Yang Wen genuinely pitied everything Lin Ni had gone through after her marriage.
“Mom, Ni Ni gave me her virginity. Haven’t you always taught me that a man has to take responsibility?”
“Now that something like this has happened between us, I have to take responsibility for her. Mom, I can’t marry Zhaoyang. I have to marry Ni Ni.”
He didn’t dare look at anyone else’s expression.
Least of all Lin Zhaoyang’s.
“Zhaoyang, your parents treasure you like the apple of their eye. You have a good education, a good job, and even your younger brother is fiercely protective of you. Even without me, you’ll still have plenty of choices.”
“But Ni Ni can’t compare to you. Her parents always favored sons over daughters. She doesn’t have your education or your job. Her marriage is unhappy.”
“She only has me.”
His voice choked with emotion.
“I’ve wronged you. If you’re angry, take it out on me. If you hate someone, hate me.”
“But I can’t marry you.”
“I have to marry Ni Ni.”
“I have to take responsibility for her.”
His heart had completely chosen Lin Ni.
Lin Zhaoyang found it utterly ridiculous.
Yang Wen was ridiculous.
Lin Ni was ridiculous.
Of course…
She herself was ridiculous too.
“‘Ni Ni… Ni Ni…’ Listen to how affectionately he calls her.”
Aunt Chen immediately seized the opportunity to stir the pot, once again proving how sharp—and meddlesome—her tongue could be.
“Old Qian, do me a favor. Go to my house and bring my father, Lin Ni’s grandmother, and Lin Ni’s mother over.”
Lin Daheng continued,
“Big Cousin, please call Lin Ni’s father’s factory and ask him to come too.”
Things had reached this point.
There was no way he would still let his daughter marry Yang Wen.
The engagement had to be called off.
But he wasn’t about to let his daughter suffer this humiliation in silence.
Old Qian and the Lin family’s older female cousin agreed without hesitation and immediately left.
Unable to hold himself back any longer, Lin Daheng walked up to Yang Wen and punched him.
“You think you’re so responsible?”
“You keep talking about taking responsibility for your precious Ni Ni.”
“So what about my daughter?”
He kicked Yang Wen again.
“Fine! You marry Ni Ni and take responsibility for her.”
“But when people laugh at my daughter for the rest of her life, how are you going to take responsibility for that?”
After cursing Yang Wen, Lin Daheng turned his fury toward Lin Ni.
“What did our family ever do to you?”
“Did we dig up your ancestors’ graves in a previous life?”
“Why do you insist on stealing every man my daughter dates?”
“You haven’t even gotten divorced yet!”
“And you’re already sleeping with your cousin’s fiancé!”
“Aren’t you something?”
“How did the Lin family produce someone like you?”
By now Wang Fenglan had begun crying.
She was furious with both Lin Ni and Yang Wen.
But more than anything, her heart ached for her daughter.
“My poor girl…”
Holding Lin Zhaoyang tightly, Wang Fenglan sobbed uncontrollably.
She simply couldn’t understand it.
Her daughter was such a wonderful person.
Why had marriage become so difficult for her?
Again and again…
Everything had been ruined by that little wretch, Lin Ni.
“Uncle, I’m sorry.”
Lin Ni suddenly knelt before Lin Daheng.
“I’ll give Zou Zhengting back to Cousin.”
Crying as she spoke, she explained,
“My parents forced me to do it back then.”
“I was only their daughter. I couldn’t disobey them.”
“They said if I refused, they’d sell me to a crippled bachelor in his sixties.”
“Uncle…”
“I’m giving Zou Zhengting back to Cousin now.”
“Yang Wen and I truly love each other.”
“I may even be pregnant with his child.”
“I’m begging you.”
“Please persuade Cousin to let Yang Wen and me be together.”
This time, Lin Ni’s tears were genuine.
Her original plan had been to frame Lin Zhaoyang and Zou Zhengting in bed together and have everyone catch them in the act.
That way…
Yang Wen could break off his engagement with Lin Zhaoyang openly and honorably.
She herself could divorce Zou Zhengting while earning everyone’s sympathy.
