sister's affairs? How do you plan to resolve this? Arrange a marriage between her and someone of equal social standing? I seem to remember... someone saying they wouldn't force her into an arranged marriage? If she really likes Xu Zhoulan, do you think you can pull her back, given your sister's personality?"

Seeing the bitter dregs left after she finished the medicine, Pei Zhan didn't let her drink any more. Instead, he took a piece of pastry and brought it to her lips, where it melted in her mouth.

Just then, a maid came down from upstairs. "Sir, Madam... that young lady has woken up."

"I understand." Jiang Hua replied, holding the plate of osmanthus cakes, stood up from him, and walked upstairs without looking back. "Actually, all the men in your Huo family are pretty scumbags."

"Xu Zhoulan deserves to be torn to pieces, and you won't fare much better."

After Jiang Hua went upstairs, Huo Ling had already woken up, and the maid was feeding her porridge. "Let me do it."

The plate in her hand was originally meant for her. She stepped forward and placed it by the bedside. The maid got up and handed the bowl to Jiang Hua. Huo Ling looked at her anxiously, "Sister-in-law, it's alright. How could I let you do this?"

Jiang Hua sat down on the edge of the bed. The maid left the room and closed the door. "You came to the capital to try and match me with your brother, didn't you?"

Huo Ling was stunned for a moment, speechless.

"When I touched you in the garden, I thought, how could there be such an outgoing person, especially a young girl like you?"

"Xu Zhoulan has slept with so many women, and maybe... he's even having an affair with Song Qingran. Is a man like that still worth your affection?"

These words made her pale and haggard face even paler. "You're so smart, it shouldn't be hard for you to figure it out. That explosion was just stopped by Song Qingran. Your brother is completely infatuated with Song Qingran. She said she overheard it, and he believes her... but I don't."

Huo Ling hurriedly explained to him, "Sister-in-law, it's not like that. Brother really doesn't like her."

Jiang Hua simply smiled and fed her porridge, saying, "The problem isn't with me, it's with you. Song Qingran used to be your brother's woman, but now... if Song Qingran and Xu Zhoulan really have something going on, don't you feel uncomfortable?"

“I know that’s why I came here today to tell my brother that I agree to the previous marriage.”

“But your brother is thinking of handing the Huo family over to you, and then taking me to live out our retirement together, just the two of us. You’re in such a hurry to get married…” Jiang Hua thought for a moment and then frowned. “Wouldn’t I be living a life of widowhood forever?”

"Give...the Huo family to me? No...no, how can that be? I can't do it..."

“I’m not a member of the Huo family, and I have no blood relation to the Huo family. How can it be handed over to an outsider?”

Jiang Hua: "Outsider?"

"If the Huo family truly considered you an outsider, your brother wouldn't have turned away coldly and left just now when he knew you wanted to see Xu Zhoulan."

"He... seems to..."

"I'm quite angry."

Huo Ling lowered her head, her hands outside the blanket, clenched tightly together. "I'm sorry to my older brother, I've let him down."

Jiang Hua put the bowl aside, placed her hand on her head and patted it gently. "You're still young. Compared to your life, he's just a small part of your life's journey. You have decades ahead of you, and you can meet many more people. There's no need to waste your time on someone completely unrelated. You have many more choices. Right now, your most important thing is to study hard. Then you can think about other things."

"Xu Zhoulan is just being kept locked up by your brother to prevent him from harming others. We won't do anything to him for the time being."

"Marriage is not your only way out, and you are not a tool. Living well for yourself is the most important thing."

No one had ever told her such a thing. From a young age, she was told that she was only brought to be raised by her brother because her mother missed him. From a very young age, she was betrothed as a child. Everything she received from childhood was the best, and she was raised as a lady of high society. Everything about her was predetermined.

When she looked up, her eyes were a little red. "What about you and my older brother?"

Jiang Hua chuckled and smiled, "Ha!"

"It's a tragic fate."

"I won't bother you anymore. I'm also quite annoyed by other people's nagging. Get some rest. If you don't want to see your older brother's face for dinner, I'll have Aunt Xu bring your food upstairs."

“This room is too small, so I’ve arranged a slightly larger one for you. You can stay here comfortably. I’ll be quite bored at home alone while your brother goes to work, so this will keep me company.”

Huo Ling: "Mm."

Jiang Hua returned to her room. Pei Zhan was just coming out of the bathroom. He had just finished showering, and his wet hair was still dripping water. He was shirtless. Jiang Hua glanced at him, then walked past him and sat down on the wicker chair outside on the balcony, picking up the book she hadn't finished reading.

Pei Zhan took a few steps toward her, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in."

Kagel: "Master, it's a company document that needs your urgent signature."

Pei Zhan: "Go to the study."

Out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Hua caught sight of his footsteps approaching her. He then turned and went to the study. Watching his retreating figure, Jiang Hua, as if she were already used to it, simply lay down, holding a book in her hand.

When Xu Qiulan came upstairs and saw that the door was open, she came in and placed the cut fruit she was holding within easy reach of Jiang Hua. Seeing the quiet and dull atmosphere, Xu Qiulan deliberately said a few words, "Miss, you seem to be enjoying reading more and more lately."

Jiang Hua: "Yeah, just browsing."

After the two sentences of question and answer, they fell silent again. Xu Qiulan was old and didn't know what young people liked. She didn't understand much either, so Xu's mother didn't say anything and just stood silently by her side.

After a while, Jiang Hua spoke up: "Aunt Xu, I want to drink water."

"Miss, would you like some honey?"

"Ah."

...

"Aunt Xu, I feel a little hot."

"I'll go get the fan."

...

"Aunt Xu, we're having sweet and crispy fish for dinner."

"Okay, Miss."

...

"Aunt Xu, the water is cold."

"I'll get you a new cup."

...

Xu Qiulan: "Miss, here's your water."

Jiang Hua looked up at her and asked, "Aunt Xu, if I give you these instructions, will you think I'm being too fussy or bothersome?"

Xu Qiulan smiled slightly, her eyes filled with the loving gaze a mother would give her daughter. "How could that be? Taking care of Miss is what I should do."

“Young Miss, you just don’t like being alone. You only repeatedly ask people closest to you to do things.”

Jiang Hua thought for a moment and said, "Is that so?"

Xu Qiulan: "Yes."

“Besides my husband and me, Young Master Pei was the same way when he was with the eldest young lady.”