Luo Honglan bit her lip and nodded, then felt embarrassed for the family to be seen by Chen Jie, so she shouted towards Zhou Yunmei outside, "Mom, open the door and let me out before we talk."
Zhou Yunmei refused and continued to hold onto the keys inside the bag.
Seeing this, Fang Pingying became impatient and yelled, "Chen Jie, you might as well just break the door down and save us the trouble."
Hearing this, Chen Jie glanced at Zhou Yunmei with a slight frown.
Zhou Yunmei still refused, looking as if she planned to block the door to prevent Chen Jie from kicking it in, but Luo Dashan by their side called out, "Yunmei, it’s gotten to this point, even if you lock it she can’t be kept inside. Just open the door first, let’s clarify the situation before we go any further."
Although Zhou Yunmei was still unclear about Chen Jie’s identity, from their actions just now, she could see the relationship between Chen Jie and Luo Honglan. She asked Fang Pingying with a frown, "Is this the man Honglan has been seeing in the city?"
Fang Pingying didn’t want to waste words with Zhou Yunmei, knowing it would be a fruitless conversation, with Zhou arguing every point contrary to her own, so she spoke directly to Luo Dashan, "Dad, let Honglan out first. I’ll slowly explain her situation with Chen Jie to you. Chen Jie is a good kid, a comrade from Zhiyong’s unit."
Luo Dashan, hearing that Chen Jie was from Luo Zhiyong’s unit, showed a hint of relaxation, "Really?"
The reason Luo Dashan had agreed to lock Luo Honglan up was because at home, they had discussed arranging an engagement for Luo Honglan with Li Shunbai, which Luo Honglan refused, revealing that she already had a partner in the city.
And the reason Zhou Yunmei and the others were so insistent on forcing Luo Honglan to marry Li Shunbai was because Li Shunbai had generously offered US$ 500 as a betrothal gift to take Luo Honglan as his bride.
In the countryside, that was truly a large amount of money.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yunmei was immediately overjoyed.
Xu He and Luo Zhiming were naturally also thrilled, and after discussing amongst themselves, they immediately agreed to the marriage, setting the engagement date for the eighth day of the month. Furthermore, Xu He had a malicious idea, suggesting that on the day of the engagement, they should let Luo Honglan spend the night with Li Shunbai, presuming that afterwards Honglan would no longer be able to back out.
Zhou Yunmei naturally agreed; she herself thought highly of Li Shunbai, considering him a decent person with an acceptable family background, and now with the promise of such a large betrothal gift, spending the night together was inevitable sooner or later.
Therefore, when speaking with Luo Dashan, she deliberately misled him, suggesting that they shouldn’t let Luo Honglan be like Luo Cuilan in the past, choosing someone on her own accord, in case an incident like Luo Cuilan’s scandal happened again, which would leave the Luo Family completely disgraced.
The best course was to behave properly, to let Luo Honglan and Li Shunbai get engaged first, and then once Luo Honglan turned twenty, they could marry smoothly and easily.
After the engagement, they planned to continue letting them work in the provincial city, with Luo Zhiyong keeping an eye on Honglan, so the family was not worried.
Of course, they didn’t reveal Xu He’s vile suggestion.
Luo Dashan himself thought very highly of Li Shunbai, feeling that he couldn’t find a better match for his daughter Honglan.
He had of course heard about Chen Jie from Luo Honglan’s own words, but he thought Chen Jie was too good; he feared his daughter might not be worthy and get cheated, leading to a scandal, unlike the reliable Li Shunbai. So Luo Dashan believed Zhou Yunmei’s words and locked Luo Honglan inside, planning to discuss the matter after the engagement had been set.
Fang Pingying probably understood Luo Dashan’s mentality; he definitely didn’t share the same motives as Zhou Yunmei and the others.
Fang Pingying could easily guess that the reason Zhou Yunmei and the others were so eager to marry Luo Honglan off to Li Shunbai was certainly for their own benefit.
But Luo Dashan was too honest, and in his heart, he wanted what was best for Luo Honglan.
Fang Pingying flashed a smile at Luo Dashan, "Dad, could I possibly deceive you?"
Luo Dashan nodded his head and asked Zhou Yunmei for the key, "Give me the key."
Zhou Yunmei hesitated but did not hand it over, so Luo Dashan snatched the key from her hands and opened Luo Honglan’s door.
As the door swung wide open, Luo Honglan rushed out from the room and, upon seeing Chen Jie, she started crying from feeling wronged.
Chen Jie, looking at the noticeably thinner Luo Honglan, felt a pang of heartache, took hold of her hand, and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, "It’s alright now, your sister-in-law is back too. We’ll clear this all up in a moment."
Upon seeing the two hugging, Zhou Yunmei glanced anxiously around, afraid others would see them, then she rushed forward to pull the two apart and placed Luo Honglan behind her, pointing at Chen Jie and scolding, "You little jerk, let her go! What kind of behavior is this in broad daylight, hugging and cuddling?"
Now that Luo Honglan was out, Chen Jie was not as anxious as before.
He looked at Zhou Yunmei and asked politely yet distantly, "Auntie, you must be Honglan’s mother?"
Zhou Yunmei responded as if she was picking a fight, saying irritably, "That’s right, what about it?"
Chen Jie gave a faint smile, unfazed by Zhou Yunmei’s poor attitude, and said, "Auntie, even if you’re Honglan’s mother, you don’t have the right to lock her up. We can discuss matters peacefully, there’s no need for such brute force." Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveI-Fire.ɴet
Zhou Yunmei was stunned. She had expected Chen Jie, her future son-in-law, to be fawning over her.
But unexpectedly, Chen Jie’s first words to her were of a lecturing tone, which made her glare at him and retort, "Hey, this little jerk is lecturing me?"
After all, it was the first time Chen Jie was visiting his in-laws, and common sense dictated that the family should be polite to avoid embarrassment.
Politeness was pointless now, but Fang Pingying tried not to give Chen Jie the impression that their household was too chaotic, so she frowned and shouted at Zhou Yunmei, "Stop making a scene."
"Dad, let’s talk inside." After saying that, she turned to Luo Honglan and Chen Jie and said, "Honglan, Chen Jie, come with us."
Seeing the group making their way inside, Zhou Yunmei, unwilling to be outdone, shouted, "I’m coming too."
With that, she followed closely behind.
Fang Pingying glanced at her but didn’t stop her. If she wanted to come, let her. It would be better to clarify everything about Luo Honglan in their presence.
Zhou Yunmei entered the room, followed by Xu He and Luo Zhiming.
Fang Pingying gave them a sweeping glance, then said to Luo Dashan, "Dad, let me formally introduce you."
She pointed at Chen Jie, "This is Chen Jie, he is a comrade in arms of Zhiyong’s unit, 22 years old. He’s been seeing Honglan for some time, and both Zhiyong and I approve. This young man is good, treats Honglan well, and his character is absolutely trustworthy. Originally, we planned to..."
As she was speaking, Zhou Yunmei interrupted again, "What use is it if you’re satisfied? I am not..."
Luo Dashan, somewhat impatient with Zhou Yunmei’s interruption, frowned and said to her, "Shut your mouth, let Pingying finish speaking."
Feeling humiliated to be scolded by Luo Dashan in front of so many people, Zhou Yunmei opened her mouth to retort, but seeing Luo Dashan’s stern expression, she didn’t dare to argue back and just pursed her lips, staying silent.