Then, when she married Yang Wen, people would simply think they were two pitiful people finding comfort in each other.
But somehow…
Everything had gone wrong.
Nothing had unfolded according to her plan.
Even worse…
Lin Zhaoyang had summoned everyone here.
And that fool Yang Wen had ended up exposing their affair.
Originally, Lin Ni had hoped to marry Yang Wen with her reputation intact and everyone’s blessing.
Reality refused to cooperate.
Since Yang Wen had already confessed everything…
She could only adapt and make the best of it.
She knew that after today, her reputation would be ruined.
But that didn’t matter.
As long as she married Yang Wen…
She would become a wealthy woman in the future.
Money would bring status.
Eventually no one would care how she and Yang Wen got together.
People would only talk about how fortunate she was to have married such a successful man and lived a life everyone envied.
After pleading with Lin Daheng, Lin Ni turned to Yang Jiahui, who had remained silent for a long time.
“Teacher Yang…”
“I’m hardworking.”
“I can do anything.”
“My education and job may not compare to Lin Zhaoyang’s, but after I marry Yang Wen, I’ll treat you exactly like my own mother.”
Yang Wen couldn’t bear seeing Lin Ni kneeling and begging.
Especially after hearing that she might be carrying his child.
The thought that he might become a father filled him with joy.
“Ni Ni, get up.”
“This is my fault.”
“You don’t need to beg them for me.”
Shaking free from Zou Zhengting—who had already stopped bothering to hold him back—Yang Wen hurried over and helped Lin Ni to her feet.
Grandpa Lin, Grandma Lin, and Lin Ni’s mother were the first to arrive.
The Lin family home was nearby.
Running there took only five minutes.
Also arriving with them was Lin Zhaoyang’s younger brother, Lin Xinhua, who should have been home doing his summer vacation homework.
On the way over, their older female cousin had already told them everything that had happened.
As Grandpa Lin entered and saw Lin Ni’s swollen face from the beating, he wasn’t particularly surprised.
His eldest son and daughter-in-law had never been the kind to quietly endure such things.
After what Lin Ni had done…
A few slaps were only to be expected.
As everyone walked inside, no one noticed Lin Xinhua following behind with a thunderous expression.
The moment he entered the courtyard, he bent down, grabbed a brick from beside the wall, and charged straight at Yang Wen.
“You dared bully my sister!”
“I’m going to kill you!”
After the summer, Lin Xinhua would be entering his final year of high school.
The teenage boy moved incredibly fast.
His sudden charge startled everyone in the courtyard.
Everyone watched in horror as the brick in his hand came crashing toward Yang Wen’s head.
If it landed…
Cracking his skull would be the least of the consequences.
He could end up permanently disabled—or dead.
“Lin Xinhua! Stop!”
Lin Zhaoyang shouted.
Zou Zhengting reacted the fastest.
Like a bolt of lightning, he reached Yang Wen’s side, shoved him away with one hand, and grabbed the brick from Lin Xinhua with the other.
“Zou Zhengting, you’re no good either!”
“Let go of me!”
Lin Xinhua struggled wildly like a young wild boar, relying on brute strength to push forward.
Lin Zhaoyang hadn’t even had time to catch her breath before grabbing her younger brother by the back of his shirt.
“Lin Xinhua!”
“Do you want to go to prison?”
“You’re just a kid.”
“Stand over there and stay out of this!”
“But, Sis…”
“He bullied you!”
The tears he’d held back all the way here finally welled up.
“What gives him the right to treat you like this?”
“How are you worse than that bastard Lin Ni?”
“Your parents will handle your sister’s affairs,” Zou Zhengting said as he tossed the brick back where it belonged.
“You’re still a high school student.”
“It isn’t worth going to prison over trash like him.”
Lin Daheng glanced at Zou Zhengting.
Seeing him repeatedly stand firmly on their family’s side made him regard the young man a little more favorably.
“Grandpa Lin.”
Zou Zhengting turned toward Lin Rende, who had remained silent ever since arriving.
“Back then, when Lin Ni’s family schemed against me, you said I had no evidence.”
“So none of it counted.”
A mocking smile crossed his face.
“So…”
“Does today count?”