Chapter 2: The Wang Family’s Coldness

She was constantly worried about the Wang family coming to propose marriage, and every night she dreamed that they would show up.

After being worried for over a decade, now that her daughter had reached a marriageable age, she thought the Wang family was sincere, only to realize that for them, this was undoubtedly a disaster.

The Wang family was truly heartless; this was effectively cutting off her daughter’s prospects for life.

In this world, if a woman is rejected, she might as well forget about ever marrying again. She would be pointed at and scorned wherever she went.

How could her daughter find a way to live? She would likely be drowned in the spittle of others.

She hurriedly knelt down, tears streaming down her face, unsure of how to begin, and bowing deeply to Aunt Zhang.

“Aunt Zhang, please, I beg you! You see how pitiful our eldest daughter is; you must help and speak up for us to the Wang family. If you don’t, my daughter’s life will be ruined!”

Lin Dayou, seeing his wife’s humble plea, felt his eyes grow red.

If Aunt Zhang weren’t still present, he would have been overwhelmed by his emotions and slapped himself. How could he be so powerless, so useless that he couldn’t even protect his own wife and daughter, making them beg others so abjectly?

However, no matter how much he blamed himself for his lack of capability, Lin Dayou couldn’t change anything; he truly couldn’t let the Wang family call off his daughter’s marriage.

At that moment, Lin’s youngest son and daughter saw their mother kneeling and rushed in.

Hearing their mother’s words and realizing the dire consequences of being rejected, they all panicked.

The eldest son helped his kneeling mother, Wang Shi, up while bowing to Aunt Zhang, hoping she would help them plead with the Wang family.

The younger children, understanding that the only person who could help was the matchmaker in front of them, ran over, pleading with Aunt Zhang to speak on behalf of their eldest sister.

Looking at this family, Aunt Zhang’s heart nearly softened, but feeling the one or two pieces of silver in her pocket, she gritted her teeth and stood up. “Lin Dayou, your wife, and your children, are you purposely trying to make things difficult for me?”

“Besides, this matter can’t just be called off by my say-so. Scholar Wang’s mother has already spoken.”

“Their family now has a scholar. Who knows, they might even have a top scholar in the future. The wife they marry can’t be too lowly; they need someone of equal status, at the very least someone who can support Scholar Wang.”

“Look at your family… I won’t say too much; you can understand the rest yourselves.”

Aunt Zhang placed the jade pendant that Lin Dayou had given to the Wang family when they first betrothed his daughter on the table, stood up, and quickly ran out, not giving Lin Dayou any chance to refuse.

Lin Dayou watched Aunt Zhang flee, his eyes reddening with anger, and he slammed his fist on the square table, gritting his teeth as he cursed,

“The Wang family is truly deceitful. When they thought our family was wealthy, they rushed to align with us, but now that they see us down on our luck and our eldest daughter is foolish, they bully us!

I thought after all these years of not coming to break off the engagement that they were loyal and sincere. I never expected that as soon as that kid became a scholar, he would be so eager to throw my daughter away.”

Lin Dayou sat in the hall, staring blankly at the torrential rain outside, his mind swirling with countless thoughts.

As if deciding on something, filled with resolve, he stood up.

“No, I must go find them and demand an explanation. You stay home and watch the children; I’m going to seek justice from them.”

Wang Shi quickly grabbed hold of Lin Dayou’s clothing. “Dayou, if you really go, our daughter will have no chance for a future. Are you planning to make a scene and let everyone know what happened?”

Being rejected wasn’t something to be proud of; she didn’t want everyone looking at her daughter with pity.

Her daughter had suffered too much; she didn’t want to see her bear the burden of all this.

For a woman, it seemed simple—the engagement was already beyond saving, so it would be better to downplay the situation to prevent their daughter from being ridiculed and scorned by others.

Lin Dayou looked at his timid wife, managing to suppress his rising anger, and patiently explained, “You don’t understand. If we don’t make a big deal out of this, when Scholar Wang marries someone else in the future, all the blame will fall upon our daughter…”

“Now that Scholar Wang has just become a scholar and has decided to cast off our daughter, we need the world to know that Wang Guangrong is like Chen Shimei*; it’s not our daughter’s fault.

If we don’t stand up for her, the next time someone uses marriage as leverage against us, they will surely tarnish our daughter’s reputation.”

“Besides, if our daughter truly cannot marry in the future, we will support her.” Lin Dayou had come to a clear realization: his daughter was also his cherished child. Even if no one came to seek her hand in marriage, he could support her for life.

Their fifteen-year-old eldest son, hearing his parents’ conversation, stepped forward. “Father, Mother, I will work hard to earn money and take care of my little sister.”

The twelve- or thirteen-year-old second son, hearing his older brother’s commitment, also stepped up and patted his chest confidently. “Father, Mother, don’t worry. We will protect our eldest sister; no one can bully her!”

“Me too! I will protect our eldest sister!” The youngest daughter raised her hand, eager to help.

Seeing his children showing such understanding, Lin Dayou could no longer hold back his emotions. Tears streamed down his face as he embraced them.

“It’s all my fault; if I were capable, no one would dare to bully our family.”

Looking at his two sons and youngest daughter, he felt deep sorrow for his eldest daughter’s plight.

From a young age, she was lovely and beautiful, but why was she born without a clear mind?

Since the age of three, she had been different from ordinary children. Now fourteen or fifteen, she still had the intellect of a three or four-year-old, speaking little and living in her own world.

A Taoist monk passing through Wutong Village encountered Lin Luoxi, who was sitting at the gate of their home. Observing her face, he noted that although she was destined for good fortune, a layer of dark energy was obscuring it. After casting a divination for her, the monk proclaimed that at the age of fifteen, she would face a significant tribulation; if she passed through it, she would regain her normal intellect, but if she didn’t, she would vanish from this world forever.

This year she turned fifteen, and instead of facing the foreseen calamity, she encountered a marriage cancellation—wasn’t this pushing their daughter toward her doom?

Lin Dayou squatted down and gently embraced his children. “Kids, you must unite and protect your eldest sister; you can’t look down on her just because she is sick…”

“If the Wang family dares to cancel your sister’s engagement, I will demand justice for her.” With this thought, he stood up and headed toward the door.

The two fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys, seeing their father’s anger, called out, “Father, wait! We’ll go with you; you shouldn’t go alone. I’m afraid you won’t be able to reason with them alone.”

“Father, I will go too! There’s strength in numbers; we can’t let the Wang family look down on us!” The sons followed closely behind.

Hearing his sons, Lin Dayou paused and looked at them. “Wen Qian, Wen Tao, I’m going to seek justice for your sister; it’s not appropriate for you to come with me.”

Lin Jiangqian shook his head, “Father, what’s wrong with it? Our sister is being bullied like this; if we don’t take action, others will think our family won’t support her.”

Lin Dayou didn’t expect his sons to say such things, and he nodded approvingly. “Very well, then come with me. When we reach their house, don’t be afraid; make sure to…”

His voice trailed off as he walked further away.

Watching her husband prepare to take the children outside, Lin Wangshi felt weak and collapsed onto the ground.

The youngest daughter, Lin Luoning, seeing her mother sitting on the floor, felt a surge of warmth and rushed over, pulling at Lin Wangshi.

“Mother, the ground is cold; please get up.”

In the house, it was just the two of them, and Lin Wangshi held her youngest daughter, crying out loud, repeatedly saying, “What to do, what to do about your eldest sister! Boo-hoo…”