Chapter 57.57 Getting Straight to the Point

He Peiru paused in confusion.

Sophia replied to the message more than ten minutes ago. Even if she had decided to come to the Mountain Mansion on short notice, she wouldn't have been able to arrive so quickly given her usual pace.

The property management team will also send her a message in advance before visiting her home.

A name immediately popped into He Peiru's mind.

She looked down at herself and realized she was wearing pajamas, but keeping the person outside waiting wasn't an option, so she looked through the peephole.

The one standing there was indeed Gu Zhaoqian.

He was also carrying an insulated bag.

He Peiru hesitated for a moment, then chose to open the door directly.

"Brother Qian."

She looked up at the man, and as if she were used to it, she turned to the side, wanting to make room for Gu Zhaoqian to come in.

At this moment, Ho Pui-yu belatedly realized that she had formed a habit, and it seemed to have become a matter of course, whether in Repulse Bay or at the Mountain Mansion.

Gu Zhaoqian waved the insulated bag in his hand and said, "I won't go in."

He then handed over the bag and continued, "You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? I just made all of this, so don't expect to just grab something quick and easy."

"Have you eaten yet?" He Peiru asked, then realized she had just asked a completely pointless question, and quickly added, "You must have already eaten..."

"I thought you wouldn't get up too early, so I didn't ask if you wanted to come down for food." He explained carefully, word by word, "I have to go back to the company now, so I won't go in."

"I see..." She took it, and said with some concern, "But it seems that transportation hasn't been restored yet. Is it convenient for you to go back to the company?"

Gu Zhaoqian nodded gently and told her, "The journey was very short, and the main road has been mostly cleared, so the impact is minimal."

“Okay.” He Peiru gripped the door frame with her free hand, suppressing the mixed feelings in her heart, and said, “Then… be careful on the road.”

He replied, "Don't worry, we're so close, there won't be any problems."

"That's true." She touched her nose somewhat awkwardly, suddenly becoming unable to meet the man's gaze.

Fortunately, he didn't seem to pay much attention to her clothes.

"I'm leaving." He seemed oblivious to anything amiss and continued, "Sophia should be here before noon, so you don't need to worry about lunch."

Gu Zhaoqian seemed to know these arrangements in far more detail than He Peiru.

This made her wonder if his effortless integration into the Jiang family was ultimately a good thing for her.

After last night, her relationship with Gu Zhaoqian seemed to have become something difficult to talk about.

It's hard to know how things will change between them as time goes by.

Watching him turn and leave, He Peiru didn't think much of it. She carried the insulated bag back to the restaurant, opened it, and saw that it contained several lunch boxes.

To her surprise, she took them all out. After opening the first lunchbox, she found that Gu Zhaoqian had prepared a Western-style breakfast, and thanks to the insulated bag, the breakfasts were still warm to the touch.

The first thing you see is a beautifully fried sunny-side-up egg, with a sausage next to it fried to a crispy crust; the second lunchbox contains toast with a toasted bottom and butter spread in the middle; the bottom lunchbox is full of rice noodles with pickled mustard greens and shredded pork.

Although it may have just been a coincidence, and Gu Zhaoqian was simply making perfect use of the available ingredients, these breakfasts were all very much to her liking.

This also gave her a new appreciation for Gu Zhaoqian's culinary skills.

He Peiru took a picture of the breakfast and immediately sent it to the three-person group chat.

He Peiru: [You'd never guess who made these breakfasts.]

After waiting for a while without any reply from others, it was likely that neither of them had gotten up yet.

He Peiru put her phone aside and ate her breakfast attentively while watching the news on TV.

The screen was broadcasting news of a house collapse in a walled village in the New Territories, which inevitably caused casualties and left many people homeless.

The footage reminded He Peiru that it was time to put the foundation issue she had been concerned about back on the agenda.

He Peiru knew she couldn't just wait idly; she should take the initiative. So she immediately decided to ask Jiang Yici on her phone after breakfast.

He Peiru: [Uncle, I'd like to know how things are going with the foundation?]

Jiang Yici replied to her with a voice message: "Currently, many of the areas that need help are still flooded. Considering hygiene and health issues, our plan is to send some supplies there first, and then go in person when the situation improves."

