Xiao Chong'an's expression was too straightforward, and Yun Qing and Xiao Chongye immediately saw through his thoughts, their expressions turning cold in unison.
As expected, he is a selfish person who does not consider others at all. Yun Qing thought darkly that if he was not satisfied with this marriage, he should have found a way to break off the engagement when the Yun family first came to Haicheng.
Whether it's a hunger strike or hanging, as long as one is resolute enough, there's no fear of not being able to back down. After all, the Xiao family hadn't taken the initiative to fulfill the marriage agreement before. But Xiao Chong'an, that coward, didn't dare to stand up to his family and just left, making her the subject of gossip for no reason.
Since she dared to do this, she had to be prepared to bear the consequences. Moreover, she originally thought that Xiao Chong'an really didn't like ladies from noble families and only liked lively and cheerful women. She didn't expect that he was also attracted to looks. He really had a double standard.
Xiao Chongye was unaware of Yun Qing's thoughts. He thought Yun Qing was heartbroken over her good-for-nothing brother. While feeling sorry for him, he was also somewhat relieved that they had never met before. Given Chong An's character, he was hardly a good person, so how could he entrust Yun Qing to him?
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Wu Yue was getting anxious. Although she thought the beautiful woman in front of her would be a formidable rival, her rightful fiancée was the biggest threat.
She realized that Xiao Chong'an was a spineless coward. If she didn't take this opportunity to provoke him into breaking off the engagement, he might actually give in under pressure from his family.
After thinking for a long time, Wu Yue carefully spoke from behind: "Xiao Chong'an, are you really going to break off the engagement? I thought you were just saying it casually."
"Of course, you don't believe me?"
Xiao Chong'an was very concerned about his reputation, and upon hearing her say this, he became agitated.
"Brother, let's go. Let's go find our parents now and discuss the annulment of the engagement. Today I must prove myself. I, Xiao Chong'an, will not compromise with an arranged marriage."
The other three rolled their eyes in unison: Is this guy crazy? He's the one who ran away from home and kept hiding from Yun Qing, so how did it become an arranged marriage?
However, out of selfishness, neither of them said it aloud.
Yun Qing looked at Xiao Chong'an with encouraging eyes, which made him feel a surge of pride and his desire to annul the engagement even stronger.
Witnessing all this, Wu Yue fell into deep thought. For some reason, she felt that something was off.
It was already evening when the two Xiao brothers rushed home.
Upon seeing Xiao Hua and Madam Xiao, Xiao Chong'an loudly proclaimed, "Father, Mother, I want to annul my engagement with Miss Yun."
"Cancel the engagement?"
Xiao Hua and his wife were stunned. They never expected that their youngest son, who had visited the Yun family that morning, would suddenly have such unconventional ideas.
Over the past two years, the two of them have already regarded Yun Qing as their daughter-in-law and are hoping that she can give birth to the Xiao family's eldest grandson so that they can enjoy the joys of family life. Now, to tell them that their fantasy is about to be shattered is absolutely unacceptable.
"Nonsense!" Xiao Hua was the first to explode. "Your mother and I have been waiting for you to return to the country, fulfill your marriage agreement with Yun Qing, and give us a lovely grandson or granddaughter. If you weren't willing to marry her, why didn't you do it earlier?"
“I clearly said before that I don’t want any fiancée, but you didn’t listen to me.”
Xiao Chong'an felt wronged. He had expressed his opinion when the Yun family first moved in, but no one took it seriously.
"Second brother, even if that's true, aren't you completely without fault?"
“Me?” Xiao Chong’an pointed at himself. “What did I do wrong?”
“If you did not agree to this marriage, you should have made it clear from the beginning. But you only said that you would not marry her, and you did not show any other indication. You did not come to Yunqing to discuss it, nor did you give any substantial reasons to discuss it with us calmly. You just said that and a few days later you said that you wanted to go abroad to study. We just thought you were joking.”
"I went abroad because I didn't want to marry Yun Qing."
“If you don’t tell us, who will know? You haven’t written back to explain this for three years, so we thought you had already accepted it.”
"Fine, even if it was my fault for not explaining things clearly, now I'm clearly and explicitly proposing to dissolve the engagement. You can't stop me now, can you?"
"I won't stop you, but I hope you can publish a statement in the newspaper saying that your decision to annul the engagement was due to your lack of willpower and that you have wronged Yunqing, so as not to tarnish her reputation."
"Why should I? Aren't you my brother? How can you make such a request?"
Xiao Chongye's expression was more serious than ever before: "You broke your promise first, so I will not consider personal relationships, but only right and wrong."
Xiao Hua and his wife were a little confused. They hadn't even agreed to annul the engagement yet, so how did their conversation have progressed to this point?
"Chongye, do you think we should put this matter on hold for now? At the very least, we should ask Yunqing for her opinion first."
"No need. My second brother visited the Yun family this morning and angered Yun Qing. I went to apologize on his behalf and asked for her opinion. She said that if Chong An is unwilling to marry her, she will not force him."
"This..." Xiao Hua and Madam Xiao choked up for a moment.
"At least she has some self-awareness, knowing she's not good enough for me." Hearing Xiao Chongye's words, Xiao Chong'an raised his head and said something extremely irritating.
Little did he know, Xiao Chongye's fist was already poised to strike. He could only console himself: Never mind, breaking off the engagement is the priority. I'll teach him a lesson another day.
Having come this far, it seems there's no way to avoid annuling the engagement. Xiao Hua and his wife sighed, wondering when they would be able to hold their grandson.
"However, since Yunqing has also agreed to annul the engagement, let's not have Chong'an publish the announcement in the newspaper, otherwise who would be willing to marry him in the future?"
Although the couple liked Yun Qing, their son's reputation was also very important. In particular, their eldest son's marriage was hopeless, and if they wanted to carry on the family line, they would have to rely on their unreliable younger son.
"Father, Mother, do you only think of Chong'an and not Yunqing? It is already more difficult for women to survive in this world than for men, not to mention matters of love. How will a woman who has been jilted find a husband in the future?"
"This..." Madam Xiao was also caught in a dilemma. She truly loved Yun Qing and even if they couldn't be mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, she still hoped that Yun Qing would be happy.
"That's it! How about this?" She suddenly had an idea. "Let's say that a master has calculated that Chong'an and Yunqing's horoscopes are incompatible and they should not get married."
“Yes, that’s a good idea.” Xiao Chong’an quickly chimed in, as long as it didn’t make him lose face, he wholeheartedly agreed.
Xiao Chongye fell into thought. This was indeed a solution, but Yun Qing would inevitably bear the reputation of having an unlucky birth chart, so it was still not comprehensive enough.
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