Chapter 674
674 Impact
Jiang Zhiyuan’s face overlapped with Jiang SE’s memory. However, his tone and expression were completely different from the person in her memory.
There was no longer any hostility in his eyes, and there was even a bit of caution and restraint in his gentleness.
The real Jiang se was slimmer than she looked on screen. The jacket wrapped around her slender body while the strap of her backpack hung on one of her dainty shoulders. Even though the backpack was not heavy, he always wanted to share her burden.
He clenched the hand in his pocket and felt a phone that was still ringing. He took it out, glanced at it, and threw it to the side of the road without thinking.
The phone was thrown far away from the beach. It rolled a few times before falling on the sand, and the flashing lights could still be seen.
Jiang se glanced at him. He moved his lips and explained, ” “It’s already useless.”
His eyes fell on his daughter’s face. This was the first time he saw her as an adult, not through newspapers and magazines, not through the news and videos, but when she was really standing in front of him, he could see her similar eyebrows and eyes, and the tall figure that she had inherited from him.
This meeting was different from the time when he met her in front of the IMAX theater in the screening of ” the lost city “. He was no longer hiding, but stood in front of her. His eyes could describe her appearance, and her image was firmly engraved in his heart.
That phone was already useless to begin with. The only reason why he didn’t throw it away was because he had a few thoughts in his heart.
He had once used this number to call Jiang se. Perhaps, he had also fantasized that Jiang se would one day find the silent call strange and call back.
Jiang Zhiyuan had thought that it was just a dream, but he never thought that it would come true.
Not only had Jiang se called him, but she had also asked to meet him. What he had gained on this day was more than what he had desired.
He turned his body to the side and made way for a small path up the mountain.
“Let’s take a walk.”
There were too many emotions in Jiang Zhiyuan’s eyes. Jiang se lowered her head and mustered her courage to take a step forward. She was not looking at his face, so naturally, she could not see the smile on his face.
The path up the mountain was quite clean and quiet. Only the sound of the two people walking, the waves hitting the shore, and the rustling of the sea breeze through the bushes could be heard.
The two of them did not speak along the way. Jiang Zhiyuan was used to being silent. In his early years, he had too many things to say to people, but after many years in prison, he was used to keeping things to himself. Over time, he became a man of few words.
On the other hand, Jiang se did not know what to say to him. He was the man who had once kidnapped her and almost killed her. Many years later, she was reborn as his daughter and possessed ‘Jiang SE’s’ body. The man who had almost killed her back then had become her father. Some things in the world were really hard to explain.
After walking for a long time, the sun finally appeared on the horizon. The light of dawn illuminated the sea and the road ahead.
Jiang SE’s forehead and the tip of her nose were covered in sweat. She was not walking very fast, but walking with Jiang Zhiyuan still gave her a lot of mental pressure. After walking with her head lowered for a while, she felt that something was not right. When she looked up, she realized that Jiang Zhiyuan was nowhere to be seen.
She was shocked and turned to look, only to see that he was nearly ten meters behind her. His hands were still in his pockets, and his pace was still as slow as ever.
“Are you tired?”
She took out a tissue from her bag and wiped her face as she waited for Jiang Zhiyuan.
PEI Yi’s call was still in her bag. It was obvious that he had heard the commotion. She picked up her phone and tried to call PEI Yi, who responded very quickly.
Jiang Zhiyuan shook his head. Of course, he was not tired from the short journey. He was just walking behind her. She was full of energy as she strode forward.
Through the current Jiang se, he could picture her when she was just a toddler. She was able to walk so steadily now. Was it because she had fallen too many times in the past?
He couldn’t ask such a question, and he didn’t have the right to. For the first time, he regretted his rash actions back then, which made him lose the joy of growing up with her.
He had missed every moment of her growth. He had not heard her call him ‘daddy’. He did not know how many times she had fallen in order to learn how to’ walk’. He also did not know how she had stumbled to this day.
However, he liked the way she walked now. He always felt gratified when he saw her walking in the direction of the sun.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t walk anymore, he just hoped that the road would be shorter.
He knew what he had done and what would happen to him. Not long after she called to meet him, he had been receiving phone calls from the Feng family.
