Chapter 13: Selfish and Ruthless

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Xu Xiuhong and Ning Zhengang were both somewhat angered by Zhang Lanya’s words. Despite Zhang Lanya’s repeated claims that she was acting out of concern for Ning Rujun, she could not conceal the fact that she wanted to help Wei Zhitao break off the engagement. And the real reason Wei Zhitao wanted to call off the engagement was simply because he wished to be with Feng Qingxue.

All the sweet talk about treating Ning Rujun like a younger sister, about doing what was best for her, and worrying that she would be unhappy or become a resentful couple with Wei Zhitao—all these words only revealed Zhang Lanya and Wei Zhitao’s heartlessness and deceitfulness.

Such people clearly had serious problems with their upbringing and character.

Xu Xiuhong and Ning Zhengang were not fooled by Zhang Lanya; they could see the essence of the matter clearly.

At this moment, as Ning Rujun’s mother, Xu Xiuhong felt the need to speak up.

After coughing weakly for a while, causing Zhang Lanya to instinctively lean back and stop her flowery, self-pitying speech, Xu Xiuhong finally felt somewhat satisfied and spoke, “Sister Ya, is this really Xiao Tao’s decision? Does he truly not want to marry Junjun, and instead wants to marry Xiaoxue?”

“Is Xiao Tao really going to break off this engagement just to marry Xiaoxue?”

“This engagement was arranged by Junjun’s grandfather and Xiao Tao’s grandfather. Are you really going to call it off?”

In Xu Xiuhong’s view, although it was now the 1980s and things were not as strictly restrained as before, breaking off an engagement after it had been settled and seeking a new partner would still invite criticism.

Breaking off an engagement was not an ordinary matter in rural areas; it would attract considerable attention and especially damage the girl’s reputation.

People of this time valued commitments highly. If a promise was made, it was expected to be upheld to the end.

An engagement was almost as binding as marriage once it reached the stage of impending wedding.

No matter how hard or tiring, few would choose to break off an engagement or divorce; they would endure, for better or worse, for life.

If an engagement was broken, it was usually because one party had committed an unforgivable wrong, often disloyalty.

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Breaking off an engagement was very disadvantageous to the woman.

Yet this time, Zhang Lanya had come in person, speaking at length about what was best for Ning Rujun, all for the sake of breaking the engagement!

From what they knew of Zhang Lanya, both Xu Xiuhong and Ning Zhengang understood clearly: Wei Zhitao and Zhang Lanya despised that Ning Rujun’s face was scarred, believing her disfigurement ruined her beauty. That was why they wanted to break the engagement, to marry a prettier girl—even going so far as to choose Ning Rujun’s close friend Feng Qingxue to betray her again.

They had truly misjudged Zhang Lanya and Wei Zhitao.

Upon hearing Xu Xiuhong’s questions and sensing her seriousness, Zhang Lanya frowned, showing helplessness and disappointment.

After a moment of thought, she looked toward Xu Xiuhong, her tone heavy with more disappointment: “Ah Hong, I’m sorry. Xiao Tao really does like Xiaoxue and wants to marry her.”

“Xiao Tao and Xiaoxue are truly in love. They want to live as a loving couple for life. I’m very troubled by this as well.”

“In this situation, if we force Xiao Tao to marry Junjun, they will both likely harbor resentment and live unhappily. That would be unfortunate.”

At this, Zhang Lanya closed her eyes, shook her head in disappointment, and fell silent for a moment before continuing, “I am Xiao Tao’s biological mother. I could never be cruel enough to tear apart two people who love each other. I also don’t want Junjun to marry into our family only to be unloved by Xiao Tao, to have conflicts with him and suffer regret.”

“Really, I don’t want Junjun to regret her marriage.”

“We’ve been sisters for so many years. I’ve watched Junjun grow up and treated her like my own daughter. I can’t bear to see her suffer or be unhappy in marriage.”

“This engagement should be called off.”

As she said these words, Zhang Lanya wiped nonexistent tears from the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief, casting secret glances at Xu Xiuhong and Ning Zhengang, hoping they would be sensible and agree quickly without further entanglement over the engagement.

She would never allow the disfigured Ning Rujun to marry into the Wei family and make a laughingstock of them.

If Ning Rujun had any self-awareness, she should have broken off the engagement the moment she was disfigured and set Wei Zhitao free.

Because of this, Zhang Lanya had long been dissatisfied with Ning Rujun, showing her displeasure behind her back but still hypocritically maintaining a façade of goodwill in public.

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Upon hearing Zhang Lanya’s words, Ning Zhengang and Xu Xiuhong exchanged a glance, sharing the disappointment and worry in each other’s eyes.

The matter had come to such a head; if the engagement was truly broken off, their daughter Ning Rujun would undoubtedly suffer some consequences.

Wei Zhitao marrying Feng Qingxue would be a slap in the face to their family.

Yet even so, Zhang Lanya and Wei Zhitao were willing to be so heartless in handling this matter.

To achieve their aims, Zhang Lanya had gone all out, uttering so many sweet words but unable to hide her malicious, selfish, and ruthless intent. She did not care about the betrayal or the impact on their family.

But with Wei Zhitao and Zhang Lanya’s stance so firm, what could they do?

Clinging to a faint hope to carry on with the marriage would also be very detrimental to their daughter Ning Rujun, making a happy life even harder to achieve.

Ning Zhengang and Xu Xiuhong cherished their daughter deeply and naturally did not want her to make a wrong choice in such an important matter as marriage.

Zhang Lanya and Wei Zhitao were no good people, so they needed to consider carefully to avoid harming their daughter by insisting on the marriage.

However, Ning Rujun had always believed that Wei Zhitao was her fiancé. If the engagement were broken, they did not know whether their daughter could accept the outcome.

Watching Wei Zhitao marry Feng Qingxue would be an even heavier blow to Ning Rujun.

Zhang Lanya and Wei Zhitao were truly ruthless.

After hearing this, Ning Rujun had no good impression of Zhang Lanya and did not expect her to ever genuinely care for her.

Zhang Lanya had already pushed things to this point; Ning Rujun could no longer bear to listen and did not wish for her parents to continue suffering worry and difficulty over her engagement.