Su Qingran sneered. Did he still think she was the same Su Qingran from her previous life who had been fooled by him so easily?
In her past life, she had been deceived because she loved him. Now, without those emotions clouding her judgment, she was much more rational.
“Grandpa Lu, when I woke up earlier, I felt utterly hopeless. The thought of my fiancé abandoning me and rushing into another woman’s arms made me sick to my stomach.”
“If my late grandfather knew I had suffered such humiliation, he would surely have urged me to call off the engagement.”
Her last words felt like a slap to Grandpa Lu’s face. He sighed and fell silent.
Lu Jingxuan stared blankly at Su Qingran, feeling a rare pang of guilt. Had today’s incident really hurt her so deeply?
“Jingxuan will never let you down again, Ranran. Please give him another chance,” Li Lan urged, pushing her son forward. “Jingxuan, say something!”
“I…”
“There’s no need. Our relationship ends here.”
Lu Jingxuan frowned. Was she really serious about breaking off the engagement?
“However…”
Hearing this, Lu Jingxuan’s lips curled into a slight smile. He knew it—Su Qingran couldn’t bear to part with him!
She was as dramatic as ever. Still, he had to admit he was in the wrong today. If she knew her place, he wouldn’t mind softening his tone to coax her.
“This is what your family gave me when our families agreed to the marriage.” Su Qingran took off her earrings. “Please return the jade bracelet my Su family gave you.”
She remembered Qiao Manxue’s words from her previous life—that jade bracelet contained a space!
Though she didn’t fully understand what a “space” was, she knew it had to be something valuable. Otherwise, Qiao Manxue wouldn’t have treasured it so much. She refused to let such a precious item fall into the hands of these two scoundrels!
At the mention of the jade bracelet, Lu Jingxuan’s expression shifted uncomfortably. Forgetting for a moment whether Su Qingran was serious about breaking off the engagement, he said, “There’s no need. You can keep the earrings.”
Su Qingran narrowed her eyes, observing Lu Jingxuan’s evasive gaze. She understood immediately—the jade bracelet had likely already been given to Qiao Manxue!
“No. Since the engagement is off, the gifts must be returned!”
Zhao Lanzhi nodded in agreement. “It’s only proper!”
Otherwise, what if the Lu family used the betrothal token to harass her Ranran in the future?
Grandpa Lu felt his face burning with shame. He tapped Lu Jingxuan twice with his cane and said sternly, “Return the jade bracelet to Ranran at once!”
Lu Jingxuan lowered his eyes. “I don’t have it with me. I’ll bring it tomorrow.”
“Father-in-law!” Li Lan protested, unwilling to accept the situation. Was the engagement really going to be called off just like that?
“Very well. We won’t see you out then,” Su Hongshan said, effectively dismissing them. “Take your things back with you.”
With the old master silently accepting the broken engagement and her son being as stubborn as a mule, Li Lan had no choice but to swallow her pride and try to appease Su Hongshan. “Family… I mean, Captain Su, please let Ranran keep these gifts to replenish her health. Even if our families can’t be joined by marriage, I’ve watched Ranran grow up since she was a child.”
Zhao Lanzhi forced a smile. “There’s no need for such courtesy. Our Old Su wouldn’t dare accept such valuable gifts. Besides, Jingxuan is injured too. You should keep these for him to recover.”
Grandpa Lu, aware of Li Lan’s intentions, felt even more embarrassed. He said firmly, “Take the things back!”
“Sigh…”
Li Lan couldn’t resist Grandpa Lu’s insistence and ended up carrying all the things away.
Before leaving, Lu Jingxuan gave Su Qingran a deep, lingering look.
After the Lu family had departed, Su Junze looked Su Qingran up and down in surprise and said, “Little sister, you really impressed me today! After being so meek for so many years, you finally showed some backbone!”
“You have no idea how frustrated I used to get seeing you act so submissive around Lu Jingxuan!”
Huang Cuicui shot her husband an annoyed glare. “What nonsense are you talking?”
“It’s the truth!”
Su Qingran pressed her lips together and smiled. In the past, she had liked Lu Jingxuan so much that she couldn’t bring herself to stand up to him. Looking back now, it really had been utterly spineless.
Su Yuanfeng laughed. “It’s good that little sister has come to her senses.”
Su’s eldest sister-in-law, being more thoughtful, pondered for a moment and said, “Mom, Dad, I’ve found out all about the person who took little sister to the clinic.”
“Oh, I completely forgot about that!” Zhao Lanzhi slapped her forehead. “Xiaoyan, you’re always so thorough.”
