Chapter 6 Stop Pretending

Lu Huaiyuan's heart skipped a beat. He held the bracelet in one hand and put the other in his pocket: "Liu Zhixia, stop pretending. You cried and begged to break off the engagement, but now that I'm giving you this, you don't dare to take it?"

His resolute demeanor made Zhang Xiuying's heart pound, fearing that her daughter might soften her heart.

Lu Huaiyuan's true nature has been revealed; he is definitely not a good match. Marrying him would be like jumping into a fire pit!

Since her daughter couldn't make up her mind, she, as the mother, would step in!

Zhang Xiuying rushed forward and grabbed it, shouting, "Give it to me!"

Lu Huaiyuan was startled and instinctively dodged.

By the time he realized what was happening and tried to deliberately hand over the "bracelet," Liu Zhixia had already stopped her mother.

Seeing Liu Zhixia's nervous look, Lu Huaiyuan curled his lips into a smug smile.

Oh, so you were afraid the bracelet would be taken back and the engagement would really be called off? Now you're panicking?

If you apologize to him, maybe he can forgive you.

After all, Xiaoman is a capitalist's daughter. If he marries her, even if he gets into university, he won't have much of a future.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhixia calmly patted her mother's hand and reassured her, "Mother, you can't just accept things without checking them properly. This jade bracelet is precious. What if he switched it or tried to pin a broken one on us? We'd be in deep trouble!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiuying felt a chill run down her spine.

Seeing Lu Huaiyuan's hesitant and reluctant actions in taking out the bracelet, and considering that he had clearly said the bracelet was missing, but now it had been found so quickly.

It's likely that what he has in his hand isn't the engagement bracelet after all.

At this moment, a surge of anger rose in Zhang Xiuying's heart.

"Despite all the books you've read, you actually tried to cheat us country folk. Lu Huaiyuan, you're utterly despicable and shameless!"

When Lu Huaiyuan heard that Liu Zhixia had actually guessed almost perfectly, his face turned pale instantly, and cold sweat began to seep from his forehead.

He glanced at the crowd watching the show. If word got out that he had not only damaged the token but also tried to frame someone, his father would definitely beat him to death!

His family was even more opposed to his relationship with Xiaoman.

"You...you're making false accusations!" Lu Huaiyuan was caught in a bind, but he stubbornly retorted, "Would I lie to you? Take it!"

As he spoke, he actually tried to force the things into his hands.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhixia was already prepared. Instead of reaching out, she pushed him hard.

Immediately afterward, Liu Laosi stepped forward and blocked Liu Zhixia's path, leaving him with no chance.

"Lu Huaiyuan, what do you want to do?"

Lu Huaiyuan shouted guiltily, "If she doesn't answer, are we just going to keep waiting like this?"

"Ha," Liu Laosi sneered, arms crossed, "You call yourself a scholar? Whether it's true or false, why not just open it in front of everyone? Hiding it like this, what else could it be but a guilty conscience?"

This time, not only the Liu family saw it clearly, but even the villagers vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Li Xuemei knew her son well and guessed that there was probably something wrong with the bracelet.

She immediately jumped out, hands on her hips, and turned the tables: "I see now, your Liu family is deliberately trying to avoid annulment the engagement and is just looking for trouble! No matter what we present, you'll say it's not true!"

"Oh?" Liu Zhixia mimicked her, putting her hands on her hips. Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing. "Then open it up and let us see! What, the family of the dignified brigade leader is so poor that they have to resort to faking accidents to extort money?"

"You!" These words struck a nerve with Lu Huaiyuan's father, Captain Lu Jianping.

"Nonsense!" Lu Jianping's face flushed red as he snatched the package from his son's hands. "I, Lu Jianping, am an upright man and would never do anything to cheat or swindle!"

Liu Zhixia raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with mockery: "I remember my family's bracelet was pure white, with a trace of blood on it. Captain, do you dare to open it in public?"

"Why wouldn't I dare!" Lu Jianping was enraged and determined to prove his family's innocence!

Lu Huaiyuan and Li Xuemei tried to stop them, but it was too late.

Holding the bracelet in his hand, Lu Jianping glared at Liu Zhixia: "Our Huaiyuan has a high school diploma, so his ideological awareness is naturally higher than everyone here! Who knows, he might even become the Party Secretary in the future! Could he really do such a despicable thing?"

Lu Jianping quickly unwrapped the handkerchief, revealing a corner of snow-white jade, and was immediately overjoyed: "Open your eyes wide and look carefully! Isn't this the bracelet you were talking about! You're judging others by your own petty standards!"

He smugly picked up the exposed corner and looked around at everyone.

The surroundings fell silent instantly; the villagers craned their necks, their breaths catching in their throats.

"Since you from the Liu family are determined to annul the engagement today, then you are not worthy of entering the Lu family!"

He roared his angry words, but no one responded. The surrounding villagers even seemed to be breathing cautiously.

Lu Jianping snorted coldly, thinking he had intimidated everyone: "Now you know you wronged my son? Apologize now!"

"Pfft!"

Liu Zhixia broke the silence with a soft laugh.

Immediately afterwards, the Liu family all laughed, and even the surrounding villagers couldn't hold back their laughter, covering their mouths and chuckling.

Lu Jianping was taken aback, and looked down in confusion at the thing he was holding high in his hand—a broken jade bracelet.

His face suddenly turned a deep liver color.

Liu Zhixia's voice came through, cool and laced with deadly sarcasm: "Captain, this bracelet looks like it's ours, but it wasn't like this when we gave it to you."

The bracelet is broken, and the spiritual spring space that Gu Mansheng mentioned in her previous life probably no longer exists.

But she was able to be reborn and undo the regrets of her past life, so she was already very satisfied.

"My bracelet!" Old Mrs. Lu was struck dumb, collapsing to the ground and wailing, "My treasure bowl is all gone!"

Listening to Old Lady Lu's wailing and howling, Zhang Xiuying looked bewildered: "When did my bracelet become her family's treasure trove?"

A mocking smile curled at the corner of Liu Zhixia's lips.

This old woman and my grandmother were childhood friends, so she must have known about the bracelet all along, which is why she insisted that my grandmother marry Lu Huaiyuan in order to get the bracelet.

In her previous life, this old woman had also tormented her quite a bit, and she even lived to be over ninety.

She was heartbroken for Lu Huaiyuan and Gu Mansheng's illegitimate child.

They probably already knew that it was Lu Huaiyuan's son.

She will collect the debts from her past life, one by one, with interest, in this life!

Liu Zhixia withdrew her gaze, a mocking smile playing on her lips, and pressed Lu Jianping directly: "Captain Lu, how are you going to settle this matter for breaking my family's jade bracelet?"

Lu Jianping's face burned with embarrassment; he wished he could disappear into the ground. He could only grit his teeth and utter two words: "Pay up!"

Liu Zhixia lazily held up two fingers: "Twenty yuan, not a penny less."

"Twenty yuan?!" Li Xuemei instantly bristled, shrieking, "You dare ask for twenty yuan for a worthless bracelet? Why don't you just rob me!"

"Robbery? The jade pendant your family gave you, we returned it to you intact. The jade bracelet my family gave you, it's shattered into eight pieces! Now, you're talking to me about 'robbery'? My grandmother's priceless heirloom, for twenty yuan, was bought with your Lu family's reputation! If you don't want that reputation, fine. Anyway, your Lu family, from top to bottom, is pretty shameless!"