TIPS – Chapter 30

Xue Lan covered her face, her voice shaking with hysteria.

“You’re only against this because Brother Xi is poor, aren’t you? But now that his family has money, why are you still refusing?”

Xue Xin and Chen Shi looked embarrassed, but their overwhelming emotion was anger.

How had they raised such an useless daughter?

Xue Xin’s voice was harsh and final:

“You have two choices—either come home with us now, or never come back again!”

Chen Shi opened her mouth, wanting to persuade her husband—but in the end, she didn’t dare.

She was furious too.

“I won’t go back!”

Xue Lan broke away from Chen Shi’s arms and sat to the side, turning her face away defiantly.

“If I go back, I’ll just be forced to marry someone I don’t love and live a life I don’t want. Why should I go back?”

The room fell into an awkward silence.

Not just Xue Xin and Chen Shi—even the Shen family didn’t know what to say.

With all this noise, Shen Dongming finally stepped out.

After listening for a while, his first instinct was to explain things to Song Jingwei.

He hurried to his son’s husband, speaking with urgency:

“This has nothing to do with our Xi’er! He hasn’t even seen that girl in years!”

Song Jingwei wasn’t actually bothered.

He didn’t care whether Shen Junxi married Xue Lan or not.

He had only stepped in because the Shen family clearly didn’t want to get involved with her, so someone needed to end this mess.

“Besides, even back then, they barely saw each other. They never even spoke! Right, Xi’er?” Shen Dongming shot his son a pointed look, urging him to agree.

Shen Junxi nodded obediently, following along with his father’s words.

Though… it wasn’t exactly true.

He had spoken to Xue Lan before.

He had even accepted a few small gifts from her.

But they were just kids back then.

He had never felt anything romantic toward her.

After all, he knew what real feelings were—because if Song Jingwei left him, he would be devastated.

That was love.

“I didn’t misunderstand anything.”

Song Jingwei spoke calmly, making it clear that he didn’t need them to frantically explain themselves.

“Heh, well, that’s good!” Shen Dongming sighed in relief, patting Song Jingwei’s shoulder before turning to Xue Xin.

“Brother Xue, kids can be stubborn—it’s not a big deal. No need to get violent.”

That slap from earlier… if it had been his child, he wouldn’t have had the heart to do it.

Xue Xin grimaced.

“My daughter has caused your family trouble.” His voice was stiff.

“It’s nothing, it’ll pass. She’s still young.” Shen Dongming patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.

But Xue Xin wasn’t feeling friendly at all.

Seeing Shen Dongming now only made his temper worse.

Back in the day, he had never needed to speak so cautiously in front of Shen Dongming.

So when he turned back to his daughter, his voice grew even harsher.

“Xue Lan! Are you leaving or not?!”

“I’m not leaving!”

She had already taken a slap. Did they really think she’d be scared of a few harsh words?

“Fine. Very well!”

Xue Xin made up his mind.

“If you won’t walk out, I’ll drag you out! Even if I have to tie you up!”

With that, he grabbed Xue Lan and started pulling her toward the door.

“Wife, help me!”

Chen Shi immediately nodded: “Yes, yes!”

Together, the two forcefully dragged Xue Lan toward the exit.

“You can’t do this!” Xue Lan screamed, struggling wildly. Her voice cracked from shouting so hard.

“Cover her mouth! Don’t let people laugh at us!”

If word got out, their entire family’s reputation in Chashan Village would be ruined. Xue Xin refused to let that happen.

“Got it!” Chen Shi clamped a hand over her daughter’s mouth.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

No matter how hard Xue Lan twisted and kicked, she couldn’t fight off both parents.

In the end, she was dragged out of the Shen family’s courtyard—helpless and furious.

As they left, Xue Xin turned back, his face dark.

“Brother Shen, I’ll say this now—”

“Yes, this is Xue Lan’s own fault. But!”

“If things reach a point of no return, your family will have to take responsibility!”

“After all, she lost her mind because of your son!”

Shen Dongming chased after them, yelling: “What kind of logic is that?! Who did my family offend, huh?”

What, was he saying that if Xue Lan forced herself to death, the Shen family would have to marry her out of guilt?!

Ridiculous!

But Xue Xin and Chen Shi were already gone, ignoring him completely. Shen Dongming stomped back inside, slamming the door shut.

His face was twisted in frustration.

“That Xue Xin! Pah! He’s no good!”

He scowled, cursing under his breath.

“What a joke! Why did we ever agree to that stupid engagement in the first place?! Now look what’s happened!”

Yang Shi, hearing the whole story, fumed with anger.

She quickly turned to reassure Song Jingwei: “Jingwei, don’t take it to heart. There’s no way we’ll have any of that ‘multiple wives’ nonsense in this family—never!”

“That’s right,” Shen Dongming agreed firmly.

“That reckless girl— even if Xi’er wasn’t already married, we still wouldn’t dare take her in!”

A proper young lady pulling this kind of outrageous stunt—she had no shame at all!

Song Jingwei, however, was completely unfazed.

“It’s fine. We’ll deal with whatever comes next.”

Unlike the Shen family, he wasn’t flustered by emotions. He wasn’t worried about shame, reputation, or outrage. To him, this was just a problem to be solved—and he would handle it calmly and rationally.

“That’s good, that’s good.”

