After Escaping Marriage - Chapter 116
Chapter 116
So, the engagement she broke was also with Cheng Zhanxi?
No, if that were the case, Cheng Zhanxi should have been the one to break off the engagement, and they would have recognized each other on the spot, not her brother.
Yu Qingtang felt that her seemingly ordinary engagement had suddenly become anything but.
Yu Qingtang: “Auntie, could you explain it a bit more clearly?”
Song Qingrou thought for a moment and said, “Where would you like me to start?”
Yu Qingtang tentatively said, “The childhood engagement?” As soon as she finished, she quickly added, “If you find it troublesome, you don’t have to talk about it.”
Song Qingrou smiled, “Don’t be nervous. How long have Auntie and you known each other?”
She deliberately lowered her voice for the last sentence, lest Cheng Zhanxi in the living room hear, even though they were so far apart. But what if?
Song Qingrou: “Then I’ll start from the beginning. It was thirty years ago, when Xixi’s brother was having a birthday banquet…”
In the living room, the three Cheng family members each occupied a sofa, looking at each other for a while.
Cheng Yuanxi was the first to break the silence: “Do you want some fruit?”
Cheng Yi: “Seedless grapes.”
Cheng Zhanxi’s ears were pricked up like antennae; she hadn’t paid any attention to what he was saying.
Cheng Yuanxi raised his voice: “Sister!”
Cheng Zhanxi, her eyes fixed on the direction of the second-floor bedroom, didn’t turn her head. “What?”
Cheng Yuanxi said, “There’s a floor and several walls between you. Even if you had super hearing, you wouldn’t be able to hear. Be patient.”
“I know.” Cheng Zhanxi turned her face, hugged the nearby throw pillow, and kneaded it. “I’m nervous.”
Cheng Yuanxi chuckled, “It’s not like you’re meeting the parents. What are you nervous about?”
Cheng Zhanxi muttered to herself, “I might not even be this nervous if I were meeting the parents.”
Yu Qingtang was different from her. She was introverted. What if Song Qingrou, with her mischievous streak, teased her and scared her?
Cheng Zhanxi looked worried. Cheng Yuanxi wanted the married Cheng Yi to comfort her. Cheng Yi sat upright on the sofa, legs crossed, and said, “This is just the first step. It’s even more nerve-wracking when you get married. When I got married back then…”
Cheng Yuanxi: “…”
How many times had it been? A thousand times?
Song Qingrou was talking inside, Cheng Yi was talking outside, both incessantly.
Cheng Yi finished speaking, but Song Qingrou hadn’t.
The throw pillow in Cheng Zhanxi’s hands was misshapen from her kneading. She said, “Why aren’t they out yet?”
Cheng Yi also started to get restless. “Why is it taking so long?”
Cheng Yuanxi felt that the two of them were like husbands anxiously waiting outside the delivery room for their wives to give birth, and he felt out of place among them.
Isn’t it normal for two women to get together and chat for half an hour or an hour? Cheng Zhanxi stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”
Cheng Yi also stood up.
The father and daughter went upstairs to the bedroom door. Cheng Zhanxi raised her hand, intending to knock. The door happened to open from the inside, and Song Qingrou and Yu Qingtang simultaneously looked at the husband and girlfriend in front of them: “?”
Song Qingrou: “Is something wrong?”
Cheng Zhanxi said, “We washed some grapes and wanted to call you two down to eat them.”
Cheng Yi, his expression unchanged: “Yes.”
Cheng Yi took Song Qingrou’s hand, leading her away from Yu Qingtang’s side, and asked gently, as if casually, “What were you talking about for so long?”
Cheng Zhanxi also pulled Yu Qingtang to her side and checked her from top to bottom, as if afraid she might have lost a single strand of hair.
The Cheng parents walked ahead. Cheng Zhanxi lagged a few meters behind them and said to Yu Qingtang in a volume only the two of them could hear, “What did my mom say to you?”
Yu Qingtang said, “Auntie told me not to say.”
Cheng Zhanxi smiled, “You have secrets with my mom already?”
Yu Qingtang said vaguely, “Not really.” This secret, Cheng Zhanxi already knew.
Her ambiguous attitude made Cheng Zhanxi a little curious, but since it was a secret, she didn’t press further.
Yu Qingtang stayed at the Cheng family home for lunch, toured Cheng Zhanxi’s room, took a nap in her room, and then took her leave in the afternoon. An unmarried woman staying overnight at the Cheng family home on the first meeting was indeed inappropriate. Cheng Zhanxi had other residences; she often stayed out alone for peace and quiet to paint after returning to the country.
