Chapter 859 — The Assertive Guan Xuemin

Guan Xuemin heard the quarrel downstairs and came down. When he saw Guan Xin weeping on the sofa, he was taken aback for a moment, then hurried over. "Xin Xin, what's wrong? Why are you crying here? Where's your father?"

"Grandpa..." The sight of him only made Guan Xin cry harder. She had never felt so wronged in her life. She could not fathom how her father could presume to decide her marriage for her, forcing her to wed a man she had never met.

"There now, there now. Don't cry yet. First tell Grandpa what happened. Is there anything that can't be worked out? Why are you crying so bitterly?" Guan Xuemin had no idea what had come over Guan Xin. He walked over, sat down on the sofa, and patted his granddaughter's shoulder to comfort her.

"Grandpa, Dad says he betrothed me when I was little, that I have to marry a man I've never laid eyes on..." Sobbing, Guan Xin told her grandfather everything that had happened.

"Preposterous!" Guan Xuemin was so furious he slammed his hand on the table. "That Guan Xiaoxiang grows more and more unbridled by the day. How can a thing like this be settled on a whim? Don't you worry, Xin Xin. Grandpa will stand up for you! Without my word, no one has any say in the matter! I'm calling your father this instant!"

Guan Xuemin was beside himself with rage. Upright and unyielding he might be, but he was no hidebound old pedant; the moment he heard that Guan Xiaoxiang had arranged a marriage for Guan Xin, his anger flared beyond control. Besides, the grandson-in-law he had settled on in his own heart was Wei Zhao, so there was even less chance he would let Guan Xiaoxiang marry the girl off so recklessly.

"You miserable little wretch, what did you say to Xin Xin? You made my precious granddaughter cry? You've grown bold, haven't you? Arranging a marriage behind my back? I'm telling you, you cancel that engagement this instant and put the notion out of your head!" Guan Xuemin dialed the number and let loose a torrent of abuse the moment it connected.

Guan Xiaoxiang was struck dumb by the scolding. His father had not spoken to him like that since the quarrel over his starting his own company! It gave him a sudden pang of something like childhood closeness, the feeling of being berated by his father for some boyhood misdeed, and it left him a little afraid to defy his father's wishes...

Yet in this matter, he truly had no say. This engagement had been settled back then with that benefactor, together with his wife. How could he unilaterally go back on it? Think of how great a kindness that man had shown him! Were it not for his investment and his connections, could he have achieved what he had today? Could he have won the approval of his wife's family?

He was not a man who forgot his debts of gratitude, and so for a moment Guan Xiaoxiang was truly caught in a bind. After years of cold war with his father, he knew that his father's willingness to lose his temper on Guan Xin's behalf today marked a thaw in their relations. If he yielded now, father and son would surely grow close again in the years to come!

But could he yield? The promise he had made to that man could not be broken! Unless the man himself broke it, Guan Xiaoxiang was incapable of such ingratitude.

At that thought, Guan Xiaoxiang could only smile bitterly. Loyalty and righteousness could not both be served, so what was he to do? He did not want to provoke his father's wrath again at a moment when their relationship might be mended, and yet he absolutely could not take the initiative to break the engagement.

"Father, in all other matters I will obey you, but in this one I truly cannot change course. It was settled back then with that benefactor. You know him too..." Guan Xiaoxiang sighed. "How can I break off the engagement?"

"But have you ever considered Xin Xin's happiness? If that's how it is, then when the man comes looking, let him come to me! Tell him I'm the one who broke the engagement!" Guan Xuemin was so angry he laughed. "He did you a favor, and I healed his wife's leg! If he's unwilling to accept it, let him come to me! And if you try to marry Xin Xin off to anyone else, I'll have her cut all ties with you as father and daughter, and give you the cold shoulder, just the way you did to me in your day!"

With that, Guan Xuemin slammed the phone down with a crack, paying no heed to whatever Guan Xiaoxiang might say next.

Holding the receiver, Guan Xiaoxiang did not know whether to laugh or cry. His father had actually used his own old trick against him! Still, at least his father had taken the matter onto his own shoulders and promised that if trouble arose, the benefactor could come to him, which eased Guan Xiaoxiang's burden somewhat. But he still had no wish to go back on his word!

It seemed the only way was to talk his father around slowly. Right now his father was in a rage; to call again about this would only strain the already tense bond between father and son further, and that was not what Guan Xiaoxiang wanted to see.

Once Guan Xuemin hung up, Guan Xin's tears turned to laughter. Seeing her grandfather champion her cause so forcefully, she felt certain her father would give in! Indeed, if it came down to it, she would simply stick with Grandpa and, just as her father had done in his youth, give him the cold shoulder and see what he could possibly do to her.

If she refused to marry, he could beat her to death for all the good it would do him.

"Xin Xin, are you happy now? Grandpa is on your side. Rest assured, so long as Grandpa refuses to nod, no one will marry you off!" That much, at least, Guan Xuemin could decide.

"Thank you, Grandpa," Guan Xin said with a delighted smile.

"What is there to thank me for? Go and wash your face. Nanny Liu will have dinner ready soon, so let's go and eat something together!" Guan Xuemin nodded with a smile.

Guan Xin ran off happily to wash her face. Little did she know that her father had still not given up on the matter...

Kang Zhaoming came out of Guan Xin's house, climbed glumly into the car, his face as bitter as a melon. Zhu Xiaozhang, who had been waiting in the car, saw him emerge with a worried scowl and found it strange. "Young Master Ming, what's the matter with you? Don't tell me Guan Xin's father won't agree to the two of you going out?"

"Ugh, don't even mention it! It's a long story!" Kang Zhaoming felt that all his time and money spent before had been for nothing. Worst of all, he had broken his leg, and he had handed Xiaofen several hundred thousand yuan for nothing. What a colossal loss!

"Let me explain," Wang Shubin said, turning to Zhu Xiaozhang. "Guan Xin was betrothed long ago, an engagement fixed when she was a child. It cannot be changed, so Guan Xiaoxiang will certainly never let Young Master Ming and Guan Xin be together. With an engagement standing, Guan Xin cannot be courted by Young Master Ming either, and for the sake of her future reputation she could never do anything that might damage it. So where Guan Xin is concerned, it's hopeless!"

Wang Shubin had entered the villa together with Kang Zhaoming, so what he described was what he had seen with his own eyes. Hearing it, Zhu Xiaozhang had no need to go and ask Kang Zhaoming himself. He merely said, much disheartened, "So all our efforts before were wasted?"

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