Chapter 45 Annulled Engagement
The carriage stopped at the gate of the courtyard. Sheng An got off the carriage with the box in his hand and heard a hearty laugh coming from the courtyard.
It was Zhang Zhaodi, whom I hadn't seen for many days.
A surge of joy welled up in Sheng An's heart. He pushed open the courtyard gate and strode into the yard. Sure enough, he saw Zhang Zhaodi sitting at the stone table, chatting and laughing with Grandpa and Grandma Sheng.
Zhang Zhaodi also saw Sheng An and a big smile appeared on her face: "An'an, you're back. Are you tired? Come and rest."
On the day Sheng An returned to her parents' home, she gave Zhang Zhaodi the address of the Xu family. Two months have passed, and today is Zhang Zhaodi's first visit.
"A rare guest indeed! When did you arrive?"
Sheng An walked over with a smile and was surprised to find that Zhang Zhaodi's eyes were a little red and swollen, clearly indicating that she had been crying.
With a slight frown, Sheng An didn't dare to ask too many questions in front of her grandparents. After greeting them, she pulled Zhang Zhaodi to the secluded backyard.
"What happened? Did something happen to your family?"
Meeting her friend's concerned gaze, Zhang Zhaodi, who had been feigning strength in the front yard, finally broke down. She took two steps forward, buried her face in Sheng An's shoulder, and burst into tears: "An An, I'm so sad, I'll never get married, waaaah—"
Sheng An was startled by the shrill cry and quickly pulled the person away and covered her mouth: "Keep your voice down, don't scare my three hens, I'm counting on them to lay more eggs."
Zhang Zhaodi: "..."
Who said we'd be best friends for life?
So, in your heart, your best friend isn't even worth a few eggs!
Zhang Zhaodi felt increasingly aggrieved, glaring accusingly at Sheng An, tears streaming down her face, looking utterly pitiful.
Sheng An removed his hand from her mouth, stood on tiptoe, and patted her head to comfort her:
“Our Zhaodi is so lovely, how could she not get married? Even if she really can’t get married, she still has me. I’ll take care of her when she gets old.”
Zhang Zhaodi felt like crying and laughing at the same time. Her face contorted as she spat out, "Live your own life well. Who cares if you take care of me in my old age!"
It seems this guy has had enough of being her best friend, and now he's having this ridiculous idea of wanting to be her daughter.
She's not married yet, so she can't have a daughter this big!
Seeing that Zhang Zhaodi had finally stopped crying, Sheng An decisively steered the conversation back on track: "Tell me what happened. Look at your swollen eyes, you didn't cry all night, did you?"
When her painful memories were brought up, Zhang Zhaodi felt like crying again.
After holding back her tears for a while, she finally revealed the reason in a fierce tone:
"That heartless Liu Yong actually got together with his cousin! My family went to his house to break off the engagement, but his family refused, and he even dared to call me petty! An'an, how can there be such a despicable person in the world!"
The memory swirled in Sheng An's mind, and he quickly remembered who Liu Yong was. His face darkened: "That brat dared to betray you!"
Liu Yong is Zhang Zhaodi's fiancé. The two families have had a good relationship for decades, and the two of them have known each other since childhood, sharing a childhood sweetheart bond.
A few years ago, the elders of both families wanted to strengthen their ties through marriage. After asking for their opinions, they arranged a marriage between them.
If all goes well, the two families will hold a wedding at the end of this year, and Zhang Zhaodi and Liu Yong will become husband and wife.
At this critical juncture, Liu Yong actually got together with his cousin!
"He liked his cousin but didn't say so earlier. He wanted to keep dragging things out until he came to my house to break off the engagement, so that I would take the blame for breaking off the engagement and he could be completely innocent with his beloved cousin."
Zhang Zhaodi clenched her fists, gritting her teeth in hatred: "His family doesn't agree, they won't accept my family's annulment of the engagement, and they can't let him completely break off his relationship with his cousin. What a shameless family!"
Sheng An got angry too and asked, "What are you thinking? Are you determined to break off the engagement?"
Zhang Zhaodi answered without hesitation: "Of course, such a fickle person is worse than a dog, we definitely can't keep him!"
Sheng An breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, as long as you are firm in your attitude and your family is on your side, the marriage can definitely be called off. But you have to be careful that the Liu family doesn't try to smear you."
Zhang Zhaodi waved her hand, a smug look on her face: "Don't worry, yesterday my family came to the door with drums and gongs to break off the engagement, and spread the word that he was hooking up with his cousin."
Originally, the Zhang family, mindful of the long-standing friendship between the two families, planned to quietly cancel the marriage, but they never expected the family to make such a big fuss and do things so ruthlessly.
As a result, Liu Yong went to Zhang's house and made a lot of nonsense, implying that Zhang Zhaodi was vulgar and not a good woman for domestic life, and was completely inferior to his own cousin.
This action completely enraged the Zhang family. The whole family rushed to the Zhang family's house and beat Liu Yong up. In front of a crowd of villagers who were watching the commotion, they revealed what Liu Yong had done.
In this way, the Liu family could no longer try to smear Zhang Zhaodi.
"Well done!"
Sheng An sincerely praised the Zhang family for their wisdom and was happy that her good friend was wholeheartedly protecting her family. At the same time, she couldn't understand why her good friend could cry for half the night.
"You don't have deep feelings for that Liu guy either. You've already decided to call off the engagement, so why are you crying?"
