Yan Sisi noticed that Yan Li seemed a little off. Just as she was about to ask something, she heard Third Aunt come out again, loudly scolding, “You lazy girl! You’re back and still not helping, do you expect me to serve you?”
Yan Li, whose face had been rosy just a moment ago, instantly went pale and stammered, “Mom… I’m coming.”
He Shuqin continued to scowl, standing in place. “Do you think your luck is like your Third Sister’s and you don’t need to do anything? Hurry up and get in here! If you don’t work, you won’t get lunch.”
Hearing this, Yan Li didn’t dare to argue or explain. She just lowered her head and ran to the kitchen to help, leaving Yan Sisi standing alone in the courtyard.
Yan Sisi had long been used to Third Aunt’s obvious indirect scolding. She felt a little indignant for innocent Yan Li but knew that getting into a confrontation with Third Aunt would only make things worse for her cousin.
She went and sat under the peach tree to rest. Not long after, her grandparents pushed open the courtyard gate and came in. Yan Sisi casually asked, “Grandma, where have you been?”
“We went to the village head’s house. Is the food ready?” Xu Baoying, knowing what her granddaughters had been doing up the mountain, didn’t ask further because the household was busy with many mouths to feed.
Yan Sisi shouted in the direction of the kitchen, “Mom, is the food ready?”
“Food isn’t even cooked yet, and you’re nagging?” He Shuqin grumbled loudly. Not only was Yan Li not helping, now she was even rushing someone else.
Yan Sisi’s mother, who had been tending the fire, said, “My daughter is asking me, not you.”
Just as she was about to continue, she saw her mother-in-law standing at the doorway and immediately stopped speaking.
Xu Baoying walked to the kitchen door and looked at the third daughter-in-law, who was sitting on a bench lazily directing Yan Li to cook. Coldly, she said, “What’s with you from the Third Son’s household? Do you have a problem with me assigning you to cook? If you don’t want to, next time we’ll have the Fourth Son’s household do it.”
Doing a little work every day, and there were constant complaints. Sometimes she even secretly made her daughter do it. No one knew how the Third Son could have ended up marrying such a woman.
He Shuqin froze at her mother-in-law’s stare, immediately jumped up, and nervously defended herself: “Mom, that’s not what I meant! How could I be unwilling to cook?”
She squeezed past her daughter, grabbed the iron spatula, and started pretending to cook while smiling apologetically at her mother-in-law. “Mom, the food will be ready soon. You go rest for a bit.”
Cooking was one of the few good things she could claim for herself. She couldn’t let her mother-in-law be unhappy and take away her right to cook, since it was a rare chance she could sneak a taste.
Xu Baoying gave her one more stern look before leading Yan Li, who had been pushed aside, away. Soon, as lunch was finished cooking, everyone gradually returned.
On her father’s side, her grandparents had four sons and one daughter. The eldest son had three sons and two daughters; her father was the second son and had only her as his daughter. The Third Son had two daughters and a son, the Fourth Son had three sons, and their aunt had married into the town, giving birth to two sons.
Now, the main table in the hall was packed with people, everyone sitting in their usual spots. Yan Sisi’s suddenly returned family squeezed in between the Third and Fourth Son’s households.
At the head of the table, Xu Baoying served rice to everyone. This year had started well, and with her son’s family returning today, she had specially instructed the Third Son’s household that morning to cook some mixed-grain rice. Each person received half a bowl, topped with a piece or two of sweet potato.
Yan Sisi took her bowl, and next to her sat Yan Li, wearing a worn cotton jacket. On the table were stewed soft cabbage, boiled white radish, tofu fish soup, and corn buns, looking particularly hearty and abundant.
The family, long since famished, all picked up their chopsticks and began eating quickly. Yan Sisi quietly ate the sweet potato in her bowl. After a short while, she heard Third Aunt, two seats away, suddenly speak up: “Mom, someone’s coming to the house this afternoon to see Xiao Li.”
Xu Baoying froze mid-bite, but thinking that Yan Li was already sixteen and it was about time she could start having her marriage prospects looked at, she didn’t pay it much mind and asked, “Who’s coming to see her?”
He Shuqin deliberately glanced at Second Sister-in-law and proudly said, “It’s the deputy director of the food factory. Isn’t Sisi’s future mother-in-law working there too? Maybe Sisi even knows her.”
This was a match she had worked hard to arrange; she was determined it would succeed.
