Qiao Zhilan hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and opened the door.
Qiao Wanxia immediately walked in and headed straight into the room. Seeing Qiao Zhiwei, she placed the items she was holding on the table. “Sister Weiwei, my mom specially prepared these wedding shoes for you. The other things the bride’s family needs to prepare, my mom is already taking care of. Do you want to come with me to take a look? If there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, you can point it out right away.”
Qiao Zhiwei hadn’t expected it to be Qiao Wanxia who came in. She immediately replied, “No need. Other than mine and Lanlan’s clothes, everything else has been prepared by the Huo family. You can take the shoes back as well.”
Qiao Wanxia was surprised and opened her mouth slightly she hadn’t expected the Huo family to be so generous.
Qiao Zhilan spoke up, “Weren’t you going to say something to my sister?”
Qiao Wanxia glanced around, hesitating, unsure whether to speak.
Qiao Zhiwei looked at her quietly and said, “Go ahead.”
“That… that rumor that’s going around outside… it says that Huo Jingnian had long coveted you. Because you were Huo Jingchen’s fiancée, he couldn’t say it outright, so… so he invited you over to orchestrate this family negotiation. People say he’s unscrupulous, of poor character, and unworthy of his status…”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, as if she could hardly continue.
Qiao Zhiwei’s face immediately went pale. “Where did this come from?”
“I was just repeating what I heard from others. Otherwise, Huo Jingnian clearly had the means to resolve the Qiao family’s crisis without marrying you. Why would he wait until now? After all, you were his brother’s fiancée before. Any man would care about that. But he not only didn’t mind, he even quickly cleared all your debts.”
Qiao Zhilan immediately scolded, “Who’s spreading these ridiculous rumors, damaging a soldier’s reputation? They’d better be careful or they’ll get caught.”
Qiao Wanxia felt wronged. “It wasn’t me! The He family knows too. I just wanted to warn Sister Weiwei because I was afraid that if you married into their family, people would talk behind your back, so I hurried to tell you.”
Qiao Zhiwei didn’t respond to her. Instead, she glanced at her watch Huo Jingnian had planned to go take wedding photos with her today, but he hadn’t arrived yet.
It seemed this rumor had probably reached the Huo family as well.
But even if it were true, so what? She and Jingnian had never done anything inappropriate.
They had only met a handful of times.
Yet people in this era weren’t so reasonable.
Besides, Jingnian wasn’t that type of person at all.
Thinking this through, she said to Qiao Wanxia, “Okay, I understand. You can go back now.”
Huo Wanxia secretly looked at her and saw her expression was not good. She realized Weiwei had taken it to heart, and with a flicker of her eyes, nodded in acknowledgment.
After Qiao Wanxia left, Qiao Zhilan anxiously looked at Qiao Zhiwei and asked, “Sister, what should we do?”
She hoped Jingnian really liked her sister, but she didn’t want outsiders saying such things about him.
Qiao Zhiwei said, “We’ll go to the Huo family.”
“Uncle Huo will definitely be furious. He’s always cared most about the Huo family’s reputation,” Qiao Zhilan thought, shivering at the thought.
“Even if we’re scared, we have to face it. Jingnian helped us like this; I can’t let him suffer because of me,” Qiao Zhiwei said.
Huo Jingnian and Old Master Huo sat on either side of the main tea table.
There were also guests at home besides the Xia mother and daughter, Zhou Yu and his father had come, too.
Huo Jingli and Chen Qingmei were also present.
“Jingnian, you have to explain this to everyone. Your Uncle Zhou and Aunt Xia rushed over without even eating breakfast when they heard the news, which shows how much everyone cares about you.”
“I have nothing to explain. Let people outside say whatever they want,” Huo Jingnian said.
Huo Qingshan stood up and slammed the table, “This is nonsense. You’ve been spoiled rotten by your grandfather.”
Old Master Huo immediately frowned. “Who’s nonsense? I see that your attitude isn’t about wanting to hear his explanation, but to accuse him.”
Huo Qingshan’s tone softened a bit. “Dad, it’s at a time like this, and you’re still protecting this kid.”
Old Master Huo snorted. “I believe in my eldest grandson.”
He sounded a bit guilty how had he not realized this earlier, being so focused only on the boy’s career prospects?
Huo Jingnian looked at Huo Qingshan, “Then Dad, tell me how should I prove that what they said isn’t true?”
“Not true about what?”
“That I ever liked Qiao Zhiwei,” Huo Jingnian said, emphasizing, “If I had really coveted Qiao Zhiwei, wouldn’t I have done so long ago?”
“Listen to the nonsense you’re talking!” Huo Qingshan was clearly unhappy with this explanation.
“See, my eldest grandson explained, and you still don’t believe?” Old Master Huo looked helpless.
“I do believe, but the attitude and wording should be different. You should say, as a soldier, I would never allow such immoral thoughts to arise. That’s the minimum moral awareness,” Huo Qingshan said. He really didn’t understand how his father and Huo Jingnian had risen to their positions.
Just as Huo Qingshan finished scolding, Huo Jingli’s voice rang out, “Qiao Zhiwei, how dare you still have the face to come to our Huo house?”
Everyone turned to see the sisters standing at the doorway.
Xia Yin glanced at Qiao Zhiwei, realizing that she must have heard what Huo Jingnian said earlier.
Old Master Huo glared at Huo Jingli. “How do you speak to your sister-in-law?”
“Grandfather!”
“Enough, shut your mouth. Listen to your eldest brother’s clever argument… no, explanation!” Old Master Huo said, glancing at Qiao Zhiwei, hoping she wouldn’t take Jingnian’s words to heart.
At his age, about to retire, a few mental lapses could be forgiven.
He blamed only himself his grandchildren were all too good at pretending.
One pretended to like, one pretended not to like, and they had kept it up for so many years without a flaw.
Had he known earlier, he would have trained them differently two rare, talented seedlings wasted.
Thinking about not teaching according to their abilities made him regretful.
Qiao Zhiwei stepped forward and said to Huo Qingshan, “Uncle Huo, Jingnian didn’t want to marry me. I suggested that we have a one-year engagement to settle the past grievances between the Qiao and Huo families, after which he would be free. Of course, I had no choice. My sister and I needed to pay off our debts, so we had to re-enter the business circle. For single women, establishing oneself quickly in business isn’t easy. I needed a strong backing.”
“And that backing had to be Jingnian.”
“So I used his filial piety and sense of responsibility to calculate him.”
Huo Jingli listened in disgust, grinding her teeth. “I knew it! I didn’t expect you to be so despicable. Even if it’s just one year, Jingnian would already be a man in his second marriage.”
Qiao Zhiwei nodded, “Yes, but that’s because your Huo family owed my Qiao family. Since Huo Jingchen couldn’t or wouldn’t repay, he had to take responsibility.”
Old Master Huo’s heart ached. “Weiwei, a military marriage isn’t easy to dissolve.”
This girl was really risking everything to not let Jingnian suffer. She was spilling her heart, and even calculating? He didn’t see who was really calculating whom.
But one thing was just like him no matter the situation, she wouldn’t let someone who helped her suffer.
“It’s just not easy to dissolve, not impossible. With your and Jingnian’s positions, it’s not a problem. Even if Huonian is a man in his second marriage, I don’t think it devalues him.”
“Devalues?” Hearing this, Huo Jingnian’s deep eyes looked at her, and he asked softly, “What do you mean?”