Chapter Ninety-Eight: A Change of Heart

Jiang Hao slowly lowered his phone and pressed a hand to his forehead.

Su Qingli truly did not know that Zhang Liping and Wang Jun'an had plotted to seize his kidney.

What she had said that night in the underground garage of Red Maple Estates had all been true.

She had really been kept in the dark.

Jiang Hao sat down slowly, his mind in turmoil.

The attempt to take Jiang Hao’s kidney, even to kill him, had all been orchestrated by Zhang Liping and Wang Jun'an alone. It had nothing to do with Su Qingli, and she had indeed known nothing of it.

In that case, had Jiang Hao not misunderstood her all along?

From the depths of his heart, Jiang Hao had always believed that Su Qingli was in league with Zhang Liping and Wang Jun'an. That was why he had been disappointed in her, despairing of her, even wanting a divorce and treating her with coldness and cruelty.

But now, the truth proved that Jiang Hao had been wrong.

What was he supposed to do now?

For a while, Jiang Hao did not know how to proceed. He sat quietly on the edge of the bed, lost in a daze.

Time passed little by little, and the sun gradually rose.

That night, Jiang Hao had not closed his eyes once.

Although his constitution had long since surpassed that of ordinary people, when he went to wash up and looked in the mirror, he found two dark circles beneath his eyes. His face looked haggard as well, and his entire mental state had sunk to its worst.

Moreover, a powerful sense of guilt and deep self-reproach had arisen in his heart.

So, he had misunderstood Su Qingli from beginning to end.

In the morning, Su Qingli called.

Looking at the caller ID on his phone, Jiang Hao did not have the courage to answer.

Only when Su Qingli called a second time did Jiang Hao finally take a deep breath and answer.

"Hello."

The moment he spoke, his voice came out hoarse beyond measure, as though he were a patient burning with fever.

"Jiang Hao, did you forget our agreement yesterday? Didn’t we say that today we’d go to the divorce office and handle the paperwork together?"

Su Qingli’s voice on the other end was cold.

Jiang Hao’s hand holding the phone trembled slightly.

After a long pause, he finally managed to say, "Um... Qingli, I’m not feeling well today. Could we do it another day?"

"What?"

Su Qingli clearly had not expected Jiang Hao to delay the divorce proceedings, and her tone was full of surprise.

After a brief pause, she went on, "Jiang Hao, you’re the one who’s been insisting on a divorce all along. So why, at the crucial moment, are you suddenly dragging your feet?"

"I really am unwell. I’m not lying to you. Today is genuinely inconvenient for me."

Jiang Hao’s tone was tinged with obvious guilt.

Su Qingli’s voice remained as cold as ever.

"When do you plan to go through the divorce procedures with me, then?"

Jiang Hao hesitated, then said, "Wait... wait until I recover, all right? Don’t worry, I’ll contact you then."

"I hope you’ll hurry. Since we’ve already decided to divorce, we should go through with the paperwork as soon as possible. Dragging this out won’t be good for either of us."

With that, Su Qingli ended the call.

Staring at the phone, Jiang Hao fell into a daze again.

Before, he had been the one wanting the divorce, while Su Qingli refused no matter what.

Now it had become Su Qingli who wanted the divorce, while he was the one dragging his feet and refusing to agree.

How the wheel of fortune turns.

How utterly ironic.

Perhaps this was heaven’s retribution for him.

At the thought of this, Jiang Hao could not help but smile bitterly.

For a full three days, Jiang Hao did not leave the house.

He kept racking his brain at home, thinking about how he should handle the relationship between himself and Su Qingli afterward, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not come up with a suitable solution.

But no matter what, he absolutely could not divorce her.

It was not until the fourth day that Jiang Hao finally made up his mind to see Su Qingli and apologize to her in person.

Setting aside everything else for the moment, Jiang Hao felt that he needed to express his remorse for the cold way he had treated her before.

Su Qingli had been in no way at fault from start to finish, yet Jiang Hao had believed she was in cahoots with Zhang Liping and Wang Jun'an, pinned the crimes on her, mocked her, humiliated her, and treated her with utter coldness.

So now, Jiang Hao should apologize to her.

Just as he was preparing to leave for Red Maple Estates, his phone rang again.

At first, Jiang Hao thought it was Su Qingli calling, so he hurriedly took out his phone. Only after looking did he realize that it was Chen Guang.

"Chen Guang, what do you need me for?" Jiang Hao asked after answering.

On the phone, Chen Guang said with a chuckle, "Jiang Hao, haven’t you heard? Su Qingli has cut ties with the Su family. Not only did she leave home and move out on her own, she also quit her job at the Su family’s medicinal herb sales company. She’s opened a small restaurant in the city center called Clear Breeze Wellness Food House, and it already opened yesterday."

Su Qingli’s shop was already open?

That was fast.

Jiang Hao suddenly remembered the scene that day, after he had finished eating at the restaurant with Gao Xiaoqin, the general manager of Bi Feng Bank, and stepped outside, only to run into Su Qingli.

At the time, Su Qingli had been clutching a stack of advertisements for houses and storefronts. Could she have been looking for a suitable location, preparing to open a shop of her own?

That must have been it.

Seen in this light, Su Qingli’s decision to cut ties with the Su family, strike out on her own to open a shop, and divorce him had not been a moment of impulse. It had been a decision made only after serious consideration.

At that thought, Jiang Hao’s heart suddenly convulsed, aching fiercely.

"Jiang Hao, why aren’t you saying anything?" Chen Guang asked in confusion on the other end.

"Thank you for telling me. I was just about to go find Su Qingli," Jiang Hao said, forcing a smile.

"You’re looking for her? So you’re finally going to divorce her?" Chen Guang asked with a laugh.

"No, I’m not planning to divorce her anymore. I was wrong. I’m going to apologize to her," Jiang Hao said seriously.

Hearing this, Chen Guang was instantly stunned.

He had thought that Jiang Hao and Su Qingli could no longer possibly continue together, but now it seemed Jiang Hao had changed his mind again.

"However you choose to handle it, I respect your decision," Chen Guang said sincerely after some thought.

"Thank you."

After thanking him again, Jiang Hao hung up and left the house.

Today, he did not drive his Bugatti Veyron, because he did not want to draw attention to himself.

After leaving the villa in the eastern suburbs, Jiang Hao hailed a ride through a car-hailing app and headed toward Maple City center.

"Sir, where are you going?" the driver asked, glancing back at Jiang Hao.

Jiang Hao thought for a moment, then said, "Do you know there’s a newly opened wellness and diet restaurant in Maple City? I’m going there."

"Oh, you mean Clear Breeze Wellness Food House? Yes, of course I know it. That place only opened yesterday, and they’re running a promotion today too—half price on everything. It’s a brand-new shop, and word is the proprietress is the eldest daughter of the Su family, so it’s very popular."