Yan Sisi looked at her family’s astonished, mocking, and watchful eyes, feeling as if she had returned to the dream where her family pointed and whispered about her.
“How does Second Sister-in-law even raise her kids, letting Sisi do something like this?”
“Exactly, with what Sisi did, how could a girl from our family ever get married? If people hear about an older sister like that, they won’t even look, they’ll just leave.”
“If it were me, I’d be too ashamed and have thrown myself into the river already, sparing the family the embarrassment. And yet she has the nerve to come back, does she think people in the countryside don’t know what she did?”
The constant chattering in her ears made Yan Sisi feel like she couldn’t even stand. She had done nothing, yet all the vile words seemed to be poured onto her. Meanwhile, the man even received praise: “Amazing! He actually got such a beautiful girl, teach me your method.”
Nothing had actually happened, yet in their eyes, she seemed as filthy as mud.
Lost in her thoughts, Yan Sisi flinched when her mother patted her. Coming back to her senses, she heard her mother’s worried voice: “Sisi, what’s wrong?”
Watching her father stand up to protect her while arguing with the man, Yan Sisi squeezed her palm, thinking firmly that things would not unfold in real life as they did in the dream.
Meeting her mother’s concerned gaze, she calmly replied, “Nothing.”
Her father, seriously injured, stood before her, shielding her from all harm. With a family that loved her so much, what was there to fear?
Yan Sisi steeled her expression. She had handled things on her own before, but now with her family present, what couldn’t be faced together?
With that thought, she took a few decisive steps forward, standing directly in front of the man still squabbling, and coldly confronted him: “Even if I broke off the engagement, it doesn’t mean you can just decide to see whoever you want. There are plenty of people chasing me, you don’t even get a number on the list.”
She looked at his ugly expression and continued, “And seriously, don’t you ever look in a mirror before leaving the house? You look like that and still have the nerve to come see a girl. Who gave you that courage? Is it your weak body that can’t lift or carry anything? Or is it your thinning head of hair giving you courage?”
At that, the neighbors rushing over outside the yard burst into laughter, and some teased, “Maybe his eyes are failing; he can’t see his true self.”
Huang Wei ground his teeth and glared. Always admired in the city, he had never imagined a little girl would speak to him like this. His face turned red with anger, and pointing at Yan Sisi, he could only manage to sputter, “You—”
Seeing the man’s reddened face, Yan Sisi couldn’t tell whether it was anger or shame causing it, but she felt a deep satisfaction. She had been holding back these words ever since hearing that her cousin was being viewed by such a grown man. Finally saying them out loud brought an indescribable relief.
Watching the man stammer, she couldn’t help continuing: “What do you mean, ‘you’? Can’t even speak properly, do you have some hidden ailment? And you still insist on coming to see a girl? You’re not looking for someone to take care of you in your old age, are you?”
The rest of the family froze in place, just like the first day they had met Yan Sisi, all staring at her performance in shock.
Huang Wei’s entire body tensed, veins bulging with anger from the barrage of words. No one had ever dared speak to him like that to his face. He swung his hand, ready to strike.
Seeing this, Yan Sisi quickly bent down to avoid him. Her father, who had been keeping a close eye on the situation, swung the pole he was holding and struck Huang Wei’s arm. Intense pain shot through Huang Wei’s mind. With his soft, tender skin, he clutched his arm, crying out in agony.
Father Yan stared at the pole in his hand in disbelief. Did he really need to hit so hard? Was this level of pain necessary?
Clutching his arm and wailing, Huang Wei shouted, “The people of Yanjia Village are attacking me! I’m calling the police to have you arrested!”
The strong cannot overpower the local boss. Facing so many people, he couldn’t handle it alone and had to think of another way to get out.
“Yanjia is in big trouble now, go get the village chief!”
The rest of the family panicked as well, never expecting a simple matchmaking visit to turn into such a farce.
The eldest, Xu Baoying, remained calm as she observed the chaos. Fighting through a throbbing headache, she walked toward the man, her gaze sharp and threatening, whispering to him: “Do you know how the police handle cases when someone molests another person?”
She had not intended to reveal that her granddaughter had been taken advantage of, but now, with the situation spiraling, she used it to intimidate him.
Huang Wei froze, arms crossed, still stubbornly insisting, “You have no proof!”
“Is that so?” Xu Baoying countered. “Do you have proof that we hit you? You should know, this is Yanjia Village, not your county turf.”
Yan Sisi, having listened to the whole exchange, quickly interjected: “Grandma, I heard that if someone falsely accuses another and the police find out, they can be arrested. We can take him to the hospital to check if he’s actually injured. I heard there’s a machine there that can instantly tell if someone is hurt.”
She didn’t believe it, there was no way her father could have injured him with one hand. This was clearly an attempt to feign injury.
“Right, let’s go check at the hospital,” her grandmother agreed.
Huang Wei’s heart began to race. He hadn’t really been hurt much, the majority of the pain was acted. He rarely went to the hospital and didn’t know if the machine really existed. Hesitation set in. If the hospital confirmed he wasn’t injured, and the incident reached his company, his job could be at risk.
Seeing him falter, Yan Sisi added, “And if it’s a false accusation, we can go to your factory and report it to your supervisors. A deputy director of all people, and a fraud? Let’s see if your company tolerates that.”
