Jin Jin was watering the plants next to them when he heard the name "Pei Ye." He paused, turned around to confirm, and said...
Were you just talking about Pei Ye?
Lele blinked her big eyes and looked at Jin Jin with a confused expression. "Grandpa, this letter says that my father is Pei Ye."
Jin Jin went back to her room to get her reading glasses, put them on, and slowly read the letter from beginning to end.
The letter was very short, just a few lines.
[Your real name isn't Qiao Lele; it's Pei Jiaxi. You're Pei Ye's son. Your parents have passed away and are buried in Chongchuan Cemetery. Your father was a good man; remember to visit his grave every Qingming Festival.]
After reading the letter, Jin Jin stood there stunned for a long while, then called Zhang Yanshu over.
"Yanshu, come and see this letter. It says that Lele is Pei Ye's child."
Zhang Yanshu was directing the chef to add ingredients to the hot pot in the courtyard when she heard Jin Jin's words. She was taken aback, but quickly realized what Jin Jin meant. She threw the spatula on the table and walked over quickly.
After Zhang Yanshu finished reading the letter, both she and Jin Jin had somewhat subtle expressions. Du Xiaoruo and the others had been eagerly anticipating the letter, and Qiao An urged them on.
"Who exactly is this Pei Ye? Tell me quickly, it's driving me crazy."
Zhang Yanshu put down the letter and replied to Qiao An's question, "Pei Ye was the previous CFO of Jin Chan, and he was also a good friend of Qiao Rukun. Jin Jin met Qiao Rukun through Pei Ye. It was because of this that Jin Jin later acted as a matchmaker between Jin Xizhen and Qiao Rukun."
When Jin Jin spoke of his old friends, his face was filled with emotion.
"Pei Ye is a financial genius, and it is because of his assistance that Jin Chan has achieved its current success."
Joanne asked, "Then how did he die?"
“It was a car accident,” Jin Jin replied. “It was quite horrific. Pei Ye’s car crashed into a heavy truck with failed brakes on the highway, causing it to catch fire. The bodies were burned to a crisp, but it was barely possible to identify two people in the car. It was probably Pei Ye and his very mysterious girlfriend.”
Jin Jin was lost in memories, and her usually restrained expression became somewhat vulnerable.
He continued,
"Pei Ye has always been single, but I've occasionally heard people in the company say that he has a girlfriend who is said to be very capable. Some say she's a fortune teller who can predict the future, and some even say she's an alien. There are all sorts of bizarre stories, but because they're so outlandish, I just listen to them and think they're just young people joking around. I've never taken them seriously."
"But there were rumors before that Pei Ye had a child. After his unexpected death, I even sent people to look for the child, but there was never any concrete news. The matter gradually faded away after that. I never expected that the child would end up in Qiao Rukun's hands. Fortunately, Qiao Rukun remembered his old friendship with Pei Ye and treated the child well. This can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune."
Jin Jin pulled Lele over and sat her on his lap, his warm, large hand affectionately stroking Lele's head.
"No wonder I felt an instant connection with you the first time I met you. Your intelligence is exactly like your father's. You're so good at math and you're also very good with computers. You're so much like your father, how come I never noticed?"
Lele pouted, looking unhappy. "My only father is Qiao An. No matter how powerful others are, they have never raised me. I will only call Qiao An 'Dad' once in my life."
Jin Jin was amused by him, and then said with emotion, "Our An'er has raised this child very well."
Zhang Yanshu chuckled, "Well, Qiao An will be taking our Jin family surname from now on, so why don't we change your name to Jin Jiayi? The surname is your father's, so we'll use the name your own father gave you."
"No!" Lele protested loudly, her nose turning red with anger. "He doesn't understand me at all. Those two characters are incredibly difficult to write. With my level of Chinese proficiency, they're going to be a nightmare for me."
Qiao An slapped him on the back of the head. "You're bad at Chinese, yet you're so self-righteous?"
Jin Jin's melancholy when she thought of Pei Ye dissipated considerably after being distracted by these two lively characters.
Pei Ye was the person Jin Jin admired most. After him, Jin Jin had never met anyone as intelligent as him. Jin Jin reached out and stroked Lele's fluffy curly hair. It was wonderful to witness another genius grow up in her lifetime.
Zhang Yanshu greeted them.
"Let's go eat. It doesn't matter who gave birth to her. Lele will always be a child of the Jin family. She will grow up healthy and happy in our home."
"Mm." Lele nodded vigorously, not forgetting to remind Zhang Yanshu, "But I will not inherit the family business. I want to take the civil service exam in the future. Please ask my dad and mom to have a baby who can inherit the family business as soon as possible, so that you won't force me later."
Qiao An was exasperated. "Since you're going to take the civil service exam, can I beg you to study Chinese properly?"
Lele thought about it carefully, "Sure, go ahead and ask."
Joan, “…”
Du Xiaoruo laughed for a long time after being amused by Lele. Just as she walked to the dining table, her phone rang. She took out her phone and looked surprised.
It was a message from Chen Ding.
