Xia Yuhuan was invited by Zhang Xianya to her study for a conversation, and the nanny had prepared hot tea and snacks.
“Have you come to cancel the engagement?” Zhang Xianya initiated the conversation.
Xia Yuhuan was so startled by her words that she accidentally burned her tongue on the scalding tea.
Tears welled up in her eyes from the pain, and she stuck out her tongue, looking utterly pitiful.
Zhang Xianya was alarmed and quickly leaned forward, gently fanning her with her hand, asking with concern, “Are you alright? Should we go to the hospital?”
Xia Yuhuan waved her hand and, after a moment, replied, “No, no, I’m fine.”
Fortunately, she had reacted quickly, and only the tip of her tongue was burned. The sharp pain had already subsided, and though it still felt a bit sore and numb, it was bearable.
“Auntie, you’ve misunderstood. I don’t want to cancel the engagement,” Xia Yuhuan hurriedly explained.
Zhang Xianya was delighted to hear this and quickly asked, “Then what did you want to discuss regarding the marriage?”
“I just wanted to ask you about the bride price,” Xia Yuhuan said frankly. “Normally, this matter shouldn’t involve me, but as you know, I’ve only just been brought back home. My father and the others aren’t sincere toward me.”
“The person who raised me all these years was my grandfather in the countryside. I hope you can give the bride price directly to me, so I can pass it on to my grandfather instead of my so-called father.”
Zhang Xianya was genuinely surprised that this was what Xia Yuhuan wanted to discuss and was momentarily taken aback.
Seeing this, Xia Yuhuan misunderstood: “Has the bride price already been given to my father? Is it inconvenient for you to ask for it back? That’s alright, I can handle it myself.”
She was determined to get the bride price back one way or another. There was no way she would let Xia Jianyong take advantage of her!
Zhang Xianya quickly clarified, “No, I was just a bit surprised. I’ve already prepared the bride price and originally planned to send it to the Xia family on the wedding day. Since you’ve made this request, I’ll give it directly to you.”
“Or, if you give me an address, I can send the bride price directly to your grandfather.”
Xia Yuhuan replied, “No need, let’s keep it at the Chi family for now.”
She had worked hard to persuade Qin Xiangrong not to tell her grandfather about her upcoming marriage.
At this point, she didn’t dare send the bride price to her grandfather. If he saw it, he would undoubtedly worry about her.
Moreover, once Chi Yanzhou woke up, she planned to divorce him. Rather than moving the money back and forth, it was better to leave it at the Chi family to avoid unnecessary trouble.
She had no intention of taking advantage of the Chi family.
Zhang Xianya nodded in agreement.
“Also, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask for your help with,” Xia Yuhuan added.
“Go ahead. As long as it’s not illegal or against the rules, I’ll help if I can,” Zhang Xianya said.
As long as Xia Yuhuan wasn’t there to call off the engagement, she was willing to fulfill any request within her power.
“Xia Zhuyu has reached the age for it and doesn’t have a job. She should have long responded to the national policy to go to the countryside as an educated youth. But my father can’t bear to part with her and has kept her by his side, which is clearly against the rules.”
“I hope she can follow the path she was meant to take and go to the countryside as an educated youth.”
Zhang Xianya was startled by this and looked at Xia Yuhuan with a sharp gaze.
“Why do you want to send Xia Zhuyu to the countryside? Is it because you were left in the rural areas while she stayed by your father’s side all these years, enjoying a comfortable life? Are you jealous and doing this out of spite?”
Xia Yuhuan had spoken directly, and Zhang Xianya questioned her just as directly.
If Xia Yuhuan truly wanted to send Xia Zhuyu to the countryside to suffer out of jealousy and selfish motives, then her character would be questionable. Zhang Xianya began to waver about Xia Yuhuan marrying Chi Yanzhou.
Chi Yanzhou was already unconscious. If he were to marry a woman with questionable character, what if instead of “warding off misfortune,” it ended up hastening his demise? Zhang Xianya would surely go mad.
“Of course not, but I do want to do this out of revenge,” Xia Yuhuan admitted frankly.
As she had previously told Qin Xiangrong, her only impression of the Chi family was that they were all military personnel. The patriarch of the Chi family was an old general who had fought in the War of Resistance. The entire family upheld a righteous and fair-minded tradition, all of them good and honest people.
