The letter was so short that the village secretary didn't even need to catch his breath; he read it in one breath.

As soon as the Party Secretary finished speaking, the room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone held their breath, afraid to make a sound, as if the slightest movement would shatter the frozen, awkward atmosphere.

Leng Yaozu, still with his childlike mentality, couldn't hold back and shouted first, "Impossible! This is impossible!"

How can I annul the engagement?

If the engagement is called off, where will he find such a capable brother-in-law? How will he go to the capital and find a wife in the city?

The village secretary was also quite embarrassed, but he naturally trusted the soldier more. After all, the soldier came from the army and was a trustworthy person who would never lie or deceive.

“No, Xiao Hong, how could you do this? How could you lie to people?” the village secretary said, his hand holding the letter trembling as if the letter was burning him, and he shoved it back to Leng Yinghong.

"Yes, your whole family completely fooled Battalion Commander Zhou, you're incredibly audacious!" The Party Secretary's wife's expression changed from envy to disdain as she looked at them, and she said sarcastically, "Have a conscience. Even though we're from the countryside, we can't resort to deception. What kind of mess is this?"

The disdain from the Party Secretary and his wife made Leng Yinghong's family feel extremely embarrassed.

They were used to being flattered by their fellow villagers because of this incident, and suddenly they were back to being looked down upon, which they simply couldn't accept.

Xu Fangfang and Leng Qisheng looked grave, unsure of what to do.

However, the person who couldn't accept it the most was Leng Yinghong.

They were already talking about marriage, and the duck was practically in her mouth. Now, she couldn't accept losing everything.

"No, no!" Leng Yinghong shook her head in disbelief, muttering to herself, "It's not like that! It's all fake, all fake! I'm not a liar! He was the one who was fooled, he must have been the one who was fooled!"

"Dad, Mom!" Leng Yinghong winked at Leng Qisheng and Xu Fangfang. They absolutely could not admit it now; they had to keep up the lie, otherwise how could they face people in the village in the future?

"You all know that I was the one who saved him back then. How could I lie to someone? There must be some misunderstanding here. I need to go and clear things up with him!"

"This marriage cannot be called off! It cannot be called off!" Leng Yinghong shouted.

Leng Qisheng and Xu Fangfang also realized what was happening and immediately spoke up for Leng Yinghong.

“That’s right! Why does Zhou Jinglan keep changing his mind, saying he doesn’t want to get married one minute and the next? What does he take the Leng family for? He’s clearly been fooled!” Xu Fangfang said, pulling Leng Yinghong’s hand. “Daughter, calm down, we’re not afraid!”

Leng Qisheng then said to the village secretary, "Secretary, I'm sorry to have troubled you. There must be some misunderstanding. We will talk to him and clear things up. Thank you for your help."

After saying that, the Leng family left the Party Secretary's house first.

On the way back, the family walked briskly, discussing what to do next.

"Mom and Dad, I have to go to the city to find him and explain things clearly. I didn't lie to him!" Leng Yinghong said. She absolutely couldn't let this marriage fall through.

“Okay, we support you!” Leng Qisheng said.

He and Xu Fangfang had already decided that Zhou Jinglan was their son-in-law. Such a golden catch was hard to find even with a lantern. If the marriage fell through, their family would suffer a huge loss.

“Xiao Hong, the whole village knows about your engagement to Zhou Jinglan. If he breaks off the engagement now, you might never be able to get married. He has to take responsibility for this!” Xu Fangfang said.

If it weren't for this incident, Leng Yinghong could have easily gotten a dowry from an ordinary family in the village.

Now Zhou Jinglan is going back on his word, pushing them to the brink of despair. They won't even get their original ordinary dowry, which is absolutely unacceptable.

“That’s right, the village secretary already knows. With his and his wife’s big mouths, it won’t be long before the whole village knows. How are we supposed to face people then?” Leng Qisheng cursed. Although he himself was not very capable, he was extremely concerned about his reputation.

"While not many people know about this yet, let's hurry to the capital, find Zhou Jinglan, and salvage the situation. That way, the rumors in the village will fall apart on their own!" Xu Fangfang said.

“Yes, that’s it!” Leng Qisheng agreed.

Leng Yinghong certainly wouldn't object. She felt that Zhou Jinglan had approached her first, and she was just going along with it.

Since Zhou Jinglan was able to admit his mistake back then, it means that he didn't know much about the person he was really looking for.

Based on the information she had gleaned over this period, she concluded that Zhou Jinglan wouldn't find her true savior so easily. Therefore, as long as she insisted that she was the one who saved him, coupled with the birthmark, she would definitely be able to turn the tide.

"Mom and Dad, we need to hurry, get to the capital quickly, and explain things clearly!" Leng Yinghong said anxiously.

"Yes, that's how it should be! Let's hurry back and pack our bags, then we'll head to the capital to find someone!" Xu Fangfang said. Anyway, she had already planned everything that needed to be packed, so this was just a matter of getting it a little earlier.

Leng Qisheng's eyes hardened; he, too, couldn't accept losing such a son-in-law.

"After we find Zhou Jinglan, we'll try to reason with him first. If he doesn't listen to our advice and refuses to marry Xiao Hong, then don't blame us for being impolite!" Leng Qisheng had already made up his mind and said ruthlessly, "If all else fails, since we're already in the capital, we'll just report him to the military!"

Everyone knows that Zhou Jinglan is a soldier, and soldiers cannot make mistakes.

This incident means we now have leverage over Zhou Jinglan.

They were just peasants from the countryside, practically barefoot, while Zhou Jinglan had a bright future ahead of him, practically wearing shoes.

They've always believed that those with nothing to lose have nothing to fear, and they simply refused to believe they couldn't defeat Zhou Jinglan!

"Yes, yes, Dad is right!" Leng Yaozu was now quite lively. For his own future, he was determined to stand with his family and defend their interests. "If my brother-in-law doesn't agree, we'll report him and make him lose his secure job!"

In Leng Yaozu's view, no man could withstand such a threat.

His bright future is secure again!

The family quickly devised a plan, returned home, and began to divide the work, packing their luggage and preparing to head to the capital immediately.

"Take these flatbreads. Food is expensive on the train, so we'll make do with what we have!" Xu Fangfang said.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Leng Qisheng wasn't so worried. He felt that he had Zhou Jinglan under control and that he could get all these losses back from Zhou Jinglan. "Zhou Jinglan has to compensate us for whatever money we spent and whatever losses we incurred on this trip!"