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

"Because we are not from the same world."

"Mom, I don't want to think about these things anymore. It's all in the past. Please don't bring it up again, okay?"

Song's mother hesitated, about to say something, but immediately fell silent when she saw the person who had finished making the phone call and entered the room.

After Lu Yuanzhou helped her with the discharge procedures in the afternoon, they returned to the house they had previously bought.

Lu Yuanzhou went to the kitchen to boil water. Song Qingran stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. When Lu Yuanzhou turned around and looked at the person still standing behind him, he said, "Go back to your room and rest first. Take your medicine after the water boils."

"Thank you..." she uttered softly, unsure of what else to say to him. After returning to her room, Song Qingran sat on the bed, looking at the things that belonged to the two of them, including the neatly folded clothes in the wardrobe, each occupying half of it. Ever since that time they left the Royal Dynasty Hotel, they had indeed had a relationship.

They finally started sleeping in the same bed, but only that one time. Lu Yuanzhou was very careful and didn't touch her again.

Song Qingran was momentarily lost in thought when she recalled Mr. Pei and Senior Jiang from the hospital earlier that day, and the words he had said after leaving the examination room. Her heart ached even more, as if it were being torn apart, and the wild beast trapped within her broke free of its shackles…

In the mirror to the side, Song Qingran's eyes were reflected in a pair of utterly unfamiliar and cold gazes, a look she herself had never seen before…

...

Time flies, and graduation season is fast approaching. Jiang Hua, who rarely appears on campus, never expected to receive a diploma from Imperial University. When she first entered the university, Jiang Hua was prepared to fail courses and be expelled at any time. Now, she not only received a diploma, but also the title of Outstanding Student of Imperial University, as well as a scholarship.

The school originally wanted Jiang Hua to speak on stage as a student representative, but she declined, as she didn't like those kinds of occasions.

He simply returned to Yulong Bay with his graduation certificate and scholarship money.

Jiang Weiguo was drinking tea in the tea room, where a faint sandalwood fragrance wafted through the air.

"Cough cough..."

Upon hearing the cough, Jiang Weiguo looked over and saw a person standing at the door with their hands behind their back and their eyes wandering.

Jiang Weiguo: "If you catch a cold, go to the hospital to get it checked out."

Jiang Hua straightened her back, walked up to Jiang Weiguo, and, feigning nonchalance, placed a red graduation certificate and a bank card in front of him. "Who said I wouldn't graduate?" she asked, pointing to the three words "graduation certificate" on the card with her shapely, rounded fingertips.

"Hmm~ It's alright, she's not too stupid. At least she didn't waste three years of food and drink, and she managed to graduate." Jiang Weiguo made her a cup of tea and placed it in front of her.

Jiang Hua took a sip; it had a delicate tea fragrance.

Both Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Qingcheng graduated with the highest degree and were recommended for admission all the way. Back then, Jiang Weiguo was also sent abroad for further study and training as a key talent of the country. Jiang Qingcheng was no exception. In order to escape an arranged marriage, she applied to study abroad. Both of them are first-class talents.

From the time they met until she was born, Jiang Weiguo kept her at home from childhood to adulthood. All her private tutors were top-notch professors, and he paid close attention to her grades. The first time he saw her exam results, she hadn't passed a single subject and was very slow at learning everything.

I taught her to write her own name when she was little, but by the time she was six, her writing was still a mess. The character '婳' was so difficult to write and she couldn't remember it. To save time, she would just draw an 'o' instead. She had a hard time concentrating.

At first, in order to get rid of this bad habit, Jiang Weiguo acted as a strict father for a period of time, making her write his name a hundred times.

Within a day, Jiang Hua started crying whenever she saw him frown and get angry. Jiang Weiguo had no choice but to let her go, since she still had some family wealth.

For the sake of his only daughter, Jiang Weiguo changed his bottom line again and again. Later, he thought that it was enough to ensure that she had enough to eat and wear and grow up healthily. As for other things... as long as she didn't cause trouble, even if she did, it wouldn't matter.

Now that she has achieved academic success and started a family, it's as if she has completed a task for Jiang Weiguo, and things have finally settled down.

Jiang Hua: "I didn't expect that either."

Due to her health condition in her previous life, Jiang Hua dropped out of Imperial University at a young age. Her father didn't have high hopes for her anyway, and since the family wasn't short of money, he only sent her to school so that she would have something to do.

It's unlikely that she can build a career on his own.

Jiang Hua was unusually generous: "Let's go out for dinner tonight, it's on me!"