Zhang Zhaodi rolled her eyes at her friend: "Although the fault lies with that bastard Liu Yong, people will only laugh at me for being useless, unable to even keep my own fiancé, and will say it's my fault that that bastard got together with his cousin."
At this point, Zhang Zhaodi's bright and flamboyant face began to twist again: "That bitch has ruined my reputation. What decent family would want to marry me in the future? Isn't that something to cry about!"
She was already sixteen, the best age for a woman to get married.
If it's delayed for two or three years, it will be even harder to find a good husband.
She was feeling really suffocated, but she didn't dare let her family know, afraid that they would get anxious and upset, so she came to An'an early in the morning to complain.
Sheng An understood her best friend's predicament and couldn't help but sigh. She held her hand and comforted her, saying, "Let's call off the engagement first. Once things calm down, we can ask a matchmaker to help us find someone suitable."
Zhang Zhaodi looked dejected, but her words were tinged with distress: "If I could, I would rather stay at home and be an old maid for the rest of my life."
At this point, she looked at Sheng An with envy: "Grandpa and Grandma Sheng told me that you sell wontons at the market every day and the money you earn is enough to support yourself."
If she had that ability, her parents would probably agree to let her stay at home for the rest of her life.
Sheng An encouraged him, "If you're willing to learn, I can teach you."
Qingzhou City is so big, one or two more wonton stalls won't make much of a difference.
"No, no, my family all dislike my cooking, so I've never learned this skill. If I make a guest sick, I can't afford to compensate them."
Zhang Zhaodi repeatedly refused, but she was deeply moved.
She had tasted An'an's wontons, and they were even more delicious than her grandmother's braised pork.
But brothers and sisters born from the same mother wouldn't easily hand over their means of making a living, so how could she take advantage of An'an for nothing?
Seeing that Zhang Zhaodi really didn't want to learn, Sheng An didn't want to force her. He took her hand and led her to the kitchen: "Come on, let's make lunch. I'll show you what I can do."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaodi realized it was lunchtime: "No, I have to go back, otherwise my family will definitely worry."
Sheng An refused to let go: "Your family knows where you are. What do they have to worry about if you come to my house? If you still consider me a friend, stay for lunch."
Zhang Zhaodi's face flushed slightly: "An'an, I... I'm too embarrassed to eat your in-laws' food."
Sheng An smiled and said, "It's alright, I'll lend you my face, so you can eat as much as you want. In the more than ten years before I got married, you fed me plenty of delicious food."
Having said that, Zhang Zhaodi stayed.
The two went to the kitchen, one washing the ingredients and the other chopping, creating a relaxed and lively atmosphere.
Zhang Zhaodi shared a lot of the latest gossip in the village, but she talked most about Liu Huazhi's family.
Upon learning that Tong Baogen's family had been frequently causing trouble at the Liu family's home over the past month, demanding that Liu Huazhi marry into the Tong family to serve Tong Baogen, Sheng An was very satisfied with the outcome.
Evil people will be punished by other evil people; Liu Huazhi should just endure it.
Seeing Sheng An's interest, Zhang Zhaodi added many more details: "The first time the Tong family came to cause trouble, they injured Liu Huazhi's head. If Liu Huazhi had been smarter, she would have used this opportunity to scare the Tong family away, and there wouldn't have been any trouble later."
Unfortunately, Liu Huazhi wasn't very bright and easily let the Tong family go.
They always pick on the weakest link. In the eyes of the Tong family, isn't that just because she's easy to bully?
Sheng An smiled coldly and hit the nail on the head: "It's probably because Tong Baogen has something on Liu Huazhi that Liu Huazhi doesn't dare to confront the Tong family head-on."
While it wasn't Liu Huazhi who instigated Tong Baogen and his cousins to harm their grandmother, Liu Huazhi was undoubtedly involved in the incident.
If Tong Baogen insists that Liu Huazhi instructed him to do this, Liu Huazhi's reputation will be severely tarnished, and her dream of marrying into a wealthy family will be completely shattered.
Such a heavy price was too much for Liu Huazhi to bear, which is why she dared not fight Tong Baogen to the death.
When Xu Jinnian got home from school, he went straight to the kitchen.
Hearing an unfamiliar female voice coming from the kitchen, he paused but did not go in.
When Sheng An saw him, she called out to Zhang Zhaodi, "It's too hot in the kitchen. Go out and cool off. See if there are any ripe grapes to pick and cleanse your palate after the meal."
Just as Zhang Zhaodi was about to say that she wasn't afraid of the heat, she looked up and saw her best friend's husband. She quickly stood up and greeted Xu Jinnian: "Xu Tongsheng is back."
Xu Jinnian noticed her discomfort and nodded slightly, saying in a friendly manner, "An'an doesn't have many friends here, thank you for coming to talk to her."
Zhang Zhaodi secretly admired him, saying that he was indeed a scholar, and that his words were even more beautiful than his singing. She couldn't help but grin and say, "An'an is my best friend. You don't mind if I come to visit her."
Xu Jinnian smiled and shook his head: "I'm very happy that you came to An'an. How could I mind?"
Hearing this, Zhang Zhaodi relaxed considerably and happily went to pick grapes with a bamboo basket.
Xu Jinnian went to the stove to start a fire, without asking Zhang Zhaodi why she had suddenly come to the house.
Sheng An brought up the matter of her wanting to break off the engagement, and casually mentioned, "You should know quite a few unmarried people your age. If you find any good ones, keep an eye out for Zhao Di."
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