You're dumping me, huh? Fine, then I'll just pick up the school beauty and make her my wif

Shen Lanzhi wanted to say something more, but at that moment the ward door was suddenly pushed open, and Ye Yunjin walked in with Wang Lihua.

She didn't grab the keys; she just told Wang Lihua to close the door.

He then went to the bedside and said, "Mom, the doctor told you to talk less."

Shen Lanzhi turned her face away and ignored her.

Ye Yunjin pulled out a chair next to the bed. "Qinghe, I can publicly apologize for what I did before, including reporting the project and interfering in your life."

"What are the conditions?" Su Qinghe asked.

"Return to the Ye family and attend next month's family meeting as the heir."

Ye Yunjin placed a treatment plan on the table. "The Ye family's collateral branches are vying for assets in mainland China. Your attendance will ensure that your succession will no longer be questioned."

"As long as you agree, I won't interfere in anything between you and Jiang Che anymore."

Su Qinghe put the brass key into her pocket. "As expected, you called me here not just to let Grandma see me."

"It's true that she wants to see you, and it's also true that your mother and the Ye family need you."

Su Qinghe gave her a cold look: "Are you done? If you are, I'm leaving."

"I'm not interested in the position of heir to the Ye family. Whoever wants it can compete for it."

Ye Yunjin: "Do you hate your mother that much? You're unwilling to give her even one chance?"

Su Qinghe ignored Ye Yunjin. She had already said everything she needed to say when Ye Yunjin kidnapped her to the manor half a year ago.

She turned around and walked straight out of the ward.

"Qinghe, I can publicly apologize for what I did before, including reporting the project and interfering in your life."

Ye Yunjin's voice came from behind.

Su Qinghe remained unmoved.

She took the elevator back to the lobby on the first floor, where Jiang Che was sitting on a public bench, resting and waiting for her.

Seeing Su Qinghe walking towards him, Jiang Che stood up to greet her and gently pulled her into his arms.

"How is it?"

Su Qinghe leaned wearily against his chest, then took the key out of her pocket and placed it in Jiang Che's palm.

"This was given to me by my maternal grandmother. She said that the truth about why I was lost back then was in the camphor wood cabinet in the west wing of the Ye family's old house."

"Would you like to go and take a look?"

"I want to," Su Qinghe nodded honestly, "but Ye Yunjin just made a condition that I attend the family meeting as the heir, which I did not agree to."

"It was right not to agree. We can go there ourselves." Jiang Che handed the keys back to her. "Do you know where the Ye family's old house is?"

Su Qinghe shook her head.

This wasn't a problem. Jiang Che took out his phone and called Liu Anping.

Soon, Liu Anping sent over the address.

The Ye family's old residence is located at the foot of Qingyun Mountain on the outskirts of the port city. It is an old building from the Republican era, and the property rights are registered under the name of Ye Heming, the patriarch of the Ye family. It is currently managed by a local property management company.

Jiang Che then sent people to bribe the property management staff so that they could enter at any time.

It takes several days to process a Hong Kong and Macao travel permit, so no matter how anxious Su Qinghe was, she could only wait patiently for the time being.

A few days later, after obtaining their travel permits, the two immediately bought tickets for the next available flight to Hong Kong.

On the morning of their second day in the port city, the two arrived at the foot of Qingyun Mountain.

The old house is hidden behind a bamboo grove halfway up the mountain, with gray walls and black tiles, and a layer of moss on the noses of the stone lions at the gate.

Su Qinghe walked ahead, with Jiang Che half a step behind her, his gaze sweeping over the doors and windows of the side rooms.

The door to the west wing was ajar.

Su Qinghe reached out and pushed, but when she saw the scene inside, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

All the cabinet drawers had been pulled out and thrown on the ground, the locks on several camphor wood chests had been violently pried open, and papers were scattered all over the floor.

"Someone has been here."

Jiang Che strode forward, squatted down, and examined the papers on the ground. His expression was somewhat grave as he said, "The signs of the lock picking are very fresh; it must have happened within the last couple of days."

"It must be a branch of the Ye family. They probably thought Ye Yunjin's business documents were hidden here, which is why they came and ransacked the place."

Su Qinghe remembered that Ye Yunjin had mentioned to her more than once that the Ye family was rife with powerful and complex factions, and many people were vying for the position of the Ye family head.

She crouched down and rummaged through the scattered pile of papers for a while, eventually finding a brown paper envelope in an inconspicuous corner.

There was nothing written on the envelope; inside were only a few yellowed handwritten letters and a photocopy of a birth certificate.

She unfolded the letter.

The handwriting is very delicate; it appears to be the work of a woman.

The ink had smudged quite a bit, but the general content was still legible.

The letter was written to Shen Lanzhi.

The date at the end of the signature was clearly eighteen years ago.

The letter was short, but the gist was: something had happened within the Ye family, and someone was trying to harm the child. Ye Yunjin decided to temporarily entrust her newborn daughter to a maid named Aunt Zhou, and bring her back once things calmed down.

Attached to the note was a different handwriting; it was written by someone else.

The note stated that Aunt Zhou had handed the child over to the Su family in Lincheng for a fee of 80,000 yuan, for reasons unknown.

Su Qinghe's fingers tightened around the note.

"So...it was that Aunt Zhou who sold me without my consent?" Su Qinghe asked incredulously.

"Not entirely."

A voice that was both familiar and unfamiliar suddenly came from the doorway.

The two turned their heads at the same time and saw Ye Yunjin standing by the door frame of the west wing room at some point.

There was no one else behind her; she must have come alone.

"You came with us?" Jiang Che cautiously took half a step towards Su Qinghe to protect her.

Ye Yunjin didn't look at him; her gaze remained fixed on Su Qinghe.

"Aunt Zhou is one of my people. At that time, someone in my family wanted to kill Qinghe, and she was the only person I could trust left."

"When I handed the child over to her, I told her to hide with the child for three months and then bring Qinghe back after I finished dealing with things."

"But when I finished dealing with things, I found that Aunt Zhou had run away and I could no longer contact her."

"It took me a long time to find out that she sold Qinghe to the Su family."

Ye Yunjin's gaze fell on Su Qinghe's face. "But you were already five years old at that time, and my situation was not yet completely stable. If I rashly took you back, the other party would use you as a bargaining chip."

"You know what happened after that. I kept putting it off until recently before I dared to acknowledge you as my father."

Ye Yunjin thought that by saying this, Su Qinghe would at least lessen her hatred towards her.

After all, the culprit who caused her to be stranded was Aunt Zhou, not her.

Su Qinghe merely glanced at her coldly for a few seconds, then pulled Jiang Che and turned to walk towards the door.

As she passed Ye Yunjin, she paused briefly and said calmly, "Perhaps what you said is true, but that doesn't change anything."

"Since fate has separated us from the moment we met, and you are powerless to resist fate, then perhaps never seeing each other again is the best choice for both of us."