Chapter 10

Aunt He hurriedly arrived in Xifeng City last night, as scheduled to meet with Lin Xiang. She had originally planned to bring the marriage contract to ask the women’s director for help, intending to ensure that Lin Xiang could escape Lin Guangming and Qiao Aiying’s scheme. However, Lin Xiang, being a smart young woman, had already planned everything carefully and arranged things neatly. Aunt He was reassured and, as dawn broke, she entered the steel factory’s staff quarters, hiding in the crowd along the corridor, observing.

She remembered Lin Xiang’s words and waited until the right moment to step forward.

To avoid an early clash between the arranged marriage and the one set by the parents, which could easily escalate into a melodramatic situation, Aunt He knew that once the true nature of Sun Yaozu was revealed, and everyone turned against him, even Lin Guangming would have to give up his proposal for face’s sake. Only then, presenting the arranged childhood marriage would be a guaranteed victory.

Sure enough, when Lin Guangming saw the sudden appearance of the childhood marriage contract, he was stunned.

This marriage had been long forgotten by him. He vaguely remembered that it was arranged by his late wife’s father, in conjunction with a comrade, but that was many years ago. After his wife passed away, his in-laws died during the famine, and the Lin family had lost contact with the He family. Now, with his current wife, Qiao Aiying, he was wholeheartedly focused on marrying Lin Xiang into the factory manager’s family, never expecting such complications to arise!

“You… you are?” Lin Guangming stammered. He had met the parents of Lin Xiang’s childhood marriage partner more than ten years ago but couldn’t even recall their names.

Aunt He, however, had an excellent memory. She straightened her back and spoke with a heavy tone, “I’m He Guifang from Yonghe Production Team, Wuxing Commune, Yiyang County. Nineteen years ago, I arranged a marriage between my son, He Hongyuan, and your daughter Lin Xiang. Here’s the marriage contract; the writing on it is by Huiling. You don’t remember it, do you?”

Feng Huiling, Lin Xiang’s late mother, was smart and beautiful, and wrote an elegant hand.

Lin Guangming took the marriage contract and immediately recognized the familiar handwriting.

Liu Qiuping, who had been worried about Lin Xiang’s marriage, finally relaxed. When Lin Xiang asked her for help, she had mentioned finding the childhood marriage partner’s family. This man was a soldier with great integrity, far better than someone like Sun Yaozu.

She immediately congratulated, “Well, that’s great! The marriage contract is here, so Lin Xiang doesn’t have to rely on you two, who can’t even see clearly, to arrange her marriage. This saves her from being stuck with someone unsuitable.”

Her words dripped with sarcasm, and Lin Xiang almost couldn’t contain her smile. Qiao Aiying, on the other hand, was furious. Her face alternated between red and pale as she looked at her husband, feeling uneasy.

Today’s events were a complete mess, completely throwing off her plans. Not only had they failed to marry Lin Xiang to Sun Yaozu, but now a childhood marriage contract had unexpectedly emerged!

“Is this true, dear? Lin Xiang really has a childhood marriage contract?” Qiao Aiying couldn’t believe it.

“If you don’t believe it, you can ask the old factory manager from the steel plant. He was the witness back then.”

Lin Guangming, terrified of bothering the old factory manager over such a matter, immediately acknowledged, “Yes, it’s been many years. I only just remembered. But… this is a new society. An arranged childhood marriage is a form of forced marriage, which seems a bit feudal.”

After thinking for a moment, he decided that he didn’t want to marry his daughter to someone from the He family, who had just suddenly appeared.

This reason was perfect: feudal forced marriage. If he canceled it, at least it would be justified and not subject to gossip.

“Who says it’s a feudal forced marriage?” Lin Xiang scanned the crowd of onlookers, smiling lightly as she looked directly at her furious father, Lin Guangming, who glared at her with fiery eyes. She spoke casually, “I’ve always liked my childhood marriage partner. This isn’t just a feudal forced marriage. I want to marry him. This is free love, free marriage leave.”

With a loud thud, Lin Guangming felt as though a string in his head snapped. His daughter, who had always been the most timid and obedient, had dared to repeatedly defy him!

“Lin Xiang! You’re asking for it!” Lin Guangming was seething with rage, ready to slap her twice and kick her a few times. How could this unfilial daughter challenge him, her father?

But there were too many onlookers. He couldn’t act out in front of them.

After listening for a while, the women’s director, Bai, had figured out the situation. Having been a women’s director for many years, she had seen it all and could tell that Lin Guangming didn’t treat his daughter from his late wife as well as his children with his current wife. She immediately spoke, “Since Lin Xiang already has a marriage agreement with the He family, it’s clear in black and white. She likes this childhood partner, so it’s a good match both emotionally and logically. Lin Guangming, Qiao Aiying, you should let the two families finalize the engagement.”

Upon hearing that the engagement would go ahead, the neighbors also joined in with congratulations.

“Exactly, an arranged childhood marriage, and the young ones actually like each other—this is a huge blessing!”

“Looks like Lin Xiang’s grandfather had good foresight. This is a much better match than the one her father tried to arrange!”

The gossiping voices filled Lin Guangming’s ears, making Qiao Aiying seethe with rage, but she couldn’t act on it.

…

After the crowd dispersed, the staff quarters director and the women’s director, on their way out, expressed their concern for Lin Xiang.

“Lin Xiang, having your marriage settled is a good thing. If you encounter any further problems, feel free to come to the organization. We will definitely help you with coordination.”