Yan Sisi noticed Yan Li tremble slightly at the mention of herself. Calmly, she said, “I don’t know her.”
Her family hadn’t told anyone back home about the broken engagement, so it wasn’t the time to reveal that she had already declined.
He Shuqin looked at everyone’s surprised faces with satisfaction. Once her daughter succeeded in the match, their family would be considered half-citizens of the town.
Fourth Aunt, Li Mei, disapproved of Third Aunt’s smugness. If a city person could take a fancy to a countryside girl, there had to be something fishy. She asked, “Third Sister-in-law, that deputy director is from the city. How did he come all the way to the countryside to see a match?”
He Shuqin was completely unashamed. “Isn’t it because he heard our Xiao Li is beautiful?”
Xu Baoying, thinking of her own granddaughter, asked, “How old is this deputy director?”
Most likely he was older. Someone who became a deputy director at a young age wouldn’t normally take an interest in a countryside girl.
He Shuqin replied, “Thirty-five. And he knows how to take care of people.”
At this age, he could be Xiao Li’s father. Would Xiao Li even be willing to go through with a matchmaking meeting?
Yan Sisi turned to look at Yan Li beside her. Her face was deathly pale, and her hand holding the chopsticks had begun to tremble, this was clearly the first time she was hearing this news as well.
“What’s wrong with thirty-five? He has an urban household registration. Once Xiao Li marries him, she’ll be able to enjoy a life of ease, much better than staying in the countryside and marrying some farmhand.”
He Shuqin said with a proud expression. In these times, there weren’t many country girls who could marry into the city; the fact that her daughter had the chance to meet such a match was a blessing.
“Does Aimin know about this?” Xu Baoying hadn’t expected that her unreliable third daughter-in-law had actually found such an older match for her own daughter. She wondered whether her son was aware.
“He hasn’t come home for days now. If I waited for him, it would be too late.” He Shuqin thought of her absentee husband and had no intention of telling him. If the matchmaker weren’t arriving this very afternoon, she might have kept it a secret from everyone else as well.
Seeing the displeased look on her mother-in-law’s face, exactly what she had anticipated, He Shuqin spoke with a resigned, whatever-happens-happens attitude. “Mom, even if you don’t agree, it won’t matter. They’re coming this afternoon.”
Xu Baoying cast a cold glance at her, knowing that even if she blocked it this time, she didn’t know what she might arrange behind their backs in the future. Fortunately, this match was happening at home; with her watching, her granddaughter wouldn’t be in danger.
Once the visitors left, she could call her son back and make sure he properly managed his wife.
Yan Li, hearing her mother’s sudden words, gripped her chopsticks tightly. For the first time, she began to resist, saying, “Mom, I won’t go.”
He Shuqin slammed down her chopsticks with a “snap” and scolded coldly, “I said you’re pretty, and you really think you’re some kind of goddess? Such a good match, where else would you find it? This afternoon, you’ll stay at home and behave!”
Yan Li’s eyes welled up with tears, but she didn’t dare resist her mother. She had already used all her strength to refuse before. Yan Sisi, unable to bear it, said, “Third Aunt, people can have love freely these days.”
“Free love? That’s for those with good conditions. Xiao Li is just a countryside girl, not like you, Sisi, who was lucky enough to have a match arranged from childhood with such a good prospect. If she had been born a few years earlier, maybe she could’ve had that kind of fortune too,” He Shuqin said. She finished the last bite in her bowl, then briskly stood up and pulled the unfinished Yan Li back into the room.
Seeing this, the others didn’t say a word. They couldn’t even manage their own households, let alone interfere with someone else’s.
Back in her room, Yan Sisi turned to her resting parents on the bed. “Dad, are we really just going to let Third Aunt behave like this?”
“This is hard for us to control. Xiao Li has to toughen up herself for it to work. If we step in now, what will happen next time?” Yan Aiguo explained to his daughter. “Don’t worry. Your grandma and mom are home this afternoon. With them watching, nothing will go wrong. Rest a bit, and then I’ll take you to the mountain for a walk.”
Yan Sisi was still a little worried about her cousin. She went to the door of Third Aunt’s room and, standing at the doorway listening to the scolding inside, loudly called, “Grandma, you’re here!”
Her words immediately silenced the room. Yan Sisi waited a while, and when there was still no movement and Third Aunt showed no intention of coming out, she returned to her own house and began rummaging through the storage.