Cheng Zhanxi drove a Porsche Panamera out of the garage. The white car body looked brand new. Yu Qingtang looked at the car she had previously seen on Tan Lingfei’s Weibo, momentarily lost in thought.
Cheng Zhanxi opened the passenger door from the inside and tilted her head at Yu Qingtang. “What’s wrong?”
Yu Qingtang snapped back to reality, her expression normal. “Nothing.”
She bent down, got in, and skillfully fastened her seatbelt.
“What do you want to eat tonight?”
“I’m not very familiar with the Capital City, you decide.” Yu Qingtang had studied in the Capital for seven years, but she lived a secluded life. The cafeteria, dormitory, academic buildings, and library constituted almost her entire life.
“Alright, then I’ll decide.” Cheng Zhanxi reached out and lifted her chin. “Miss Yu, would you do me the honor of having dinner with me tonight?”
Yu Qingtang lowered her face, her chin resting in Cheng Zhanxi’s palm.
“I will.”
“Thank you for bestowing this honor upon me.”
Cheng Zhanxi was adept at creating opportunities in daily life for Yu Qingtang to take the initiative, even with expressions that wouldn’t have a second answer. Little by little, it would accumulate, like streams flowing into the sea. One day, Yu Qingtang would be brave enough and accustomed to expressing her inner feelings.
Cheng Zhanxi drove away from home, taking her to a detached villa more than half an hour’s drive away.
This place was much smaller than the Cheng family estate and didn’t have a host of servants. After Cheng Zhanxi left the Capital, only a cleaning lady who came at fixed times and a gardener to tend the flowers and trees were there. Compared to the luxury of the main Cheng residence, Yu Qingtang preferred this smaller villa, free from the disturbance of others.
The first thing Cheng Zhanxi did was to register Yu Qingtang’s fingerprint and tell her the password as well.
“From now on, this will be our home in the Capital City. In the future…” Cheng Zhanxi mumbled past the word “marriage,” her cheeks feeling a little hot, and said, “we’ll change to another one.”
Cheng Zhanxi looked uncomfortable and coughed lightly.
Normally, with Yu Qingtang’s current way of thinking, she wouldn’t have been able to conjure up the word “marriage.” However, she had just learned about Cheng Zhanxi running away from her marriage, and as if by some strange coincidence, she connected the dots to the correct answer and also understood why Cheng Zhanxi’s ears had suddenly turned red.
They had only been together for a little over three months, and Yu Qingtang didn’t have any clear thoughts about marriage yet, so she didn’t respond, feigning ignorance despite understanding.
She was used to being slow to react, so Cheng Zhanxi didn’t take it to heart and secretly began planning a proposal.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that when she emerged from her own world and saw Yu Qingtang staring at her without blinking, she couldn’t help but chuckle, “What’s wrong?”
Yu Qingtang’s gaze shifted downwards slightly, fixing on the woman’s red lips.
Cheng Zhanxi understood, picked her up, sat her on her lap on the sofa, and then kissed her.
After the kiss, Cheng Zhanxi regretted it. Not that she regretted kissing her, but that she lacked self-control, getting carried away by a single look from Yu Qingtang.
Yu Qingtang, whether out of laziness or something else, not only didn’t make a move on her but also rarely initiated kisses with Cheng Zhanxi in daily life—except for stealing kisses while she was asleep. She always gave various hints, both overt and subtle. Cheng Zhanxi was particularly perceptive in this regard and was a woman of action; upon receiving a signal for a kiss, she would immediately fulfill Yu Qingtang’s wish.
Once, twice, or even three hundred times was fine, but it wouldn’t be good if it continued like this in the future. So Cheng Zhanxi reminded herself to find an opportunity to change this, but every time the moment came, she would lose her composure, eager to immediately hear Yu Qingtang’s involuntary sounds in her arms, wanting her to wrap her arms tightly around her neck, to be kissed until she was dazed and lost in passion, a silver thread connecting them.
Yu Qingtang was so mild as to be almost dull, so harmless as to be completely unaggressive. Cheng Zhanxi even considered forcing herself on her, or getting her drunk. Yu Qingtang’s alcohol tolerance was average; if drunk, she would be at Cheng Zhanxi’s mercy. Women, unlike men, could still… well, you know, when drunk. Perhaps it would even be more intense.
But these were just thoughts. Cheng Zhanxi couldn’t bring herself to do it. She wanted to do it honorably, to make Yu Qingtang want her through her own charm. Willingly, eagerly, like dry tinder to a raging fire.