She hadn't contacted Du Xiaoruo for a long time, and Du Xiaoruo even wondered if Chen Ding had already been reincarnated. Then, she suddenly sent a message.
I'm going to Chongchuan Cemetery tomorrow at 2 PM.
Du Xiaoruo had a strong premonition that tomorrow's meeting at Chongshan Cemetery would likely be Chen Ding's final farewell.
After having hot pot at the Jin family's old house, Qiao An's trunk was filled with pear syrup and some seasonal fruits that Zhang Yanshu had prepared for them.
Zhang Yanshu gave them instructions.
"It's easy to get internal heat in autumn, so drink pear syrup diluted with water and eat more fruit."
He paused, then continued,
“Take Lele to Chongchuan to pay respects to Pei Ye when you have time. Pei Ye was a very good person. He did his best for Jin Chan back then. Although Jin Xizhen and Qiao Rukun ended up like this, you can’t blame Pei Ye for all of this.”
Qiao An agreed and drove the car away.
In the car, Qiao An asked Lele, "Do you want to go and pay your respects to Pei Ye?"
Lele didn't really want to go, but it seemed like the adults wanted him to go. He stared at the scenery flashing past the car window, wondering whether he should go or not.
Du Xiaoruo suddenly said, "Let's go, tomorrow at 2 pm, the three of us will go."
Lele nodded reluctantly, "Okay, I'll listen to Mom."
Chongchuan Cemetery is built on a hillside with beautiful scenery. Looking down, you can see the entire city of Wencheng.
Guided by the cemetery administrator, Du Xiaoruo and her group easily found Pei Ye's grave. A photo of him was pasted on the marble tombstone. He had a high nose and big eyes and was a very handsome man. Upon closer inspection, they found that Lele's heroic spirit in her eyes and brows was very similar to his.
At Du Xiaoruo's prompting, Lele placed a bunch of white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone and bowed three times earnestly.
As Lele got up, a sudden gust of wind rose up on the mountain, making it difficult for people to stand.
Du Xiaoruo sensed that someone was approaching. She opened her eyes against the strong wind and saw a woman in white walking towards them with a gentle smile in the distance.
The gust of wind came suddenly and left just as strangely; it stopped just as the woman walked in front of them.
Du Xiaoruo looked at the white-clad woman's skirt fluttering in the wind, and her eyes suddenly reddened. She called out in a nasal voice,
"Chen Ding?"
Chen Ding stepped forward and hugged her. "Why are you still so thin? I told you to eat more."
Du Xiaoruo pursed her lips. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Qiao An and Lele stared blankly at Du Xiaoruo, who was talking to herself and even made herself cry, like two idiots.
"Xiaoruo, who are you talking to?"
Qiao An looked around, guessing that it might be her friend, the one who lost merit by writing novels, but seeing her talking to thin air still felt very strange.
Du Xiaoruo led Lele to Chen Ding and asked, "Isn't he the one you most want to see?"
Chen Ding reached out in a daze, but when her hand touched Lele's face, it passed right through Lele's body, a feeling very different from when she hugged Du Xiaoruo earlier.
She was a little disappointed, but still explained with a smile, "Because we both came from the real world into the book, you can see me, but I am already dead in this world, so they can't see me."
Du Xiaoruo grabbed Chen Ding's hand and placed her own hand on Lele's cheek, making it seem as if Chen Ding was touching Lele as well.
Lele couldn't see Chen Ding. Although she didn't know what Du Xiaoruo was doing, she knew her mother wouldn't harm her. She let her mother put her hand on her cheek and rub her fluffy head a few times.
"Alright," Chen Ding said to Du Xiaoruo, "Don't scare him, let's talk for a while."
Du Xiaoruo handed Lele's hand to Qiao An and said to them, "Wait for me a moment." Then she turned and walked up the mountain hand in hand with Chen Ding.
They walked a long way together, almost reaching the top of the mountain, and then sat down on the steps at their feet, their eyes taking in the bustling city and vibrant life of Wencheng.
Chen Ding turned to her and asked, "When did you find out?"
The two have been good friends for over twenty years, and they speak with great understanding. Du Xiaoruo knew what Chen Ding was asking.
"I guessed it from Jin Jin's words that Pei Ye's girlfriend is a fortune teller who can predict the future. This is your novel, of course you can predict the future."
Chen Ding smiled, his eyes crinkling.
Du Xiaoruo then realized that Lele's eyes looked very similar to Chen Ding's; they were both big, watery eyes that looked like two crescent moons when they smiled.
Du Xiaoruo joked again, "You're a writer, but Lele didn't inherit any of your genes."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ding sighed.
"This kid is just like his father. After I died of illness, I somehow ended up in this book, where I met Pei Ye, had Lele with him, and then we were in a car accident together. I could foresee Lele's fate in the original book. After Qiao An was imprisoned for commercial fraud, Lele became homeless and used his talent to take revenge on society, committing serious crimes and eventually being sentenced to death. Knowing all this, I couldn't leave in peace no matter what. I tried everything I could to finally wait for you."
