Jiang Ruolan smiled politely at Senior Zhou. After nodding her head once, she picked up the magazine to continue reading. However, she did not expect Senior Zhou to walk towards her suddenly.
"Miss Jiang's injuries have not fully healed?" Senior Zhou asked politely.
Jiang Ruolan laughed, "I'm fine now. I was just released yesterday and can go home, but my family are worried and will not let me go home first. They are afraid my head injury will have a bad effect on my body and my child. They listened to the doctor's advice and told me to stay in the hospital for a few more days to be examined but I could be out in a few days."
Senior Zhou looked at her face thoughtfully, as if he was still skeptical about her background.
Of course, Jiang Ruolan knew what he was thinking. She was indeed very similar to her mother.
"Miss Jiang does look like someone I know." Senior Zhou narrowed his eyes and said lightly. His tone was undoubted, but at the same time, he was very sure. "Even your personality has a lot in common."
Is there? Zhou Qingling was so weak that she was willing to commit suicide for the sake of love. Despite their stubborn and strong personality in some aspects, the differences between their characters were still enormous.
Of course, the only impression she had of her mother was when she was four years old. She had just learned a little about life, so she did not know much about her mother.
When Senior Zhou asked this question, Jiang Ruolan did not deny it, nor did she say anything. She only gave a casual smile. "Did Senior Zhou talk about the woman in that photo? At that time, you're also saying that I'm very similar to her. I'm very curious, what kind of relationship does she have with you? Why do you always ask about this whenever you see me? Is she important to you?"
Senior Zhou just stood next to the bed and kept looking at her.
Jiang Ruolan raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "Maybe there's something in this person's hand that makes you feel that she's very important?"
Just as she finished speaking, Senior Zhou's eyes shone with a sharp light. "So you really know her?"
"I just asked a few questions out of curiosity. Besides, what can you do even if I know her? I don't understand, if Senior Zhou really wanted to find this person, why wait for 20 years? Have you ever thought that 20 years might be enough to change too many things? Maybe the person you are looking for is already dead?"
When Jiang Ruolan said this, the smile in her eyes indicated that she was joking, but what she said was the truth.
It doesn't matter what kind of relationship Zhou Qingling has with Senior Zhou, it's already too late. Thus, there's no need for Jiang Ruolan to say these things and as for the relationship between Senior Zhou and Zhou Shufen, she, Jiang Ruolan, was even more unwilling to be linked with the Zhou Family.
Senior Zhou frowned. From beginning to end, he just looked at Jiang Ruolan as if wanting to find a flaw in her expression. However, her smile was too peaceful and calm, making others unable to see her intentions.
Jiang Ruolan saw him looking at her with narrowed eyes. She raised her brows slightly and asked, "Senior Zhou?"
"Miss Jiang, I heard that you had been living in G City when you were young. It doesn't matter if the Jiang Family pays attention to you or not, you are still a citizen of G City."
Senior Zhou hesitated again as if he did not want to share too many secrets with a girl he could not trust, but in recent days he had become more and more convinced of her background, combining some of her past with which he had investigated, and which, in all respects, must have been deliberately concealed.
Jiang Ruolan didn't say anything. She just lowered her head and casually flipped through the magazine in her hand. She didn't even look at the words on the magazine anymore.
At this time, Senior Zhou turned around and walked to the door of the ward. He opened the door and looked outside before coming back and closing the door tightly. Jiang Ruolan looked up and when she saw his actions, she subconsciously frowned.
From time to time, Xiaoyi would happily call out "great grandfather!", but all of Senior Zhou's thoughts weren't on the child.
Senior Zhou paused by the door for a moment, then walked back to focus on Jiang Ruolan's face and her calm expression.
He went straight to the point and his gaze was bright. Senior Zhou and Old Man Xian were the same type of people who showed their might without anger.
Even though Senior Zhou was old, he still looked full of spirit when he stood on the side of the bed.
"Miss Jiang once planned to do business reporting on my family. I was afraid before I returned to my homeland, you had already taken control of some of my Zhou Family." Senior Zhou lightly said.
Jiang Ruolan pursed her lips, "This is the first time you have returned to H City after more than a few years. Some information needs to be known by the domestic business media to avoid any mistakes occurred in the exchange."
"You know I only have one son who died young? And Zhou Shufen is my only granddaughter?"
"I know."
Although Jiang Ruolan knew, she still hesitated for a moment.
Senior Zhou turned around and walked to the window not far away from her bed. He looked outside and after a moment of silence, he slowly said, "I have a suspicious nature and I was always very careful when I was young. Although my personality is very orderly, but also because I am too careful and full of suspicion, I have made the biggest mistake in my life."
"My wife gave me two children and my eldest son, Zhou Deming is Zhou Shufen's father. Unfortunately, he passed away when he was still very young. As for the other child …" Senior Zhou paused before sighing, "It was a daughter, but my wife was pregnant with this daughter at the time when I was working abroad. At that time, I was still in the Ministry and my wife's relationship with some politicians was very good. Then one day, news of my wife having dinner with one of them spread to me and when I returned from public service, my wife became pregnant. The time the doctor said she became pregnant happened to be during the month I wasn't there."
Jiang Ruolan frowned as she heard that. She looked at Senior Zhou's straight figure with some doubts.
"Maybe it was because I was still young back then, so my mentality was different. When I heard about it, I was so furious and hated her. A woman who dared to betray me and even more so, I hated the fact that she, who had slept with me for so many years, had fallen in love with another man."
"At that time, she didn't say a single word, and only continued to stare at me with tears in her eyes as I continued to beat her. I was so angry that I hit her until she bled from her groin. I was able to recover some of my wits when I saw her lying there weak. I rushed her to the hospital. The doctor said that I had lost the child and as for my wife, she was very weak."
"I didn't want to see her so I decided to report to the military directly and sign a divorce agreement. From then on, I would no longer care about her life or death."
"This is the biggest humiliation I've ever felt in my entire life, and I don't want to talk about it to anyone."
"I also said to the outside world that I only have one son. I had been busy with work for a few years and had no mood to coax some troublesome women. I didn't remarry after the divorce. That matter was also sealed in the past and was never mentioned again."
Senior Zhou suddenly sighed, as if all the energy in his body was depleted for a moment, "Twenty-five years ago, I was physically and mentally exhausted due to some very difficult and troublesome cases. Then my son died. I left this country and no longer bother about politics. I focused on raising Zhou Shufen. Since then, my whole mind has been focused on her, my precious granddaughter."
"Then, about ten years ago, I met a doctor at a Chinese hospital in the United States. The doctor knew me and he told me that my wife was still alive when she was sent to the hospital that year, but since she was too weak, she had to recover in the hospital."
"Then he told me that my wife was misdiagnosed due to her undeveloped internal medicine and her special physical condition. She was pregnant for two months, not one month."
After saying that, Senior Zhou raised his hand and rubbed his forehead. He said tiredly, "From then on, I paid the price for my suspicion. She didn't lose the child and the daughter that she gave birth to was never found."
"That doctor told me that on the day my wife gave birth to my daughter, she called some of her friends and entrusted my daughter to one of the young women. I knew that her friends came from prominent families, so after learning the truth, I specially went to investigate. Unfortunately, when I find out the truth, it was already too late."
"In the first few years, finding my daughter had always been the biggest thing on my mind. I wanted to find her, atone for my past mistakes, and make up for the harm that had been caused by her mother and me, but those people hid her too deeply. I only found out later on that her name was Zhou Qingling."
