A Gua looked up and noticed Jiang Li approaching. She carefully placed the bamboo basket on the table and trotted over to Jiang Li.
A Gua stopped in front of Jiang Li, looking at her with expectant eyes. "Sister, are you here to see me?"
Jiang Li took A Gua’s small hand and led her to the guest room in the back courtyard.
Then, Jiang Li told her about Pan Shiyan.
"I had someone investigate. Your father was deceived. He didn’t know your mother and you had come to the Capital City, nor that you had tried to find him. He’s still searching for you and your mother, and he has even refused several marriage proposals."
A Gua’s expression didn’t change after hearing this.
Jiang Li asked gently, "Do you want to see him?"
A Gua shook her head, her eyes welling up. "Even if he was deceived, my mother is still truly gone. I don’t want to see him, and I don’t want to acknowledge him as my father."
Jiang Li could understand A Gua’s rejection of Pan Shiyan. But A Gua was just a child, and with her mother gone, Pan Shiyan was the only parent she had left.
If Pan Shiyan truly cared for his daughter, he would take very good care of A Gua.
Seeing Jiang Li hesitate, A Gua seemed to sense something.
A Gua asked cautiously, "Do you want me to see him?"
Jiang Li took a deep breath. "I think we should let him know what happened and then see what he does. If you still don’t want to live with him after meeting him, you can come back to the pastry shop. Of course, that’s just my opinion. It’s your life, so you should be the one to decide."
It didn’t take long for A Gua to nod in agreement. "Okay, I’ll listen to you."
Jiang Li gently ruffled A Gua’s hair and led her out the door.
Jiang Li first sent someone to deliver a message to Pan Shiyan, who was on duty at the Hanlin Academy. She and A Gua then went to a nearby teahouse to wait.
When Pan Shiyan heard there was news of his daughter, he immediately requested leave from his superior and rushed to the teahouse.
The moment he saw A Gua, Pan Shiyan froze.
His daughter had just been born when Pan Shiyan left for the Capital City to study. He hadn’t even had the chance to give her a name.
After he settled down in the Capital City, he had planned to bring his wife and daughter to live with him, but his mother told him that his wife had run off with their child.
Pan Shiyan didn’t believe his wife would betray him, so he had been trying to find news of her and their daughter all these years.
He never imagined that he would see his daughter again under such circumstances.
The wife he had thought of day and night was not in the private room. There was only a little girl who bore a strong resemblance to her.
Pan Shiyan recognized her at a glance—that was his daughter.
Pan Shiyan looked at Jiang Li. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t recall who she was.
Before Pan Shiyan could ask, Jiang Li introduced her. "This is Ji Yan’s and your daughter. Her name is A Gua."
In truth, Pan Shiyan had been certain A Gua was his daughter the moment he laid eyes on her.
But he was still worried about his wife, and the fact that his daughter showed no reaction upon seeing him made him deeply uneasy.
Pan Shiyan swallowed hard and summoned his courage to ask, "Where is Yan Niang? Why didn’t she come?"
Jiang Li could see that Pan Shiyan’s hope wasn’t feigned, but some things, no matter how cruel, had to be said.
"Three months ago, Ji Yan brought A Gua to the Capital City to find you, but they were driven away by the servants at your residence. Soon after, she fell ill and passed away. A Gua was left to wander the streets and was taken in by a trafficker."
Hearing this news, Pan Shiyan nearly lost his footing. He shook his head repeatedly. "No, that’s impossible. How could Yan Niang have been driven away? She would never leave me."
Seeing Pan Shiyan’s reaction, Jiang Li felt even more sorry for the late Yan Niang.
"It’s true. You can send your men to investigate. But I must warn you, your subordinates have been bribed by your mother from the Song Family. Even if they uncover the truth, they won’t report it to you honestly. The Song Family not only bribed the servants around you, but also deliberately deceived you into thinking Yan Niang had run away with your child. In reality, Yan Niang was waiting for you to return at your family home. It was the Song Family that forbade them from coming to the Capital City. Yan Niang came here to find you because she missed you so much."
Hearing this, Pan Shiyan’s face was already streaked with tears.
Although he hadn’t sent anyone to investigate yet, he had always believed that Yan Niang would never leave him.
Pan Shiyan had always felt that Yan Niang must have had some hidden hardship, but he never imagined it was his own mother who had deliberately torn them apart.
A Gua watched Pan Shiyan cry, her face expressionless, showing not a hint of being moved.
Pan Shiyan met A Gua’s gaze and asked with a final shred of hope, "Yan Niang named you A Gua, right? A Gua, I’m your father. Tell your father, is your mother really gone?"
A Gua blinked, but her words only caused Pan Shiyan more pain. "Are you sad? For as long as I can remember, my mother was always secretly wiping away her tears. She thought you had abandoned her. After we were driven away in the Capital City, she was utterly devastated. She cried every day, and her health collapsed. All these years, my mother sacrificed so much to raise me. Where were you then?"
Jiang Li hadn’t expected A Gua to be able to say so much at such a young age.
But considering what A Gua had been through, it wasn’t surprising.
Pan Shiyan knelt before A Gua, his voice choked with sobs. "I’m sorry, A Gua. It was my fault. I didn’t find out the truth. I failed to take care of you both."
A Gua remained completely unmoved. "That was your incompetence. No matter how many tears you cry now, my mother isn’t coming back. I won’t forgive you, and I won’t acknowledge you as my father."
With that, A Gua turned to Jiang Li. "Sister, can we go now?"
Pan Shiyan wanted to stop his daughter, but he felt he truly had no right to face her.
’My daughter is right,’ he thought. ’I failed. Even if I was deceived, I shouldn’t have let this happen.’
Jiang Li ruffled A Gua’s hair and had her sit down first. "I need to have a few words with your father."
Hearing Jiang Li, A Gua obediently sat down.
Jiang Li looked at the uncontrollably sobbing Pan Shiyan and took a deep breath. "Mr. Pan, I know you had your reasons, but A Gua truly has lost her mother and suffered at the hands of a trafficker. She doesn’t want to acknowledge you for now, so how about I take her back to the pastry shop? If you want to see her, you can come to Jiang’s Pastry Shop. But whether she is willing to see you or not will be up to her."
Pan Shiyan was in agony over the news of his wife’s death, but the thought of his daughter slowly gave him a glimmer of hope to live on.
’This is my child with Yan Niang.’
When Pan Shiyan heard Jiang Li mention Jiang’s Pastry Shop, he tentatively called out, "Miss Jiang?"
Seeing that Jiang Li didn’t deny it, he continued, "Miss Jiang, I am eternally grateful that you took in my daughter. If there is anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask."
Jiang Li hadn’t intended to ask Pan Shiyan for anything. After all, she hadn’t taken A Gua in for any reward.
’But I need to close down the shops under my name,’ she thought. ’Jiang’s Pastry Shop is still open, and it’s about time I found a suitable figurehead owner for it.’