Chapter 29 – Breaking Off the Engagement (Part 2)

Since the proposal to break off the engagement came from the Xia family, not only did they have to return the betrothal gifts to the Xie family, they also had to provide additional compensation as a gesture of apology.

After a brief discussion, it was agreed that the compensation would be ten taels of silver.

However, the condition raised by the Xie couple wasn’t about the silver—it was something else entirely.

If Xie Jiabao didn’t survive this ordeal, then Xia Yujiao would not be allowed to remarry immediately. She would have to observe a year of widowhood before discussing any future marriage.

Before the Xia elders could even voice an objection, Xia Yujiao readily agreed to the condition.

Xia Daohua was completely dumbfounded.

She hadn’t expected the Xie family to agree to the annulment so easily and without further argument—it was totally beyond her expectations.

She had assumed they would cling to Xia Yujiao and force her to marry into their family no matter what!

Afterward, she grew uneasy. Could it be that the Xie family had already prepared to back out, and were merely waiting for the Xia family to make the first move so that they could hold the moral high ground and demand compensation?

But Xia Daohua didn’t dwell on it for long because she overheard the old couple comforting Xia Yujiao:

“Yujiao, good girl, don’t cry. Do you think your niece understands you better than your own parents?

Even your eight-year-old niece knows to protect you. How could we, your father and mother—at our age—act like heartless fools?”

And just like that, the engagement between the two families was dissolved, peacefully and without much drama.

The only minor hiccup was when Second Aunt Sun seemed like she wanted to object. But Second Uncle gave her a discreet jab with his elbow, cutting her off mid-sentence.

She choked on her own words, coughed violently, and once she finally calmed down, saw Xie Yougui shooting her sharp looks. Frightened, she dared not speak again.

The Xia elders quietly gathered the betrothal gifts, borrowed a cart from the village head’s family, loaded everything up along with Xie Jiabao’s marriage contract and birth date scroll, and brought Second Brother along to officially annul the engagement at the Xie residence.

Although the Xie clan had long since splintered into many branches across several villages, quite a few relatives still lived in the same village as the elderly Xie couple.

Along the way, most of the Xie relatives they encountered were hostile.

News of the annulment had already spread.

When these relatives saw the Xia couple driving a cart full of returned gifts, most turned their faces away, pretending not to see. A few with hot tempers even spat near the couple’s feet with cold, unfriendly faces.

The Xia elders kept their heads down and endured it, though inwardly, they were unfazed.

At first, they genuinely felt a little guilty about letting down Xie Jiabao—after all, he was a good boy.

Although frail, he was always courteous and kind. They had believed that, should Yujiao marry him, she’d be treated well.

That was actually the main reason they’d readily agreed to the match when the Xie family proposed it—they valued Jiabao’s character.

However, after seeing the attitude of the Xie relatives today, they became absolutely convinced they had made the right decision.

They were getting old. Sooner or later, they’d be gone from this world—likely before Yujiao.

If Yujiao had married Xie Jiabao to “bring good luck” and ended up as a rush bride, her status in the family would’ve been pitifully low, even if it was a proper marriage on paper.

If Jiabao miraculously lived a long life, that would be fine.

But if he died shortly after the rush wedding?

And if the Xie clan, emboldened by their numbers, bullied Yujiao afterward—who would speak up for her?

A young woman alone—how would she survive?

The elderly couple said nothing, met briefly with the Xie patriarch, and silently retrieved Xia Yujiao’s birth date scroll.

The three of them—grandparents and grandson—returned to Beiguan Village together in the now-empty cart.

Behind them, the Xie family’s grand estate grew more and more distant.

So too did the ties between the two families.

It was later heard that the elderly Xie couple had gone to Puji Hall and knelt on the street in front of it, weeping and begging Imperial Physician Wang to save their son.

Physician Wang, partly moved by sympathy and partly intrigued by Jiabao’s condition, not only agreed to take him in but also made an exception by allowing him to be “hospitalized.”

After administering an initial acupuncture session, Jiabao’s complexion improved, and he began to regain his appetite.

Physician Wang decided to keep him at Puji Hall for continuous acupuncture therapy and instructed the family to leave someone to attend and care for him.

When Xia Daohua heard this, she was quite surprised.

There was such a thing as hospitalization in this era?

Until now, she had thought all patients were cared for at home.

Still, if Jiabao could survive this, it would be a good thing.

After learning more about the Xie family’s inner workings, Xia Daohua also started to think she may have wrongly accused that bearded man.

While his appearance was brutish and he certainly had the motive to harm Jiabao, he may not have actually been the one who pushed him into the icy river.

This made her think of herself again.

The wound on the back of her head had been itching a lot lately, and to avoid infection, she’d used a great deal of self-control to resist scratching it.

While awake, she could manage—but when asleep, it was another story.

Just last night, she’d unconsciously scratched it while asleep and was jolted awake by the pain.

The wound served as a constant reminder that she might still be in danger.

No one yet knew whether the original Xia Daohua’s injury was really an accident.

So whenever she had free time, she explored the functions of the supermarket. Eventually, she discovered a way to retrieve items without having to enter the space entirely—she could now summon items from the storage section with a simple gesture.

But this trick only worked for items in the storage zone.

That is, only two categories: things she bought from the supermarket and stored, or things she brought from the outside world into the supermarket and stored.

Xia Daohua prepared many miscellaneous “just in case” items, carefully organized into categories for easy access.

So far, though, the only things she’d used were packaged foods. Tools and weapons hadn’t yet come in handy.

But she already had a plan. Even if she had no use for them now, once spring arrived, she’d head into the mountains to “explore.” That’s when the tools would really shine!

While Xia Daohua looked forward to spring, the people of Beiguan Village were eagerly anticipating the Lantern Festival.

The Xia family included.

Since the engagement with the Xie family had been called off, neither Matchmaker Song nor the bearded man had shown their faces again.

It was as if the two of them had completely vanished into thin air.