The Wang family wanted to return the goods, which meant they had found a better prospect than the Zhang family, one that would bring them greater benefits. 

“Brother Zhang, I was young and ignorant before. I mistakenly took brother-sister feelings for love. Now I understand and don’t want to delay you, so can you forgive me this once? After all, a marriage without love won’t be happy, you understand, right?” 

Wang Lingya looked at Zhang Mengzhi with her big, watery eyes, trying to use the same tricks she usually used on other men to deal with him. 

“Stop batting your eyes, I’m afraid your eyeballs will fall out if you keep doing that. Your usual tricks don’t work on me, I’m not buying it.” 

Zhang Mengzhi didn’t give her any face. Over the years, to avoid being pestered by the Wang family, he had prevented the Zhang family from interacting with them. 

And the Wang family also knew that what they did by forcing the marriage wasn’t right, so they didn’t dare to come to the Zhang family with the bride price. 

Especially when Zhang Mengzhi looked at them with his clear black and white eyes, the Wang family always felt that they lacked confidence, and even felt afraid. 

This time, the divorce was also because they knew that Zhang Mengzhi was working in the countryside and not at home, and thought that he wouldn’t return to the city so quickly, so the family came to the Zhang family to handle the matter, wanting to end the matter before he returned to the city. 

However, what the Wang family never expected was that Zhang Mengzhi would return to the city so quickly. 

They didn’t see him come back for the first college entrance examination, so they thought that Zhang Mengzhi would have to come back in a year or two, but he was back now. 

At this time, the Wang family forgot that the reason they targeted the Zhang family in the first place was because the Zhang family’s conditions were good, and also because the Zhang family had relatives who were officials in the city. 

Although this relative was a bit distant, they were still relatives, weren’t they? 

To say nothing else, in the most chaotic times, they relied on this relationship to avoid a lot of trouble and survived the turbulent era smoothly. 

Those whose family conditions were similar to theirs had long been arrested and criticized by the Red Guards. 

The main reason was that the Wang family’s background wasn’t good. Although they weren’t landlords, they were also rich peasants, and the Wang family often bullied farmers in the old society, so they were very afraid of the old things being brought up again and being arrested for criticism in those years. 

Especially in the past few years, it was so chaotic. If it weren’t for the identity of the Zhang family’s in-laws, they would definitely have been the target of criticism. After all, the Wang family had never been very good people, and there were too many people who resented them. 

However, now they no longer worried about being criticized, and their daughter had hooked up with a better target, so the marriage with the Zhang family had to be broken off. 

It was just that the Wang family was greedy, wanting to break off the engagement but not wanting to return the bride price, which angered the Zhang family. 

Before Zhang Mengzhi came back, the Zhang family had heard the news and had been worried about this matter, so Zhang Mengzhi found that they had tired faces when he came back. 

Breaking off an engagement in this era wasn’t a good reputation, and they were worried that it would affect their son’s future prospects, so they hadn’t slept well for several days. 

They were just worried, but who knew that the other party couldn’t wait and came to the Zhang family to break off the engagement on the first day their son came back. 

However, the Wang family was also unlucky, because they were most afraid of Zhang Mengzhi, so they deliberately ran to break off the engagement while he was working in the countryside and hadn’t returned, but he happened to come back today and heard all their shameless lies. 

“As for what you said about a marriage without love not being happy, I agree, but what does that have to do with breaking off the engagement? It’s the first time I’ve encountered someone breaking off an engagement but not returning the bride price. Or else, let’s go to the police station and have a good chat with the police uncles, and let them investigate why you suddenly broke off the engagement and don’t want to return the bride price?” 

Zhang Mengzhi wasn’t one of those men who were deceived and manipulated by her. 

He had first-class tea identification skills. After all, cough cough, he was a man who mixed with both a certain point and a certain river. 

Every time he heard tea-like speeches, he could match them to both men and women. 

Compared to those characters in novels, Wang Lingya’s level was much lower. People who didn’t buy her tricks couldn’t help but get goosebumps. 

Knowing what the Wang family was most afraid of, Zhang Mengzhi wouldn’t let it go because of her few words. 

“Zhang Mengzhi, are you really a man? After all, I’ve been your fiancée for so many years, what’s wrong with spending a little of your bride price? I’ve never seen such a stingy man, who actually wants to get back the bride price he gave to his fiancée. With your stingy behavior, don’t even think about getting a wife in the future.” 

Seeing that Zhang Mengzhi didn’t buy her tricks, Wang Lingya immediately changed her face, glaring at him fiercely, and even cursing him, cursing him for not being able to get a wife. 

“Whether I can get a wife or not has nothing to do with you, anyway, we’ll soon have nothing to do with each other. As for what you said about being stingy, I just learned that a bride price of two hundred yuan is actually just a little bit. It has really broadened the horizons of me and my family. So two hundred yuan isn’t even money? If you don’t give it, you become a stingy person.” 

Zhang Mengzhi wasn’t angry because of her curse. Honestly, he didn’t care whether he got a wife or not. As long as he lived well, it didn’t matter if he didn’t get a wife. 

But the money of his Zhang family, even if it was donated, couldn’t be spent by the Wang family. 

“Isn’t it? My parents helped your maternal grandfather back then, what’s wrong with spending a little of your family’s money? If my family was any more greedy, it wouldn’t just be this little money.” 

