Chapter 39 - 39 39 Scheming
Chapter 39: Chapter 39 Scheming Chapter 39: Chapter 39 Scheming Bai Xiao was stunned?
What’s going on, and how did it suddenly turn into Instructor An wanting to marry her?
This is just too childish.
She felt uneasy. Although Instructor An was from j School and she indeed had a good impression of him—after all, the men she knew were few and, due to the misunderstanding that resulted in him saving her life, Instructor An had been very kind to her.
But there was no emotional foundation between them, they had met only three times in total.
Each encounter was like something out of a drama.
And now it had reached the point of discussing marriage, it was no wonder that Bai Xiao felt uneasy.
She didn’t want Instructor An to marry her just because he was worried about her reputation being affected and felt a sense of responsibility toward her. She understood that, as a principled leader, he would not want to bring negative impact to her reputation, but to commit to someone for life for that reason made her feel terribly sorry for him.
When she went to the reservoir, she had her own selfish motives, her own scheming intentions, and as a result, she felt like she had implicated a genuinely good person for life. If Instructor An already had someone he liked at home, wouldn’t she become a sinner for all eternity?
As Bai Xiao brooded in distress, Instructor An observed her confusion, thinking the girl simply couldn’t accept it all at once.
He whispered reassurances in her ear, “Rest assured, since I’ve said these words, I will definitely marry you.”
Still making guarantees, huh?
Bai Xiao nearly rolled her eyes.
At this moment, Li Chunhua would not stand for it, and Hao Fang was also dumbfounded; this was not the outcome they had anticipated.
How could Bai Xiao possibly be linked with Instructor An?
This was like adding another layer of protection over Bai Xiao.
Li Chunhua anxiously said, “Instructor An, I do not agree with this. I know you mean well, but because you saved our girl doesn’t mean you should marry her. You are a chief at the school, how can we commit such an act of ingratitude and harm the man who saved our daughter?” At this, Li Chunhua immediately reverted to her articulate self.
Her expression and demeanor seemed to be all for Instructor An’s sake.
An Zhiyuan smiled, not quite smiling, “According to convention, I should call you ‘Grandma’, but now would be inappropriate. Put your heart at ease a hundredfold; I sincerely want to take Bai Xiao as my wife, without any reluctance, so there’s no question of ingratitude. If you insist on discussing the favor of saving life, then I’ll say this: since I saved Bai Xiao, let the life-saving favor be repaid with a marriage. I, as an instructor, am a match for Bai Xiao, the university student, correct? Uncle village chief, fellow villagers, what do you think, is this appropriate?”
Liu Baoguo nodded happily, and the whole village rejoiced.
Everyone shouted in unison, “Appropriate!”
The students behind Instructor An were even happier, shouting, “Appropriate!”
Their stern faces finally showed a hint of realization—they now had an additional sister-in-law.
What a beautifully sensational tale of a hero saving a beauty!
Li Chunhua was pulled back by Hao Fang, who seemed to realize that if she continued, she wouldn’t fare well in front of the villagers and Instructor An.
After all, if Instructor An had stepped forward to propose marrying Bai Xiao, and their family still obstructed and wanted to marry her off to someone else, wouldn’t that be openly telling everyone that there was a story behind it all?
Especially now that it involved Instructor An, someone of leadership, and they weren’t mindless. Hence, this matter needed to be contemplated carefully and not be handled rashly.
It was their original intention to take a moral high ground, supposedly for Bai Xiao’s benefit, because they all believed that a leader like Officer An couldn’t possibly take a fancy to a village girl from the countryside.
They had planned to use this issue to force Bai Xiao to admit the truth, but they never expected Officer An to play his cards unpredictably, doing the exact opposite of what they anticipated, and now he insists on marrying Bai Xiao.
This situation has suddenly become difficult to handle.
Hao Fang dragged Li Chunhua back home, and as soon as Li Chunhua walked into the courtyard, she didn’t even acknowledge her daughter-in-law but went straight through the curtain into the house.
Bai Jianguo was sitting on the threshold smoking his pipe when he almost got knocked over by his own mother.
He asked Hao Fang, “What’s gotten into Mom? What upset her outside?”
Hao Fang curled her lips, the old lady was just a paper tiger, strong on the outside but hollow on the inside.
“Your beloved niece has now hitched herself to a higher branch. Our mom wanted to finalize the marriage based on her tarnished reputation, especially since Fang Xiaoshan was coming over to set the wedding date. But out of nowhere, Officer An stepped in and said he’s agreed to marry Bai Xiao.”
A perfectly good marriage arrangement is about to go down the drain.
Hao Fang felt a bit of pity, Fang Xiaoshan’s family had even agreed to give Bai Xiao a dowry of 200 yuan—a deal that would be sealed if Fang Xiaoshan took a liking to Bai Xiao at the noon meet-up.
Initially, she thought someone like Fang Xiaoshan, who looked decent, would certainly win over an inexperienced girl like Bai Xiao when she met him.
But unexpectedly, Officer An threw a wrench in the works.
Now Fang Xiaoshan was supposed to come to their home at noon. What were they supposed to do?
Bai Jianguo’s face darkened, as things had been going badly lately, especially anything involving Bai Xiao, which never seemed to end well. But if Bai Xiao married Officer An, she would fly out of their humble nest for life, and no matter how many reasons they had, they might not be able to control Bai Xiao anymore.
Bai Jianguo wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.
He went through the curtain where his aged mother was sulking on the edge of the bed.
Of all the people, his mother was the least willing to see Bai Xiao’s fortunes improve.
“Mom, it’s all fallen through.”
Bai Jianguo knew exactly how to provoke his mother, and sure enough, as soon as he spoke, Li Chunhua jumped up in a rage.
“Bai Xiao should stop dreaming! She absolutely cannot marry Officer An! She’s not even close to being worthy of that! Second Brother, once Fang Xiaoshan arrives, take him up to see Bai Xiao. Once Fang Xiaoshan sees her face, he should be reluctant to give up on having a wife. Then I will talk to him, and to be safe with Bai Xiao, we’ll turn it into a fait accompli. I’m going to find the sleeping pills I used to take; the village doctor prescribed some for your dad when he had trouble sleeping, and I still have them saved. We need to create irrefutable evidence that no one in the village can dispute,” the old woman said viciously, even concocting such a wicked plan.
Bai Jianguo nodded, “Mom! I’ll listen to you, but Fang Xiaoshan might not go along with our plan, right?” To do such a thing on their first meeting, Fang Xiaoshan wasn’t a fool; he wouldn’t just listen to them.
Li Chunhua laughed, “Don’t worry, Fang Xiaoshan himself is illiterate, a scoundrel who doesn’t hesitate to steal chickens or dogs, and he’s involved in quite a few scandals with widows. He might even be more eager than us to do this. After all, Bai Xiao is a virgin and pretty besides. Why would he object?”
Bai Jianguo felt reassured. It turned out the prospective in-laws his grandmother had picked weren’t decent people at all.
He couldn’t help but wonder, had Bai Xiao’s parents done something to wrong his grandmother?
Otherwise, what kind of deep hatred must she harbor to inflict such harm on another family’s daughter?
Everyone knew Bai Xiao wasn’t their own blood; how could he not know?
That was also why he could commit such vile acts without batting an eyelid because she wasn’t truly one of their own.
What do you think?
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