In the evening, they went to a seafood restaurant.
The Capital City wasn’t small, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly large either. The probability of encountering people from the same social circle and with similar spending habits was quite high, especially for someone like Cheng Zhanxi, who had friends everywhere. After Cheng Zhanxi finished ordering, while they were waiting for the food, an acquaintance approached.
They were around Cheng Zhanxi’s age, a man and a woman, both dressed stylishly. The aura they exuded showed they had grown up in affluent families.
“Xixi.” The woman, arm in arm with her boyfriend, came up to greet her cheerfully and affectionately, “When did you get back?”
Cheng Zhanxi poured tea for Yu Qingtang and smiled familiarly, “Just got back today. And I ran into you guys as soon as I returned.”
“We must have a telepathic connection.” The woman looked at Yu Qingtang, who was sitting opposite Cheng Zhanxi, and said teasingly, “This is… aren’t you going to introduce me?”
Cheng Zhanxi said generously, “Yu Qingtang, my girlfriend.”
The woman said, “Everyone said you got a girlfriend. I thought they were joking. Alas, I’m heartbroken.”
She pretended to joke lightly, but Yu Qingtang’s sensitive rival-dar told her that what this person said and what she thought were different. Especially that phrase “I’m heartbroken”—it wasn’t lighthearted at all.
The acquaintance left, her gaze lingering on Yu Qingtang for half a second before she departed.
Yu Qingtang lowered her head to look at the emerald green tea in her cup, silently pursing her lips.
Cheng Zhanxi took a sip of tea, raised her eyes to look across, and keenly sensed that the atmosphere around Yu Qingtang had become considerably heavier. The good mood she had before they left was nowhere to be seen.
Cheng Zhanxi: “?”
After a long while, Yu Qingtang’s somewhat low voice came from across the table: “Did that person just now like you?”
Cheng Zhanxi said frankly, “She confessed to me, and I rejected her. That was ten years ago.”
Yu Qingtang stated flatly, “She still likes you now. She’s jealous of me.”
Cheng Zhanxi said, “I came out to eat with you, and I only care about you. Yet you’re paying attention to someone else. Isn’t that unfair to me?”
Yu Qingtang was taken aback by her serious tone and immediately forgot about her jealousy, saying softly, “I was wrong.”
Cheng Zhanxi glanced at her and snorted lightly.
Yu Qingtang reached out and covered the back of Cheng Zhanxi’s hand on the table.
Cheng Zhanxi “reluctantly” showed a smile and emphasized, “You’re only allowed to look at me.”
Yu Qingtang nodded. “Only you.”
Cheng Zhanxi turned a passive situation into an active one, defusing a crisis for herself. However, she didn’t yet know that from the moment she and Yu Qingtang set foot in the Capital City, similar crises would become more and more frequent. This preemptive method wouldn’t always be effective. When Yu Qingtang’s jealousy accumulated to a certain point, a quantitative change would lead to a qualitative one, and the consequences… would indeed be something she’d be delighted to see.
This is a matter for later, and we won’t discuss it for now.
For now, they happily ate seafood, went to see the latest movie, and after returning home, developed a new location: the entrance hall.
The next day, Song Qingrou called them to come home for lunch.
At the dining table, Song Qingrou proactively brought up the matter of the wedding: “Miss Wei…”
Cheng Zhanxi heard the beginning and was almost scared out of her wits. She frantically winked at Song Qingrou, but Song Qingrou didn’t look at her at all. She was looking at Cheng Yuanxi from start to finish and said, “How is Miss Wei?”
Cheng Yuanxi said, “She’s alright.”
Cheng Zhanxi, having just recovered from her shock, looked at Yu Qingtang beside her. Fortunately, Yu Qingtang was looking down at her food and hadn’t noticed the undercurrents at the table.
Cheng Zhanxi took the initiative to tell her, “Miss Wei is my brother’s fiancée. They have a childhood engagement.”
She emphasized the word “brother,” giving a preemptive warning: my brother’s, nothing to do with me.
Yu Qingtang gave her a deep look.
Cheng Zhanxi was taken aback. Something flashed through her mind, too fast to grasp. She wanted to continue thinking, but her mother’s words diverted her attention again: “Ask Miss Wei when she can come visit our home.”
Cheng Yuanxi said calmly, “Alright, I’ll ask her.”
Song Qingrou turned to look at Yu Qingtang and said gently and kindly, “Xiao Tang.”