“Thank you, Director He and Director Bai,” Lin Xiang sincerely thanked them before turning to Liu Qiuping, “Aunt Liu, thank you for your trouble today.”

The three of them acknowledged her thanks and then left.

Once they were gone, only the Lin family and their in-laws, Aunt He, remained in the house.

Even though he was reluctant, the situation had gotten out of hand, and Lin Guangming had no choice but to swallow his pride and accept the marriage proposal.

Aunt He had originally thought that her family, living in the village with her son stationed on some remote island, had caused Lin Xiang to be married into the Lin family in the city—a marriage that seemed beneath her. But after learning about Lin Guangming and his wife’s behavior, she was determined to pull Lin Xiang out of the fire.

The two sides wore different expressions. Aunt He was smiling, relaxed, and content. Lin Guangming’s muscles twitched, suppressing his anger. Qiao Aiying looked annoyed, while Lin Xiang smiled, pleased to see her scoundrel father and stepmother take a hit.

On the other side, Lin Jianxin seemed regretful that his second sister couldn’t marry Sun Yaozu, while Lin Chuchu was lost in thought, staring at the corner of the wall, looking somewhat contemplative.

“Lin Xiang, do you really want to marry this betrothed?” Lin Guangming’s voice was cold and devoid of warmth, making the hot summer day feel a little chillier. “Aunt He said her son, He Hongyuan, is stationed on some island, over a thousand miles from Xifeng City. Don’t be ungrateful! If you end up suffering, your maternal family will have your back!”

“That’s right, Xiang Xiang,” Qiao Aiying chimed in, agreeing with her husband. “You have no idea how difficult it is to live with the military, especially on some remote island. It’s probably a desolate place. Why would you want to go there when you have a good life here?”

The couple worked in perfect harmony, still playing the roles of the good cop and the bad cop, easily fooling most people.

But Lin Xiang wasn’t fooled.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I trust the marriage my grandfather arranged, and I’m willing to marry him.” Lin Xiang even returned their arguments in kind, showing her value. “Besides, Dad, Mom, your thinking still needs to improve. If I marry him, I’ll be a military wife. How can you keep saying that it will be tough? The military protects the country, and military wives naturally have to endure hardships. Is this how you view military personnel and their families?”

Lin Guangming & Qiao Aiying: “…”

The two dared not speak ill of military personnel, as they were the most respected and revered.

But Lin Xiang, this little vixen, was becoming sharper with her words, leaving them speechless.

After today’s events, Lin Guangming fully realized that Lin Xiang had changed.

The timid, obedient girl he once knew had become unfamiliar, and it made him uneasy.

Lin Xiang was no longer someone he could easily scold, beat, or control.

Exhausted, Lin Guangming finally accepted this marriage proposal, though reluctantly.

However, as easy as it was to arrange the marriage, he wanted to get something out of it. He exchanged a look with his wife, Qiao Aiying, who, after years of shared understanding, spoke up with a touch of impatience. “Aunt He, the marriage was arranged by the previous generation, so we won’t say much. But this girl is being foolish—she’s turning down a good match in the city to go off to some island. We can’t interfere, but Lin Xiang is still the treasure of this family, so the dowry can’t be too little. Just now, Sun Yaozu was willing to offer six hundred sixty-six yuan!”

Lin Xiang’s expression soured. She immediately realized her father and stepmother were trying to squeeze money from her. She didn’t want to let them succeed. “You don’t need to worry about the dowry and the marriage gifts. My mother passed away early, but if she were here, she would have made sure I had the dowry. I’ll discuss this with Aunt He.”

“Lin Xiang! Are you shameless?” Lin Guangming was furious, his face turning red with rage. “You still want the dowry to go to your in-laws? Do you believe I won’t stop this marriage?”

“Do you want it to stay in your family and use it for yourselves? Or are you planning to sell your daughter for a quick profit from a military family? Don’t say I didn’t warn you—this is a military marriage, and if you mess with it, I’ll report to the army and ask them to intervene.”

Lin Guangming was stunned by Lin Xiang’s threat. He couldn’t afford to offend the military or go against the army.

After everything that had happened today, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He waved his hand, no longer wanting to deal with this ungrateful daughter. The sooner she left the Lin family, the better!

Aunt He was a straightforward person. She had given Lin Xiang a dowry based on the standard city rates, unwilling to make Lin Xiang feel wronged. He Hongyuan had earned many accolades and received a good salary, which he regularly sent home, but Aunt He, being frugal, had saved all the money. Now, it was being put to good use. She knew the Lin family’s ways, so she converted the dowry and wedding gifts into cash to hand over directly to Lin Xiang.

Qiao Aiying was furious that she didn’t get a cent, but Lin Guangming suddenly remembered something important and angrily said, “Before the marriage is finalized, Lin Xiang must first hand over her job to Jianxin!”

He had almost forgotten about this. If Lin Xiang wanted to marry, she had to leave her job behind first!

Qiao Aiying was also caught off guard and quickly added, “Yes, she must give up her job before the wedding! This is what we agreed upon!”

After today, Qiao Aiying was beginning to fear Lin Xiang. She kept worrying that Lin Xiang would pull some trick to avoid giving up her job. Could she and her husband really win this argument?

Qiu Aiying hesitated.

But this time, Lin Xiang held her enamel cup, smiling sweetly with a gentle tone:
“Alright, tomorrow afternoon Jianxin can come with me to the factory to complete the paperwork. I’ll transfer my job to him.”