“And they don’t plan to return the hundred jin of grain either. They’ll just paint a pretty picture and promise it will be paid back when they have grain. But when will that be? They never say. As long as they don’t return it, what are we supposed to do? Sit in their house and refuse to leave?”
“There’s a law against trespassing in someone’s home. If we stay and refuse to leave, we’re handing them the perfect excuse to accuse us. They’ll be delighted. We don’t need to give such small-minded people any ammunition. If he wants to be with that educated youth, fine. We’ll let him. But the marriage is over. Not because Lin Yuchuan is breaking up with me, but because I, Lu Wanqing, am breaking off the marriage with him. We didn’t do anything wrong, so we must do this with dignity—head held high.”
“You all know how cruel village gossip can be. People talk without any kindness. My temper isn’t great right now, and if anyone dares to spread rumors about me, I won’t let them get away with it.”
“Maybe you or others think, ‘It’s just talk. She hasn’t been harmed, so why bother?’ But have you ever thought about how rumors can destroy a person?”
“Rumors come out with one mouth, but it takes a hundred legs to chase them down. And once a rumor spreads from ten people to a hundred, everyone starts believing it’s true. Then what good is your explanation? All explanations sound like cover-ups. The more you explain, the more people think you’re guilty, or hiding something.”
“It’s Lin Yuchuan who’s in the wrong, not me. We don’t need to act inferior to him. And once we’ve said it publicly, we have to follow through. If they don’t return the grain or pay the money, then we’ll smash their house.”
Lu Zhiguo’s eyes softened.His daughter had truly grown up and finally understood things.
He had always pampered her like a precious gem, even when she chased after the Lin boy.
He could clearly see that Lin Yuchuan had been toying with her on purpose.
Now his daughter had finally woken up.
God really had opened his eyes.
Everyone else was shocked—his daughter, his sister, had become a completely different person.
Before, if anyone spoke ill of Lin Yuchuan, she would immediately jump to defend him.
It seemed that the fall into the water wasn’t entirely useless after all.
It finally showed her what kind of man he really was.
Lin Yuchuan was shameless—now he didn’t even bother to pretend.
He openly behaved with the educated youth in public.
Good for him.
The Lu brothers all wanted to rush to the Lin house and beat that unfaithful man.
But remembering what their sister had said—not worth getting themselves involved for that scum—they forced themselves to stay calm.
If they were breaking the engagement, they would do it completely and cleanly.
The family decided to go to the Lin household first thing tomorrow morning.
The Lin family had never imagined the Lu family would come to break the engagement.
After all, being broken off was a disgrace in this era. It made it harder for the girl to marry again.
That night, nobody slept well.
Everyone kept wondering how to handle what would happen tomorrow.
They woke up early even though they were starving and weak.
But they wanted to stand up for their daughter and sister.
For the first time, they cooked breakfast—because people really do need to eat.
After eating, they felt energized.
Lu Zhiguo led the whole family to the Lin house.
Along the way, many villagers saw them and began to gossip.
“What are the Lu family doing with such a large group? Something big must be happening.”
The villagers followed behind, eager to see what would happen between the two families.
The Lin family had barely woken up when they saw the Lu family approaching in a furious line.
Xu Xiuying’s heart sank.
Something bad was definitely happening.
She immediately shouted, “Husband! Husband! Wake up! Someone’s here!”
Lin Daqiang, irritated, replied,“Why are you shouting so early? Who’s disturbing my sleep?”
He hadn’t even finished dressing—just threw on clothes and rushed outside.
When he squinted and saw it was the Lu family, he suddenly became fully awake.
Because the Lu family didn’t look friendly. They looked like they were about to eat someone alive.
Lin Daqiang forced a smile and said,“Everyone… why are you here so early? Is this about the girl falling into the water? It was my son Yuchuan’s fault—he panicked and rescued the wrong person. Lu brother, please be generous. Spare my son. We’re family now, after all. I promise this will never happen again. We will live happily together. Love and harmony. Isn’t that what we all want as parents?”
“Hmph,” Xu Mengyi snorted coldly.
“Your words sound sweet, but what are you doing? Your son openly hugged that educated youth in front of so many people. Where does he put our daughter in his heart? Does he even know who he’s supposed to marry? He’s not a child anymore—why is he acting like one? I don’t want to waste time with you. We’re here to break the engagement. Since your son already has someone he likes, we’ll part ways peacefully.”
“My daughter is beautiful. She can find someone better later. And you need to return the hundred jin of grain you borrowed from us.”
“I’m sure you’re not that shameless. Borrowing grain and not returning it, while your son runs around with someone else—who does he think he is? Just because he’s a high school student, he thinks he’s amazing. High school students may be rare, but he’s not the only one. No one owes him anything.”
“If he dares to treat my daughter like this after we’re married, what kind of life will she have? You don’t care about your own child, do you?”
“Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding. I’ve already scolded my son. He was in the wrong. We were going to come and apologize to your family and talk about the marriage. We’re all from the same village—we see each other every day. There’s no issue we can’t resolve. Kids sometimes act out. But don’t worry. Yuchuan will apologize to you.”
Lin Yuxia immediately jumped in.
“Father! Why should my brother apologize? He didn’t do anything wrong. It’s that Lu Wanqing who shamelessly clings to my brother. I’ve never seen anyone so disgraceful. My brother never said he wanted to marry her, and yet she keeps following him everywhere. It’s disgusting. Doesn’t she care about our village’s reputation?”
Xu Mengyi glared fiercely at Lin Yuxia.
“Lin girl, I advise you to watch your mouth. If you dare speak disrespectfully again, even if your parents are here, I won’t let you get away with it.”