“You’re saying… you want to break off the engagement?”

Liu Ye’s voice rose involuntarily, her face full of disbelief as she looked in shock at Yan Jianguo beside her.

No matter how you looked at it, this marriage arrangement was a stroke of luck for Xu Xiaoyue—a chance to climb the social ladder. So Liu Ye never expected the young girl in front of her to be the one calling it off.  

Yan Jianguo’s expression was unreadable. “Comrade Xiao Xu, breaking off an engagement is no trivial matter. I know you must resent us for not reaching out all these years…”

Xu Xiaoyue shook her head. She bit her lip and carefully pulled out a jade pendant she had kept close to her chest.

Yan Jianguo focused his gaze on the pendant. He recognized it—it was from the Yan family. Back in those days, anything of value in the Yan household had either been smashed or burned. He had only seen that jade pendant once when he was a child. It was remarkable that it had been so well preserved after all these years.

“This was originally handed by Old Master Yan to my mother. Now, I return it, intact, to its rightful owner.”

As the final words fell, Xu Xiaoyue offered the pendant to him. It had been a token of the childhood engagement between the two families, and her mother had kept it safe all these years.

“As for breaking off the engagement, this is no joke. Moreover, Comrade Yan Shuli is outstanding in every way—his talent, his family background—he’s exceptional. I know I’m not worthy, so I won’t insist.”

That final sentence, though spoken calmly and respectfully, struck right at Liu Ye’s heart. Her expression softened noticeably. What she had feared most was that this girl from the countryside would enter the compound, think she had seen the world, and refuse to leave no matter what.

Ever since Xu Xiaoyue arrived, Liu Ye had been secretly observing her. In the face of the powerful Yan family, the girl showed no signs of flinching. Her gaze never wandered disrespectfully.

What’s more, the jade pendant left by Old Master Yan was clearly valuable—even someone who didn’t know antiques would recognize it as a fine piece. Yet the girl had returned it without hesitation. That alone showed she wasn’t here to cling to wealth or status.

All the resentment Liu Ye had been holding onto vanished. In her heart, she began to feel that perhaps she had truly misjudged her father-in-law. Maybe when he arranged this marriage back then, he had carefully considered the Xu family’s character.

“Look at you, your forehead’s covered in sweat. You must be exhausted from traveling so far. Have some water.”

Saying that, Liu Ye personally got up to pour a glass.

Xu Xiaoyue quickly accepted it. Biting her lip with a trace of hesitation on her face, she opened her mouth and said, “Uncle Yan, Auntie Liu, aside from settling the engagement, there’s one more thing I came here to ask for your help with.”

Liu Ye’s heart skipped a beat. This isn’t good, she thought. Could it be that breaking off the engagement was just to put them at ease first? She forced a smile. “What help? Just speak freely.”

Xu Xiaoyue took a moment to compose herself. Her almond-shaped eyes shimmered with tears as she spoke about how her family was forcing her to marry a butcher.

“Auntie Liu, I have no other requests. I just hope I can temporarily stay at the Yan house and find some job to support myself.”

After she finished, only the soft sound of her quiet sobs filled the Yan home.

A flush of guilt rose on Liu Ye’s cheeks. To think she had harbored such nasty thoughts about this girl. She was being forced to marry a butcher and still hadn’t tried to use the engagement as a way to latch onto the Yan family. All she asked for was a place to stay.

“People always say folks from the countryside are simple and honest, but I didn’t think the Xu family could be so cruel to a widow and her daughter!”

Liu Ye, who was usually straightforward, now had genuine pity in her eyes after hearing what had happened.

Even the usually serious and stern Yan Jianguo offered rare comfort:

“Good child, just stay here. It’s nothing to add another pair of chopsticks. Treat the Yan house as your own home.”

“Don’t talk about ‘borrowing’ a place to stay. Back when I was young, I wished more than anything to have a fair, delicate daughter like you. Life didn’t go my way then—but now that you’re here, it feels like that wish has finally come true.”