Huang Wei, already uneasy, didn’t dare risk his job. Embarrassed, he rubbed his arm and said, “It’s nothing, it just hurt a moment ago, it’s fine now. I’m a grown man, I can handle a little pain. Forget it, let’s just drop it.”
After finishing, she turned to the tardy matchmaker, Wang Erhong, and scolded her angrily: “What kind of match did you set up? There’s nothing at all worth looking at. Don’t ever introduce any more countryside girls to me, I won’t take them.”
Huang Wei spat on the ground and, pushing through the crowd at the door, slunk away in disgrace.
Yan Sisi only relaxed once he was gone. She was about to follow her mother back inside when she overheard the villagers outside the courtyard gossiping: “That person just said Sisi got her engagement broken off, is that true?”
“No way. Sisi is the most beautiful girl in our village, and she’s still in high school. How could she possibly be rejected?”
“Well, you can’t be sure. If she wasn’t really broken off, how would that senior deputy director know? She definitely was. I wonder what Sisi did to make the other family angry and have the engagement called off.”
“Exactly. If the engagement is broken, she’s second-hand now. Finding another match will be difficult. As soon as someone finds out she’s had her engagement broken, tsk tsk, they’ll think something’s wrong with her.”
“If it really was broken off, how could a child like Sisi agree to let go of such a well-off match? If it were my daughter, I’d never let her agree to that.”
Yan Sisi took a deep breath and walked toward the courtyard gate, fixing her gaze on the villagers still gossiping, especially the two who were discussing most loudly.
“Cough, cough,” she said, coughing twice to get attention. She held her mother back from closing the gate and addressed the nosy crowd: “First of all, I broke off the engagement, it wasn’t him. Secondly, whether I break off an engagement or not is none of your business. Mind your own matters before meddling in mine.”
Liu Lan, caught off guard by the retort, felt her face heat up. A group of people watched her, and she hurriedly said, angry: “Child, we were just trying to be helpful and said a few words, you act like this?”
Then she turned to Yan Sisi’s mother and scolded: “Aiguo, how do you raise your children? Teaching them to shout at elders like this, no wonder her engagement was broken. Surely the man couldn’t tolerate her temper.”
Yan Sisi moved her mouth and angrily shot back: “What relation are you to my family, to act like an elder in front of me? If you have time, you’d better check on your own son. At this age and still no match, have you ever considered why? I think it’s because your mouth runs too much, Aunty Liu, that no girl dares to marry into your family.”
Those who had long been annoyed by Liu Lan’s chatter chimed in: “Exactly. Liu Lan, your son is almost thirty and still unmarried, right?”
“No, you’re mistaken, he’s only twenty-nine.”
“My mistake. Twenty-nine already. When will we ever get to attend your wedding banquet?” Li Mei said in a teasing voice, laughing a little afterward.
Liu Lan spent all her time gossiping about other people’s business, but when it came to her own family, she wanted to silence everyone. People had been irritated by her for a long time.
Liu Lan, usually the fiercest at criticizing others, immediately glared and shouted when her own son was mentioned: “Li Mei, what business is this of yours? My son? He hasn’t found a match because he has too many options, so many that he can’t decide! Don’t just spout nonsense if you don’t know.”
“Heh, with your son? Too many options? Could it be he has none to choose from?”
“You’re talking rubbish! I’ll tear your mouth apart. Your son has plenty to choose from!”
Yan Sisi watched the growing argument, then slammed the door with a loud “bang,” letting them taste a bit of the harshness their words could inflict.
Returning to the main room with her mother, Yan Sisi saw that only her father and grandmother remained in their room and couldn’t help meeting her mother’s eyes. What do we do now?
Her mother quietly gestured toward her grandmother. Then a loud “bang” rang out: “You two, tell me the truth, what’s going on with Sisi’s engagement?”
Father Yan started to explain: “It’s all because of that troublemaker Xu Weiming. He secretly went out to see a match for Sisi, and she found out.”
He carefully omitted any mention of Sisi falling into the water, knowing someone might be eavesdropping outside. If word got out, the villagers would probably twist the story and say terrible things about Sisi.
“They’ve gone too far! You just let them cancel the engagement like that?” Xu Baoying slammed the table in anger. “Wait until the old man comes back, I want him to ask them. How dare they cancel the engagement after doing such a thing?”
Hearing the slam, Father Yan flinched and said, “I was the one who canceled it… she hadn’t even married into their family yet, and already…”
“Well done! Our good girl, if she leaves their family, she can still find another match,” Xu Baoying said, looking at her shrinking granddaughter. She couldn’t help but feel sorry that her little granddaughter had to face gossip at such a young age.
Even though they were the ones who canceled the engagement, in the eyes of outsiders it looked like the woman had done something wrong. Women were always judged more harshly than men: men might just be talked about briefly, but women were criticized and remembered for life.
Xu Baoying beckoned to her granddaughter. When Yan Sisi walked over, she pulled her into a warm embrace. “It’s okay, don’t be afraid. This one wasn’t right anyway, Grandma will have Grandpa find an even better match for you.”
“Grandma, I’m fine,” Yan Sisi said, hiding in her grandmother’s comforting arms, finally feeling at ease. In that moment, all the chaos outside seemed to drift away from her.