Chapter 19 Fate Decided

When He Peiru opened her eyes again, she saw a white ceiling, and the familiar layout confirmed that she was in her own room.

I vaguely remember falling asleep shortly after getting on the bus. I think it was because I had cried a lot in the nursing home and was exhausted after calming down.

She sat up in a daze, and had no recollection of how she got back to her room.

The complex emotions she felt when facing Gu Zhaoqian had vanished without a trace; now, she was filled with nothing but embarrassment.

I lost control of my emotions in the garden just now and didn't think about anything else.

He Peiru stared blankly out the window, as if the entire Jiang family was shrouded in silence, and she felt as if she were the only person left in the huge villa.

Her phone and crossbody bag were placed on the bedside table. When she picked them up, it was already past three in the afternoon. She had gone straight to sleep after lunch, and now it was afternoon tea time.

But her mind was a complete mess, and she felt it necessary to figure out what was going on, so she decided to get up and go downstairs to take a look.

Before He Peiru's feet even touched the ground, she heard a very soft knock on the door and said in a deliberately low voice, "Miss, are you awake?"

"You're awake. What's wrong?"

It seemed Sophia had thoughtfully brought in her slippers, she replied as she put them on.

Sophia entered after receiving permission and reminded her, "Breakfast has been over for seven or eight hours now, Miss, it's time for you to get up and eat something."

She was already feeling very hungry when she woke up, so she nodded and said, "I am a little hungry. I'll go to the restroom and then come down."

"Okay, I'll go tell the kitchen to prepare afternoon tea now."

As Sophia was about to leave the room, He Peiru called out to her, "Wait."

He continued, "How...did I get back to my room?"

Sophia stopped and replied, "Mr. Jiang hadn't returned yet, and Young Master Gu didn't want to wake you, so he simply carried you back to the room."

She spoke with a smile on her face, seemingly not finding anything wrong with it at all.

This truth instantly made He Peiru even more desperate.

Since that's the case, Gu Zhaoqian must have entered her room.

She glanced around the room discreetly, making sure everything was in order and there were no clothes scattered about, before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

The rollercoaster-like feeling mostly washed away her sadness.

The more I think about it, the more embarrassed I feel.

He Peiru stopped what she was doing and, forcing herself to continue, asked, "Has he left yet?"

Sophia replied, "Young Master Gu had lunch with Mr. Jiang after he returned and then left."

"I see."

At least... she won't see Gu Zhaoqian for the time being.

When she finally sat down at the dining table, He Peiru thought her emotions had completely calmed down.

Surprisingly, even her favorite tomato and beef brisket macaroni tasted bland.

She spent half an hour managing to eat about a third of it, but no matter how much she stirred it, she seemed unable to swallow the rest. So she simply gestured to Sophia, "Take it away, I'm not eating anymore."

Sophia vaguely overheard Jiang Yici and Gu Zhaoqian discussing what had happened at the nursing home at noon. Both of them had their brows furrowed and looked quite uneasy. However, she only caught the gist of what they heard. With Jiang Yici's instructions, she knew that He Peiru was not in a good mood either.

She stepped forward to collect the dishes and said, "Okay, what would you like to eat tonight, Miss?"

He Peiru didn't have much of an appetite to begin with, and she didn't have the extra energy to think about these things. She shook her head and said, "Just prepare as usual, I'm fine with anything."

"clear."

Jiang Yici had already instructed the kitchen to prepare as many of He Peiru's favorite dishes as possible, but Sophia asked a question just to be on the safe side.

He Peiru returned to her room dejectedly; the pain He Zhong had caused had left its mark.

She leaned against the balcony, letting the gentle breeze caress her, hoping that all her unhappiness could drift away with the wind.

After a while, her mood finally cleared up a bit.

He Peiru returned to her room and picked up her phone, which she had left on her bedside table. A message from Gu Zhaoqian, sent not long ago, popped up on the screen.

Gu Zhaoqian: [Are you feeling any better?]

She only remembered crying her heart out, and couldn't quite recall what she had said to him.

The only certainty was that she had revealed her most vulnerable side to Gu Zhaoqian.

The more she thought about it, the more complicated it seemed. Over the past few days, the dependence she had developed led her to unknowingly reveal all her past experiences to him.

He Peiru felt incredibly ashamed that he had revealed the secret she had kept hidden in her heart in this way.

Even more incredible is that Gu Zhaoqian had the patience to tolerate her venting.

She thought long and hard about how to reply appropriately, but in the end she chose the simplest reply.

He Peiru: [I'm much better now, thank you for today.]

She immediately put down her phone, not daring to look at Gu Zhaoqian's reply.

She silently prayed that he would never bring it up again.

-

Gu Zhaoqian couldn't shake the feeling of worry whenever he thought about He Peiru crying the day before and the lack of response to his messages to her.

He happened to be going to talk to Jiang Yici about the project, and he could also ask her about her situation.

By the time Gu Zhaoqian finished dealing with company work, it was already afternoon. He immediately set off for the Jiang Group building.

He proceeded without hindrance as usual, but when he reached the top floor and was about to walk directly into Jiang Yici's office as he normally would, Li Jiale stopped him with a troubled expression: "Young Master Gu, there are guests inside right now, Mr. Jiang might not be able to come in comfortably..."

