Chapter 198: Chapter 198

The elevator descended to the first floor, and as they stepped out, the sky still held the remnants of twilight.

It was summer, with long days and short nights, and a little past six the sun hadn’t fully set, the air filled with the scorching heat of sunlight. Su Wanhe took the initiative, "Auntie, you haven’t had dinner yet, have you? How about I treat you to a meal?"

Zhou Ruo, mindful that she once saved her son’s life, couldn’t bring herself to refuse, and after some thought, she smiled and agreed, "Let me treat you instead. Thank you and your father for saving Ah Che and taking care of him for so long. Without you, I would never have seen him again in this life. During the days when he was missing, I thought he was no longer in this world and had even held a funeral for him."

Mentioning the past still brought a pang of sorrow to Zhou Ruo’s heart.

Su Wanhe lightly pursed her lips, not exaggerating her kindness to Pei Che, "That evening was purely by chance. My father went fishing on a friend’s boat, and with nothing else to do, I tagged along for the fun, discovering Pei Che trapped behind the reefs."

As they talked, they crossed the road and headed to a restaurant on the other side.

It was dinner time, and the restaurant was bustling with customers. They had to wait for a while before a table became available.

The waiter swiftly cleaned up the leftovers from the previous guests and invited them to sit down.

Zhou Ruo handed the menu to Su Wanhe, "You go ahead and order."

Su Wanhe wasn’t shy, offering her a gracious and well-mannered smile, "Then I won’t be polite."

Zhou Ruo smiled back, picked up the teapot, poured water, and also filled her cup. Su Wanhe, flattered, quickly put down the menu and held the teacup with both hands, "Thank you, Auntie."

Su Wanhe ordered two dishes and asked Zhou Ruo, "Auntie, do you eat spicy food?"

"Don’t worry about it, order what you like," Zhou Ruo replied with a gentle smile.

After finishing her order, Su Wanhe slid the menu over, and Zhou Ruo added two more dishes and a soup.

While waiting for their food, Su Wanhe sipped her tea and started a casual conversation with Zhou Ruo, taking the opportunity to ask a question that had been on her mind, "To be honest, I’ve been to Beicheng with Pei Che before, and I know he has deep feelings for Shen Jianian, but..."

She hesitated at this point, not wanting to seem like a gossip in front of Pei Che’s mother, and thought carefully before continuing, "Shen Jianian seems to have a boyfriend. After her car accident, didn’t her boyfriend visit her?"

Zhou Ruo paused in her drinking, looked up at her, thinking she heard wrong, "You mean Little Nian’s boyfriend?"

"You didn’t know?" Su Wanhe said, "I believe his name is Fu Jichen."

Zhou Ruo thought for a moment and remembered. At Ah Che’s "funeral," she had seen Little Nian come along with someone from the Fu Family, and the two seemed quite intimate.

In her deep sorrow, she had vented her anger on Little Nian, slapping her. The person from the Fu Family immediately came over to protect her and warned Zhou Ruo coldly, showing evident concern for Little Nian.

During that time, she had felt dazed and hadn’t noticed these things.

Now, hearing Su Wanhe’s mention, Zhou Ruo recalled the details she had overlooked.

To Zhou Ruo, Su Wanhe was always an outsider. Even though Su Wanhe had shown kindness to her son, whenever things happened, Zhou Ruo naturally sided with her son and maintained his dignity in front of outsiders, "You must be mistaken. Little Nian and Ah Che grew up together as childhood friends, and their relationship has always been good."

Hearing this, Su Wanhe couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed inside, but she did not press further, knowing that asking more could be distasteful.

After the meal, Su Wanhe offered to see Zhou Ruo off. Zhou Ruo politely declined, "I live nearby the hospital, just a few steps away. But you, be careful on your way back." New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novelꜰire.net

Su Wanhe smiled and nodded. As she prepared to leave, Zhou Ruo suddenly took her hand and said gently, "Let me thank you again, thank you for saving Ah Che. Auntie is sincerely grateful to you and enjoys chatting with you. Being older, there are a few words I’d like to say to you. If you don’t want to hear them, just pretend Auntie is talking to herself."

"It’s okay, Auntie, please go ahead."

Zhou Ruo said earnestly, "When it comes to matters of the heart, it’s all about fate; you can’t force it. You’re kind and beautiful, and I believe you’ll find a good match in the future. Auntie hopes you will have a perfect and happy life."

Su Wanhe sensed the underlying meaning in her words, blushing deeply, she dared not look up at her, and after a while, responded quietly, "Auntie, I understand."

