Chapter 1304: Chapter 679: The Quagmire of Marriage (Part 2)

Chen Feng had spoken this much, and Wu Mengting knew she couldn’t refuse to compromise. She took a deep breath and said, "We talked about this last time, I can give you a buffer period, three months, how about that? After we’re engaged, I’ll give you three months to break it off completely with them."

This move of retreating to advance left Chen Feng a bit speechless; he could only shamelessly say, "Three months is too short. I hope that after we get married, you let me slowly cut ties with them."

"Then tell me, when do we get married?" Wu Mengting asked, holding back her anger.

Chen Feng replied matter-of-factly, "At least when you’re twenty-five."

"Won’t that be two more years?"

"Two years isn’t long at all."

"You’ll be 32 in two years."

"But you’ll only be 25 then. I can wait for you."

"...I don’t need you to wait. I hope we can get married no later than May Day next year. My parents and your parents think the same."

Wu Mengting directly used the elders to press Chen Feng, making him feel even more displeased.

But he didn’t want to argue with her over the phone, so he just said, "You should think it over. I’m really not a very good choice for a husband right now. Even if we get married, there’s a high probability of infidelity."

Wu Mengting said through gritted teeth, "I’m stubborn when it comes to feelings. Once I’ve decided on you, even if you’re a lousy person, I want to give it a try. Maybe after we get married, you’ll settle down, I’m willing to believe in you."

Saying things like this left Chen Feng with nothing else to say. What he said earlier was already quite shameless, but she resisted.

Wu Mengting seemed determined to marry him. This stubborn behavior, Chen Feng would rather believe is a character flaw of hers, not because she’s deeply in love with him.

He likely didn’t possess such significant charm.

From knowing to understanding each other, they never truly fell in love, nor had they experienced any deeply moving story. He wasn’t confident enough that his personality alone could make her determined to marry him.

Therefore, the most probable reason, Wu Mengting couldn’t escape societal norms; because of his wealth, she didn’t want to let go of this promising stock.

Further maliciously guessing, she might be eager to marry him to inherit his estate as his wife in the future.

Of course, Chen Feng didn’t want to think this way. He hoped Wu Mengting was purely motivated by love for him and her stubborn nature, forcing the marriage.

After a moment of silence, Chen Feng then said, "You should really reconsider. You might end up with nothing and even suffer emotional trauma."

Wu Mengting firmly replied, "If it ends up like that, it’s my own doing. I can’t blame you."

"Alright, let’s leave this topic for today. We’ll talk face to face when I return in a couple of days."

After Chen Feng finished saying this, he directly hung up the phone.

Both sat in silence for a while, their minds complex, before they recovered.

Just like Chen Feng said earlier, he really didn’t want to enter the grave of marriage again. Now that he had money and leisure, he wasn’t lacking for women, and truly didn’t want to start another marriage that might end in tragedy.

To put it simply, he was genuinely afraid of marriage now.

As for Wu Mengting, she was stubborn; she had long decided on Chen Feng and only thought about marrying him and starting a family.

Even knowing Chen Feng had a terminal illness, she wouldn’t give up or regret it; she was relentlessly determined.

Whether Chen Feng’s wealth was a factor, she couldn’t say for sure; she couldn’t deny there was some influence.

If Chen Feng were a penniless person now, like before his divorce, would she still be so determined to marry him?

That’s hard to say.

After all, many people are incredibly rational and realistic, especially in today’s consumption-driven society. People are used to evaluating others and things by their worth. Before doing something, they only consider whether it’s worth it, not if it has meaning.

Including marriage, most women tend to assess whether the man’s material condition can satisfy future life needs and place emotional aspects secondary.

There are exceptions, of course. Wu Mengting considers herself not drawn to Chen Feng’s wealth but motivated by genuine liking and love for Chen Feng. She doesn’t know why she fell in love with him; she just inexplicably did.

So, she wants to marry Chen Feng. This is a very reasonable demand.

The current problem is Chen Feng wants to "back out," which forces her to push step by step and negotiate compromises with Chen Feng.

She’s already offered a three-month buffer as a concession, but evidently, Chen Feng is still dissatisfied.

She can only wait until Chen Feng returns to Xiu Zhou, where they can face each other and have a candid discussion. After hanging up the call, Chen Feng didn’t even have the mood to watch short videos or read novels.

Wu Mengting’s tactics to force the marriage made him feel like a tightened headband was about to fasten on him.

After breakfast, sitting in silence for a while, Chen Feng finally had the mindset to check a few unread WeChat messages.

Among them, there was a recent message from Yu Xiaohui, saying she had already arrived in Lin Nan. That was quite early.

Additionally, she asked when the brand assessment team would arrive and if they needed a pickup.

Chen Feng replied that they were arriving on today’s noon flight, and she didn’t need to go all the way to the airport; they would take a car to Lin Nan themselves, and Yu Xiaohui could stand in for him to host them.

Speak of the devil, Chen Feng was discussing this with Yu Xiaohui when he received a call from the assessment team leader, saying that they were boarding the flight now, expected to arrive at Lu City Airport in an hour and a half.

The team totaled three people, two men and a woman.

Chen Feng exchanged pleasantries, then asked if they needed a pickup; the team leader said no.

Chen Feng then asked if he should book a hotel for them, to which the leader said they had already booked online.

Their tone didn’t seem to be merely polite.

This left Chen Feng with a good impression of them. He deeply dislikes those dispatched for business errands who flaunt authority, extort, and accept bribes.

If Zhao Shengsheng’s headquarters had really sent such people, Chen Feng might have considered pulling out of joining their brand.

Finally, Chen Feng told this group leader that he had plans today and wouldn’t be in Lin Nan, asking his assistant to coordinate and host them.

The other party had no objections.

Afterward, Chen Feng shared the group leader’s phone number with Yu Xiaohui for her to contact and coordinate with them.

Yu Xiaohui quickly established contact with them and inquired about their workflow, ensuring their cooperation in some necessary audit tasks.