Chapter 33

Jiang Ruan received a notification about having dinner at the Shen family home while she was busy selling sweet potatoes that Qin Ao had brought back from his hometown. The sweet potatoes were a gift from relatives, and both Qin Ao and Qin Yan’s families received a large sack each.

Since Qin Yan didn’t particularly like sweet potatoes, Jiang Ruan decided to sell them.

Just after finishing the sales, a young man who looked a little less handsome than Qin Yan approached. Even though he wasn’t quite as good-looking as Qin Yan, he was still quite attractive, and Jiang Ruan, who had a soft spot for good-looking men and women, treated him with a slightly better attitude.

Since he lingered at her stall, Jiang Ruan didn’t tell him to leave immediately. Instead, she asked, “Are you looking to buy sweet potatoes? I don’t sell them every day. You might want to check the market.”

Shen Tianming studied her for a few moments. He had heard from Han Qingqing that Jiang Ruan was a bit naive, but that didn’t seem evident at the moment. However, his reason for wanting to break off the engagement had nothing to do with her being naive; it was simply because they didn’t have any emotional foundation, and forcing a relationship would only lead to unhappiness.

Shen Tianming said, “Hello, my name is Shen Tianming.”

Jiang Ruan, unaware of the arranged marriage, noticed his polite demeanor and responded, “Hello, I’m Jiang Ruan.”

Shen Tianming continued, “In my generation of the Shen family, I’m the only boy, and in the Han family’s generation, you’re the only girl. My grandfather and your grandfather arranged a betrothal for us. Didn’t you know about this?”

Jiang Ruan was stunned for a while, showing a hint of disappointment in her eyes. It would be great if they didn’t have to go through with the engagement. She wondered if this Shen Tianming would be as easy to get along with as Qin Yan.

Contracts were important in the apocalypse and were also significant here. Reluctantly, Jiang Ruan said, “Alright then, so you want to marry me?”

Shen Tianming: … Okay, she’s definitely a bit clueless. A normal girl wouldn’t casually mention marriage to a stranger like that.

He explained, “Before you and Qingqing were switched back, Qingqing and I were already in love. So, even if you’re back now, I won’t have feelings for you. I hope you can take the initiative to suggest canceling the engagement to your family. Can you do that?”

Jiang Ruan asked, “Why should I be the one to suggest it? If you want to cancel the engagement, you should talk to your family.”

Shen Tianming patiently explained, “My grandfather values contracts and wouldn’t agree to cancel the engagement. But if your family were to bring it up, I think he’d be more open to it.”

Hearing that he wanted to break the engagement but lacked the ability to do it himself, Jiang Ruan found him to be quite shameless.

She said, “You’re so shameless. Let me tell you right now, I won’t fall for your trick. I won’t suggest breaking the engagement. If you want to cancel it, then do it yourself. If you want to marry Han Qingqing, then you have to convince your grandfather on your own, not use me as an excuse!”

Angrily, she began packing up her stall, unable to hold back her frustration, “The men I know are either bad to the core or principled, but I’ve never seen someone as shameless as you. You can’t get what you want, so you ask your fiancée to handle it for you. It’s disgraceful.”

Shen Tianming: … “Are you saying you actually want to go through with the marriage?”

“Whether I want to or not is my business. Let me put it this way: If I didn’t want to marry you, I would apologize to you, try to meet your demands for compensation, and then talk to both families to say that it’s my decision not to go through with the marriage. I wouldn’t be as shameless as you, trying to trick me into canceling it!”

Shen Tianming was speechless, and nearby vendors started to look at him as if he were a heartless man trying to back out of a commitment.

Blushing, Shen Tianming said, “Alright then, as you suggested, I’ll talk to both families to cancel the engagement. What kind of compensation would you like?”

“I’d like to beat you up!”

Without hesitation, Jiang Ruan leaped up and gave Shen Tianming a good thrashing. Given her combat skills, even ten Shen Tianmings together wouldn’t have been able to withstand her. She held back some of her strength; otherwise, he would have been bedridden for three days.

That evening at the Shen family dinner, which also included Han Huaiye and his wife, as well as Han Changfeng, Jiang Ruan sat quietly with her head down, like a child who had done something wrong.

