Chapter 698: Chapter 698: Holding a Grudge? Whenever he spoke of the past or recalled those days, Jiang Boya would feel a piercing pain in his heart. Old Master Jiang’s face was stern. After a long pause, he said, "All these years, you have not married because you’ve been pining for that girl? If that’s the case, you had better get that thought out of your head. She’s nothing but a servant of our family, of lowly status. How could she possibly enter the Jiang Family’s door as my son Jiang Hongfa’s daughter-in-law?" Jiang Boya: "That’s a feudal mindset! Domestically and abroad, people are considered equal. Besides, Uncle Fang has followed you and been wholly loyal. How can you still view his family with such old prejudice?" Old Master Jiang: "No matter what society we live in, being well-matched in social and economic status is important! Moreover, let me make myself clear, even if I, Jiang Hongfa, were to have no descendants through you, I would never acknowledge a child born of a maid as my grandchild!" Jiang Boya’s eyes turned red: "Do you despise my child that much?" Old Master Jiang: "I despise the woman who bore your child. Of low status, bearing a child who carries half of her blood, that is not the descendant I want!" "My mother’s family had a good reputation, she was beautiful and virtuous. Why didn’t you have a child with her? Why did you have to be with my mother’s sister and have me with her?" "Marrying your mother was arranged by the family elders, a union of two families. I didn’t have much affection for her, and your mother did not bear any children—not that I didn’t let her, she simply could not conceive. As for... as for what happened between me and your mom, I have nothing to say." Leaning back in his chair, Old Master Jiang lifted his head, slowly closed his eyes, and his thoughts drifted to decades ago, as if in a moment he saw that graceful figure standing under the peach blossoms... "Speaking this way, do you feel justified towards my mother and my mom?" Jiang Boya was oblivious to what Old Master Jiang was thinking. He clenched his fists by his side, his tone grave: "I’ll find a way to return to the country as soon as possible." Old Master Jiang suddenly opened his eyes, straightened his body: "Are you wishing for me to die before your eyes?" "..." Jiang Boya’s lips were tightly pressed, and for a long time, he said nothing. "Whether it was taking you out of the country back then, or not allowing you to return now, I was doing it for your own good." Having said this, Old Master Jiang seemed to age instantly. He sighed deeply, waved his hand: "You may leave now." Jiang Boya turned around and just as he reached the study door, he stopped: "The girl who saved me and Ah Feng...she..." He didn’t turn to look at Old Master Jiang, and the rest of his sentence, although on the tip of his tongue, was ultimately swallowed back down. The door to the study opened and closed, leaving Old Master Jiang alone inside. "Wanqiu, all these years, have you resented or hated me?" Old Master Jiang looked out of the window to the sky, his eyes filled with regret as he murmured: "...Yun’er, do you also resent or hate me? Resent me for leaving you sisters in the country, hate me for taking Boya away from your sister?" Outside the study, Jiang Boya looked dejected. He stood at the doorway for a moment before walking to his own study. Once he sat down at the desk, he opened a drawer and took out an already yellowed black-and-white photograph from a black leather notebook. Gazing at the photograph, his eyes gradually filled with tears. "Mom, are you well? You visit Mom every year, don’t you? Are you angry that I haven’t returned for so many years?" There were two people in the photo, one had her hair up in a bun, dressed as a young married woman, and the other, with two braids, wore a light blue cross-collared shirt with a black knee-length skirt underneath. They were two sisters, standing closely together,