Bride Swap Backfire: My Cousin's Rebirth Made Us a Power Couple-Chapter 58 - 43: Betrothal (Part 3)

At this point, it would be unfair if Xu Suying and Chen Song didn’t speak their minds.

Xu Suying finally spoke up. "Second Aunt, we aren’t worried about Mrs. Zhao. We all live in the same village; we know her character very well. We aren’t worried that she would take her anger out on Qing’er. It’s just... marriage, while traditionally arranged by parents and matchmakers, is a life lived by the young couple. They must at least be agreeable to one another."

The Second Aunt caught her hidden meaning. "You’re afraid Jing won’t agree?"

The Second Aunt laughed. "If Jing hadn’t agreed, we wouldn’t be here. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. The very fact that we’ve come to your home means that both Jing and my sister-in-law have given their approval."

The Second Aunt’s words completely surprised Chen Song and Xu Suying.

’Jing actually agreed?’

’Was it because he’d long held feelings for Qing’er, or was it simply that he knew her well and considered her a suitable choice for marriage?’

For a moment, the couple was overcome with mixed feelings.

’They hoped for the former, but knowing Jing’s personality, they feared the latter was far more likely.’

’But if it were the latter, then Jing, being so clear-headed after such a major ordeal, was definitely not a man ruled by passion. If he married their daughter, he might treat her with respect, but they would never share a deep, passionate love.’

The husband and wife were truly hesitant now.

They wanted their daughter to find a soulmate, someone she could love and grow old with. At the same time, they hoped for a son-in-law who would always be level-headed, ambitious, and proper—a lifelong pillar of support who would ensure their daughter never had to worry about silver coins or grovel before anyone.

But you can’t have your cake and eat it too. It was rare to find a solution in this world that satisfied every desire.

After much thought, Xu Suying finally spoke again. "But Qing’er is two years older than Jing. She’s always thought of him as a younger brother. To suddenly arrange their engagement... First Uncle, Second Uncle, and our dear Aunts, please allow us just one night. Let my husband and I ask our daughter what she thinks."

Mrs. Zhao and the Second Aunt exchanged a look, their eyes filled with a mix of hope and concern.

While they wanted to finalize the engagement on the spot, they couldn’t ignore Xu Suying’s concerns.

For this engagement to work, both of the young people had to agree. Otherwise, if another scandal over a broken engagement erupted, no one would have any face left.

...

The soft-spoken discussion in the main room gradually died down.

In the kitchen, the brother and sister who had been tasked with boiling water for tea sat listlessly on small stools, lost in a daze.

On the countertop sat a willow-wood tray holding a teapot and six freshly brewed cups of tea. Wisps of white steam still curled up from the liquid, but the tea was certainly no longer at the ideal drinking temperature.

Chen De’an, a grown boy, was huddled on his small stool, staring blankly at the steam with a look of shock and indignation.

’I thought of Jing as a brother, but he wants to be my brother-in-law!’

A moment ago, on his way to deliver the tea, he had overheard the adults’ conversation before he even reached the door.

The words had struck him like a thunderbolt, nearly scaring the soul out of his body.

Chen De’an forgot all about serving tea. He turned on his heel and went straight to find his older sister.

He grabbed Chen Wanqing’s arm. "Sis, tell me, has Jing lost his mind from anger? He actually wants to marry you? He wants to be my brother-in-law? Pah! He’s daydreaming! I don’t care if you agree to this or not, because I’ll never agree."

Chen Wanqing struggled to pull her arm free. She turned her head to gaze at the flames in the stove, remaining silent.

Chen De’an wasn’t having it. He grabbed her hand again, shaking it insistently. "Sis, just tell me you won’t get married! Especially not to Jing! If I’d known those two women who came to the village today were Li Cun’s mother and a matchmaker, I would’ve run them out myself. If they couldn’t get to the old family house, they couldn’t have arranged the engagement with Chen Wanyue. And if she hadn’t gotten engaged, we wouldn’t be in this whole mess!"

Chen De’an kept muttering, his voice thick with regret and resentment.

His resentment was directed at the people in the old family house, even more so at Zhao Jing, and, of course, at the elders currently in the main hall.

He was in a complete panic, feeling that this marriage proposal was different from any other.

A powerful sense of crisis, mixed with the dread of his sister’s potential marriage, threw his thoughts into chaos. Words tumbled out of his mouth without any filter.

"Damn the Li family! Two-faced, faithless backstabbers! If people like that can ever amount to anything, the heavens must be blind."

"Is Grandmother out of her mind? That old woman does nothing useful all day long but go around making a mess of things. How did we get so unlucky? Why are we stuck with a step-grandmother like her?"