Chapter 46: Even if Wen Ran is a fool, she must still marry!

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“I’ll marry her!” Shen Nanzheng was afraid that if he spoke even a moment later, she would regret it.

Even if she was only using him, he would accept it willingly.

Wen Ran took his hand. “Come with me to see my mother.”

“All right.” Shen Nanzheng could feel the chill in her fingertips, and his heart ached for her.

He clasped her hand with one of his and pushed the bicycle forward with the other.

The warmth of his hand spread into Wen Ran’s heart, filling her with a growing sense of comfort.

Whenever he protected her, she felt an impulse to marry him all over again.

If she had to marry someone eventually, she was willing to marry him.

With Old Master Yan’s diagnosis, she had regained a sliver of hope for her health.

More precisely, she had found hope in Shen Nanzheng, who now considered her in everything he did.

The two of them left just like that, and Song Jianshe flew into a rage.

He hurried after them.

“Song Wenran, have you no shame? Don’t think you can pledge yourself to him behind our backs. I refuse to agree!”

“Even if you go crying to Lu Meiqin, it won’t do you any good. The factory director won’t help you either. This is a private matter of our family!”

“I’ve already accepted the bride price and stamped my fingerprints on the agreement. We both have proof. Whether you want to marry him or not, you have to marry him!”

“You two, let go at once! You’re not allowed to hold hands!”

“…”

Wen Ran and Shen Nanzheng were perfectly in sync. No matter how loudly Song Jianshe shouted, neither of them turned around, much less paid him any attention.

When Song Jianshe saw their hands clasping ever more tightly, he did not dare step forward to separate them.

He knew perfectly well that he was no match for Shen Nanzheng.

The onlookers had more or less figured out what was happening. In short, it was a case of a father arranging his daughter’s marriage while the daughter wanted to choose her own love.

Would the arranged marriage prevail, or would free love triumph? Everyone was invested in the outcome.

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Some idle people who wanted to know what happened next followed them discreetly.

Wen Ran, however, gave them no chance to watch the spectacle. She called Lu Meiqin back home.

It was nearly lunchtime, and Lu Meiqin was already frantically busy.

When she heard that Song Jianshe had found her daughter a husband and even accepted the bride price, she came running back with a spatula in hand. The moment she entered and saw Song Jianshe, she was consumed by fury.

“Song Jianshe, I told you when we divorced that you were not allowed to interfere in Ranran’s affairs. Do you not understand plain speech?”

Afraid that Lu Meiqin might hit him with the spatula, Song Jianshe hurriedly said, “Wen Ran is my daughter. I would never harm her! Put down the spatula first and let me explain. Don’t make us the laughingstock of the neighborhood!”

“You’re worried about people laughing at you? That’s hilarious!” The thought of how he had started fooling around with the factory’s young widow only days after their divorce made Lu Meiqin feel even more bitter about all the years she had endured him.

The only outsider present was Shen Nanzheng, but Song Jianshe shamelessly continued, “I’m doing this for the sake of you and your daughter. Don’t be so ungrateful! The family I found for her has an even higher standing than Factory Director Wei’s. Why do you think I got close to Su Hongyu? Do you really think I found someone so quickly? I was paving the way for Wen Ran!”

“Bullshit!” Lu Meiqin smacked him with the spatula. “Who are you calling ungrateful? Even if my daughter never marries, she doesn’t need you to pave the way for her. I don’t know what you and that young widow Su Hongyu are plotting, but I absolutely will not allow you to scheme against my daughter!”

Song Jianshe had expected Lu Meiqin to be difficult. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Forget about Su Hongyu. I accepted three hundred and eighty yuan in bride price. For the sake of our years as husband and wife, I can give you eighty of it. I’ll also pay you the three hundred yuan I promised, month by month. Stop opposing Wen Ran’s marriage, and everyone can be happy!”

“Get lost! I’m not like you—I don’t sell my daughter!” Lu Meiqin was no fool. “Don’t think I don’t know. To get the bride price, you found Ranran someone with missing limbs, or someone already halfway into the grave!”

