Ma Jiye hadn’t really given much thought to this marriage arrangement. After all, it wasn’t as if all the men in the world had died out—his daughter didn’t have to marry a Qian family boy.
But seeing how Qian Jin was watching his daughter’s expression, he, as someone who had been through it all, understood the situation. He thought to himself, this marriage might not be such a bad idea after all—his daughter definitely wouldn’t be mistreated in the future.
Besides, Qian Jin was someone he had watched grow up. If it weren’t for Wuni taking a liking to Qian Cheng back then, he would have preferred Qian Jin as his son-in-law for the Ma family.
After all, his daughter, Ma Jiye’s daughter, would never be mistreated no matter which family she married into.
Upon hearing Qian Jin’s words, Qian Laoshi immediately said, “Brother Ma, you heard it—Qian Jin won’t let Wuni suffer.”
Qian Jin looked at Ma Wuni again. This explanation wasn’t entirely unreasonable. If Ma Wuni wasn’t willing, they could still call it off. But what did Ma Wuni think?
Just then, the outer gate was pushed open, and Qian Cheng stumbled in, looking utterly devastated. “Brother, you’re really back, and you’re going to get engaged to Wuni? How could you do such a thing? She’s your future sister-in-law. Mom, Dad, are you serious? No, I don’t agree to Wuni marrying my brother. Wuni is my wife!”
Before his words even landed, Sun Yali, who had followed him in, rushed over and grabbed Qian Cheng’s sleeve. “Qian Cheng, what are you saying? Wuni is your wife? Then what am I to you? After what happened between us, how can you say such a thing? What am I supposed to do?”
Everyone in the room was stunned by the scene, and the silence was deafening. Outside, the villagers gasped in unison, completely shocked. Sure enough, there was an even bigger bombshell.
No wonder the marriage arrangement between the Ma and Qian families had suddenly changed for no apparent reason. No wonder Qian Jin, who was in the army, had returned. So Qian Cheng was the one who had acted dishonorably.
Everyone could tell that Qian Cheng and Captain Sun’s daughter had been involved in something improper.
While everyone was still reeling from the shock, they saw Captain Sun and his wife arriving with a group of Sun family members.
Holy cow, this was a huge scandal! The villagers were thrilled. This news was absolutely firsthand, the most explosive yet. The Sun and Ma families were about to clash.
The Sun family hadn’t wanted to make a scene, as what their daughter had done was rather shameful.
But the fact that the Qian and Ma families were discussing matters without even notifying the Sun family was a slap in the face to Captain Sun. How could the Sun family tolerate that? That’s why they had come chasing after them.
Qian Laoshi’s wife ignored the Sun family and angrily grabbed a feather duster to beat her disappointing son, Qian Cheng. “You useless thing! Who have you let down by doing this? How dare you say you’re unwilling? Do you even have the right to speak?”
The Qian family had to take a firm stance today, or there would be no way to explain themselves.
Old Man Qian squatted under the eaves, puffing hard on his pipe. Even though the Ma family said they owed the Qian family for helping them settle in the village back in the day, the truth was that over the years, after the Ma family had established themselves, it was the Ma family who had taken care of the Qian family more often.
Ma Jiye was a capable man with many friends, and he had helped the Qian family even more. Wuni had been close to Qian Cheng since they were children, and she had even taken Qian Cheng to school.
Now, although his younger son had acted dishonorably, the fact remained that the Qian family couldn’t afford to offend the Sun family. This was a tough situation.
Qian Cheng cried even more pitifully than his mother. “I… I don’t know how things ended up like this. I really don’t care for Sun Yali. Wuni, you have to believe me. You know I only listen to you—I never pay attention to anyone else.”
Following that: “Ever since this happened, I’ve been looking for a chance to explain it to you, but they wouldn’t let me see you.”
Qian Jin’s mother grew even angrier, not caring for his nonsense. Were the Sun family easy to deal with? Were they people they could afford to provoke?