Jiang Zhiyuan knew what this meant. The Feng family would find a way to get through the authority link and locate his address through the internet.
It was very likely that the Feng family would appear before they could finish the journey. Her husband would arrive first and take her away before the Feng family appeared.
How he wished time would stop at this moment. She tilted her head and looked at him. Her cheeks were slightly red, and there were beads of sweat on her forehead and the tip of her nose. She looked a little coy and was completely defenseless.
“It should be halfway up the mountain.”
She took a deep breath, and the cool wind blew into her mouth, making her feel refreshed. It was still early, and the sun was about to rise. Perhaps the morning joggers had just left their homes. No one disturbed them along the way, and the first scenery was left to her and Jiang Zhiyuan.
He nodded, feeling a little regretful that this path was really too short.
Jiang se waited for him for a while, but he remained where he was. He seemed to be keeping his distance from her on purpose. She heaved a sigh of relief.
She turned to look at the other side. Under the Green Mountains were layers of high-rise buildings, and the Bay was surrounded by them, clear as gems.
The morning sun shone on the surface of the sea, creating a beautiful scene.
PEI Yi should be on his way to the mountain. She held her cell phone and spoke to him, asking him to slow down and not be anxious.
She knew that PEI Yi was worried about her. In order to calm him down, she did not switch off her phone throughout the journey. However, there were some things that she had to face and resolve on her own.
She and Jiang Zhiyuan walked forward at a steady pace. The people who came later for the morning jog and the tourists who came up the mountain had already surpassed them and were running to the top of the mountain.
There were more people on the road, and it wasn’t as quiet as before.
When the two of them reached the top of the mountain, it was already more than three hours later. The sky was completely bright, and people could already be heard talking in the square on the top of the mountain.
Jiang se found a quiet corner and sat down. Jiang Zhiyuan sat down about a meter away from her.
“It’s better here at night.”
Jiang Zhiyuan suddenly spoke. Jiang se was a little surprised.
Her interaction with him was not as scary as she had imagined. The people around her were chatting and laughing, and PEI Yi did not hang up on her phone. This undoubtedly made her feel at ease.
As they walked, the sky gradually brightened. It was a completely different environment from the dark wooden house in her memory. His attitude made her realize that he was just an ordinary person and not an undefeatable nightmare.
He could also speak, sweat, and breathe.
Jiang Zhiyuan did not get a response from Jiang se, but he did not mind. He had a lot to say to her, even if she showed a strange expression. It was even more likely that she did not want to hear it. However, he was afraid that if he did not say anything, he would never have the chance to talk to her again.
it’s a pity I didn’t bring you to see it later. At night, the lights of the harbor are on, and you can take a cable car.
In fact, he had never sat on this thing before. During this period of time, he had always seen tourists with their families holding hands with their children or family members, either surprised or afraid, and he was a little envious.
He might not have such an opportunity in his life.
Jiang se did not say anything and listened as he continued.
“Actually, I’ve met you once before.”
“I know,”
Jiang se lowered her head. a few years ago, at the IMAX theater, I had a conversation with Feng Nan.
Jiang Zhiyuan was stunned. He could not help but smile. Jiang se looked up at him.
“Did you plan to kidnap her again since then?”
Jiang Zhiyuan was still smiling. She was very serious and her brows furrowed.
“Did you do all these things because of me?”
He pursed his lips and did not say anything. However, it was obvious that Jiang SE’s guess was true.
do you understand? ” she clenched her fists and pressed them against her stomach. She bent her body, her face against her knees, and hid her hands.
“I don’t need you to do this.”
Jiang Zhiyuan’s facial muscles tensed up as she curled up into a ball. He wanted to reach out to comfort her, but he was not qualified to do so.
His lips moved and he moved further away from her, afraid that she would be unhappy if he got too close to her.
“I’m just a very selfish person. I don’t like to owe others, and I don’t like people owing me.” She lay there for a while, her tears soaking the fabric of her pants on her knees. She rummaged through her bag again and took out a tissue.
it’s true that Feng Nan has ill intentions toward me, but this isn’t the way to resolve it.
