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Lin Yuyao continued to cry in her father’s arms for a while longer.
This time, both Lin Dawei and Ye Lian remained silent, understanding each other perfectly. They simply patted her back gently, trying to comfort her.
They waited for her to cry it out and speak on her own.
“Father, Mother, I can’t get married anymore.”
Hmm?
Both were confused.
“Can’t get married? What do you mean? The marriage report has already been filed, and in three days, the wedding banquet will take place. How can the marriage be called off now?”
“We don’t have any money left. Lu Jiangting… he lent the 1,000 yuan meant for the wedding, including the 300 yuan dowry you both gave me, to Fang Qing. He told me… *hic*… he told me there would be no wedding.”
As she finished speaking, Lin Yuyao took out the IOU to show them.
She was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath, hiccupping as she sobbed.
But she wasn’t crying because the wedding was off, though her parents didn’t know that.
They only assumed that the man surnamed Lu had done something unforgivable, trampling on their daughter’s dignity.
After reading the IOU, neither Lin Dawei nor Ye Lian said a word. They both turned around to grab weapons.
Father picked up a carrying pole, and Mother took a rolling pin. Without hesitation, the two stormed off toward the neighboring village, full of fury.
Lin Yuyao trailed behind them, shouting and crying.
The neighbors were startled by the fierce demeanor of their family.
“Lin Dawei, what’s going on?” one of them asked.
Lin Dawei ignored the question, his momentum unwavering.
Another older woman grabbed Ye Lian by the arm, “Ye Lian, what happened?”
Ye Lian angrily shook off the woman’s hand and, clutching the rolling pin, continued her furious march toward the neighboring village.
Both of them looked as though they were ready to pick a fight, and not just any fight—they were ready to take the other party down.
Soon after, everyone saw Lin Yuyao crying and running after them.
“Yuyao, what’s wrong with your parents?”
“My father and mother… they’re going to beat up Lu Jiangting.”
“What? Why would your parents want to beat up Lu Jiangting? Aren’t you two about to get married?”
“I’ll explain later,” Lin Yuyao said, pushing aside the older woman and hurrying after her parents.
The onlookers were incredibly curious. One by one, they followed behind the Lin family as they made their way to Lu Jiangting’s house, about three miles away.
From a distance, Lin Yuyao saw Lu Jiangting standing at the gate of his courtyard, chatting and laughing with two well-dressed young men.
She had seen these two men in her dream. If that dream had really been as real as it seemed, then these two must be Lu Jiangting’s comrades-in-arms.
One was named Yi Yunshuo, and the other Fu Huayi.
They were on leave visiting family, and since they happened to be around for Lu Jiangting’s wedding, they came to attend. They weren’t locals—they had to take a long train ride to get there, so they arrived three days early to enjoy a bit of sightseeing.
It was likely that they had just arrived today.
In the dream, they had also arrived around this time.
From a distance, Lu Jiangting spotted Lin Dawei and Ye Lian storming toward him, looking furious. His heart sank.
“Oh no,” he muttered to himself.
He had no idea what Lin Yuyao had told them, but seeing how enraged her parents were made him panic.
His two comrades, noticing his sudden change in expression, asked, “Jiangting, what’s going on?”
“I… I…” Lu Jiangting stammered, unsure of how to explain himself.
By this point, Lin Dawei had already reached him, and without saying another word, he swung the carrying pole at Lu Jiangting.
“You good-for-nothing scoundrel, I’m going to beat you to death!”
Lu Jiangting instinctively raised his arm to block the blow.
The pole struck his arm, and the pain made him grimace.
Yi Yunshuo and Fu Huayi, not understanding the situation, couldn’t just stand by and watch their friend get beaten. After exchanging a glance, one of them disarmed Lin Dawei, skillfully grabbing the pole from his hands, while the other restrained him, pinning him to the ground.
At that moment, Ye Lian arrived as well.
She was just as furious as Lin Dawei.
Lin Dawei at least managed to land a hit, but Ye Lian didn’t even get the chance. Her rolling pin didn’t touch anyone before it was snatched away, and like Lin Dawei, she was pinned to the ground.
Covered in dust, the couple who had angrily attacked the scoundrel Lu Jiangting now found themselves in a humiliating position. Furious, they started cursing.
“Lu Jiangting, you worthless dog! How dare you disgrace my daughter? I’m not afraid of you! I’ll take this to the highest level if I have to!”
“This is unbearable! You can’t just treat people like this!”
Fu Huayi: “…”
Yi Yunshuo: “…”
Something didn’t feel right.
At that moment, Lin Yuyao rushed over and began wildly hitting and scratching Fu Huayi.
“Let go of my mother, let go…!”
Fu Huayi, unfortunately, was the closest to her and happened to be the one holding her mother down. She figured her father, being a man, could hold out a bit longer—she had to free her mother first.
His hand was scratched so badly that it started bleeding. He let go of Ye Lian and then grabbed Lin Yuyao in one swift motion.
Lin Yuyao immediately felt his arm’s strength, like an iron grip, trapping her.
“Let’s talk this out calmly, no need to fight.”
“Let go of my father and me, and we won’t resort to violence.” Lin Yuyao’s intention wasn’t to fight, but to call off the engagement and publicly shame Lu Jiangting and Fang Qing.
Fu Huayi and Yi Yunshuo exchanged a glance before releasing Lin Yuyao and Lin Dawei.
At this moment, Lu Jiangting’s parents, hearing the commotion, came out. Seeing the chaotic scene, they hurriedly asked, “What’s going on here?”
“Family-in-law, why are you—”
“Family-in-law?!” Ye Lian was furious, pointing at Lu Jiangting’s family as she unleashed a tirade.
“What have we ever done to deserve this from you? How could you disgrace my daughter like this?”
The sight of this confrontation made Lu Jiangting’s expression darken even further. He kept glancing at Lin Yuyao, trying to figure out what she had told her parents to provoke such anger.
In truth, she hadn’t exaggerated or said anything too outrageous—she simply hadn’t covered up for him and had cried for a long time, her eyes swollen from the tears.
Lin Dawei and Ye Lian had never seen their daughter cry like this before. Even though she hadn’t said much, they felt that she must have suffered a great injustice. The only thought in their minds now was that they were ready to fight Lu Jiangting to the bitter end.
Lu Jiangting’s parents were completely confused.
“In-laws, what exactly happened? How did Jiangting disgrace Yuyao?”
Disgrace her?
Ye Lian angrily replied, “Let him explain it himself.”
Everyone turned to look at Lu Jiangting.
He had no choice but to speak, “Yuyao, didn’t I already explain everything to you?”
Yes, he had explained, but in Lin Yuyao’s dream, after she had thrown a brief tantrum, Lu Jiangting managed to calm her down.
After returning home, she had followed Lu Jiangting’s plan and lied to her parents, telling them that the military had an urgent task, and that the wedding would be postponed until next year.
Her parents, thinking that since the marriage report had already been submitted, delaying the wedding ceremony wasn’t a big deal, didn’t say much at the time.
But now, Lin Yuyao didn’t want to be that pitiful woman. She didn’t want to marry him—why should she lie for him?
“I can’t deceive my parents. That would be unfilial. If you want to lie to them, then you do it yourself.”
Lu Jiangting was at a loss for words. She had already exposed the lie—how could he say anything now?
Besides, with his two comrades present, the excuse about the military having an urgent task was completely impossible to use.
His face turned grim. Finally, he was forced to explain the situation to her parents.
“Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, it’s my fault the wedding can’t go ahead for now. I lent the money to… a comrade’s family member, who was in urgent need.”