She collected the dusty wooden basins under the bed, the round wooden tubs used for bathing as a child, treating each item like a treasure and placing them carefully into her space.
As she explored the space, Yan Sisi noticed that the fruits and vegetables she had stored earlier were just as fresh as when she picked them, with no signs of rot. Perhaps this was another function of the space: preserving and preventing spoilage.
With that in mind, Yan Sisi began harvesting the fruits that had taken up most of the space. By the time she finished, most of the vines were gone, leaving only one or two plants in the corners.
Looking at the floor covered with fruits, she went out to find two sticks, placed them parallel under the old tree, and carefully arranged the fruits between them. Soon, the sticks were fully laden with a variety of fruits.
When Yan Sisi came out of the space, her father was the only one left in the room. Once she had wiped away the traces of her work, he picked up the small fishing net and iron shovel he had prepared and headed with her toward the mountains behind the village.
Walking behind her father, Yan Sisi took the shovel and hesitated as she looked at his arm in plaster. “Dad, can you manage alone? Should we bring Mom too?”
Her father looked at his arm. “Someone will be home this afternoon to watch. Even with one arm, I can dig up plenty of wild fruit trees for you, and we’ll fill the Immortal’s space with plants.”
As they walked, he said, “We came back early, and if the weather gets colder and it snows, going up the mountain won’t be easy. So we have to dig as much as we can this time. Next time, we might have to wait until spring.”
Yan Sisi nodded, excitedly walking through the leaf-strewn mountains, thrilled at the thought of adding new varieties to the space.
The two of them walked up the mountain together, occasionally passing a few hunters. Father Yan, seeing them from a distance, would quietly detour to avoid being noticed.
They reached the mountainside halfway up before Father Yan stopped in front of a small, bare tree. With one hand, he picked up the iron shovel and began digging.
Yan Sisi carefully observed the tree but couldn’t recognize what kind it was. She had only been spending time in the countryside for a few years, and she had never come up the mountain in winter. Perhaps in spring or autumn she might have been able to identify it.
With one hand, Father Yan deftly dug around the roots for a while, then lifted the small sapling from the soil. He handed the mud-covered tree to his daughter, leaving the rest to her in the space.
Yan Sisi took the sapling and, with a thought, it immediately appeared inside the space. Still a bit anxious, she entered the space to check and saw the newly transplanted sapling lying in the center of the soil. Only then did she step back out, reassured.
During this time, Father Yan kept a tense watch on the surroundings, worried that someone might appear just as his daughter came out. Only when he saw her safe did he finally relax.
They moved on to the next spot. To avoid having his daughter struggle with a large tree, Father Yan specifically chose smaller saplings that hadn’t fully grown.
While waiting, Yan Sisi’s attention was drawn to a noticeably larger tree nearby. Its shape was similar to the small sapling her father was digging. She walked forward, touched the rough trunk, and asked, “Dad, what kind of tree is this?”
Father Yan glanced up and replied, “A chestnut tree.”
Immediately, Yan Sisi thought of the sweet roasted chestnuts she had eaten before. If she could bring this big tree into the space, it would be amazing. As soon as the thought occurred, the large tree vanished instantly, leaving a big hole in the ground.
Yan Sisi shouted, “Dad!”
Hearing her, Father Yan ran over quickly. “What happened? Where’s the tree?”
The tree they had just seen was gone in the blink of an eye.
Yan Sisi thought of a possibility and only had time to say, “Dad, watch the surroundings. I’ll go in for a moment.”
Before he could respond, she disappeared from sight.
The next second, inside the space, Yan Sisi gaped in astonishment at the large tree now transported there. She didn’t expect the space to be so powerful. Until now, she had thought she could only plant seeds there using her mind.
Thinking of her father still waiting outside, she stepped out briefly from the space, nodded toward him, and said, “It’s in the Immortal’s space.”
Father Yan finally relaxed and filled in the hole left in the ground with his shovel. They continued to the next spot. After selecting a tree, his daughter used her immortal technique to transport it into the Immortal’s space.
This method greatly improved efficiency. Father Yan focused on choosing suitable trees, while Yan Sisi handled moving them into the space. Before long, more than a dozen wild fruit trees of various species and sizes were planted inside the space.
After moving the fifteenth tree, Yan Sisi suddenly felt a headache. She instinctively tapped her head a few times with her fist. Seeing this, Father Yan asked anxiously, “What’s wrong, daughter?”
