Chapter 8: Qinghuan, Let's Get Married!

In the room, Jiang Chengxu saw Xu Manman clutching her head, tears streaming down her face from the pain. The irritation in his heart was instantly replaced by worry. He hurriedly moved her hand away and saw blood seeping through the gauze.

(AI-generated portrait of the female lead)

No wonder she was crying out in pain.

"What is wrong with you? Don't you know you shouldn't touch the wound? Do you even want to get better? Didn't the doctor say it's easy to leave a scar!" Jiang Chengxu felt a surge of nameless anger flare up.

Could she not be a bit more well-behaved like Qinghuan? Could she cause fewer problems?

Xu Manman's heart was filled with joy. She knew it; he wouldn't just leave her alone. He always had a sense of pity for her; the more trouble she caused, the more he couldn't let her go.

"Brother Chengxu, if I leave a scar, will I be very ugly?" Xu Manman said pitifully.

Jiang Chengxu looked away. "No... there won't be a scar! Let me re-bandage it for you!"

"Okay, thank you, Brother Chengxu. But, will it delay you?" Xu Manman gripped his wrist. "Brother Chengxu, what are you planning to say to Sister? Can you tell her not to misunderstand us? I'm afraid it might affect the relationship between you two."

Jiang Chengxu still remembered his previous promise to Xu Qinghuan. However, this time, it wasn't just him and Xu Manman going out alone. At that time, Qinghuan had also been present and had seen Xu Manman's injury. Although Qinghuan could be a bit petty, it was only because she cared too much about him.

As long as he explained clearly, Qinghuan shouldn't hold a grudge. If she couldn't understand and argued with him like last time, he would only have no choice but to reason with her and teach her how to be a virtuous wife and mother.

Jiang Chengxu had no intention of telling Xu Manman these words. He unwrapped the gauze, saw blood seeping from the wound—likely from an accidental bump—applied some medicine, and re-bandaged it.

"It won't. I will explain things clearly to her," Jiang Chengxu said as he stood up.

Xu Manman gave a graceful smile and gave him a coquettish push. "Go on then, don't make my sister wait too long. Be careful, or she'll get angry with you again. My sister's temper isn't as good as mine."

The wait lasted for half an hour. Xu Qinghuan was not impatient, nor did she feel anything toward Jiang Chengxu. As a character in a story, whether it was because he couldn't break free from the plot or didn't want to, it was understandable.

"Qinghuan!"

Xu Qinghuan turned around, saw Jiang Chengxu, and nodded. "If you have something to say, just say it!"

"Qinghuan, let's get married!" After saying this, Jiang Chengxu looked at her nervously, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Having been reborn, this was his obsession. In his past life, divorcing Qinghuan was a pain he could never overcome.

Xu Qinghuan was startled and took two steps back, her buttocks hitting the edge of the ping-pong table. She smiled and asked, "Marriage?"

"Yes, Qinghuan, let's get married. We'll hold the wedding first, and then get the certificate when we reach the required age." Jiang Chengxu took two steps forward, his dark eyes staring at Xu Qinghuan, seemingly burning with a flame.

Xu Qinghuan turned her face away. "Jiang Chengxu, this engagement was negotiated between my mother and your grandmother; I never gave my consent. Originally, I didn't want to go to the countryside, so I planned to accept my fate. But now I've thought it through. I don't want to sacrifice my lifelong freedom and dignity just to avoid going to the countryside. Therefore, I have no intention of fulfilling this engagement."

She was not one to dwell on things; since she had made her decision, she had no intention of stringing anyone along.

Jiang Chengxu was extremely shocked. However, recalling his past life, Xu Qinghuan had had great disagreements with her mother. Back then, he had even advised her that there are no perfect parents, and now he could understand.

"Qinghuan, if we don't talk about who arranged this engagement, and only talk about me as a person, do you want to marry me?" Jiang Chengxu asked sincerely.

