Font Size:
Lu Jiangting knew he was in the wrong and stammered, unable to say a word.
However, his parents were still trying to defend him.
“We won’t be helping her forever, just this once. Yuyao, we admit that Jiangting was wrong this time. I promise there won’t be a next time. Please, forgive him for this one mistake.”
Lin Yuyao sniffled, her voice trembling with tears as she said, “Uncle, could you return my dowry first?”
“Huh?”
“This…” Lu Cong looked at Lu Jiangting. “Jiangting, the money is with you. How much do you still have?”
Lu Jiangting shook his head. “It’s all gone. I lent everything to Fang Qing.”
“What? You had over a thousand yuan on you. You lent it all?”
“Yes,” Lu Jiangting replied indignantly, looking at Lin Yuyao. “Didn’t we agree she’d return it in three months?”
“Three months? After her salon changes ownership, she’ll need to renovate, buy equipment, and open for business. It’s impossible for her to repay it in just three months.”
“I said if she can’t repay it, I’ll help her.”
Lin Yuyao gave a bitter laugh. “Didn’t you say that once we got married, you’d give all your money to me?”
Lu Jiangting remained silent.
“Your salary is supposed to be mine. How are you going to repay it? By using my own money to repay me?”
The crowd suddenly realized the truth.
“Exactly, Xiao Lu. If that’s the case, aren’t you just using her money to pay yourself back? You don’t really intend for Fang Qing to return the money, do you?”
He hadn’t planned for Fang Qing to repay the money at all. Now that he was backed into a corner, Lu Jiangting admitted bluntly, “So what if she doesn’t repay it? Jianjun saved my life. Isn’t my life worth more than a thousand yuan?”
Lin Yuyao spoke up, “Everyone can see now—it’s all just excuses. All that talk about lending money and helping her repay it, they’re all lies to fool me. The truth is, he never intended for her to pay it back. He owes her a life debt, and if he wants to use his own money to repay it, that’s fine. But why does he have to drag me into it? I don’t owe them anything.”
“What do you mean ‘yours’ and ‘mine’? Once we’re married, we’re one unit. There’s no division between yours and mine.”
Lin Yuyao sneered, “No division? Yours is Fang Qing’s, and mine is also Fang Qing’s. Isn’t that right?”
Lu Jiangting was speechless.
Lu Cong interjected, “Yuyao, while it’s true Jiangting is in the wrong here, there’s no need to say such harsh things. What belongs to you both is yours, not Fang Qing’s.”
Lin Yuyao looked at Lu Cong’s thin, frail frame, with a cigarette constantly in his hand.
Due to his long-term habit of smoking cheap cigarettes, his health was poor. She would have to care for him for at least ten years before he passed.
As for Lu Jiangting’s mother, she had cataracts in her eyes, which would only worsen over time. Elderly women like her had no concept of cataract surgery, and by the time she was nearly blind, she still hadn’t considered having the surgery.
After caring for the old man until his death, she would then be stuck caring for the blind old lady. How could “miserable” even begin to describe such a fate?
She refused to let herself become the woman in her nightmares.
Seeing that enough people had gathered around and the reasons had been fully explained, she knew it was the right moment to bring up calling off the marriage.
It wasn’t her fault for backing out—Lu Jiangting had gone too far.
“Father, Mother, I don’t want to live like this. I want to call off the engagement.”
Lin Dawei and Ye Lian had already made up their minds the moment they saw their daughter crying in such distress.
When they heard her say she wanted to call off the engagement, the two of them raised both hands and feet in full agreement.
“Fine, we won’t go through with this marriage.”
Hiss!
The crowd collectively gasped.
Lu Jiangting’s expression darkened. Lin Yuyao had chased after him for so many years—how could she possibly want to call off the engagement now?
“You want to call off the engagement?”
“Yes.”
His nearly blind mother, leaning against the doorframe, squinted at Lin Yuyao’s blurry figure and said, “Yuyao, marriage is no small matter. Jiangting made a mistake, but I can beat him for you, make him change. You can’t just call off the engagement!”
Hearing this, Lin Yuyao felt a bitter laugh bubbling up inside her.
She thought of the pitiful woman in her dreams, hearing this same blind old lady say these words countless times.
Every time she was driven to the edge by Lu Jiangting’s actions, the old lady would step in and say she’d beat Lu Jiangting for her, telling her not to be angry.
Then, she’d lightly pat Lu Jiangting a few times, scolding him in a way that neither hurt nor fazed him, before turning to Lin Yuyao and saying, “See, I helped you teach him a lesson. He knows he was wrong now. Don’t be mad at him.”
Over and over, this cycle dragged on for a lifetime.
Lin Yuyao shook her head. “Whether or not you beat him is your business. I’m not willing to take on the risks that marriage to him would bring. I must call off this engagement, and you must return my dowry.”
Lu Jiangting said, “Lin Yuyao, are you serious?”
“As serious as can be—more real than a pearl. So please, return the marriage Report and give me back my dowry.”
“But the Marriage Report has already been processed. By now, they’ve probably received it. This isn’t just calling off the engagement—it’s a divorce. We’re in a military marriage, and without my agreement, you can’t divorce me.”
Lin Yuyao didn’t mention that the Marriage Report was on its way back, fearing that Lu Jiangting would rush to make another call and have the document returned by the delivery service. Instead, she said, “So you’re banking on holding me down for a mere three hundred yuan dowry?”
“I…,” Lu Jiangting was momentarily speechless. He sighed and said, “I didn’t think of it like that. I’m not marrying you for three hundred yuan.”
“You always say things so sweetly. But those are just words to placate me, and since you never follow through, it’s easy for you to say anything.”
“But what have you actually done? You say it’s not about my three hundred yuan, yet what happened? The day before, I handed you three hundred yuan to purchase the things we needed for the wedding. And the next day—”
“You took my dowry and used it to repay your favor.”
The neighbors started chattering, all criticizing Lu Jiangting, saying he wasn’t decent for deceiving the young girl from the Lin family.
“He always talks sweetly, but his actions say otherwise.”
“If you owe someone your life, then go repay it yourself! Heck, give yourself entirely to them if you must.”
“But you can’t use the poor girl’s dowry to settle your debt—what kind of behavior is that?”
Lu Jiangting’s face turned red with embarrassment as he listened. How could he not know he had done wrong?
He knew, but he still did it.
In his mind, since Lin Yuyao was his wife, she was his partner in everything—they were one. So, whatever burden he placed on her, she ought to endure it.
Her only mistake was becoming his wife.
Ye Lian held Lin Yuyao, crying, “My daughter, you’ve suffered so much. Even if this marriage goes through, we can still get a divorce. If that Lu won’t agree to it, we’ll go straight to his superiors. We’ll expose all the filthy things he’s done, and I refuse to believe the higher-ups will cover for him.”
Lin Dawei raised a wooden stick and shouted, “You piece of garbage! If you dare not agree to the divorce, I’ll beat you to death.”
Lu Jiangting opened his mouth, but no words came out.
His father, Lu Cong, pushed him forward and said, “You go and get the money back. Do it tomorrow. Yuyao, I’ll have Jiangting get the money back, and we won’t call off the wedding. The banquet will go ahead as planned.”
“How can that be?” Lu Jiangting protested. “I just gave them the money today, and now you want me to ask for it back tomorrow? What will they think of me? How could I face Jianjun?”
[Author’s Note: Lu keeps insisting they’re already married because he’s fooling the villagers and assuming that once the paperwork is submitted, the marriage is a done deal. In those days, the system wasn’t as strict as it is now, where both parties must be present to finalize the registration.]