“What are you saying?” Song Jianshe replied with a solemn expression. “Would I find my daughter a man with broken arms and legs? And I certainly wouldn’t find her an old man. If that happened, would he call me Dad, or would I call him Dad?”

“Bah!”

The ideal son-in-law in Lu Meiqin’s eyes was Shen Nanzheng.

He satisfied her in every respect, and most importantly, he treated her daughter well.

As for the man Song Jianshe had found, she had no faith in him whatsoever.

She could not believe anyone would be foolish enough to skip even the normal process of a formal introduction and pay the bride price outright.

There was probably more to the three hundred and eighty yuan than met the eye—perhaps the actual sum was even higher.

As for the man himself…

If he was not missing limbs and was not an old man, then he was probably not normal in some other way.

Pointing the spatula at Song Jianshe, she warned, “I’m telling you now: return the money immediately, or I’ll beat you until you limp!”

“Forget about returning it. I’ve already spent a great deal of it!” Song Jianshe declared brazenly. “Wen Ran can marry only into the Gao family! Who in North City doesn’t show the Gao family a measure of respect? You should be secretly celebrating that she can marry into such a family!”

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“What Gao family? We do not acknowledge this marriage.” Lu Meiqin had heard of the Gao family. They were the sort of people an ordinary family like hers could only look up to.

She did not know whether the Gao family had a son, but she felt there had to be something wrong with anyone who wanted to become connected with such a family.

Shen Nanzheng was already an exception. Surely the Gao family could not have another exception?

Song Jianshe glanced at Shen Nanzheng and continued, “Once Wen Ran marries into the Gao family, she’ll eat the finest food, drink the best liquor, and live like a young mistress. Gao Yonghui is about the same age as Wen Ran, and he’s a much better choice than the man beside her!”

The moment Wen Ran heard the name Gao Yonghui, her scalp went numb.

Shen Nanzheng remembered him as well. Gao Yonghui was indeed neither maimed nor old, but his intelligence was that of a child of four or five.

One would have to be blind not to recognize it from his appearance alone: he was a textbook case of Down syndrome.

He also had a severe violent streak. In his previous life, he had beaten several wives to death, and every time, the Gao family had used money and whatever else they could trade to settle the matter.

Most of the people willing to marry their daughters into the Gao family were after money and influence. With the Gao family’s powerful connections, the deaths had never caused much of a public uproar.

Shen Nanzheng had learned of it while assisting criminal investigators with a case. He had pitied all those innocent young women.

Going by the timing, Gao Yonghui should already have beaten one wife to death by now.

His gaze turned icy.

“You want Wen Ran to marry an idiot, and this is how you act as her father?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? How could I let her marry an idiot?” Song Jianshe roared. “If Gao Yonghui’s previous wife hadn’t died of illness, Wen Ran wouldn’t even have had this opportunity. You’re an outsider—stop driving a wedge into our family!”

Shen Nanzheng could not tell whether Song Jianshe was pretending to be ignorant or genuinely knew nothing. He scooped up a ladle of cold water and splashed it across his face.

“Wake up. Stop living in a dream. If you don’t believe me, ask around and see Gao Yonghui with your own eyes. Then you’ll know whether I’m telling the truth.”

Lu Meiqin trusted Shen Nanzheng far more than Song Jianshe. Still clutching the spatula, she began striking Song Jianshe with it.

“You bastard! You dared accept a marriage proposal like this? You’re pushing Ranran straight into a fire pit!”

Song Jianshe had not yet recovered from being doused with cold water when the blows sent stars dancing before his eyes.

Just as he raised a hand to strike back, Shen Nanzheng shoved him to the ground.

Song Jianshe scrambled up but did not dare retaliate. Dusting off his backside, he shouted angrily, “Fine, have it your way! If you lay another hand on me, I’ll have the Gao family send every one of you to the frontier, where you’ll never be allowed to return! So what if he’s an idiot? Wen Ran has to marry him even if he is!”