As soon as they entered the courtyard, Tan Guihua couldn’t wait to ask.
“Boss’s wife, I heard someone came to propose marriage to Zhenzhen. They said it was the son of the Revolutionary Committee Director, and that he got beaten up. Is it true?”
“Yes.”
Miao Cuilan explained the whole story with a bitter expression.
As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Erni couldn’t help but say, “Sister-in-law, why didn’t you agree? They offered such high betrothal gifts.”
If she had been there, she definitely would have agreed.
With such good conditions, why not accept?
Yet Miao Cuilan actually refused!
Yang Erni felt terribly distressed.
Yao Meimei looked up: “Yes, Aunt, you should have agreed. The Lu family’s conditions are so good. Zhenzhen would definitely live a good life if she married into their family.”
She hadn’t expected Lu Yikang to act so quickly, but this outcome was exactly what she wanted to see.
At the same time, Yao Meimei also felt relieved.
It seemed Lu Yikang didn’t blame her for suddenly leaving without saying goodbye. If she explained properly later, she could probably still get close to him.
Tan Guihua didn’t like hearing this. She didn’t think her daughter-in-law was wrong to refuse.
“Enough, both of you shut up. You don’t know what the Lu family is really like. That Lu guy has offended so many people – he’ll get his retribution sooner or later. How could Zhenzhen marry into that family? Don’t forget, Zhenzhen already has a marriage arrangement.”
Yao Daqiang also nodded: “That’s right.”
Yao Meimei sneered inwardly.
If Yao Yunzhen can’t marry Lu Yikang, does that mean she can marry Li Yunqi instead?
Just a bunch of Yao Yunzhen’s enablers, so biased!
She didn’t stop to think that with her skinny, dried-up appearance, ordinary people wouldn’t even look at her twice. Being able to marry Li Yunqi was already the best match she could hope for.
After all, in others’ eyes, Li Yunqi came from a good family and was good-looking too.
Yang Erni still didn’t want to give up. Gathering rare courage, she rebutted Tan Guihua.
“Zhenzhen’s marriage arrangement might not even happen. In previous years they’d send some things over, but now, not even a letter. I think they probably want to break the engagement. Better to seize this marriage proposal instead. After all, they said Zhenzhen would live comfortably after marrying into their family.”
Five hundred yuan plus the “three rounds and one sound” – Yang Erni truly couldn’t bear to let this opportunity go.
These things might not necessarily end up in her hands, but their second branch could still benefit. Her son could get taken care of in the future too.
She could have Zhenzhen find Da Bao a job then – a formal position, working in an office.
Yang Erni was fantasizing beautifully.
Yao Daqiang said, “What nonsense. Brother Lu isn’t that kind of person. Since he agreed, he won’t break the engagement.”
Though he said this, he actually felt uncertain inside.
In the first few years, the two families had indeed frequently exchanged letters and occasionally sent things like malted milk extract and powdered milk. But in recent years, contact had become increasingly scarce, especially these last two years – not even a single letter.
“They’re high officials in the capital, and we haven’t seen them for so many years. They probably look down on us peasants now. Continuing like this would just delay Zhenzhen. Better to find a wealthy husband while she’s still young. This Lu family is quite good – such excellent conditions. I heard they even came in a car.”
Yao Yunzhen said unhappily, “Aunt, stop talking. There’s no way I would agree to this marriage proposal.”
Lu Yikang’s behavior had disgusted Yao Yunzhen thoroughly. She would rather die than marry him.
Yang Erni still wanted to say something, but when her gaze met Yao Yunzhen’s face, she immediately swallowed all her words.
“This… alright…”
After all, he was just the son of the Revolutionary Committee Director in a county—not really a good match for Zhenzhen.
Yang Erni’s calculations were completely shattered by Yao Yunzhen’s beauty.
Miao Cuilan had been distracted ever since hearing Yang Erni’s earlier words. After long consideration, she finally said, “Dad, Mom, why don’t we write a letter tomorrow to inquire about the arrangement between the two children?”
Unfortunately, they didn’t have the other party’s phone number and could only write a letter.
They used to have a phone number, but later it couldn’t be reached anymore.
Miao Cuilan hoped this marriage arrangement would proceed smoothly.
Now that they had offended the Lu family, they certainly wouldn’t let their family off easily, and Zhenzhen wouldn’t be able to marry anyone in Anyuan County either.
The best solution was for her to marry out—far away, somewhere beyond the Lu family’s reach.
Yao Meimei couldn’t help but reveal a gloating smile on her sallow face.
These people were still deluding themselves—Yao Yunzhen’s marriage arrangement would never come to fruition.
In her previous life, the man himself had come to break off the engagement.
Although he had compensated Yao Yunzhen with a formal job at the county’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative and a large sum of money, a broken engagement was still a broken engagement.
But in this lifetime, that job and compensation would belong to her.
That Lu Yikang would definitely continue to harass them, and the Yao family simply couldn’t withstand his pressure. Yao Yunzhen was destined to marry him.
When that happened, she would be the only unmarried girl left in the Yao family, and this marriage arrangement would inevitably fall to her.
Having witnessed future prosperity, Yao Meimei naturally looked down on a Supply and Marketing Cooperative job, but she needed the money and a reason to stay in the county.
Yao Daqiang said, “Write it now. Tomorrow you can make a trip to the county to mail the letter.”
He had originally planned to have Yunchuan mail it after writing, but now there was no time for that.
When Yao Yunzhen went to the city before, there had been an opportunity to write and send a letter, but Miao Cuilan had been unhappy about her daughter being treated coldly and didn’t want Yao Yunzhen to appear too eager by taking the initiative to write, so she hadn’t mentioned it.
Now, however, they had no choice but to appear eager.
Tan Guihua said, “Take another photo of Zhenzhen and send it with the letter.”
Miao Cuilan agreed, though without much enthusiasm.
Yao Yunzhen wasn’t very happy either.
Originally, it wouldn’t have mattered if this engagement fell through—she could always find another man.
There were plenty of men in the world; if she wanted, she could always replace one.
That’s why she had never taken this engagement seriously.
But now, because of that inexplicable bastard, she didn’t have time to find anyone else and had to cling to this engagement.
The whole family was filled with anxiety, and everyone had forgotten what Xie Jingyue said before leaving.
They truly hadn’t held out much hope.
After all, they weren’t relatives—it was already quite good that he had helped once, and expecting more was probably impossible.
Early the next morning, Miao Cuilan hurried to the county town to mail the letter. Then she found her husband and informed him about the situation so he would be prepared and careful at work to avoid falling into any traps.
Yao Sheng was very worried about his family, but he knew he couldn’t take time off now.
His brother-in-law had gone through great trouble to secure this job for him—if he took leave now, wouldn’t that just give them a handle against him?
The Yao family waited on tenterhooks for several days, but not even a shadow of anyone from the Lu family appeared—everything remained perfectly calm.
This made the Yao family increasingly uneasy. Just as they were preparing to go to the county town to gather information, before they could even set out, an unexpected visitor arrived.
It was the young man who had voluntarily helped tidy up the aftermath that day—he had come.