The already visiting Seventh Miss Wei, Qingtang, put down her chopsticks. “Auntie.”
Song Qingrou said, “You and Miss Wei will definitely become good friends. After all, you two are very fated.”
Speaking of this, Song Qingrou exchanged a knowing glance with Cheng Zhanxi: both had been fiancées to the siblings—what a huge fate!
Cheng Zhanxi didn’t want to understand at all.
Yu Qingtang wasn’t good with words, and also, her acting skills weren’t good enough to avoid giving herself away, so she gave a shallow nod.
Afterward, she buried her head and ate.
After the meal, Cheng Zhanxi pulled her mother into the bedroom to talk privately.
“Mom!” Cheng Zhanxi looked a little exasperated.
Song Qingrou was amiable, reached out to pinch her pouting lips, and smiled, “What’s wrong, my dear daughter?”
Cheng Zhanxi said, “You clearly know that I… and yet you still mention Miss Wei in front of Yu Qingtang?”
Song Qingrou said, “Well, Miss Wei will marry into the family sooner or later. We can’t just never mention her, right? She’s your brother’s future wife, your sister-in-law, and in the future, she’ll also be your sworn sister.”
Cheng Zhanxi ignored this mess and said, “Then wait until Miss Wei has married in before talking about it! I’m planning to propose to her soon. If you conjure up another fiancée for me midway and ruin my proposal, believe it or not, I’ll cry for you to see.”
“I believe you, I believe you.” Song Qingrou nodded hastily.
With a father like Cheng Yi, Cheng Zhanxi had been a "water faucet" since she was little—she could cry on demand.
Cheng Zhanxi held back the tears welling in her eyes.
Song Qingrou suddenly realized and said in surprise, “You’re going to propose?”
Cheng Zhanxi dabbed the moist corners of her eyes with a tissue and said, “Yes.”
Song Qingrou started to smile.
Then couldn’t the wedding with the Wei family continue to be prepared? Killing two birds with one stone.
Cheng Zhanxi: “Mom, what are you smiling about?”
Song Qingrou smiled, pressing her lips together. “Nothing, nothing.”
Cheng Zhanxi narrowed her eyes. “You’re acting strange.”
“How am I acting strange?”
“You’ve been smiling at the drop of a hat lately, just like this smile now. It’s different from your usual smile. You’re definitely hiding something from me!”
“It’s nothing.”
“There definitely is!”
“There definitely isn’t!”
The mother and daughter stared at each other.
Song Qingrou, though not entirely in the right, said with feigned confidence, “Can’t Mom have a little secret of her own?”
Cheng Zhanxi wasn’t so easily fooled this time. “Is your secret related to me?”
Song Qingrou’s eyes darted away, and she kept backing up under Cheng Zhanxi’s advance. It seemed she was about to be outmaneuvered by her daughter, who had surpassed her, by having her weaknesses exploited one by one.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
Cheng Zhanxi went to open the door. Her brother, Cheng Yuanxi, stood at the entrance, his expression grave.
“Mom, I just called Miss Wei.”
Song Qingrou quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Cheng Zhanxi inexplicably started to feel nervous too.
Cheng Yuanxi said, “Miss Wei, she…”
Two pairs of eyes stared intently at him.
Cheng Yuanxi said in a low voice, “She wants to break off the engagement.”
Song Qingrou didn’t speak. Cheng Zhanxi asked first, “Why? Wasn’t everything agreed upon before?”
Cheng Yuanxi closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at Cheng Zhanxi.
Cheng Zhanxi’s heart skipped a beat. “It’s not because of me, is it?”
Cheng Yuanxi nodded.
Cheng Zhanxi said angrily, “Does she have to marry me?!” Extremely furious, she reached out to Cheng Yuanxi for his phone. “Give me Miss Wei’s number. I’ll talk to her myself.”
Cheng Yuanxi tightly held onto the phone in his pocket and said, “No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“Miss Wei doesn’t insist on marrying you,” Cheng Yuanxi said. “Our family’s siblings have had their engagements swapped back and forth. Miss Wei feels she has suffered a great humiliation and has become the laughingstock of the entire Capital City. Hearing that you’ve returned to the Capital, she wants you to apologize to her in person.”
“Is that all? Nothing else?”
“Nothing else.”
Cheng Zhanxi pondered for a moment and said, “Are you sure she doesn’t want to marry me?”
Cheng Yuanxi said, “That’s all she said.”
If an apology could solve the problem…
Cheng Zhanxi looked up and said decisively, “Alright, I’ll go apologize.”
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