Sun Yali wasn’t a fool either. Clutching Qian Cheng’s clothes, she cried out, “Was I the one who forced you? Go ask around—who’s ever heard of a man being taken advantage of by a woman? You didn’t want it? If you didn’t want it, how could we have ended up like this? I don’t want to live anymore.”
After saying this, Sun Yali wept pitifully, turning the scene into three people crying.
The situation was chaotic and irritating.
When Ma Wuni first learned about the matter between Qian Cheng and Sun Yali, her family had restrained her, preventing her from meeting Qian Cheng.
She had only heard about it from others, and at the time, Wuni remained relatively calm. If he didn’t care for her, then so be it.
Matters of the heart were like this—coming together and drifting apart. Though she was young, she had some understanding of the world.
The reason was quite ordinary: Ma Wuni had arrived with some memories. Given how shrewd her parents were, she hadn’t dared to reveal anything. She hadn’t dared to cause any trouble either.
There was no choice. When Wuni was still being carried in Wu Chunmei’s arms, the village was abuzz with talk of catching spies. At village meetings, the most common stories were about whose relative had suddenly changed in temperament or who knew too much—such people were arrested.
Hearing too many of these stories, Ma Wuni was so frightened that she started speaking later than other children. What if she said too much and got taken away?
When Ma Wuni grew a little older, the spy craze passed, and her mother, Wu Chunmei, began dabbling in feudal superstitions. Whenever Wu Chunmei saw any changes in a child, elderly person, or young man or woman, she would suspiciously remark, “Isn’t this a case of possession?”
Every time Ma Wuni heard Wu Chunmei say this, she would behave exceptionally obediently, afraid of arousing her own mother’s suspicions.
She had seen in the village how those who behaved abnormally were held down by village women and stabbed in the philtrum with large awls. Just thinking about it made her wince.
By the time Ma Wuni was seventeen or eighteen, feeling she could finally set sail on the tide of the times, she was immediately slapped down by Ma Jiye.
Ma Jiye had said, “Our family has no sons. Your eldest sister married within the village, and your second sister took in a son-in-law at home—all to secure our family’s standing in the village. If it weren’t for your capability, I wouldn’t have let your third and fourth sisters go out to study.”
What did that mean? Her third and fourth sisters were allowed to leave, but she had to stay by her parents’ side. Was this part of the family’s century-long plan?
Who could Ma Wuni fear now? Naturally, she refused to accept it. The result of her rebellion was being slapped down by Ma Jiye. It turned out that even in a better environment, she couldn’t make a fuss.
As for the engagement, Ma Jiye said, “After you marry, you’ll belong to another family. You can do whatever you want then.”
That was how Ma Wuni’s engagement to Qian Cheng came about. If Ma Wuni wanted to roam the world in the future, she needed to find someone honest and easy to manage.
Someone like Qian Jin, full of schemes, was never within Ma Wuni’s consideration.
So she settled on Qian Cheng—not because she particularly liked him, but mainly because she valued his easygoing nature. When Ma Wuni wanted to stir up trouble again, Qian Cheng wouldn’t dare to slap her down.
Unfortunately, before she could even start running, the engagement was called off.
Now, confronted with such a direct impact from Qian Cheng and Sun Yali, such an explosive live performance, Ma Wuni’s temper instantly flared. To be inexplicably cuckolded—if her uncle could tolerate it, her aunt certainly couldn’t.
Should she put on a show for her, or should she embarrass her? Ma Wuni snapped, “Shut up, both of you, get away from me. Don’t stand there getting in my way.”
After all these years, there was always some affection between them. Now, Ma Wuni felt hurt both emotionally and in terms of face.
Qian Jin remained silent, his gaze fixed intently on Ma Wuni’s expression from start to finish.
Qian Jin weighed the situation in his mind. In the past, Ma Wuni had always been quite good to Qian Cheng. Could she really let go of the marriage so easily?