“I don’t know… my head hurts a bit,” Yan Sisi said, rubbing her head. She remembered that the first time she had used her consciousness to plant seeds in the space, her head had also ached briefly. It must mean her mental energy was being overused.
“Then take a rest. Maybe you’ve used too much,” Father Yan said, worry etched across his face. He was afraid she might faint if she overexerted herself.
“It’s fine, the pain will pass soon,” Yan Sisi reassured him, though in her mind she was determined to try one more time to confirm her guess.
After filling the hole, Father Yan suggested letting his daughter rest a bit before continuing. But Yan Sisi glanced at the sky and urged, “It’s okay, let’s keep looking.”
Soon, Father Yan found a kiwi tree. Standing nearby, he watched his daughter tensely. Yan Sisi placed her hands on the tree and focused her consciousness. The moment the tree disappeared, her headache worsened compared to before.
If the earlier pain had felt like pins pricking her, now it felt like she had been punched, accompanied by slight dizziness.
She sat on the ground to recover for a while. When she opened her eyes, she saw her father watching her anxiously. She quickly reassured him, “I’m fine. I just can’t use the same technique again today.”
“If you can’t use it, then we won’t. Do you want me to carry you back to rest?” Father Yan asked nervously. It seemed the Immortal’s tools weren’t for ordinary people. He just didn’t know what effect they might have on his daughter’s body.
He bent down to lift her, but Yan Sisi, seeing his arm still in plaster, patted his back and said, “It’s okay. I’ll rest a bit and I’ll be fine.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Really. As solid as gold,” she replied. “Let’s rest a while. If my head still hurts, we’ll go back. If not, we can continue, okay?”
Father Yan set down the shovel so she could sit on it, while he kept watch on the surroundings. Most of the wild beasts stayed near the mountain top, but a few could occasionally wander downhill.
After resting for a short time, Yan Sisi felt her headache ease considerably. She looked at her father and said, “Dad, I’m ready. Let’s continue!”
“All right. Just don’t use your technique this time; we’ll spend more time digging up the smaller trees,” he said, and they proceeded further along the mountain path.
Yan Sisi followed closely behind her father. After finding small saplings, the two of them took turns digging them up. Once a tree was dug out, Yan Sisi would send it into the space before they continued searching for the next one.
They worked like this for nearly two hours, managing to find and transport eleven more small saplings. Yan Sisi was so exhausted she could barely straighten her back. Looking at her father, who seemed unaffected, she said, “Dad, let’s go back!”
Digging trees was truly a physically demanding task. If it weren’t for the thought of having delicious food in the future, she wouldn’t have been able to endure it for even a moment.
Father Yan, thinking about the many saplings they had dug today and how they had found most of the varieties, said, patting the small fishing net in his pocket, “Come on, I’ll take you somewhere to catch some fish and shrimp on the way back.”
Curious, Yan Sisi followed her father. After a while, she heard the faint sound of running water. Following him through the cracks between rocks, she was amazed to discover a small stream flowing down from the mountaintop.
“Father, how did you find this place?” she asked in surprise.
The mountain spring water was clear and flowed gently downstream. Floating in the stream were some water plants, and when she looked closer, tiny fish darted happily back and forth.
Yan Sisi approached as her father spread out the small fishing net they had brought. The net was slightly wider than the stream. He handed the two ends to her, while he held one side and jumped across to the other side of the stream.
Both of them crouched down. Following her father’s instructions, Yan Sisi placed the net in the water, and the fish swimming downstream easily swam into it. After a while, the two lifted the net, and the fish and shrimp in it immediately started jumping.
Startled, Yan Sisi quickly closed the net to prevent them from escaping. The next second, her father jumped over with the other end of the net.
They moved away from the riverbank, opened the net, and counted their catch. There was one large fish, about five medium-sized fish, more than a dozen small fish, and only three tiny shrimp.
Yan Sisi took the wooden basins and tubs she had prepared earlier, washed them at the water’s edge, and poured some spiritual spring water into them, then added a little of the mountain spring water.
She placed the tubs and basins next to the net, putting the small fish into the tub and the shrimp into the basin. “Dad, I’ll try raising these in the space,” she said.
Her father looked at the tub, then picked up all the fish from the net and put them in. “Put them all in. We’ll catch more later,” he said.
If they could successfully raise them, there would be meat for the winter.