Xu Qinghuan shook her head. "I don't!"

She looked up and caught a glimpse of Xu Manman's figure through the hallway window, her lips curling into a smile. "Jiang Chengxu, marriage is no laughing matter. I hope you think carefully before making a decision."

Jiang Chengxu's face instantly darkened. He hated himself for not waking up sooner; if he had, he would have certainly found her before the Jiang family of Yanshi could, and had his mother step in to arrange this marriage for him.

In his past life, he never understood why she insisted on divorcing him and wouldn't give him a chance. Clearly, he had never intended to marry Xu Manman; he just wanted a child with the bloodlines of both the Jiang and Xu families, who could take care of her in her old age.

Only now did he realize that she had been dissatisfied with this marriage all along, and it was a case of hating the house because of the crow.

Upon hearing this, Xu Manman shuddered. She bit her lip, her whole body trembling slightly. She hadn't expected that what Brother Chengxu went to tell Xu Qinghuan was about marriage.

Were they going to get married so soon?

Seeing that Xu Qinghuan was about to come upstairs, Xu Manman hurriedly ran back and lay back on the bed before she entered the room.

No, she couldn't just sit and wait for death. If Brother Chengxu truly had no feelings for her, that would be one thing, but he clearly didn't reject her. Why should she give up such a good opportunity?

Such a good man, a man with such a prestigious family background—the Jiang family held a significant place in Yanshi. This was something she had discovered only after pestering him for the past six months.

When Xu Qinghuan returned, Xu Manman asked her, "Are you going to marry Brother Chengxu?"

Xu Qinghuan glanced at her. "I have no intention of marrying him. As for whether he will marry you, that's none of my business. Don't ask me."

She currently had only two goals: first, to break the engagement, and second, to go to the countryside.

Once she sold her work tomorrow, she would have money. She could prepare some supplies and then sign up. Before leaving, she would cancel the marriage.

When Wang Mingxia returned, she mentioned that she had arranged to meet Mother Jiang tomorrow. At night, she and Xu Liqun discussed how to approach Mother Jiang.

In reality, Wang Mingxia didn't even need to consider how to bring it up, because as soon as Mother Jiang returned home and saw her son looking listless, she asked and found out that he wanted to marry, but Xu Qinghuan had not agreed.

This engagement had been arranged by the Jiang family of Yanshi and Song Wanlin, and only Father Jiang had been notified. Father Jiang had always been filial and relied heavily on the Jiang family; plus, his son and Xu Qinghuan had been classmates since childhood, so he hadn't opposed it.

But Mother Jiang was furious. In effect, she had given birth to her son and raised him this large, yet for such a major marriage matter, not a single person had even consulted her? They had bypassed her, the mother, and just settled it directly?

She had also made up her mind: once Xu Qinghuan married into the family, she would never make things easy for this daughter-in-law.

She already disliked Xu Qinghuan, but hearing that her son's proposal had been rejected made her even more resentful toward her. An orphan living under someone else's roof had already climbed too high by marrying into their Jiang family, and now she was even playing hard to get with her son?

The next day, Mother Jiang and Wang Mingxia met, and she spoke directly. "I heard your niece doesn't want to marry. Could it be that she has some objections to this marriage?"

Although Wang Mingxia wanted to ruin the marriage, she didn't dare offend the Jiang family. "There are no objections. Qinghuan is just a young girl, what objections could she possibly have?"

"We want to settle the marriage as soon as possible. I wonder what your thoughts are? If there are no objections, you can state your requirements for the bride price and such now."

Mother Jiang crossed one leg over the other and looked elsewhere. "However, let me say the unpleasant words upfront. I know you are her aunt and uncle, not her biological parents. You raised her, so there is the debt of upbringing rather than birth;

But that has nothing to do with our family. We won't indulge anyone who asks for an exorbitant bride price."

She had no intention of letting them marry, and she hadn't planned on paying a single cent in bride price.

(End of Chapter)