His friend, who had come with him, noticed Chengcheng constantly staring at the delicate woman across from them. Curious, he asked if Chengcheng had taken a liking to her, earning himself a disdainful look from Chengcheng. Chengcheng had harbored feelings for someone for a long time, and he couldn't believe they could be easily replaced by someone else. His attention to Huayan was merely out of curiosity and boredom.

When he returned home and mentioned the incident at the café to Shangguanning, Chengcheng couldn't help but ask Shangguanning why Huayan treated him, the person who had given her fish for free, politely yet distantly, without the usual pleasantries. Even giving her two fish only earned him a courteous smile from Huayan. Chengcheng felt that even if he had approached her first to talk, he would have been blacklisted by her.

With a pile of work at the company, Shangguanning had no time for his friend's gossip. Hearing Chengcheng pacing around him incessantly, constantly mumbling, Shangguanning coldly said, "If you're so free, go find your group of admirers to pass the time. Don't disturb me while I'm working."

Being coldly dismissed hurt Chengcheng deeply, but he had a strong ability to self-heal. After a few minutes of silence, Chengcheng cautiously said, almost as if talking to himself, "Aren't you curious how Huayan managed to manipulate Chengjie?"

"It seems you have a lot of free time. Haven't you been home for a long time? Go back to Haibin City this afternoon. Visit your family and take care of the company's affairs there." Chengcheng's mother had called him several times, hoping he would come back to visit them. It was all Chengcheng's fault for not wanting to return home, using his company's affairs as an excuse to fob them off.

As soon as he heard he had to go back to Haibin City, Chengcheng's eyes turned red with urgency. Once he got home, this twenty-nine-year-old man would be nagged by his mother and other family members from morning till night about finding a girlfriend and giving them a grandchild to relieve their boredom. The thought was terrifying.

"Can't I not go back? Besides, I'm your company's legal consultant, not your salesman. I don't need to go. I'm not complaining about being idle." Chengcheng leaned back on the white leather sofa, refusing to budge.

"You really don't want to go?"

"I won't go, absolutely not."

"Then don't blame me for telling your mom that in the past six months, you've worked less than twenty-four hours in my company. The rest of the time, you've either been dining with a certain supermodel or with a certain young lady, or booking hotel rooms. And just a few days ago, there was a very beautiful woman with a decent background who was pregnant and kept yelling for her child's father. I heard the child's father's last name is Cheng, and his first name is Cheng..."

"You know I had a vasectomy years ago. That woman's child couldn't possibly be mine!" Chengcheng had the procedure done with Shangguanning accompanying him. Of course, this news couldn't be let known to the family, who were eager for a grandchild. Besides himself, Shangguanning was the only one who knew about it, and even the women he slept with regularly were unaware of the truth. The woman who had recently been pregnant and was now exposed was already ruined, and the child's father was revealed in broad daylight—a middle-aged man who had been a bachelor in the suburbs for half his life.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

It was said that the woman had come out of a bar, drunk, and was taken advantage of by the man who was suddenly aroused in a secluded alley. As for why she didn't abort the child in her womb, that was a matter for speculation, left to those who were bored after dinner. Actually, there was no need to think too much about it. It was either for money or for Chengcheng's title as the son of a high-ranking official.

"But your family doesn't know!" Shangguanning stated calmly, continuing to review the documents in his hand without urging Chengcheng to make a decision quickly.

Shangguanning's secretary brought in a cup of strong coffee, which Chengcheng drank in one gulp. Seeing Shangguanning unchanged, Chengcheng felt aggrieved, but with his leverage in Shangguanning's hands, he had to concede defeat. "Fine, I'll go. But we agreed that once the matters at the other company are settled, you'll call me back. And make it seem as realistic as before."

"I know, now go." Hearing his friend's agreement, Shangguanning didn't show any expression on his face, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With Chengcheng going home, there would be someone nagging him to get married and have children. He, too, was in the same boat, approaching thirty, and although he was in Changle City, his mother was already calling him every day, not to mention his mother asking his friends and secretary about his private life. In fact, today, Shangguanning had prepared to go back to Haibin City to solve the issues, and it was by chance that his friend Chengcheng was unintentionally exposed. Otherwise, he would have been the one to suffer.

At the same time, he chuckled inwardly. Shangguanning had witnessed the exciting scene at the café today. However, his seat was relatively concealed, and neither Huayan nor Chengcheng had noticed him. Huayan's behavior piqued his curiosity.

In the courtyard of a villa outside the Second Ring Road, Huafu trimmed the newly sprouted shrubs and small trees with the garden shears, while Huayan sat on a bamboo chair under a large parasol, flipping through the books she would be studying in the new semester. On the table beside her were some new-style peach blossom pastries made by Changma, accompanied by tea brewed from peach blossoms picked by Huafu and a few old friends in the suburbs early in the morning. It was truly the most enjoyable thing in the world. As Huafu tended to the flowers and plants, he watched his daughter's peaceful smile, feeling both happy and melancholic.

Suddenly, he remembered that he hadn't visited his wife and son for a long time. The ease he had felt just moments ago disappeared, and Huayan looked up to see her father lost in thought with a solemn expression among the flowers. "Dad, what's wrong?" Huayan put down her book to check on her father's condition. After a moment of being grabbed by the arm, Huafu finally came to his senses and, with a sad and nostalgic tone, said, "I want to go see your mother and brother."

As he spoke, tears began to well up in Huafu's eyes, and the crystalline tears swirled inside. The pain in his heart was deeply rooted. Although they were not her biological family, Huayan could empathize with Huafu's pain after spending so much time with him. She didn't have feelings for others, but after spending so much time with Huafu, every little bit was filled with affection and laughter. She genuinely didn't want to see the sorrow in his eyes.

"Dad, the weather isn't too hot today, and there's a gentle breeze blowing. It's a perfect day for us to go see Mom and Brother. We'll be back in the afternoon for sure. What do you say?"

"Okay, let's prepare now. Your mother loves peach blossom pastries, and your brother likes to smoke a few cigarettes. When he was alive, I used to scold him every day for smoking. Now that he's gone, there's no need to worry about it anymore. I'll buy him a couple of cigarettes to smoke to his heart's content later. Ah..." Although Huafu's last sigh was light, Huayan still heard it and felt sorry for this family's tragedy. But then she thought that everyone had their own destiny, and maybe her mother and son had already been reborn, starting a new journey of fate.