Hearing a definite answer, the couple finally felt at ease.

“It’s getting late. You two should go rest—I’m exhausted.”

Song Jingwei said, his voice carrying a hint of fatigue. Shen Dongming and Yang Shi quickly agreed.

“Yes, yes! You and Xi’er should head back to your room. We’ll turn in too.”

The whole ordeal had lasted most of the night, and they knew they’d have trouble getting up in the morning.

With that, the four of them yawned and returned to their rooms.

They barely lay down for a moment before their exhaustion overtook them, and they fell into a deep sleep.

If there was anyone in Chashan Village who thrived on stirring up trouble, it was the group of nosy village women.

They loved gossiping, had a knack for getting on people’s nerves, yet somehow, the village wouldn’t feel the same without them.

Last night’s dramatic commotion didn’t go completely unnoticed.

Not too many people knew, but not too few either.

After all, the scene of Xue Lan being dragged away by her parents was hard to ignore.

And the next morning?

She upped the stakes, putting on a full-blown suicide act.

Chen Shi yanked Xue Lan by her braid, dragging her back with a vicious expression.

“Go ahead and die! If you have the guts to kill yourself, I won’t stop you! I raised you all these years, and this is how you repay me?!”

Xue Lan sobbed uncontrollably, not even feeling the pain anymore. She only knew one thing—she wanted to die. Her heart was broken, and no one cared.

“Mother! Why are you forcing me like this? Can’t you just let me be happy?!”

The Shen family was rich now, living a good life. So what were her parents still unhappy about?

That she would be someone’s concubine instead of a main wife? But even that was better than marrying a widower in his thirties!

What was the point of status and stability if life was miserable?

She was young, beautiful, delicate—and yet, she couldn’t have the man she loved. She would rather die than settle for anything else.

Chen Shi broke down in tears.

“You were born just to drive me insane! Go ahead, ruin your reputation! You’ll have no choice but to marry, or else you’ll end up dead anyway!”

She felt helpless. Her daughter had made a public scene—this time, there was no backing down. The Shen family would have no choice but to take responsibility.

Ever since Song Jingwei married into the Shen family, rumors had never stopped flying.

People had all kinds of opinions—good and bad—but one thing was for sure: The Shen family was constantly the talk of the village.

Just recently, people had been discussing how they paid thirty taels to hire a long-term laborer. And now? The news was that Xue Lan was desperate to marry into the Shen household. The gossipmongers were delighted.

Some villagers, claiming to be “in the know,” spread their own version of events.

“Xue Lan showed up all alone, in the dead of night. Who knows what she and Shen Junxi might’ve done?”

One listener snorted and scoffed: “His husband was right there in the house—what exactly do you think they could’ve done?”

At that, the whole group got even more excited.

“Ah, right! That Song Jingwei isn’t someone to mess with!”

Everyone in the village knew what had happened at the village chief’s house—how Song Jingwei had clashed with Sun Laizi and his nephew.

The story had spread like wildfire. And not just once. On the worksite, Song Jingwei had stood his ground more than once, proving that he wasn’t someone who could be bullied.

After Sun Laizi got injured on the worksite, many village men warned their wives: “Stop gossiping about Song Jingwei—he’s not someone to mess with!”

For a while, the village women kept their mouths shut. But eventually, they figured whispering in private wouldn’t hurt—so they started up again.

“Xue Lan is a beauty. If Young Master Song were willing, she could become a concubine for the Shen family’s son.”

“Pah! Our village doesn’t do concubines! There are plenty of men in the world—why should she lower herself like this?”

Some looked down on Xue Lan’s actions, believing that even if she did get married, she would never earn respect. Others, however, sighed sympathetically.

“She and Shen Junxi were once engaged. If not for Xue Xin and his wife stopping them, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

But then came the real question: “Wait, does this mean Xue Xin is actually willing to let her marry into the Shen family now?”

Someone snorted: “Ha! With her reputation ruined, does she have a choice?”

“Tsk tsk, let’s be real—this is only happening because the Shen family is doing well now. That’s why they’re so desperate!”

“Exactly! If Xue Lan was so in love, why didn’t she cause a fuss before? Why wait until now?”

The villagers weren’t blind. It didn’t matter if the Xue family’s motives were pure or not—their actions made it obvious. And once something looked suspicious, it became fodder for gossip.

Xue Xin was a man who cared about his pride. After his daughter’s spectacle outside the Shen family’s home, he had lost both his reputation and dignity. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t let her remain unmarried forever.

“Fine. You want to marry him that badly?”

“I’ll take you there myself.”

“If you succeed, then I’ll consider you dead to me.”

“But if they reject you, you’ll come home and let me arrange a marriage for you—no more complaints!”

If she caused any more trouble, the engagement his sister had arranged might fall through as well. If she couldn’t marry into the Shen family, then he’d have to find someone far away, where people wouldn’t hear the gossip.

Xue Lan forced a smile, though her face was still full of grievances.

“Thank you, Father.”

She believed she could marry Shen Junxi. As long as the Shen family cared about their reputation, they wouldn’t dare refuse.

Early in the morning, Xue Xin brought his wife and daughter to the Shen household. When Shen Dongming opened the door and saw them, his head throbbed instantly.

Them. Again.

With all the rumors already flying around, nothing good could come from this visit.