“I earned so much money just to provide for my daughter. If not for her, who else would I spend it on?”
Jiang Hua ate the lightly fried bitter melon that tasted somewhat bitter, feeling a sour ache in her heart. She fought back tears.
“Dad, I have enough money! I came back this time because I missed you and wanted to see you!”
The dishes on the table were simple – just the ordinary three dishes and one soup. Although the Jiang Family was an affluent and prestigious clan with considerable status in Di Du, Jiang Weiguo lived frugally and never indulged in extravagance.
Seeing his precious daughter who hadn’t returned home for a long time, Jiang Weiguo asked the servant to prepare a few more dishes.
Jiang Hua sipped the flower tea poured by the servant – her favorite kind that cost nearly four figures per liang.
But for Jiang Hua, drinking such expensive tea was as simple as eating a meal.
Because from the moment she was born, her lifestyle had already been predetermined.
When people asked about the only heiress of Jiang’s Jewelry Group, who wouldn’t know her!
And who wouldn’t envy her!
Jiang Weiguo said meaningfully, “I raised you with my own hands. No one understands you better than I do.”
“Are you having marital problems with Pei Zhan?”
Jiang Hua could only pretend nothing was wrong. “Dad, can you stop guessing all day? Pei Zhan and I are fine, there’s nothing wrong. If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll leave!”
Jiang Weiguo smiled and tapped her with his finger. “After twenty years of raising you, you’re still an ungrateful little wolf, just like your mother when she was young – heartless.”
Jiang Hua: “A great beauty like mom – I think it’s a waste that she married you!”
Jiang Weiguo wasn’t angry. “You little rascal, this rebellious nature of yours definitely comes from me. Sooner or later you’ll be the death of your old man!”
“Your personality is completely different from your mother’s. The only similarity is that you both know how to cause trouble.”
The housekeeper cooked two more dishes.
Jiang Weiguo ate a little before going out for a walk.
Watching his retreating figure, Jiang Hua no longer concealed the smile on her face.
Jiang Hua patiently accompanied him – taking a walk after dinner, playing Go, then going fishing in the artificial lake in their backyard…
After she married Pei Zhan, her father had completely stopped managing the company’s affairs.
Jiang Weiguo wore a straw sun hat, holding a fishing rod with a bucket beside him. He had been fishing for half a day without any bites.
The artificial lake had been built simply because Jiang Hua liked eating fish, so Jiang Weiguo had someone dig the lake.
Whenever she returned, her father would fish for her and have the servants specially prepare the fish.
Jiang Weiguo: “It’s rare to see you so patiently accompanying me fishing by the lake today. Before, you’d complain about being tired after just five minutes with me.”
Jiang Weiguo noticed the change in Jiang Hua but didn’t probe deeper. She would tell him when she wanted to.
Jiang Hua peeled an orange nearby and handed it to him. “It’s nice to sit for a while after playing.”
Jiang Weiguo: “How is that Pei Zhan treating you? If there’s really something wrong, don’t hesitate to tell me directly.”
Jiang Hua smiled, curling her lips. “Really, it’s nothing. If there were problems, I would have come back crying to you long ago.”
“That’s true. With your temperament, only he can keep you in check.”
In the evening, the setting sun cast a brilliant light on the lake surface, creating shimmering ripples that sparkled like starlight. The entire lake scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, like a painting.
After finishing his final cross-border video conference, Pei Zhan canceled all subsequent social engagements. He bought a bouquet of vibrant red roses and her favorite dessert to bring home.
Sitting in the back passenger seat, Pei Zhan felt his phone vibrate in his suit pocket. He took it out. Normally at this hour, he would turn off his work phone, but the ringing number was his private line.
Yet in this private phone, only one number was stored—not even Jiang Hua knew about it, and she… wasn’t in this contacts list either.
If Jiang Hua couldn’t reach him, she would naturally contact Zuo Xiangnan.
Pei Zhan answered. The voice on the other end was the nanny’s. “Sir, Miss Song has decided to return to school.”
Pei Zhan: “Let her tell me herself.”
Nanny: “Miss Song is right beside me. I’ll hand her the phone now.”
Song Qingran took the phone. “I’ve thought it through. I want… to go back and finish my studies. About our matter… please don’t let my eldest brother and the others know, okay?”
Pei Zhan: “After you break up with him, then come talk to me about conditions.”
Song Qingran seemed to choke back a breath, suppressing her anger as she said to him, “I’ve already broken up with him!”
Pei Zhan agreed: “Tomorrow morning, I’ll come pick you up for school.”
“I don’t need it. I can take the bus myself. I don’t want to see you, and even less… to give people gossip.”
Their relationship was ambiguous and utterly unspeakable.
What answered Song Qingran was only the cold sound of the call being disconnected.
Pei Zhan returned to Hua Yuan, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers and carrying her favorite strawberry cake. When he opened the door and felt for the switch on the wall, the lights came on to reveal an empty home.
Jiang Hua was nowhere to be seen.
Pei Zhan placed the items in his hands by the entrance, picked up the phone, and walked into the room. Opening the wardrobe, he immediately noticed—Jiang Hua had taken the French privately tailored black wool coat she had loved wearing most over the years, along with that limited edition long dress…
The phone rang for three seconds before being answered.
At the Jiang Family villa, Jiang Hua was having a meal when the phone rang. She stood up and walked outside before answering the call.
Pei Zhan: “Where are you?”
Jiang Hua brushed aside the long hair blown by the wind near her ear and glanced inside. Her father in the living room had probably guessed it was Pei Zhan calling. Still, Jiang Hua spoke to him in a gentle tone: “I’m at home, having dinner with Dad.”
Pei Zhan: “Why didn’t you call me? I could have kept you company.”
Yet Jiang Hua replied very calmly.
“I did call. It didn’t go through.”
If this had come from Jiang Hua in the past, it would certainly have been filled with emotion. Now, she showed no trace of feeling, merely explaining to him as she would to someone merely familiar.
Pei Zhan: “…”
Jiang Hua didn’t want to hear what he had to say either—it would simply be using company matters to brush her off. So she simply said: “You go ahead with your work. Don’t worry about me. I’m being taken care of at home.”
With that, Jiang Hua hung up.
In the past, during their calls, she had been the one most reluctant to hang up…
Pei Zhan listened to the beeping tone from the phone receiver, his deep eyes as dark as the night outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
Perhaps even now, Pei Zhan didn’t realize that the person who once filled his heart and eyes would one day stop loving him completely.
It was only after going through it herself that Jiang Hua understood—letting go of Pei Zhan had happened in just an instant.
Jiang Hua briefly finished her phone call and returned to the living room for dinner.
Jiang Weiguo immediately sensed something was troubling her. “What’s wrong? Isn’t Pei Zhan coming?”
Pretending nothing was wrong, Jiang Hua said, “Dad, you know how dedicated Pei Zhan is to the company. It’s only 6:30 now – he won’t be off work until at least 9:30.”
“No company matters more than my Hua Hua. I started this business precisely so my daughter could live comfortably. Otherwise… what would be the point of running a company?”