“Hua, then do you also… remember me?”
Charles looked at Zhang Manhua nervously. His eyes were glittering with anticipation.
As her entire attention was captured by her mother, only now did she place her sight on this elderly man again.
She had a complicated feeling toward this old man.
While she had a good impression of this man who could speak Chinese, he still said something absurd earlier—about wanting to marry her mother—and even took advantage of her mother.
She truly… could not face him with a normal attitude.
“Mister, may I trouble you to le—”
She stopped midway when she caught sight of her mother blushing from the corner of her eye.
Hah?!
Wait a minute! My mom, why is she blushing?!
She rubbed her eyes, unable to believe her sight.
“Mhm…”
With a soft hum, her mother avoided the elderly man’s gaze.
Her eyes nearly popped out at the sight.
Wait a minute! Why does mom have such a reaction toward this person?! What the hell did this old man do to her when I wasn’t around?!
“That’s great! That’s great!”
Her reply elated him to no end and he beamed sillily.
As her mother had just woken up, she did not stay long.
After persuading her to sleep, she brought her two children out of the ward.
Of course, she also brought the fool in love with her mother out with them.
“Mister, I don’t know what motive you have and what you did to my mom when I wasn’t around, but I hope that you will keep your dis—”
Finding him to be a dangerous character, she moved to dissuade him from pursuing her mother but was interrupted by him.
“Ge Ge, I want to tell you a story—a story between your mother and me.”
The man’s gaze was solemn and serious, making her unable to reject his request.
“My family is big and complicated…”
She started to understand how this man had met his mother and why he had said those words earlier.
Understanding was merely that, though. She still could not fully fathom how he had fallen for her mother.
No matter how peaceful her mother’s slumber had made him feel, there was no reason for him to fall for her to the point of wanting to marry her…
“I know that you are unable to trust a stranger like me, but I still hope that you will give me a chance—a chance to take care of your mother. If she rejects me, I certainly won’t bring up marrying her again, but…”
He did not complete his words, but she already understood him.
His serious expression made her finally nod her head in consent.
Perhaps it was also good for such a powerful man to love her mother and protect her…
“Thank you.”
…
Pei Ge decided to stay a few more days because of her mother regaining consciousness.
Unbeknown to her, her decision to stay longer caused a ruckus in the capital with the appearance of a familiar-looking woman.
“Ziming, what did I say? Didn’t I tell you that it’s impossible for Regina to be Pei Ge? Look!”
Mu Heng excitedly rushed into his childhood friend’s office and, with a wide grin, thrust his phone displaying a photo in the latter’s face.
“Pei Ge looks exactly the same now as she was five years ago!”
The latter raised his head to look at him coldly.
No obvious ripples could be seen on his face.
“Hm? Why aren’t you saying anything? This person in the photo is your woman—the one you’ve been looking for!”
The former was very confused at his friend’s lack of reaction.
Hasn’t he always been missing Little Chili inside?
Why is he… this calm now when he finally sees her photo?
At that moment, he thought that he had displayed the wrong photo, yet when he turned the phone back to himself, he found that the woman in it was that slightly plump Pei Ge!
“Are you okay?”
He frowned, puzzled. He did not understand how his friend, who had been searching for that woman these past five years, could remain indifferent once she finally reappeared.
Don’t tell me…
“Don’t tell me that your affections have shifted to another?!”
He suddenly recalled how his friend had treated Regina differently.
“…Shut up.”
The man finally stopped working to address him following his relentless yapping.
“Then, tell me what’s going on here. This is the woman you’ve been looking for all these years. Now that she has finally returned, why do you look so uncaring?”
He looked at his friend quizzically. He was usually able to read his emotions well, but after Pei Ge’s disappearance, he realized that he no longer could grasp how this man thought.
“You think that she’s Pei Ge…”
This was a question, yet he perceived it as rhetorical.
“Of course! She’s clearly her! Take a good look; she looks exactly the same as before! What’s the matter with you?”
He stared at his phone with a frown for some time. With his sharp eyes, he recognized the woman in the photo for Pei Ge who had disappeared five years ago!
“Regina—she’s the real Pei Ge.”
Ji Ziming merely gazed out the window with a pensive look.
The sudden disappearance of Regina… A woman who looks like Pei Ge…
Heh…
His emotionless eyes were so dark and murky that they seemed to be bottomless pits emitting frigid air…