Han Huaiye apologized politely but with dignity, “Our Ruan Ruan is a good child who never initiates violence, but she did go a little too far this time.”

The implication was that Shen Tianming must have provoked Jiang Ruan first.

Han Changfeng looked helplessly at his sister. Jiang Ruan, feeling guilty, turned her head away, but when Han Changfeng spoke, “You have an older brother now, so there’s no need for you to fight your own battles,” she turned back and gave him a sweet smile.

Han Changfeng felt a pang in his heart. His sister, so easily pleased when others treated her kindly, had been privately approached by the Shen family to cancel the engagement. How could he tolerate such an insult?

He turned a gentle gaze toward Shen Tianming, his voice cutting like a blade, “You want to break off the engagement with my sister?”

The gentler his tone, the more intimidating it became, causing Shen Tianming to shrink back.

Shen’s mother was displeased. She already had low regard for Jiang Ruan, who had grown up in the countryside without much education or etiquette, and now she even dared to hit her son. If they got married, Shen Tianming would be at risk of domestic violence.

She slowly said, “It was indeed a mistake for Tianming to approach Jiang Ruan first, but shouldn’t a young girl who hits someone also apologize?”

Jiang Ruan refused to apologize, saying, “Your son asked me what compensation I wanted, and I said I wanted to beat him up. I’ve done that now. If you want to call off the engagement, go ahead—I have no objections.”

“Then let’s cancel it,” Han Changfeng said, unimpressed by Shen Tianming’s eagerness to end things. “My sister deserves someone much better.”

Better than her son? Shen’s mother was amused, “Alright then, I wish you luck in finding someone better. Consider this dinner the breakup meal.”

Old Master Shen, on the other hand, found his bruised and swollen grandson amusing. He liked Jiang Ruan’s straightforwardness—no drama, no fuss, just action. He found it more appealing than Han Qingqing’s pretentious attitude, who always seemed more interested in the Shen family’s status than his grandson.

Now, with the Han family’s real daughter back in place, she was much more to his liking. The old man laughed heartily and declared, “It seems like this was meant to be. The engagement stays.”

…

“The Shen family won’t call off the engagement?” Jiang Ruan relayed the events of the dinner to Qin Yan, who was practicing walking. He wasn’t quite steady yet, and his first attempt ended in failure.

Jiang Ruan helped him up, assuring Miao Shufang, who had heard the commotion from outside, that everything was fine. “Brother Qin Yan just wanted to try standing up again.”

“Has he stood up yet?” Miao Shufang anxiously asked from behind the door.

Qin Yan shook his head at Jiang Ruan, who replied, “No, Brother Qin Yan wants to keep trying. Aunt Miao, you can go about your business.”

Qin Yan stopped his training and returned to his desk to continue reading, but his mind wandered. In his previous life, Shen Tianming had feelings for Han Qingqing, while Han Qingqing liked Qin Yan. She waited for him into her thirties but eventually gave up and married Shen Tianming, the backup option.

Old Master Shen had never approved of Han Qingqing, even going so far as to say that if his grandson married her, he wouldn’t acknowledge him as his grandson anymore. Yet, despite his disapproval of Han Qingqing, Old Master Shen had always favored Jiang Ruan. What did the old man see in her?

Qin Yan turned to Jiang Ruan and asked, “And what about you? After everything that’s happened, you don’t still have hope for Shen Tianming, do you?”

“I don’t particularly like him,” Jiang Ruan replied, “but with the agreement in place and our elders involved, breaking it doesn’t seem right. Let’s see how things go.”

Qin Yan felt a sudden pang of unease. “Jiang Ruan, what if someone tries to push Shen Tianming and Han Qingqing together? What would you think?”

“Are you planning to pair them up?” Jiang Ruan asked.

Qin Yan argued, “They’re both annoying. Wouldn’t it be better to let two annoying people be together?”

“But I like Old Master Shen, Brother Qin Yan. Don’t cause trouble for Shen Tianming, okay? Let’s just stay out of it.”

“Fine.” Qin Yan agreed reluctantly, and when Jiang Ruan left to go home, he didn’t even come out to say goodbye.