"Once the specific arrangements are finalized, I will have Assistant Li notify you as soon as possible."

She replied, "Then I'll wait for your notification, Uncle."

This approach is also a form of self-protection, since after every natural disaster or man-made calamity, the most uncertain thing is whether an epidemic will occur.

She could only wait patiently.

He Peiru always mentally planned the priorities and order of things, so she quickly sent a message to Gu Zhaoqian.

He Peiru: [Have you returned to the company?]

He Peiru: [Today's breakfast was also very delicious.]

Gu Zhaoqian: [We've arrived.]

Gu Zhaoqian: [I'm glad you like it.]

They continued to share their lives with each other, just as before.

-

He Peiru finally received a message from Li Jiale the next morning.

Not long after, he came directly to Shan Mansion to pick her up, and after she got in the car, they headed straight to the New Territories.

Several locations were selected by Chiang Kai-shek's foundation, making the itinerary quite tight.

Sitting in the car, looking out the window at the broken trees lying scattered on the road and the occasional houses collapsed due to the typhoon, she suddenly felt depressed.

It's easy to see that the cleanup at the scene was quite difficult, especially considering that the sanitation workers could only handle it slowly without affecting the public's travel.

Li Jiale sat on the other side of the back row, introducing the current progress to her: "Judging from the current situation, even with expedited repairs, it will still take some time to repair the collapsed houses. The displaced villagers are temporarily staying in emergency shelters, and the supplies prepared by the foundation have been distributed."

She asked with some unease, "Are there any supplies provided for women and children?"

“Yes, Miss,” Assistant Li replied. “The foundation allocates resources according to gender and age.”

As they were talking, the car stopped without them noticing, and the driver said, "We've arrived at the first location."

He Pei only realized after getting off the car that there were nearly twenty people in the cars, including reporters from different TV stations and newspapers.

This kind of mobilization is no exaggeration to say that it involved a large-scale military operation.

She first greeted Jiang Yici, who got out of another car. Perhaps her doubts were too obvious, and Li Jiale roughly guessed the reason and said, "Even if Mr. Jiang intends to keep a low profile, other partners may not be willing to miss this opportunity to promote themselves."

"Especially once it makes the news or appears in newspapers, the company's stock price will more or less rise on the next trading day."

"You could say that what you're doing is meaningful, but your motives may not be pure."

He Peiru wasn't unable to understand this approach; it was just that she was unexpectedly exposed to the spotlight, so she felt somewhat unnatural.

“It doesn’t matter if there are other people around. Just be yourself.” Jiang Yici noticed their conversation and walked over to say, “These media outlets can be quite outspoken on a normal day, but with the Jiang family around, they wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.”

"Besides, I don't think Aru will be caught making any mistakes."

What Jiang Yici said undoubtedly reassured her, and her next plan was to observe the process from the sidelines.

After traveling to several different locations, her biggest takeaway was that there was still so much she needed to learn, and that she couldn't fully grasp everything just by participating in this one trip.

However, now that the first step has been taken, it will be much easier to learn more and participate in the future.

He Peiru's thoughts became increasingly unsettled, and for some reason, she started thinking of Gu Zhaoqian.

He had important work to do today, and because the arrangement was so sudden, he couldn't find the time to come.

She realized that even when Gu Zhaoqian wasn't around, there was always someone else who would take care of things and not leave her to face them alone.

This idea warmed her heart even more.

When they arrived at the last location, He Peiru inevitably joined in the group photo session.

Faced with the endless flashes of light, she could only stare wide-eyed, silently reminding herself to adjust her expression. Sure enough, these were not easy tasks.

As the event was drawing to a close, Jiang Yici, who had been surrounded by people, finally had a chance to come over and say a few words to her: "If you are still curious about the foundation's operating procedures, I will have Assistant Li arrange for you to go there and learn about it."

She wholeheartedly agreed: "Okay, then I'll trouble Assistant Li."

Jiang Yici reminded him, "No matter how hard you try, don't overwork yourself. You'll be going to England soon, and if it doesn't work out, you'll have plenty of time when you come back."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle."

She nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

He Peiru does not intend to include the foundation's affairs in her career planning, but as a member of a family like the Chiang family, it is necessary for her children and descendants to understand them.