Wang Lingya also knew that what her family did wasn’t right, but she wouldn’t admit it, so the fault for breaking off the engagement could only be the Zhang family’s, so that the Wang family could keep the Zhang family’s bride price. 

Moreover, she also felt that she had spent too little of the Zhang family’s money. Thinking about those men around her, any one of them had spent a lot of money on her, and they were just friends, not fiancés. 

“Hehe, Wang Lingya, I’m not one of your suckers, who thinks even your farts smell good. You wanted to spend more, but you just didn’t have the chance. Back then, your parents just gave my maternal grandfather directions, and because of that, your family pestered my family and insisted on getting engaged, and we agreed. And you Wang family have relied on my family to get a lot of benefits, why don’t you mention that? Now you’re bringing up the favor to my maternal grandfather again, how is it that your Wang family’s face is bigger than others? Or are you Wang family just different, treating other people’s money as your own to spend?” 

Zhang Mengzhi was amused when he heard her words, and he became even more impolite when he retorted. 

It would have been fine if she hadn’t mentioned that little favor, but Zhang Mengzhi became even more angry when she mentioned it, so he became even more impolite when he spoke, directly making Wang Lingya’s face turn pale, and terror occupied her beautiful face. 

She could be successful among men because those men who usually surrounded her bought her tricks. 

But once she encountered Zhang Mengzhi, who didn’t buy her tricks, Wang Lingya’s usual cleverness in front of men immediately failed, and she made mistakes one after another, allowing him to seize the handle. 

“N-no, Zhang Mengzhi, how can you say that about me and my family? It was clearly a voluntary engagement, not our family forcing it.” 

Wang Lingya shook her head desperately. Zhang Mengzhi’s words shattered the sense of superiority that she had been brainwashing herself with, and reminded her that the marriage wasn’t the Zhang family coming to ask for it, but the Wang family pestering the Zhang family and using the so-called favor to snatch it. 

“Where did I say wrong? Didn’t you and your family want to go back on your word and not return my family’s bride price? You know in your heart how the marriage came about.” 

Zhang Mengzhi asked back. 

“…” 

Not to mention Wang Lingya couldn’t answer, even the Wang family was pretending to be mute at this moment. 

The engagement had already passed, and they could pretend that it was voluntary, but there was no way to deal with the bride price. 

If you ask them why they still admitted that there was a bride price when they were being shameless and not returning it? 

The person who asked this question must be a sweet fool. Two hundred yuan wasn’t like the later generations, it was quite a lot in this era. 

Moreover, there must have been a matchmaker for the engagement, as well as a lot of witnesses. Not to mention that the Wang family insisted on having the matchmaker at the time write a marriage certificate in order to hold on to the Zhang family tightly, and there were also many witnesses’ signatures and handprints on it. The bride price was even written directly on it. 

How could the Wang family go back on their word? The marriage certificate was made in triplicate, with the Wang family and the Zhang family each holding one, and one in the hands of the marriage officiant. It can be said that this marriage certificate nailed the Wang family tightly, and they couldn’t deny it even if they wanted to, after all, the marriage officiant wasn’t an ordinary person, he was the director of the police station at the time, and he had long been transferred to work in the provincial capital. 

The marriage officiant was related to Zhang Mengzhi’s maternal grandmother’s family, so it was not necessary to think about which side he would stand on. 

Therefore, the Wang family dared to break off the engagement, but they didn’t dare to deny the existence of the bride price. 

Going back on their word was a matter between the Zhang family and the Wang family, but denying the existence of this bride price would involve the marriage officiant, which was not the result the Wang family wanted to see. 

Although the family of the man that Wang Lingya had recently hooked up with had a good background, they couldn’t possibly offend the marriage officiant for a woman they had a good impression of. 

Of course, more importantly, they didn’t dare to let the other party know that Wang Lingya had a marriage contract with other men. If the other party became angry, the Zhang family would certainly not get any benefits, and their Wang family might also be cleaned up. 

It was a pity that the Zhang family itself didn’t have much ability. If Zhang Mengzhi had a capable father, they wouldn’t have come to break off this engagement today. 

Yes, the reason they were willing to give up the good marriage with the Zhang family was naturally because the man that Wang Lingya was currently fishing for had a better future. 

The other party also promised to solve the work problems for Wang’s eldest son and second son, so the Wang family would certainly not refuse such good conditions. 

So they saw that they couldn’t delay it any longer. What if Zhang Mengzhi returned to the city from the countryside and came to the door to ask Wang Lingya to fulfill the marriage contract? 

So they thought of resolving the marriage contract before Zhang Mengzhi came back, to avoid future troubles. 

However, they had calculated it very well, the only thing they didn’t expect was that Zhang Mengzhi would come back early. 

“This Zhang family nephew, we’ve already spent the bride price, even if you ask us to take it out, we can’t! For the sake of the friendship between our two families, why don’t we just let it go.” 

Knowing that using force wouldn’t work, even if the Zhang family wasn’t capable, they had several good relatives. If it was just a general matter, they might not help, but once it threatened the Zhang family’s personal safety, they would definitely not stand idly by. 

They could break off the engagement, but hurting people was another matter. 

Otherwise, before Zhang Mengzhi showed up, there was only Zhang’s mother at home. If the Wang family wanted to do something, she wouldn’t be able to stop them.