Jiang Weiguo raised his eyebrows. "It's quite an achievement to graduate smoothly. Dad didn't have high hopes at first."

"It's quite an achievement that Miss Jiang has been able to graduate smoothly."

"I don't know who said I couldn't graduate at first, but they were proven wrong. It was an outstanding student representative who came here." Jiang Hua covered her mouth with her graduation certificate and smiled as she left the tea room.

When Jiang Hua returned to her room, she saw Pei Zhan sitting in front of her dressing table, having already showered and wearing casual pajamas. He was looking at something in his hand. Jiang Hua casually tossed her graduation certificate on the bedside table, walked over, and naturally sat on his lap. She noticed that Pei Zhan was holding a group photo of her and her classmates from high school.

"Where did you find something this old?"

"I was tidying up the room and just happened to find this. I'll just take a look." Pei Zhan glanced at the names on the back of the photos and immediately spotted Jiang Hua's name. Next to her was Wang Xueying, whom he had a past with.

"Oh, I thought you were looking at something else. Turns out you're reminiscing about your ex-girlfriend."

“I’m looking at you.” Pei Zhan didn’t notice her even though she said it.

Jiang Hua at this time looks almost exactly the same as she does now, with no change. However, the Jiang Hua in the photo is too young, and the way she looks at people, apart from being somewhat arrogant and haughty, is the haughty attitude that a pampered rich girl should have.

She looked casually at the camera, wearing a white shirt and a black Western-style school uniform jacket. She stood out in the crowd.

Thinking of Wang Xueying, Jiang Hua suddenly lost her energy. She tried to get up from Pei Zhan's lap, but the hand that was holding her waist wouldn't let her go.

"I didn't know that at first glance... I never expected that with such good genes from Chairman Jiang and your mother, Mrs. Jiang, Mrs. Pei would still get a zero on the test?"

Jiang Hua was taken aback.

Pei Zhan silently took out a monthly exam paper, which was filled with writing, and the final score was still the same. Pei Zhan looked at Jiang Hua with a smile in his deep eyes.

Are you laughing at me?

Pei Zhan composed himself slightly, "No."

"You were just laughing at me."

"It's not your fault, it's definitely more difficult without multiple-choice questions."

Jiang Hua patted his face. "Let me tell you, I just didn't want to study back then, so I wrote whatever came to mind, understand?"

Previously, Ji Liangchuan tutored her to improve her grades. She couldn't concentrate on any of the other teachers' lessons and was always drowsy and dozing off.

Pei Zhan grabbed her wrist. "Are you distracted because of Ji Liangchuan's departure?"

Jiang Hua: "Yes."

Pei Zhan: "We'll talk about it later!"

He narrowed his eyes, his tone laced with threat.

"I…"

"Ok?"

He emphasized his tone.

As they talked, somehow they ended up on the bed. Jiang Hua was almost suffocated by his kisses and couldn't breathe. Her head was spinning. When she got tired of kissing, she simply closed her eyes and fell asleep for a while.

Pei Zhan didn't bother her anymore. His hand landed on her waist. Jiang Hua had her eyes closed when she suddenly spoke. Pei Zhan thought she was asleep, so he remained in the same position and didn't move much.

Jiang Hua: "Have I gained weight?"

Pei Zhan: "No, who said that?"

Jiang Hua: "What Aunt Xu said is true. I also feel like I've gained weight recently, and I like to sleep even more than before."

Jiang Hua used to only need seven or eight hours of sleep, but since Pei Zhan stopped going to work, she feels that she spends most of her time lying in bed with him, except for eating.

I need to sleep for more than ten hours a day.

Jiang Hua lay on top of him, able to hear the strong, steady heartbeat in his chest, which was reassuring but also a bit noisy.

"You're not fat, you look great as you are."

"Go to sleep..."

Pei Zhan kissed her forehead, changed her position, and Jiang Hua quickly fell asleep.

After sleeping for more than two hours, Jiang Hua woke up. It was still dark outside, and light was seeping in through the heavy curtains. She lay on her side, her back against his chest, quietly playing on her phone.

BoA updated her social media again.

She and Shen Bulu went on a graduation trip abroad.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Hua came across a video from the official account of the Jiang Group celebrating her graduation, with the company making a big show of it, practically throwing a banner for her.

Jiang Hua: "?"

It's obvious that Dad did it.

To celebrate the eldest daughter's successful graduation, Chairman Jiang is offering a special gift: any student graduating today can visit a Jiang's Jewelry store to have a piece of jewelry custom-made, with no limit on the number of recipients.

Jiang Hua opened the comments.