After parting with Su Wanhe, Zhou Ruo didn’t head back but instead returned to the hospital, coincidentally running into Pei Che at the exit of the inpatient department.

Aunt Zheng was staying in the ward to keep company at night, so Pei Che felt relieved.

Seeing his mother return, Pei Che was quite surprised, "Why are you back?"

The sky was growing dark, but the temperature hadn’t dropped. The mother and son walked side by side on the concrete road, and the hot summer night’s wind brushed against their faces. Zhou Ruo’s mood matched the wind, "What’s going on with Little Nian and the one from the Fu Family?"

Once they reached the parked car, Pei Che’s hand, gripping the car door handle, suddenly paused. He turned to look at her, not speaking for a long time, knowing there were things he couldn’t hide, "What else did she tell you?"

Zhou Ruo didn’t deny that it was Su Wanhe who informed her, "Answer my question first."

"As you’ve seen, Little Nian no longer remembers Fu Jichen," Pei Che opened the car door, not looking at his mother’s face again, "The past half year or so was like a dream; once you wake up, you’ll forget it."

"I thought you only hid the real reason for Little Nian’s parents’ death," Zhou Ruo said. "Those unpleasant things, it’s good if she forgets them and doesn’t know, but I didn’t expect you..."

"Mom." Pei Che eagerly interrupted her, his tone somewhat heavy. Once he turned back again, a trace of red tinged his eyes, and he spoke slowly, "We have both died once. Pei Che is no longer Pei Che, and Shen Jianian is no longer Shen Jianian. Perhaps this is heaven’s way of showing me mercy, giving me a chance, to let us put aside past grudges and start anew."

Zhou Ruo ultimately found it hard to bear.

But, as she had told Su Wanhe, emotions are about fate and cannot be forced. Wasn’t Ah Che forcing it with what he was doing?

"I still stand by my words. Have you ever considered that one day, Little Nian might regain her memory and remember everything?" Zhou Ruo’s words were painful for him to hear, "If the one she truly loves isn’t you, how will she see you? Yes, you’ve saved her life, so perhaps she can’t resent you, but what about herself? What is she supposed to do?"

Pei Che closed his eyes, his throat moving, fingers gradually clenching into a fist.

Three days later, Wei Ronghua received a text message on her phone. The person handling her affairs informed her that the identification report was ready.

Looking at the words on the screen, Wei Ronghua’s heartbeat suddenly became erratic.

In these three days, she had prepared for the worst, but deep inside, she still held on to a firm belief that all of this was her imagination, that Fu Jichen was indeed her son, without a doubt.

From pregnancy to marriage, childbirth, and raising the child, she had been cautious with every step. How could there be a mistake?

Wei Ronghua replied to the person’s message: See you at the usual place.

It was still a little past ten in the morning, still at the same coffee shop, sitting in the same position as last time. The only difference might have been Wei Ronghua’s state of mind.

Of course, the weather outside was also different. Three days ago, the sky was clear and sunny; today, in Beicheng, it was overcast, and the weather before a summer rain was not cool, only stifling and frustrating.

A kind of oppression before the storm.

Still convalescing, Wei Ronghua dared not drink anything cold. She ordered a warm oat milk, and after sitting down for less than five minutes, the person arrived, placing a sealed bag on the table, holding it with one hand and slowly pushing it toward Wei Ronghua.

"I’ll transfer the remaining money to you once I’m back," Wei Ronghua said, having brought a large tote bag, placing the sealed bag inside, saying to the man opposite.

The man nodded with his hands in his pockets, did not linger, and left right after the exchange, not even ordering a drink.

Wei Ronghua’s hand rested on her bag, her heart racing as she took a sip of oat milk, her face tense beneath the brim of her hat.

Ultimately unable to withstand the inner torment, she paid and left with the bag.

Sitting in the car on the way home, Wei Ronghua glanced at the driver, suppressing the urge to open the sealed bag and holding back until she got home.

As she passed through the living room, she ignored the greeting from the housekeeper and hurriedly went upstairs to the second floor, returning to her room, and locked the door behind her.

All the movements were done in one continuous flow, so much so that she was panting when she sat down.

Wei Ronghua paused, then took the sealed bag out of her bag, tore open the tightly sealed strip, and pulled out the report, which consisted of several pages.

The first few pages contained information about the test material, testing procedures, and analyses, none of which made sense to Wei Ronghua, so she turned to the last page for the conclusion.

[Does not support Wei Ronghua as the biological mother of Fu Jichen.]

Next to it was the signature of the identification person, with the identification institute’s red stamp, confirming its authenticity.