Chapter 12: Coax Me a Little.
After going bankrupt, the Jing family moved to a residential building next to the ceramics factory, in a suburban community.
When they arrived home, Jing's father was still working overtime at the factory.
The whole family was extremely surprised to see her suddenly return.
There was half-eaten food on the table. Jing Ge silently found a seat, picked up his chopsticks, and put a mouthful of rice into his mouth.
"You..." Grandma Fan Congyun looked her up and down, "Why are you back now? Did Li Zhan bring you back?"
Jing Ge only ate two bites of rice before he couldn't eat anymore.
She first looked at her mother, Cai Zhi, then stopped at the old lady's face: "Grandma, I want to break off the engagement."
"......"
Fan Congyun dismissed her childish tantrum: "Why are you bringing this up again? Haven't I already explained all the reasons to you in detail?"
“I can’t take it,” Jingge’s nose tingled, and tears welled up in her eyes. “I just can’t take it.”
Cai Zhi put her arm around her shoulder: "Did you have a fight with Li Zhan?"
Fan Congyun: "What young person doesn't argue? Me and your grandfather, your father and your mother, didn't we all bicker our whole lives?"
"Please help me break off the engagement," Jing Ge pleaded, refusing to listen. "I've been officially hired, I'll work hard to support the family, we don't need to rely on the Li family..."
Fan Congyun's expression turned serious: "Shut up!"
"......"
"Your luxury cars, mansions, and beautiful dresses from before you were ten years old," Fan Congyun's cloudy eyes were shrewd, "are you willing to let the Jing family's more than a hundred years of foundation just vanish into thin air?"
Jingge: "I don't want luxury cars and mansions..."
Fan Congyun interrupted her: "Don't mention this again!"
Jing Ge's nose tip was slightly red.
Fan Congyun: "Your dad sleeps less than four hours a day at the factory, afraid that if he sleeps a second longer he will earn less money. I think you have forgotten what it is like to be besieged by creditors like hungry wolves."
"Mom," Cai Zhi advised, "please don't put so much pressure on her..."
Fan Congyun: "The Li family didn't discriminate against the poor and favored the rich; they even helped us out. For that reason alone, we shouldn't even mention breaking off the engagement again!"
Jing Ge's eyelashes were wet, and his expression was blank for a moment.
"And what about me? What am I?"
“Princess,” Fan Congyun said earnestly, “the prosperity of a family is usually the result of the efforts of several generations. There are always people who have to make sacrifices. Besides, the elders of the Li family are very kind. Li Zhan is young and impetuous. You can just coax him a little. It’s not a hardship at all. It can give the Jing family a chance to breathe. In the end, we are the ones who benefit.”
The moisture in Jing Ge's eyes gradually faded.
so.
Her happiness is unimportant, her well-being is unimportant, her wishes are unimportant.
For the sake of the Jing family, she is to be sacrificed.
Cai Zhi hesitated, then tentatively suggested, "Mom, how about we consider Prince and Li Ying..."
"You've lost your mind!" Fan Congyun said sternly. "Let's not even talk about how young they are. The eldest son of the Li family has no children, the third son is still unmarried, and only the second son has a son and a daughter. This daughter is so precious, how could she possibly marry into our family?"
Cai Zhi fell silent.
Fan Congyun: "Marrying Li Zhan is her good fortune! If Li Laosan is like the eldest son and never has children, then the entire Li family will belong to Li Zhan, and also to Gege and her children! Not to mention just for the sake of the Jing family, this is a good thing for her as well. She will never find such a cheap deal again!"
At this point, Fan Congyun looked at Jing Ge: "You're not a young lady anymore, you don't have the right to be arrogant. In front of Li Zhan, you should be humble and submissive. It doesn't matter which man you coax, coaxing a rich and powerful one is better than coaxing someone who has nothing, right?"
Jingge kept her head down, her long, thick eyelashes obscuring her eyes like feathers.
There was no emotion left.
The door suddenly opened, and it was Jing's father who had returned.
Since his family went bankrupt, he has aged rapidly, and his hair has turned mostly white due to working day and night.
After glancing at the restaurant, without even changing his shoes, Jing's father said sternly, "I'll take you home."
"How could you do this?" Cai Zhi said, displeased. "You didn't even ask about your daughter..."
Jing's father: "Besides announcing the engagement, what else does she want to do?"
"......"
Jing's father's voice was icy cold: "Li Zhan is the only one who doesn't want you. You have no right to not want him. Who doesn't suffer grievances? What doesn't involve suffering grievances? I have to appease clients and workers every day. Your mother, your grandmother, who doesn't suffer grievances?"
"Alright!" Cai Zhi couldn't help but say, "Why bring this up? It wasn't her fault!"
Mr. Jing: "The Jing family raised her, so she should contribute to the future of the Jing family!"
Cai Zhi sighed deeply.
Jing's father opened the door: "Let's go. I'll take you back to the Li family. Apologize to Li Zhan properly, and when he reaches the right age, the two of you should get married immediately."
On the way back, Jingge didn't say a word.
Li Zhan is right.
It's all fate.
It's fate.
Seemingly certain she would return, Li Zhan leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and coldly watched her enter like a walking corpse.
Is it humiliating?
Jing Ge was numb.
The villa was large, and the groundlights cast a dim, half-lit glow. She walked for a long time, her thin figure looking lonely, as if she were traversing a dark passageway alone, heading towards an abyss where the sun would never rise.
Until they reached Li Zhan.
Jingge lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry."
Li Zhan slowly straightened up, his expression unreadable: "Stop going against me."
Jing Ge: "Okay."
Li Zhan: "Try to appease me."
Jing Ge: "Okay."
Li Zhan: "Look up."
Jingge looked up.
He stood in a high position, and Jingge looked like a weak and vulnerable ant in front of him, resigned to his fate, as if he could be kneaded and crushed at will.
Li Zhan bit his cheek, realizing that he wasn't happy: "Are you feeling wronged being with me?"
Jing Ge gave the standard answer: "No, it's my honor, it's my family's honor."
"......"
Li Zhan turned and left.
The background exudes obvious rage.
I don't know what I'm angry about.
She obeyed everything.
So well-behaved.
They just went along with what he said.
Jingge couldn't understand it.
Uncle Zhang stood to the side, coughing lightly.
Jing Ge snapped out of his daze and looked at him: "Uncle Zhang, don't tell your uncle about tonight's events, okay?"
"...Why?" Uncle Zhang asked, puzzled. "You can ask him to help you."
Jing Ge shook his head: "The words are too harsh, don't offend his ears."
Uncle Zhang choked abruptly: "Not that old."
Jing Ge: "Oh."
Uncle Zhang: "
Li Mushi didn't return until the early hours of the morning that night.
Uncle Zhang followed closely behind: "You must be tired, would you like some coffee?"
"..." Li Mushi glanced at him sideways, "Old man?"
Uncle Zhang slapped his mouth and said, "I'm an old man, I'm the one who should be."
Li Mushi stopped abruptly: "Speak."
Uncle Zhang: "What did you say?"
Li Mushi: "What happened last night?"
“...Ah,” even though he had been raised by him, Uncle Zhang was still amazed by his keen insight, “Something has indeed happened, but I can’t say.”
Li Mushi: "Whose person are you?"
Uncle Zhang: "Princess forbids me from saying this. So, should I listen to you or her in this matter?"
Li Mushi stared at him with his deep eyes for a while.
His voice was indifferent: "Since you've already promised her, just listen to her. Don't let the child think you're disrespectful to your elders."
Uncle Zhang: "......"
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