Liu Ye reached out and gently touched the girl’s long, shiny black braid. She wasn’t just saying that. If she’d had such a beautiful and striking daughter, the threshold of the Yan family would have been worn down by suitors.

Xu Xiaoyue clenched her palms—her hands were sweaty. Calling off the engagement had been a way to ease into things and bring them emotionally closer. Her real goal had always been to stay at the Yan house. If she’d asked straightaway, they probably wouldn’t have turned her away, but there would have been a wall in their hearts. What she wanted was for the Yan family to truly accept her.

Fortunately, the final outcome was satisfactory.

While the atmosphere at the Yan household was harmonious, at the train station, Yan Shuli was nearly losing his mind searching for someone.

It was just a meal—he thought it wouldn’t take long—but halfway through, Zheng Jiaojiao suddenly cried out that her stomach hurt.

She crouched down, clutching her stomach, seemingly in so much pain she couldn’t speak, her face pale.

“Brother Shuli, maybe the food we just ate wasn’t clean… I think it upset my stomach.”

“Maybe… maybe you should stop worrying about me and go pick up Sister Yue first. I don’t even know if she’s arrived yet…”

Yan Shuli hesitated for a moment. After a brief thought, he said, “Jiaojiao, can you still walk? I’ll carry you to the hospital.”

With that, he bent down and carried her on his back.

“Brother Shuli, put me down—Sister Yue is still waiting for you. I just have an old problem, no need to go to the hospital.”

But as soon as she finished speaking, she let out another couple of cries of pain.

At that point, how could Yan Shuli still have the heart to go pick someone up? Deep down, he even started to resent that fiancée from the countryside—ever since he learned about her, she hadn’t even shown up yet, and she was already causing trouble.

If it weren’t for going to the station to pick her up today, they wouldn’t have ended up eating that unsanitary food.

By the time they reached the hospital, several doctors had examined her one after another, and the final diagnosis was likely a gastrointestinal spasm caused by heatstroke. After receiving two IV drips, it was already 7 p.m. by the time they returned to the Yan household.

“Weren’t you supposed to go pick someone up? What a great job you did—Xiaoyue’s been back for most of the day already. Where were you?” Liu Ye frowned and questioned sternly.

Just as Yan Shuli was about to explain, he felt his clothes tugged. He rubbed his nose and looked toward his mother, responding in a disgruntled tone:

“That’s what I want to ask. Wasn’t she supposed to arrive at four in the afternoon? Jiaojiao and I were waiting at the gate the whole time but never saw her come out. Maybe… maybe she left from another exit.”

Standing at the corner of the staircase, Xu Xiaoyue raised an eyebrow. She had deliberately chosen to avoid those two, yet now they were pinning everything on her.

She stepped down the stairs and into everyone’s line of sight. “I’m sorry, Comrade Yan. I didn’t expect the train to be delayed. When I got out, I didn’t see you outside. I searched for a while and assumed you had already left, so I found my way here alone.”

Her voice was calm and measured as she explained. She then bent at the waist and bowed politely toward Yan Shuli and Zheng Jiaojiao. “I’m truly sorry for making you wait so long.”

Yan Shuli tugged his hair and avoided looking at the young woman in front of him.

First, because even in his wildest dreams, he hadn’t imagined his “fiancée from the countryside” would turn out to be this stunning. Second, because she had obviously heard every word of his earlier lie.

There were only two exits at the train station—she had to know he hadn’t been there at all. And yet, she hadn’t exposed him.

He had initially planned to tell the truth, but Zheng Jiaojiao had burst into tears halfway back. She was worried that having just arrived at the Yan house and already ending up in the hospital would make people think she was delicate and couldn’t handle hardship. She begged him not to mention the hospital visit.

Liu Ye narrowed her eyes. Having raised her son herself, she knew him like the back of her hand. Just from his expression, she could tell he was lying.

But with outsiders present, Liu Ye didn’t call him out. She only said blandly, “Next time, try using your brain a little.”

Zheng Jiaojiao, at this moment, felt a storm raging in her heart. She quietly glanced over at Xu Xiaoyue, completely unable to understand—this wasn’t how things had gone in the previous life…