Seeing the fish, which had looked half-dead, swimming happily in the tub, Yan Sisi immediately felt energized. She picked up the net and continued catching fish with her father.
They went back and forth, casting the net more than a dozen times, catching nearly half a tub of fish and about twenty small shrimp. Satisfied, they put all of them into the space.
Yan Sisi looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly descending, and she wondered how her cousin’s matchmaking appointment had gone today, whether it had really gone well.
Father Yan felt his body starting to tire and said to his daughter, who was staring into the distance, “Let’s go back. Tomorrow I’ll get some more wooden tubs and bring your mother along so we can catch more.”
Yan Sisi nodded, placed the shovel into her space, and followed her father as they made their way home.
As they approached, a sharp scream of a woman’s voice pierced the air. Yan Sisi and her father exchanged a glance and quickly ran forward, pushing open the courtyard gate.
Yan Sisi ran ahead to the main hall where the sound came from. When she pushed the door open, she saw a tall, thin man holding her cousin’s hand. She immediately grabbed a bench from the floor and ran at him, shouting, “Let go of my sister!”
Father Yan followed closely behind. Seeing his daughter already engaged, he grabbed a pole leaning against the corner and swung it toward the man, who was dodging.
“I didn’t do anything! Stop hitting me!” the man shouted. Yan Sisi pulled her frightened cousin behind her, holding the bench defensively, and demanded, “Who are you? How did you get into our house?”
She turned to her father and said, “Dad, this man was harassing my cousin! You need to stop him!”
Huang Wei, who had only tried to take a small advantage, realized he had been discovered. Seeing the pole coming toward him, he grabbed it and angrily said, “I’m here for a matchmaking visit! Is this how your family treats guests?”
Father Yan looked at the man’s shiny hair and powdered face, anger flaring. He swung a few more times and said, “Even for a matchmaking visit, you don’t get to touch a young girl!”
Yan Sisi added, “Even if it’s for a matchmaking meeting, you can’t take advantage of her! Where are my third aunt and the others?”
“I don’t know. They said they had something to do and told us to talk alone,” Huang Wei replied, gripping the pole tightly, frustrated. What kind of nonsense was this? If he had known, he wouldn’t have come. Truly, rural girls were far too reserved, completely different from city girls.
Father Yan signaled to his daughter and stood in front of the man. He said to her, “Take Xiao Li back to her room first, then go get your grandmother and third aunt.”
Xiao Li had screamed so loudly, but no one had come out. Perhaps her family had been taken away by some excuse her brother-in-law had arranged.
Yan Sisi protected the sobbing Xiao Li and returned to their house. She then ran quickly to find her family. Along the way, she asked neighbors about her grandmother and the others and learned they were at the village chief’s house.
When she arrived, she saw through the window that her mother and grandfather were inside, along with many others. The village chief sat at the front, speaking to them about something. Yan Sisi anxiously pressed her face to the window.
There was no time to wait for their meeting to end. She pressed her fingers hard against the window to get attention and waved to her mother. Seeing this, her mother came around from behind and asked, “What’s going on?”
“Xiao Li’s match, he was taking advantage of her just now,” Yan Sisi said, summing up the situation in one sentence. Then, worried, she looked at her mother: “Is that man being held at home by Dad now?”
Mother Yan frowned deeply and went inside to call her grandmother out. Without saying anything further, the two of them ran straight toward the house.
By the time Yan Sisi caught up, she heard the man say, “Your girl here, I could take a look at her and maybe like her. But with her looks, any random city girl would be better.”
Then the man stood tall in the yard, looking at Yan Sisi, who had just arrived last. “Your younger daughter here is barely acceptable. If I were to consider a match, maybe I could think about her.”
Yan Sisi’s mind immediately went to one phrase: an undeserved disaster. After this, her third aunt would definitely think worse of her, probably believing she had interfered with her cousin’s matchmaking.
Sure enough, He Shuqin, who had arrived earlier, snorted coldly. “This is the future daughter-in-law of Director Wu from your factory. She can actually get someone to notice her.”
She had spent so much effort finding a suitable match, only for her cousin to be chosen by someone else in the end. It was truly frustrating.
He Shuqin glared fiercely at her daughter hiding behind the grandmother. She was completely useless, couldn’t even handle one man. Just touching him was enough to make a fuss. Such a good matchmaking prospect had slipped away, and she had no one to vent to.
Huang Wei said in surprise, “Director Wu? Wu Fang?”