…

Early the next morning, on her way to work, Jiang Ruan was confronted by a group of seven or eight young thugs. The leader, a tall and sturdy guy with a buzz cut and a somewhat honest-looking face, lifted his chin and said, “I heard you hit Brother Ming, huh? Little girl, let me tell you, Brother Ming was going easy on you. Otherwise, do you think you could have landed a hit?”

So these were Shen Tianming’s friends. They seemed decent enough, but they lacked manners.

“What do you want?” Jiang Ruan asked.

“You’ve got some nerve,” the buzz-cut guy said. “Let me be clear: Han Qingqing is the only one fit to be our sister-in-law. So you’d better back off and stop bothering Brother Ming.”

“But if their feelings are truly deep, there’s nothing I could do to get in the way, right?” she countered.

“That makes sense… Wait a minute! Stop trying to argue your way out. If you don’t back off, girl, trouble’s gonna find you.”

“Oh? And is this trouble just you lot?” Jiang Ruan asked.

The guys exchanged glances, feeling somewhat embarrassed to be threatening a girl, but they couldn’t let Shen Tianming’s reputation take a hit without responding.

“Yes! Aren’t we scary enough?”

What was there to be scared of? Jiang Ruan swiftly subdued them, dislocating their arms and leaving them bruised and battered. She then went to a store, bought some rope, tied them up, and dragged them to the local police station.

Upon seeing the imposing national emblem at the station, the buzz-cut guy began to plead desperately, “Sis, big sis, we were wrong. Please forgive us; we’re planning to apply to the police academy and can’t afford to get a record.”

Knowing they wanted to join the police but still dared to gang up like that showed how foolish they were, Jiang Ruan thought. She kicked him. “With your stupidity, you don’t deserve to be a cop. It’s time for you to face the consequences.”

She was well aware that they had only intended to scare her without any real intention to harm, but their behavior still needed to be addressed. She tied the other end of the rope to a tree outside the station and went inside to find Han Changfeng, calling him out.

“Brother, look, I brought a few misguided idiots here. They even said they’re aiming for the police academy. Give them a proper lesson.”

Han Changfeng was pleased to see his sister come to him for help. When he stepped outside, he saw a line of battered young men tied to the tree. He recognized most of them, and the buzz-cut guy was his colleague’s younger brother.

Furious, Han Changfeng snapped, “I don’t have time to deal with you idiots. Call your parents.”

The buzz-cut guy, raised in a strict household, was terrified. He fell to his knees. “Brother Han, please don’t call my parents. We were wrong. We won’t do it again.”

…

After collecting the money for the rope from the buzz-cut guy, Jiang Ruan hadn’t walked far when she ran into Shen Tianming, whose face hadn’t fully healed. He had already heard what had happened through a phone call. Seeing that Jiang Ruan was unharmed, he finally felt relieved and said, “Jiang Teng and the others didn’t mean to do it.”

Jiang Ruan found his words odd. The buzz-cut guy’s actions had been intentional, yet Shen Tianming was trying to excuse it as unintentional.

“I already fought them, so we’re even. But to say they didn’t mean it is just deceiving yourself. It’s better to be honest. If you think I’m foolish, you’re the real fool for lying to yourself. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

Shen Tianming: …

After returning from the police station, Old Master Shen called his grandson over. “If you don’t do well on your exams, forget about studying for another year. You’ll get engaged to Ruan Ruan right after graduation.”

“And if I do well?”

“Then, and only then, will you have the right to negotiate terms with me.”

…

Qin Yan was also preparing for the college entrance exams, but his mind was too unsettled, and he couldn’t concentrate on his studies. Restless and unable to sleep until the middle of the night, he heard a tapping on his window again.

He didn’t need his wheelchair anymore; he could support himself by leaning on the bed or the desk as he made his way to the window to let Jiang Ruan in.

“Why are you coming here in the middle of the night again?”

“Brother Qin Yan, your treatment is in its final stages. In about half a month, you should be able to walk like a normal person.”

Qin Yan was incredulous. “So soon?”

“I’m not lying. But it’ll be painful, you know. The treatment that doesn’t hurt takes three years; I’m worried you can’t wait that long. But the half-month treatment is extremely painful. I’m just afraid you might not endure it.”

“I can handle it!” Qin Yan said firmly.