Chapter 39: Childhood Betrothal

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Childhood Betrothal

When Su Wan mentioned the army, Zheng Hai’s expression turned vicious for a moment. He stared daggers at her, his ferocious look identical to how he appeared in her prophetic dream when he took revenge on the Su family.

Su Wan immediately put her guard up.

"The fact that my sister and Lu Zhengchuan grew up together as childhood sweethearts is undeniable. It’s only because the army doesn’t know what happened back in the village that they’re letting you hide the truth."

Su Wan scoffed at his words and retorted, "So everyone who grows up in the same village is a childhood sweetheart?"

Zheng Hai clenched his fists, at a loss for words from her comeback, his eyes filled with malice.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Lu Zhengchuan once received a favor from my Zheng Family. He and I grew up playing together, and I always took my sister with me wherever I went. So naturally, Lu Zhengchuan basically grew up with my sister too. The Zheng Family is not lying!"

"You, on the other hand, Su Wan, are not the least bit magnanimous. The moment you married Lu Zhengchuan, you started a fuss, demanding he cut ties with our Zheng Family. Marrying a jealous shrew like you... I’d say Lu Zhengchuan is just plain unlucky."

"Su Wan, I think what Mr. Zheng says makes sense. As a wife, you can’t be too jealous. You can’t just forbid Battalion Commander Lu from ever speaking to other women, can you?" Zheng Qing chimed in from the side, sneakily backing up Zheng Hai. Her reasoning was simple: she just wanted to knock Su Wan down a peg.

She couldn’t stand seeing others do well, especially Su Wan, who had stolen the marriage that should have gone to a girl from her own hometown.

It was as if by proving Su Wan was inferior, she could join in on scorning Lu Zhengchuan for his poor taste.

Otherwise, if Su Wan was so wonderful, wouldn’t that just prove Lu Zhengchuan had good taste, and that the girl from her town was no match for Su Wan?

Su Wan glanced at her, taking in the jealousy in her eyes, and calmly turned back to face Zheng Hai.

"Zheng Hai, I’m confused. Why are you bringing up these irrelevant little things? Your sister, Zheng Zhizhi, personally admitted to swapping the letters I sent to Lu Zhengchuan. You can’t deny that, can you?" Su Wan said, cutting straight through his attempts to muddy the waters.

"That’s right, Mr. Zheng Hai. No matter how much you dote on your sister, you can’t just have no moral compass."

"Exactly. If you ask me, if you do something wrong, you should just admit it. What’s the point of constantly making excuses?"

"I bet it’s because you, her brother, and your parents spoil her too much that she ends up doing these wrong things."

"You can’t coddle children, and besides, your sister is already eighteen. She’s not a kid anymore."

The gossiping family members watching from the sidelines, like Wang Mei and Aunt Liu, started voicing their opinions.

Zheng Hai was furious. He clenched his left fist, his face flushed red, and he looked like he was about to explode with rage. But for some reason, he chose to hold it in.

’It would have been better if Zheng Hai had lost his temper and gotten physical right now,’ Su Wan thought. ’Then nobody would have paid any attention to whatever he said next.’

"What are you all talking about? My sister only admitted it because you scared her into it! It’s not like my sister can’t find a husband." At this, Zheng Hai snorted coldly at Su Wan. "No matter how you deny it, the fact that they grew up together is unchangeable."

Su Wan had no idea what he was so smug about. "Oh? And so what?"

"So, what I’m saying is, even if my sister did something wrong this time because she was influenced by Zhang Yun, her childhood bond with Lu Zhengchuan won’t change."

Su Wan finally understood. ’Zheng Hai deliberately came to me to say all this just to spite me.’

’He wants me to misunderstand Lu Zhengchuan.’

’But he doesn’t know that I’m already aware that Lu Zhengchuan’s kindness toward me is only because of the pregnancy and because we found each other agreeable. Our emotional foundation is weak to begin with. Compared to my previous fear that his heart belonged to someone else, I’m already quite satisfied with this outcome.’

"Oh, I see. Is there anything else you want to say?" Su Wan asked, her tone calm.

Zheng Hai hadn’t expected her to be so calm and completely unaffected. A wave of frustration washed over him.

He gritted his teeth and played his trump card. "Su Wan, I bet you don’t know this, but Aunt Zhang once discussed a marriage proposal with my mother. It was a child betrothal, for Lu Zhengchuan and my sister."

Su Wan’s pupils contracted. "Impossible!" she said instinctively.

"Hmph. If it weren’t for the fact that Lu Zhengchuan was in the army for so long and had grown up by the time he came back... He said some nonsense about a verbal child betrothal not counting, and that men and women should be free to choose their own partners. Plus, he was a battalion commander by then, and my Zheng Family isn’t the type to make things difficult for people. Otherwise, the marriage between our two families would have been settled long ago. There would have been no place for you."

Su Wan, of course, understood the principle of shared glory and disgrace. Hearing this, she gradually realized that Zheng Hai’s goal wasn’t just to upset her, but also to gain leverage over Lu Zhengchuan.

’He wants to use Lu Zhengchuan’s reputation to control him.’

"Oh? A child betrothal? Isn’t that just something elders mention offhandedly? If we’re going to talk about that, my mom used to casually say a certain girl would be my older brother’s wife. My brother is married with kids now, and that girl from his childhood never came looking for him. She got married long ago."

Su Wan was actually saying this for the benefit of the family members listening nearby.

And indeed, the expressions on the family members’ faces softened.

"Besides, in this new era, we don’t approve of old-fashioned arranged marriages. Are you saying two people, a man and a woman with no feelings for each other, must get married just because of a casual remark an elder once made?"

At this point, Su Wan chuckled softly. "If I recall correctly, Zheng Zhizhi has already discussed marriage with someone else, even mentioning a five-hundred-yuan bride price and a sewing machine. Why weren’t you talking about this so-called ’child betrothal’ back then?"

Zheng Hai was rendered speechless by Su Wan’s words.

The other family members looked at Zheng Hai. Aunt Liu’s expression changed slightly as if she’d thought of something. She grabbed his arm and said, "Mr. Zheng Hai, come on, you’re here to see your sister, right? Let’s go see your sister."

Zheng Hai shook her hand off and said impatiently, "Ma’am, don’t meddle in other people’s business. I’m not going to see my sister right now."

"I haven’t settled things with Su Wan yet."

"Su Wan, let me make this clear. My sister did ask for a five-hundred-yuan bride price and a sewing machine, but that’s because the other party agreed to it! In fact, they were the ones who offered it first. It’s not like the Zheng Family was demanding a high bride price!" Zheng Hai raised his chin smugly.

For some reason, hearing this gave Su Wan an ominous feeling.

"Oh? Are you saying Zheng Zhizhi is already engaged to someone?"

"Of course," Zheng Hai said, looking at her with contempt. "Don’t think my sister can’t get married just because she doesn’t have Lu Zhengchuan."

’I couldn’t care less who Zheng Zhizhi marries,’ Su Wan wanted to say. ’I just want her to stay far away from me. It would be best if she never appeared in my life again.’

"Who exactly is Zheng Zhizhi engaged to?"

That was all Su Wan wanted to know now. She had a gut feeling that Zheng Hai wasn’t about to share any good news.

"My future brother-in-law is also in the army!" Zheng Hai lifted his chin, looking exceptionally proud. His smug expression made Su Wan’s heart skip a beat for no reason.