Since she had come to seek the Chi family’s support, she naturally wouldn’t lie.
Xia Yuhuan recounted how, since her return, Xia Zhuyu had bullied her both openly and covertly, and she also described the conflict that had occurred that day.
“Before coming to the Chi family, I was waylaid by robbers. Those people said they wanted to find something on me.”
“Since arriving in the capital, I haven’t made any enemies except for Xia Zhuyu. I suspect those people were sent by her.”
“If they only wanted to steal something, that would be one thing. But from what I gathered, they also intended to violate me and ruin my innocence. How could I tolerate that?”
“I have no one to rely on in the capital. The only connection I have is with the Chi family.”
“I thought, since I’m about to marry Chi Yanzhou, I’m practically half a member of the Chi family. When something happened, I instinctively thought of turning to my family for help.”
“Thinking back now, I was indeed too presumptuous and abrupt. Please forget I ever mentioned sending Xia Zhuyu to the countryside.”
Before her transmigration novel experience, Xia Yuhuan had been engaged in medical research and preferred straightforwardness. She had sought the Chi family’s help to leverage their influence. Now that Zhang Xianya was unwilling, she gave up the idea without a second thought.
She could find another way to send Xia Zhuyu to the countryside; there was no need to force Zhang Xianya.
“Auntie, I have nothing else to discuss. I’ll take my leave now…”
Seeing her about to stand and leave, Zhang Xianya quickly stopped her.
“Yuhuan, I’m sorry. Earlier, I judged you with a petty heart and misunderstood you. I apologize, Auntie is sorry. Can you forgive me?”
Zhang Xianya’s sincere and heartfelt apology caught Xia Yuhuan off guard.
She hurriedly replied, “There’s no need to apologize. It was my request that was too abrupt.”
“I misunderstood you, so I should apologize. If what you said is true, I will personally arrange for Xia Zhuyu to be sent to the countryside,” Zhang Xianya said with a serious expression.
At first, when she heard Xia Yuhuan’s request, she had thought she was narrow-minded and bullying others with borrowed power.
But after hearing the reasons, she realized that Xia Yuhuan was actually straightforward, honest, and direct.
Zhang Xianya held Xia Yuhuan’s hand and said gently, “Yuhuan, I’m very happy that you see me as family to rely on and trust. I promise you, as long as you are willing to marry Yanzhou as agreed, I will treat you as my own daughter and care for you.”
Speaking of which, this child was pitiable. Though her biological father was still alive, she had received no paternal love. When trouble arose, she didn’t think to seek help from her father but instead turned to her future mother-in-law, whom she had never met. This showed how deeply disappointed she was in her father.
Since she was genuinely willing to marry Chi Yanzhou, Zhang Xianya wouldn’t hesitate to offer her protection.
Xia Yuhuan could sense Zhang Xianya’s sincerity.
She had a favorable impression of Zhang Xianya and immediately smiled and nodded: “I’m also looking forward to the day I marry into the family.”
Regarding Chi Yanzhou’s health condition, after careful consideration, Xia Yuhuan decided not to tell Zhang Xianya for now.
It wouldn’t be good to accidentally alert the enemy.
“You’re such a wonderful child. I genuinely like you. If Yanzhou hadn’t had that accident, he would have liked you too,” Zhang Xianya said with red-rimmed eyes.
Xia Yuhuan could feel Zhang Xianya’s deep maternal love for Chi Yanzhou.
She felt somewhat envious, as she had never experienced having a mother in both her lifetimes.
Although the original host’s biological mother loved her deeply, the original host had never met her since childhood. Just like herself, she had never experienced maternal love – they were both pitiful in that regard.
Xia Yuhuan couldn’t help but soften her voice to comfort her: “If he hadn’t had the accident, this marriage wouldn’t have been available to me. This can be considered a special fate between us.”
“Besides, he’s only temporarily unconscious. Someone as good as him will definitely wake up. Please don’t be sad.”
Zhang Xianya smiled through her tears: “You’re right. If Yanzhou weren’t unconscious and didn’t have a child, your father wouldn’t have been willing to let Xia Zhuyu marry over, nor would he have gone through all the trouble to find you and have you substitute marriage instead.”
Xia Yuhuan was suddenly full of questions.
What was this? Not only was Chi Yanzhou unconscious, but he also had a child?