If she were to have a smooth-sailing life in the future because of Jiang Zhiyuan’s kidnapping of Feng Nan, she would never be able to live in peace.
She could not bear to see a life disappear because of her. She could not let Jiang Zhiyuan make up for his ‘daughter’ in this way either.
She had obtained ‘her’ body and the life she wanted. She had rushed back to stop Jiang Zhiyuan, not to save Feng Nan’s life, nor to put herself in danger because of Feng Nan. Other than not wanting to take a life for no reason, she also felt that she owed ‘Jiang se’.
There were some things that ‘Jiang se’ could not bring herself to say, but she could.
She was still afraid of Jiang Zhiyuan and could not treat him as her father. However, she did not want to see him take risks and do something wrong just to help ‘her’ solve the problem.
“This is not right. No one has the right to hurt others.” She raised her head and looked into Jiang Zhiyuan’s eyes bravely. She did not blink or avoid his gaze to show her determination. the choices and things that everyone has made will have a lot of influence and changes in the future.
She was one, and so was the original ‘Jiang se’.
If she thought about it carefully, if she had not been reborn, she would have lived in the du family’s environment. Her mother was weak, and du changqun despised her. He would beat and scold her at every turn, which cultivated her unreasonable and violent personality. She would not have the warmth of a family, nor the care of her parents. She would have been ostracized by her half-siblings and would have only wanted to make a name for herself.
Perhaps ‘her’ original plan was to give up studying at the age of 17 and enter society, entering the entertainment industry as ‘she’ had originally envisioned.
Jiang se did not know whether ‘she’ was doing well or not. However, she could roughly guess from the fact that ‘she’ had gotten to know and even formed a grudge with someone like Feng Nan.
If Jiang Zhiyuan had not done anything wrong back then and had personally taught his daughter, the childhood of the original ‘Jiang se’ would not have been so miserable. No matter how difficult her life was, it would not have been as difficult as it was when she had just been reborn.
“I just want to get rid of the influence I’ve brought to you,”
After Jiang se finished speaking, Jiang Zhiyuan was silent for a long time before he spoke.
He was the person in this world who did not want to see her cry the most, but the person who made her cry right now was himself.
Some ‘effects’ were not that easy to remove. Jiang se hugged herself while he kept looking at her. His gaze was extremely deep. There was a complicated mix of despair and hope in his eyes.
“Do you hate me?”
I know I’m not qualified, but I still want to hear you call me, ” he said.
When he said this, his gaze became a little fragile. It was filled with hope as he looked at Jiang se with a pleading look.
The girl lowered her head and pursed her lips. The light in his eyes gradually dimmed and finally became quiet, like a pool of still water, unable to stir any waves.
His expression was so calm that it was almost wooden. After a long time, he laughed. His voice was somewhat desolate, somewhat sighing, and somewhat regretful. It also seemed to be very clear that he had long guessed this would be the end.
He sighed and patted the dust off his body. He stood up and looked into the distance.
Jiang se followed his gaze and saw that PEI Yi had arrived at some point in time. He was staring at the two of them.
The Furious Feng Zhongliang held onto his walking stick and stared at Jiang Zhiyuan coldly. His aura was still the same as before, reminding Jiang Zhiyuan of the old man who had broken into the house with the police.
He was rather pleased to have two people who cared about his daughter so much. He looked at PEI Yi calmly and sized him up in admiration. He asked Jiang se, ”
“This is PEI Yi?”
The moment she saw PEI Yi and her grandfather, her eyes lit up. The last bit of gloominess in her heart about the kidnapping incident was slowly dispelled with the appearance of these two people who cared about her. She nodded and replied, ”
“Yes.”
“Does he treat you well?”
Jiang Zhiyuan had mixed feelings when he saw her expression. He was happy for his daughter, but he also felt a little sad. He already knew PEI Yi’s identity, the PEI family’s status, and how outstanding PEI Yi was.
However, he didn’t care about that. All he cared about was whether this man was good to his daughter.
Jiang se was a little surprised that he would ask this, but she could vaguely understand what he meant.
This feeling was a little unfamiliar, and she was not quite used to it, but she still said, ”
“He’s very good to me, likes me a lot, cares about me, and is afraid that something will happen to me.”