Chapter 38 The marriage certificate is invalid!

Song Minghui’s face darkened. “If the engagement is to be broken off, that’s something our family should decide, not yours!” He wanted Song Yiyi to marry out, but a family like the Cens—with their talent for disguising the truth and muddling right and wrong—was unacceptable! He felt he had misjudged them. Still, he didn’t plan to say this aloud, blaming the Cens’ cunning for the situation.

Cen’s mother snorted, “My son is so outstanding, he can get whoever he wants. If you hadn’t rushed over here, I wouldn’t have even wanted to form a connection with your family.” Since she wasn’t planning on marrying into the Song family, she let all her thoughts spill out. She wasn’t afraid of Gu Chengze anyway—her family had even bigger backing. If they couldn’t marry into the family, so be it; her son was excellent, and plenty of women were after him!

“Fine then, the engagement contract is void!” Song Minghui pulled out a paper and was about to tear it up when Kang Ying suddenly screamed loudly.

“Ahhhhhh!”

She threw down her cane and lunged toward Cen Bowen. The move was so sudden that Cen Bowen, still holding his mouth to stop the bleeding, didn’t react in time and was knocked down. Kang Ying’s head hit Cen Bowen’s mouth, worsening his injury, and blood flowed freely. Cen Bowen groaned in pain.

“Snake! There’s a snake!” Kang Ying kept shouting, clutching Cen Bowen’s shoulders tightly.

Cen’s mother’s eyes turned red as she rushed over to pull Kang Ying away. “Let go! You little slut, even now you stick yourself to my Bowen? You have no shame!” She spat venomous curses, “Don’t think just because our engagement with the Song family is off that my son will marry you. Look at what you are!”

“As long as I’m here, you’ll never step foot in the Cen family again!” Cen’s mother cursed repeatedly, clawing at Kang Ying’s face.

The three of them struggled chaotically.

Song Yiyi pointed to a spot not far away in a calm voice, “There’s a small snake there.”

A green snake was slithering toward the three.

Before anyone could react, Cen Yue bent down and grabbed the snake. He showed no fear; his sharp-featured face remained expressionless, and the snake immediately went still in his hand.

Cen’s mother continued beating Kang Ying. Kang Ying instinctively clung to Cen Bowen, burrowing into his embrace. She shielded her face, but Cen’s mother scratched deep bloody marks on her neck.

Cen Bowen was pinned under two women, his face wounded and unable to move.

Song Minghui finally couldn’t stand it and shouted, “Everyone get up!”

His voice carried the authority of a schoolteacher scolding students.

Cen’s mother snapped out of it, realizing Cen Bowen was still under Kang Ying. She scrambled up and roughly pulled Kang Ying off her son, quickly checking his injuries.

Song Yiyi was also a bit afraid of snakes, but not nearly as much as Kang Ying. Watching Cen Yue take the snake outside, she silently shifted closer to Gu Chengze.

After examining Cen Bowen’s wounds, Cen’s mother helped him stand and said, “Bowen, come with me to the hospital. Look at your mouth—it’s all cut up. Let the doctor take a good look.”

Cen Bowen’s face darkened. He shrugged off his mother’s hand and looked straight at Song Yiyi.

“Song Yiyi, I’m only asking you once: do you really want to break off the engagement?”

What he said was partly heartfelt but mostly said in anger. Song Yiyi’s jealousy over his relationship with Kang Ying showed she cared about him. Though she had gone too far, they had already signed the engagement contract in front of the elders.

“Yiyi, about what happened before, I can let it go,” Cen Bowen sighed. “Just apologize to my mom and Kang Ying, and I’ll forgive you. Our engagement will still stand…”

This time, Song Yiyi didn’t stop Gu Chengze. Cen Bowen was on guard and the two started fighting.

Cen’s mother screamed again and tried to rush in to help her son, but Cai Mengjun quickly grabbed her arm.

“What are you doing? The kids are immature—don’t get involved!”

Cen’s mother, usually fearless, suddenly shrank back when she saw Cai Mengjun’s face.

Song Yiyi crossed her arms and loudly said from nearby, “Cen Bowen, I don’t want to mention the horrible things you’ve done. Apologize to Kang Ying? Does your family have no mirrors? At least have some shame. Go home and look at yourself—you’re a straight shot from rectum to brain.”

Cen Bowen’s head was still dizzy from the punch he took earlier. Even if he wasn’t injured, he wouldn’t stand a chance against Gu Chengze, who was a deputy regiment commander.

While Song Yiyi spoke, Cen Bowen was punched several more times by Gu Chengze.

Kang Ying screamed on the side, wanting to intervene but afraid of hurting her broken leg. The doctor had warned that if her leg was injured again, she might become permanently crippled.

Kang’s hesitation was visible.

When Cen’s mother saw her son being beaten, she panicked and charged forward, shouting, “Ahhhh! How dare you hit my son, I’ll fight you all!”

Before she could reach them, Cen Yue’s casual voice stopped her:

“Enough.”

Just those two words.

Gu Chengze stopped, rubbed his wrist, and walked back to Song Yiyi’s side.

Cen Bowen almost couldn’t stand.

Cen’s mother rushed to support him, almost crying, “Damn it, damn it, I won’t forget this. Just wait, just wait!”

She then dragged Cen Bowen away.

Kang Ying picked up her cane from the ground and limped after them.

Cen’s mother wanted to take Cen Bowen to the hospital, but he was too embarrassed and refused. So she had no choice but to bring him back to the guesthouse.

After a while, the sound of a cane tapping came from behind.

Cen’s mother turned around, furious when she saw Kang Ying’s face. She was about to curse again, but Cen Bowen stopped her.

“Mom, it’s not Yingzi’s fault, don’t blame her.”

Cen’s mother almost choked. But when she turned, seeing Cen Bowen’s bruised and swollen face, her anger faded.

Kang Ying, leaning on her cane, realized she had an opportunity.

She hurried up and lowered her voice, “Auntie, please calm down.”

Cen’s mother snorted and turned away, refusing to look at her.

Only Cen Bowen smiled gently at Kang Ying, “Yingzi, you should go back to the hospital. Your leg isn’t healed yet, don’t wander around. This time, I got you into trouble. I’ll come see you another day.”

His tone was soft.

Kang Ying couldn’t hold back tears and wiped them away.

She forced a smile and said, “No, it’s all my fault.”

Her expression darkened, then she added, “Bowen, you and Auntie must be tired. You go upstairs first, I’ll go buy some medicine! I’ll be back soon!”