At first, she had only been worried about her daughter’s safety, and later she had been preoccupied with the Lu family matter, so she had genuinely forgotten about it for a while.
“He saved Ranran—we must properly thank him!”
Liu Xiaoyan nodded. “His name is Shi Yunxiao. Like Lu Jingxuan, he’s also a soldier, but he’s not from around here. He came to Su Family Village to escort Su Xiaoyong’s ashes back and is currently staying at Su Xiaoyong’s house.”
Su Xiaoyong was a bit older than Lu Jingxuan and had been a soldier for many years. He had sacrificed his life during a mission due to an accident.
“Ah…” Zhao Lanzhi was quite close to Su Xiaoyong’s mother. When the news had come back, her old friend had been utterly heartbroken and wept bitterly.
“Let’s prepare some gifts and go to Xiaoyong’s house to express our thanks!”
Su Hongshan said, “Eldest son, second son, there’s still work to be done in the fields. Your mother, Ranran, and I will handle the thank-you visit. You two go back to the fields!”
“Alright, Dad!”
Zhao Lanzhi went into the house and rummaged through the cupboards for a while, then went to the kitchen. In the end, she brought out a piece of cured meat, a box of biscuits, ten eggs, and a basket of vegetables and fruits.
“Dear, what do you think? Are these things appropriate?”
Su Hongshan nodded. “That should be enough.”
Su Xiaoyong’s house wasn’t far from Su Qingran’s—just a turn out the door and a few minutes’ walk.
News of Su Qingran’s situation had already spread throughout the village. The villagers were surprised to see her daring to go out already.
“Lanzhi, where are you going with all those things?”
“Looks like you’re delivering gifts—cured meat, eggs… that’s quite a generous offering!”
Zhao Lanzhi answered without hesitation, “The soldier who saved our Ranran today is staying at Xiaoyong’s house. We’re going to thank him in person!”
“Oh, in that case, you really should thank him.”
“Well, if it isn’t little Ran! I heard you called off your engagement with the Lu boy?”
A narrow-eyed old woman wearing a dark blue headscarf sat feeding chickens at her doorstep. She asked with a hint of schadenfreude, “Was it because he saved Qiao Zhiqing instead of you? If you ask me, child, you’re just too petty. That Lu boy is a soldier, after all—of course he has to put others before himself. What’s there for you to fuss about? If it were my Shuiqin, she certainly wouldn’t be like you.”
Zhao Lanzhi spat disdainfully and unleashed her full fury: “Now that you know Lu Jingxuan has called off the engagement, you think your Shuiqin has a chance, don’t you? Let me tell you, even without our Ranran, Lu Jingxuan wouldn’t give your Shuiqin a second glance. Have you forgotten, Old Woman Wang, how your daughter was publicly shamed for chasing after Lu Jingxuan? We certainly haven’t!”
“You!” Old Woman Wang trembled with rage, pointing a shaking finger at Zhao Lanzhi. “At your age, you still won’t hold your tongue! My Shuiqin still calls you Auntie!”
“Aren’t you just as old? When has your mouth ever shown mercy to our Ranran?”
A well-meaning auntie interjected kindly: “Ranran, how are you feeling now?”
“Auntie, I’m much better.”
“Is it true the engagement’s off?”
“Yes, it’s really over.”
“Ah… what a shame. You and the Lu boy seemed so well-matched.”
“What’s the use of being well-matched? When his own fiancée was at death’s door, he didn’t save her—instead he went to rescue some capitalist’s daughter! Must have water in his brain!”
“Exactly! If my future son-in-law were like that, I wouldn’t let my daughter marry him either!”
Suddenly a voice piped up from the crowd, “Since Lanzhi’s daughter was saved by that soldier, why not let her marry him instead? They’re both military men anyway.”
“I’ve seen those two soldiers staying at Xiaoyong’s place. Though I don’t know which one saved Ranran, both are handsome—not inferior to the Lu boy. Could be a good match.”
Several voices chimed in agreement.
Su Qingran quickly responded, “Thank you for your concern, aunties. The soldier who saved me acted out of kindness. If we force people to marry everyone they rescue, who would dare save anyone in the future?”
Zhao Lanzhi backed her up: “My Ranran is right. Forcing marriage on someone who saved you—isn’t that repaying kindness with enmity? Our family would never do such a thing!”
“If everyone acted like that, soon nobody would dare rescue anyone!”
“That makes sense. That soldier isn’t some ruffian—he had no choice but to save her!”
“Don’t go spreading such nonsense in the future.”
“Yes, yes…”
“…”