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“Now that this matter has come out, we can’t pretend it never happened. As for the children’s marriages, we’ll discuss it later.”
Shen Youfu lowered his head as he spoke these words. He felt uneasy facing the Xiao and Song families in front of him. Both families had been very kind to the Shen family, and now that he had schemed against them both, he felt guilty. However, for the sake of his son’s future and to ensure his daughter could marry into a good family that could support his youngest son, he had no choice but to go against his conscience. He thought that since the deed was already done, there was no turning back!
Upon hearing these words, Shen Zhang shi felt relieved. The people from the third household looked at the Xiao and Song families with disdain, while Shen Zifu and Shen Zigui both frowned deeply.
They didn’t fully understand what had happened. Although they didn’t believe that Song Dashan and Xiao Ping’er were shameless people, the two were indeed found together in the woods, and now they had no way to prove their innocence. They couldn’t speak up for them because they couldn’t expect their Fifth Brother to marry a girl with such unclear circumstances. Regardless of why Xiao Ping’er and Song Dashan were in the woods, the fact that Song Dashan sucked the venom from Xiao Ping’er’s shoulder and touched her body was undeniable. Such people were no longer suitable to be in-laws with the Shen family.
Aunt Xiao shouted loudly, “Brother Shen! You can’t do this! My Ping’er hasn’t done anything wrong! If you break off the engagement like this, you’ll ruin her reputation! You can’t do this!”
Aunt Song also chimed in, “Brother Shen! My husband saved your son’s life back in the day, and just recently, my Dashan saved your son’s life! Don’t you know what kind of person he is?”
Shen Youfu felt even guiltier after hearing this. He bowed his head, took out his long-unlit pipe, and lit it, taking a deep drag. The smoke made him cough violently, but he still didn’t say anything. Having already spoken, he didn’t plan to take back his words. Thinking about his youngest son’s future, he steeled his resolve.
Shen Zhang shi gave a subtle signal to Sun Shi. At this moment, she wouldn’t intervene directly. She rarely did anything to offend others; she always positioned herself as the good person, even when doing something wrong. She planned to be the one to come out last and smooth things over, making sure no one held a grudge against her and ideally even felt grateful.
Immediately, Sun Shi spoke up, “These are two separate matters! If they had behaved properly, our Shen family would naturally remember their great kindness and marry off our Shen girls to them. We would gladly let our fifth brother marry your girl. And it would all be done happily without any dissatisfaction. We can see that they have been enjoying each other’s company during meals in broad daylight. But your own girl is so unruly! Instead of accepting such a good match, she sneaked off with others privately! It’s a disgrace to our Shen family!”
Shen Ziping added from the side, “Exactly! Our Shen family is only magnanimous enough to remember your kindness. That’s why we considered withdrawing quietly from the marriage proposal. Otherwise, we could have publicly embarrassed both of them!”
Sun Shi continued, “Now that they’ve gotten themselves into such a murky situation, they still want to entangle themselves further with our Shen family. It’s simply wishful thinking. They have no sense of shame! You parents should know better at your age!”
Upon hearing this, both Aunt Song and Aunt Xiao trembled all over, unsure if they were more angry or embarrassed. They knew their children were not in the right according to the law, and being accused like this by others would naturally lead to suspicions about what Song Dashan and Xiao Ping’er were doing in the woods.
“Mother! What are they saying? They don’t want our sister anymore?” Xiao Dalu went over to support Aunt Xiao, glaring at Sun Shi. ” Fifth Brother Shen passed the Xiucai exam, and they’ve long felt our sister isn’t good enough for him. Isn’t now the perfect time for them to find an excuse to break off her engagement?! Whatever you say now won’t change anything! It’ll only make things worse for our sister!”
Su Zhi listened quietly nearby. Despite Xiao Dalu being young and playful, often impulsive, he had hit the nail on the head with his words.
Shen Youfu cleared his throat and said, “We’re not tarnishing the reputation of the Xiao family girl. Now that this has happened, who wouldn’t talk about her? If she could prove her innocence, that would be one thing, but she can’t. And they keep saying they can’t remember anything, how are we supposed to think? Our Shen family can’t accept a daughter-in-law like this, and, cough, we can’t accept a son-in-law like that either.”
Shen Zhang Shi interjected, “That’s right. Xiao brothers and sisters, this matter is also unfair to us. Think about it, if you were in our shoes, would you want your eldest son to marry such a daughter-in-law? You saved our son Ziju back then, and we remembered your kindness. But now, your daughter has brought shame upon our Shen family. She’s ruined our daughter Zhu’er’s marriage!”
Uncle Xiao and Aunt Xiao were speechless. While they insisted they didn’t believe their daughter could do such a thing, the current situation seemed to align everything against Song Dashan and their daughter. They were starting to believe that their daughter had indeed gone to the woods with Song Dashan.