This had never happened before, and Gu Zhaoqian suddenly remembered that he had come for He Peiru's sake. The question He Peiru had asked him naturally came to mind, so he deliberately asked, "What kind of guest is so important that even I can't know?"

Li Jiale couldn't afford to offend the man in front of him, but he also didn't dare to answer. He could understand why Gu Zhaoqian used to come and go so freely, and the current situation would indeed pique his curiosity.

Li Jiale gritted his teeth, unsure if he would disturb the people inside, but he could only go for it: "Then I'll trouble Mr. Gu to wait in the lounge for a moment. I'll go in and tell Mr. Jiang now."

"Alright, you can go now."

Gu Zhaoqian didn't make things difficult for him and walked towards the lounge.

A few minutes later, Li Jiale reappeared in the lounge, bowed slightly, and said to him, "Mr. Jiang, please come into the office."

All of this was within Gu Zhaoqian's expectations. He nodded, stood up, and asked, "Where is the guest? Who is it?"

When Li Jiale thought of the scene in the office, his first reaction was that it would be difficult to explain to him, so he could only answer briefly: "The guest is still in Mr. Jiang's office. You will know when you go in."

After hearing his words, Gu Zhaoqian raised an eyebrow.

Who could possibly be so mysterious about Jiang Yici? He just wanted to find out as soon as possible.

Just to be on the safe side, he knocked on the door before pushing it open and going in: "Uncle Jiang."

The first person I saw upon entering the office was not Jiang Yici, but a woman with a graceful figure who looked almost ten years younger than Jiang Yici.

No wonder Li Jiale stopped him in such a hurry.

Gu Zhaoqian did not act rashly, nor was he as casual as usual. Instead, he asked Jiang Yici, "And who is this?"

Before Jiang Yici could speak, she introduced herself first: "Hello, I am Yu Yin."

"Hello, Gu Zhaoqian."

His gaze fell on the jewelry box on the desk, and he suspected that the woman in front of him was the one who had piqued He Peiru's curiosity.

He knew he needed to get the answer from Jiang Yici first, so he deliberately asked, "Uncle Jiang, aren't you going to formally introduce me?"

Arbitrarily assigning an identity would only offend others, so he simply threw the question to Jiang Yici.

Jiang Yici beckoned to Yu Yin's hand and told him unhurriedly, "She's my girlfriend. You came to talk to me about the project?"

Gu Zhaoqian felt that his words seemed to be implying that he should leave as soon as possible.

But faced with such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Gu Zhaoqian was unwilling to leave. Instead, after sitting down on the sofa, he smiled and said, "Aru was wondering if that pink diamond was for her future aunt. It seems she was right."

Jiang Yici was somewhat surprised: "Aru would tell you these things?"

“I mentioned it yesterday,” Gu Zhaoqian replied. “I didn’t expect you to keep it from us.”

Jiang Yici was a calm and collected man. If he hadn't happened to witness this today, he wouldn't have known when he would have learned of Yu Yin's existence. He then asked, "You two don't mind if I tell Aru about this, do you?"

Yu Yin neither agreed nor refused, but instead uttered the nickname they kept repeating: "Aru?"

"It's our niece whom we recently recognized." Seeing a rare gentle expression on Jiang Yici's face, Gu Zhaoqian found it somewhat unusual and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Yu Yin smiled and shook her head, explaining, "There was a part-time girl named Aru at the restaurant I used to run. Hearing you talk about her suddenly reminded me of her."

Dining room?

Gu Zhaoqian listened carefully to their conversation, and in the instant their words collided with his memory, he blurted out, "What restaurant?"

"Hmm?" Yu Yin didn't expect him to be curious about this, but she still answered seriously, "It's a Western restaurant in Sheung Wan called Wu Yang, but it has changed hands now."

As he listened to her speak, word by word, Gu Zhaoqian's breath seemed to stop.

The truth he had been uncovering over the years seemed to be right before his eyes.

Jiang Yici looked over and found his reaction a bit strange, so he asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Zhaoqian closed his eyes, suppressing the surging agitation in his heart, and asked, "Do you remember her name?"

"Of course I remember." Yu Yin was filled with emotion when she mentioned He Peiru. "At that time, there was only one part-time employee, and that girl had a very hard life, so I have a very deep impression of her. Her name is He Peiru."

"really."

Gu Zhaoqian subconsciously touched the lighter in his pocket.

From his actions and reactions, Jiang Yici could easily guess the answer: "Don't tell me that the person you've been looking for is Aru."

Jiang Yici knew to some extent that he seemed to have someone on his mind, but he never said it. Jiang Yici assumed that he had his own thoughts and never mentioned it directly.

Gu Zhaoqian replied, "It's her."

In the end, it seems that fate had already predetermined everything.

Yu Yin asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Yici glanced at Gu Zhaoqian, who was lost in complex emotions, then gripped Yu Yin's hand tightly and told her—

"He Peiru is our niece."

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Author's Note: I finally know!

This chapter will randomly give away red envelopes!

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 01:54:57 on February 16, 2024 and 23:57:46 on February 17, 2024!

Thank you to the little angel who watered my nutrient solution: Wang Chuqin Health Growth 1 bottle;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!