What does this Miss Jiang look like?! I can't find a single picture of her online. [crying]

The comment below reads: I've seen her, she's incredibly beautiful, a real stunner.

Jiang Hua was overjoyed by the praise…

Pei Zhan opened his eyes and saw her playing on her phone, liking one of the comments.

She actually enjoys hearing these things.

I heard a soft laugh coming from behind me.

Jiang Hua then realized that he was awake.

She turned to look at him; the man's arm was resting on his eyes, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned.

Inexplicable.

Jiang Hua played for a while longer, playing a match-3 game with the volume turned up very high.

Lately, the two of them have been like this almost all the time, without any emotional arguments. Just like Dad said, it's been very uneventful, and he seems to be clinging to her all the time.

Jiang Hua deliberately moved a distance away from him, leaving half a person's space. She silently counted, and sure enough, in less than ten seconds, the person lying next to her pressed himself against her.

It wasn't until it was dark outside and almost time for dinner that the two of them reluctantly got out of bed. Ever since Pei Zhan helped her change her dress and underwear once, Jiang Hua hadn't needed to dress herself anymore. His hands reached out from behind and fastened her bra clasp.

She went downstairs while playing on her phone.

At the dinner table, Jiang Weiguo suddenly brought up Shen Yebai, and Jiang Hua hadn't heard any news about him in a long time.

"Ye Bai is already engaged. The engagement banquet will be held in a week. It won't be a big event. You and Pei Zhan will attend together. Remember to choose a nice gift."

Jiang Hua nodded thoughtfully, "Which family did the Shen family form a marriage alliance with?"

Jiang Weiguo shook his head as well, "I don't know, we'll find out when we get there."

"There was no invitation, just a phone call from the Shen family. If I hadn't suddenly remembered, Dad would have almost forgotten about it."

How come there wasn't even an invitation!

A week later, Bao'er and Shen Bulu returned from their graduation trip the day before, bringing her many gifts.

When Jiang Hua asked, she learned that the person Shen Yebai was getting engaged to was Xu Xiangjun.

Hearing this answer, Jiang Hua was not surprised. After all, this was the person Shen Yebai was going to marry. No matter how they acted, it was impossible that there wasn't even an invitation. She had guessed something at the time. Actually, this was fine. At least Xu Xiangjun was still the mother of the child.

"It's all because of Xu Xiangjun. I don't know what kind of bewitching spell she used on Great-Grandma, but she insisted that she marry my brother. Otherwise, my brother would never have married her."

“Brother doesn’t like her at all. He only married her because of the baby.”

Jiang Hua thought for a moment: "After all, she has been with your brother for so many years, and she is the only woman by his side. I think your brother must also like her."

“That’s not how it is. Actually, my brother didn’t want this child at all. It’s because…” Shen Bao’er was probably still worried about something, and she immediately deflated. “Forget it, it’s already like this, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

"Huahua, have some. This is a pastry I bought from abroad. It's delicious." Shen Bao'er picked up a rose cake and put it to Jiang Hua's lips. Jiang Hua took a small bite. It wasn't too sweet, just right.

Not long after Bao'er left, Jiang Hua received a message from Shen Yebai: Are you free?

Pei Zhan was still in the study. Jiang Hua didn't tell him when she left. If she had told him that Shen Yebai had asked her out, he definitely wouldn't have agreed, so she simply kept quiet.

In the dimly lit yet familiar theater, Jiang Hua saw his back. He was wearing a white suit and was already waiting. The curtain on the stage slowly opened the moment Jiang Hua sat down next to him…

Jiang Hua then noticed that Shen Yebai had a wedding ring on the ring finger of the hand resting on his knee. He was different today; he was filled with a cold indifference. Having known him for so many years, Jiang Hua knew that he was in a state of agitation.

“Huahua…”

"Hmm?" Jiang Hua looked at him.

Shen Yebai: "Are you... happy now?"

Jiang Hua didn't know why he suddenly asked her these questions out of the blue. "I can't really explain it. I just feel like everything is just right now."

"Actually, Bao'er came to see me today and said some things to me. Why...don't you want the child with Xu Xiangjun?"

"You don't like her?"

"If you didn't like her, why did you have the child?"

Shen Yebai is a man who understands how to weigh interests. Even if he kept Xu Xiangjun by his side only to satisfy his physical needs, it wouldn't have resulted in a child. After all, these are members of the Shen family, and she, as an outsider, shouldn't pry into the Shen family's affairs.

Seeing him like this, Jiang Hua felt that there seemed to be something else going on.