Du Xiaoruo held her hand, "I will protect Lele well from now on."
"Mm." Chen Ding returned Du Xiaoruo's hand.
Du Xiaoruo discovered that after she made this promise, Chen Ding's body began to turn translucent.
She nervously held Chen Ding tightly.
Chen Ding shook his head calmly, "Xiao Ruo, don't force yourself. I should go too. I've been wandering for a very, very long time."
The two were silent for a while. Chen Ding could sense Du Xiaoruo's sadness, so she tried to change the subject, "Is there anything else you want to know? I can foresee the future, so hurry up and ask me."
Du Xiaoru tilted her head and thought for a moment before asking, "Will Xia Qing also end up with Mu Hua?"
Chen Ding rested his chin on his knees and laughed for a while. Sure enough, no matter what, Du Xiaoruo was always as gossipy as ever.
She shook her head. "I don't know. The book has taken a completely different turn. Many characters have awakened their own consciousness, and their future lives are now their own."
Du Xiaoruo curled her lip. "Then what do you mean by saying you can predict the future? You're a liar."
She suddenly remembered something and asked another question, "Is Fan Yingjiao also a transmigrated female supporting character? The kind who gets a stupid and wicked script?"
Chen Ding was taken aback. "You know that too? Du Xiaoruo, you've become smarter now."
Xiao Ru smiled slyly, "When she locked Lele in the monitoring room but didn't harm Lele at all, I guessed it. I feel like her acting skills are terrible."
Chen Ding shook his head in exasperation.
"This is the last world she transmigrated into. She has long lost interest in doing the mission properly and is just slacking off to the point that I can't stand it anymore."
Du Xiaoruo wanted to laugh just thinking about Fan Yingjiao's superficial acting skills; she was practically screaming "I'm a stupid and vicious supporting character" in her face.
"You said she's retiring, so will she disappear like Liu Zhi?" Du Xiaoruo asked.
Chen Ding shook his head. "I don't know. After retirement, she can decide her own fate. She can stay here or choose a world she likes to spend her retirement in."
Du Xiaoruo pressed further, "What about Liu Zhi? Will she come back?"
"No." This time Chen Ding answered very confidently. "People who die in this world can't come back. Besides, Liu Zhi's ambitions don't lie in family. She's a workaholic. Recently, she transmigrated into a post-apocalyptic novel and became the female lead. She's doing very well there."
Chen Ding raised her arm, which had become transparent, and looked at it. She calmly looked at Du Xiaoruo.
"Let's go, I'll see you downstairs, I should be going too."
The two of them walked hand in hand back to Pei Ye's tombstone. Lele and Qiao An sat side by side on the small stone stool in front of the tombstone, their eyes following Du Xiaoruo's figure.
A relieved smile appeared on Chen Ding's lips. "He must love you very much. You're the only one in his eyes."
Du Xiaoruo met the gaze of the pervert opposite her and saw the beautiful sunset behind him. This world is so strange and wonderful, but thankfully we met.
Seeing Du Xiaoruo walk up to her, Qiao An suddenly became a little nervous.
He stood up, his usually confident gaze turning somewhat bewildered. "Is it Chen Ding? Is she here to take you away? Tell me where she is, or I'll smash her head in."
Chen Ding, “…” I’m speechless.
Seeing how nervous he was, Du Xiaoruo couldn't bear to tease him, so she pursed her lips and shook her head.
"I'm not leaving. I'll stay here."
Upon receiving Du Xiaoruo's reply, Qiao An finally felt relieved. He bowed deeply to the empty space beside Du Xiaoruo and sincerely promised...
"Chen Ding, don't worry. I, Qiao An, will only ever love Du Xiaoruo. If I dare to have any other thoughts, you are welcome to come up and take me away."
Du Xiaoruo blushed and stepped forward, turning Qiao An around and whispering a reminder, "Chen Ding is over here."
Joan turned around and repeated what she had just said.
Then he suddenly pulled a diamond ring from his jacket pocket, knelt down on one knee, and
"Xiaoruo, will you marry me?"
Qiao An always carried this diamond ring with him. He never dared to propose because he was unsure if Du Xiaoruo would disappear like Liu Zhi, and he was afraid that his actions would trigger the ending of the novel.
Today, Qiao An finally dared to openly take out this diamond ring and say the lines that had been swirling in her mind.
But Du Xiaoruo didn't feel the expected emotion or joy. After seeing Qiao An propose, she snapped at him fiercely.
"No, put the ring away from me."
This plot development left everyone present completely dumbfounded, including Chen Ding, who was almost transparent. Wasn't it supposed to be that they were in love?
After yelling at Qiao An, Du Xiaoruo took out a jewelry box from her bag, opened it, and inside were the pair of antique wedding rings that Zhang Yanshu had given them.
"You are not allowed to beg; let me beg first."
Joan said, "...I do."
Chen Ding covered his face. Was it really a good idea to leave Lele in the care of such idiotic parents? But it was too late. Her body became completely transparent, and she disappeared from this world with a few black lines hanging on her forehead.
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