Fortunately, it was just a fake engagement to play along with him; otherwise, she couldn't imagine how exhausting it would be to live in such a complicated family like the Huo family.
And why doesn't Wang Jingxian even put on an act? She keeps staring at her with such direct and undisguised gaze, making her feel like she's sitting on pins and needles.
"I still have some things to take care of, so we'll be leaving now."
Huo Siyan seemed to sense Jiang Ran's discomfort. He grabbed her wrist with his large hand, bid farewell to Madam Huo, and then led her away.
Once on the bus, Jiang Ran felt she could finally catch her breath.
Suddenly remembering something, Jiang Ran asked, "Um... won't the whole of City A know about the engagement on the day of the wedding?"
She didn't want her family to know about this, and she still hadn't figured out how to explain her sudden engagement to them.
Tell the truth?
They certainly wouldn't agree to use their engagement as a bargaining chip.
"I'm afraid it's not just City A."
Jiang Ran felt her headache getting even worse.
That's true. With the heir of the Huo family getting engaged, it's impossible to keep it low-key no matter how hard you try.
By then, it won't just be City A that knows, it'll probably be known all over the country... the whole world!
Her family can't keep it a secret any longer. How is she going to explain this?
Given the current situation, when the engagement is dissolved in three years, some people might come and mock her. Although she doesn't care, her family certainly will.
Therefore, for her sake, they certainly wouldn't agree to her doing that.
So... we can only keep the truth from them for now.
If you let them believe that you are really engaged, they probably won't stop you.
"What are you thinking about?"
Seeing Jiang Ran's conflicted expression, her beautiful eyebrows almost knotted together, Huo Siyan slowly spoke.
"I'm thinking about how to tell my family."
"May I visit your home tomorrow?"
"ah...?"
Jiang Ran was stunned...
They were just pretending to be engaged to play along with his family. He didn't need to visit her house, did he?
Is it really necessary for someone as busy as him to do this?
Perhaps he just didn't want others to know that their engagement was fake...
Jiang Ran thought this through and nodded in agreement.
"Then... tomorrow morning at nine o'clock?" After thinking for a moment, she gave a time.
"good."
————
When Jiang Ran returned, her whole family was there. Jiang Huaijing had just returned from a business trip and was distributing the gifts he had brought back to everyone.
Jiang Ran tugged at the hem of her clothes and forced herself to go inside.
"Where did you run off to, you little rascal?" Jiang Huaijing smiled mysteriously. "Hmph! I'll give you your gift last!"
Jiang Ran sat down on the sofa, trying to figure out how to start the conversation.
"Cough cough..." Jiang Ran coughed twice because she felt uncomfortable all over.
"What's wrong? Have you caught a cold?" Shen Qingwan immediately reached out to feel her forehead. "Luckily, you don't have a fever. Mom will make you a bowl of ginger tea later. Drink it before you go to sleep."
"Uh..." Jiang Ran's face was full of confusion.
How exactly should I bring this up?
Seeing that she looked strange, the whole family gathered around.
"What's wrong? Did something happen? You don't look right."
"Did something unpleasant happen to you?"
"Did someone bully you?!"
Jiang Ran quickly shook her head, gritted her teeth, and bluntly said, "I'm getting engaged!"
"......"
After a moment of silence, a scream erupted.
"What!!"
Everyone looked on in surprise.
Shen Qingwan sat down beside her, took her hand, and asked softly, "Why the sudden engagement? I've never heard you mention it before... Didn't you say you only had studying on your mind? Why the sudden engagement?"
Jiang Huaijing's face was serious: "Tell me the truth! What exactly happened! I haven't seen you dating anyone! How come you're suddenly getting engaged! Who is that brat? Aren't you love-struck? Why would you suddenly say you want to get engaged!"
After saying that, he still felt it wasn't enough and spoke again: "You're usually the most rational person! How could you become love-struck! You mustn't let your brother down!"
Jiang Qinghe also looked worried: "Xiao Ran, you are indeed at the age when you yearn for love the most, but you are still young and have no experience in love, so you are too easy to be fooled. Don't let so-called love blind you. Engagement is not a small matter. How can you get engaged so easily? How long have you known each other? Have you found out? What does his family do? Is he approaching you with ulterior motives?"
“Yes, Xiaoran.” Shen’s parents joined in: “We’ve never heard you mention dating. You two haven’t known each other for very long, have you? For him to urge you to get engaged after such a short time, he must have ulterior motives! Moreover, he’s brought up engagement without even meeting your parents. This is disrespectful to you and to our family. Your grandparents don’t mean to interfere with your dating, we just hope you will think it over more. You can’t make a decision so easily.”
“That’s right.” Shen Qingwan squeezed her hand and said earnestly, “You’ve seen my example. I was too impulsive back then and chose such a vicious father for you three, causing you to suffer so much… Now… you can’t follow in my footsteps!”
"Exactly! You silly girl, don't let yourself be fooled!" Jiang Huaijing seemed quite opposed to the idea: "Tell your brother, who is this brat? Let me go and test him out!"
"How...are you going to test me?" Jiang Ran asked blankly.
"Hmph!" Jiang Huaijing snorted coldly, standing with his arms crossed: "Of course, I'll find someone to beat him up and warn him to stay away from you! If he's beaten half to death and still insists on being with you, then I might reluctantly consider it."
"How can we just beat him up! What if he's using a self-inflicted injury as a ploy?" Jiang Qinghe couldn't help but remind him from the side.
"Oh right! I completely forgot about that!"
"Xiao Ran, you're only twenty-two years old. Why are you so upset about getting engaged?"
"Exactly, exactly. Have you forgotten what you said before? You used to hate love the most."
Jiang Ran opened her mouth as if to say something, but didn't know what to say.
She had expected them to object, but she hadn't imagined they would object so strongly.
She could only force a smile: "Oh well... it's just an engagement... not a wedding. If it doesn't work out, we can just break up. Don't worry about me. How could I be so stupid? I definitely won't let myself get taken advantage of!"
"No way! This won't be good for your reputation! Besides, this person isn't sincere at all; he proposed engagement without even meeting our parents! We haven't agreed yet!"
Jiang Ran pursed her lips and said softly, "Um... he's coming to visit tomorrow..."
"What?!!"
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