At their factory, there was a director surnamed Wu, a head of the publicity department named Wu Fang. He had just heard about her family a few days ago, and today he had run into the main character of the story. What a coincidence.
Looking at the pretty young girl before him, Huang Wei didn’t expect that she was the so-called frivolous former prospective daughter-in-law mentioned by Director Wu. He couldn’t help shifting his gaze downward with impure intentions and said, “Well, [1]“It seems the water has flooded the Dragon Gate Temple” is a Chinese idiom (大水冲了龙王庙). It means that people who are actually on the same side, or connected in some way, end up … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2006969_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2006969_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });it seems the water has flooded the Dragon Gate Temple, it’s the same family, huh.”
He Shuqin, hearing this, thought there might be a chance. She quickly followed up, “Exactly, Deputy Director Huang. You see, there’s already a family connection. If you take an interest in my daughter, that would also connect you with Director Wu’s family.”
Hearing this, He Shuqin looked at Huang Wei expectantly, hoping he would change his mind.
Meanwhile, Xu Baoying, who had been listening all this time, slapped He Shuqin across the face in anger. “Shameless woman! How can you even say something like that?”
He Shuqin was stunned. “Mom, why are you hitting me? Did I say something wrong?” She glared at her grandmother resentfully. Why not use such a good connection? Did they have to wait until this matchmaking attempt failed to be satisfied?
They just didn’t want her family to have it easy. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they let her speak?
“You don’t protect your own daughter properly, and you leave her here alone to be bullied? What kind of mother are you?” Xu Baoying scolded when He Shuqin showed no sign of remorse and was still talking nonsense. “Second son, go call your brother and have him bring his wife back. Our family cannot tolerate such a careless daughter-in-law.”
He Shuqin softened immediately. “Mom, I’m only doing this for Xiao Li’s sake.” She knew if the daughter-in-law was sent back by her husband’s family, her little brother wouldn’t let her eat in peace at home.
Then she turned to Yan Li and said, “Xiao Li, speak up! Mom is doing this for your own good.”
Yan Li heard this, turned her head, and hid behind her grandmother, saying nothing.
Fuming, He Shuqin just cursed, “Ungrateful brat! If I’d known, I would’ve just married you off to some mountain man and sent you deep into the hills.”
Yan Li immediately clutched her grandmother’s clothes in fear, too scared to speak.
Xu Baoying patted her frightened granddaughter, then shot a sharp look at her third daughter-in-law. Turning to the bystanders who had been watching, she said, “Sorry, we have matters at home and won’t be keeping you for hospitality. This matchmaking attempt is off!”
Huang Wei’s eyes flicked toward Yan Sisi, standing at the edge. Unexpectedly, he found a pleasant surprise. “You’re the ones saying it’s off? Do you expect me to make a trip for nothing? I think this little girl of yours is quite good. Why not make her the match instead? We can pretend today never happened.”
“Didn’t you hear that my granddaughter already has a match?” Xu Baoying frowned and replied. All of this was because that careless third daughter-in-law didn’t know where she found such a person to look at her granddaughter.
Standing at the back, Yan Sisi couldn’t have imagined she would be the one singled out. Her father, standing in front, saw the man’s playful smirk and felt his blood boil.
As for Sisi’s broken engagement, he had planned to quietly tell his mother that evening, who would then inform her father. If no one else asked, it wouldn’t be mentioned. After all, breaking off an engagement wasn’t exactly a proud thing.
He had intended to find a new match for his daughter later, drawing everyone’s attention to the new prospect. That would have quietly overshadowed the previous broken engagement. Who would have thought that today would suddenly turn into this mess?
Huang Wei, seeing that they were still unaware and noticing the three people behind them visibly change their expressions, clicked his tongue and said, “But I heard from Director Wu that their son recently broke off an engagement. Now this little girl has no match. Why shouldn’t I be able to see her?”
His plan was clear: take her in front of Director Wu, vent a little, and once he grew bored, find an excuse to break the engagement. In the end, he would come out ahead. This girl, having offended Director Wu, would be seen as a divorcee, and no one would dare marry her.
He could get a beauty for free while indirectly winning Director Wu’s favor. Whatever glimpse he got from her would be enough for his advancement and wealth.
Hearing this, everyone else was stunned, no one expected that Sisi had broken off her engagement. Even He Shuqin, who had been crying just moments ago, lifted her head and, along with the others, looked toward Yan Sisi’s family.
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