Aunt Song listened quietly nearby, unable to find words to say. Her son and Xiao Ping’er had gotten into such a situation, and she felt she had no face left Shen Zhu was already out of their league, and now it seemed even more impossible. She could only turn around and hit her son twice, not knowing whether she blamed him or felt sorry for him. Song Dashan just sat there, his strength gradually returning, but when he heard that his marriage with Shen Zhu was over, he felt sad.
Xiao Ping’er also sat there silently crying. She had given up hope. Although she couldn’t remember what had happened, she knew she was innocent. But she had no way to prove it. What others said was true: Song Dashan had touched her, albeit to save her life, just on her shoulder. But it was still an unclear situation. Shen Ziju, such a promising man, would never accept her.
“Mother, let’s call off this marriage,” Xiao Ping’er finally said, biting her lip.
“Ping’er! What are you saying?!”
Aunt Xiao looked at her daughter, surprised that it was her usually quiet and obedient daughter who had spoken those words. She couldn’t bear the thought of this marriage falling apart, knowing it would make it difficult for her daughter to marry in the future. She firmly believed that her daughter had been misunderstood by the Shen family. As long as this misunderstanding cleared up in the future, the Shen family would have to treat her daughter well. She hoped that after this difficult period passed, everything would be fine.
Uncle Xiao also looked at Xiao Ping’er. He wasn’t as optimistic as Aunt Xiao. He knew that the Shen family had decisively broken off the engagement today, and if he were in their shoes, he would have done the same. But now Xiao Ping’er was his daughter, and seeing her say these words hurt him deeply. Even though it was clear his daughter had made a mistake and now faced this situation, there was nothing he could do to help her.
Song Dashan listened to Xiao Ping’er’s words. He realized that Shen Zhu was not interested in him either, although he had liked the idea of marrying someone like her. Now it seemed impossible. He didn’t fully understand what had happened between him and Xiao Ping’er, but with Xiao Ping’er’s engagement being called off, as a man, he couldn’t stay here and face everyone with no dignity.
“Mother, I’m sorry for causing trouble with the engagement arranged by father. Let’s call off this marriage.”
Aunt Song’s lips moved, but she didn’t say anything in the end. She typically followed the lead of the men in the family.
Shen Youfu and Shen Zhang shi felt relieved. They were glad that the engagement was finally called off.
With things reaching this point, both the Song and Xiao families couldn’t stay any longer. After agreeing to break off the engagement and having Physician Huang check on things, confirming there were no major issues, they each returned home. Shen Zi’an offered to send them off with his ox cart, but Song Dashan declined. The Xiao family only accepted Shen Zi’an’s cart, choosing to return home on their own.
Xiaori, Xinger, and Yueyue remained in the main house, while the three girls from the second household sat with Chunlan and others in silence.
The children were too young to understand the details of what had happened, so they refrained from asking their parents, uncles, and aunts about the situation.
Shen Zigui and Li Shi called for Chunyue, Chuncao, and Chunyun, while Shen Zi’an and Su Zhi took Xiaori, Xinger, and Yueyue. Together, they left the Shen household and headed back to their home east of the river.
Along the way, they encountered several people enjoying the evening coolness. Some greeted them without asking about the Song and Xiao families’ situation, while others, out of curiosity or boldness, inquired about Xiao Ping’er’s well-being after the incident.
Shen Zigui and Shen Zi’an simply replied that everything was fine and hurried past. They didn’t want to dwell on the matter or discuss it further.
“I don’t think Dashan and that girl from the Xiao family are those kinds of people,” Li Shi spoke up first, her voice clear in the night.
“Indeed, they don’t seem like those kinds of people,” Su Zhi agreed, sensing there was more to the situation.
Shen Zi’an interjected, “Brother, sister-in-law, you shouldn’t worry about this matter anymore. Father and the others have already made up their minds. The more we talk about it, the worse it will be for all of us.”
Su Zhi thought her husband also had a clear understanding of the situation.
Shen Zigui and Li Shi both murmured in agreement.
Li Shi sighed and said, “Ping’er is also pitiful. Her reputation won’t be good from now on, even though she’s a good girl. Maybe she just wanted to thank Big Mountain, but why did they go to the woods? It’s really puzzling. Honestly, I’m starting to think that maybe the two of them had feelings for each other because of that incident in the water.”
“You shouldn’t dwell on it,” Shen Zigui told Li Shi. “It doesn’t matter anymore what they were doing there. They encountered that snake in the pit, that much is certain.”
Li Shi fell silent. She understood that Shen Zigui was referring to Xiao Ping’er being touched by Song Dashan’s shoulder, a situation that was now irreparable. Any family would hesitate to marry such a girl.
With the two families parting ways and returning home, they continued to discuss the matter among themselves. It wasn’t just them; even the people of Riverside Village were talking about it.
That night, Riverside Village was destined to be lively. There were those who were happy and those who were sorrowful.