Since an opportunity was presented to her, she certainly didn't want to miss it.

That evening, Li Jiale told her about the foundation's daily schedule and the contact information of the person in charge.

Although he had already spoken to the person in charge beforehand, she couldn't just do nothing and rely on others to help her.

He Peiru has always had an extremely clear understanding of these matters.

In the time that followed, besides making the most of her time to go back to Repulse Bay to be with the two elderly people, she spent the rest of her time learning more at the foundation.

-

Three days have passed since I was supposed to leave for the UK.

Although He Peiru and Gu Zhaoqian kept in touch on their phones during this time, she hadn't actually seen the man since he delivered breakfast to her at the Shan Mansion that day.

Even when they shared their lives, Gu Zhaoqian never mentioned what happened at the Mountain Mansion on the night of Sosap's attack.

Those two kisses, as light as a dragonfly skimming the water, seemed to have turned into a dream.

He Peiru still remembers the excitement and joy she felt when taking the breakfast photo, but when her two friends pressed her for an answer, she didn't know how to respond.

Fang Xiaoxin: [I've already brought you breakfast, so it seems I don't need to worry about your progress.]

Feng Shiqi: [We look forward to hearing more from you.]

After she evaded these questions, the two noticed something was amiss but chose not to press the matter.

At this moment, He Peiru felt an urge to ask Gu Zhaoqian directly.

Since that's the case, she decided to go all the way and immediately sent a message to the man.

He Peiru: [Where are you now?]

Gu Zhaoqian: [At the company, what's wrong?]

He still responded very quickly.

He Peiru: [I need to talk to you about something. When would be a convenient time for you?]

Gu Zhaoqian: [Now is convenient, you can speak directly.]

He Peiru: [But I want to say it in person.]

This time, Gu Zhaoqian did not reply immediately.

The waiting process seemed to completely extinguish her courage. Only after repeatedly telling herself to calm down did she see the new message on the screen.

Gu Zhaoqian: [Are you at the Shan Mansion today? I'll go there after I finish my work.]

He Peiru: [Okay.]

Today is Sunday, which is Sophia's day off as usual. There's no need to worry about her being disturbed, and it saves me the trouble of finding an excuse to get her to go out.

It seems that even on weekends, Gu Zhaoqian still has to spend a lot of time at the company dealing with work. It looks like by the time he arrives, it will probably be close to dinner time.

She was still completely clueless about what to have for dinner.

But she didn't know what outcome her conversation with Gu Zhaoqian would reach, so she decided to postpone dinner until after this matter was resolved.

Because she was waiting for Gu Zhaoqian's arrival, and there was no definite time, she felt that everything around her slowed down.

She sank into the sofa, pondering whether she should get straight to the point later, without any need for beating around the bush.

What's more, Gu Zhaoqian is usually the one who takes the initiative, but this time it's her turn.

At this moment, He Peiru felt that success or failure hinged on this moment. As long as Gu Zhaoqian appeared and she did her best to speak out, no matter what the outcome, the whole matter would seem to be settled.

She waited for what seemed like an eternity before finally hearing the doorbell ring.

He took a deep breath before getting up and walking towards the entrance.

She didn't look through the peephole; she only saw Gu Zhaoqian carrying an insulated bag after opening the door.

The familiar scene immediately reminded her of that morning.

Why is Gu Zhaoqian always able to consider things so thoroughly for her?

Before she could speak, Gu Zhaoqian said, "Sophia is off today, right? Here's your dinner."

Have you eaten?

She asked the same question as last time.

He shook his head and replied, "I have a dinner engagement later, no rush."

"good."

He Peiru and Gu Zhaoqian walked into the house together. She was extremely nervous, but she also knew that it was finally time to make a swift and decisive move.

She couldn't delay any longer.

She decided to tentatively ask, "I haven't seen you lately."

Gu Zhaoqian replied quickly: "I've been quite busy lately."

However, He Peiru did not believe this explanation.

Placed before...

No matter how busy Gu Zhaoqian was, he would always make time to be by her side.

Now it seems like they're avoiding her.

He Peiru bit her lip and asked, "What kind of relationship do we have now?"

All hesitation and doubt vanished the moment the question was asked.