She wouldn’t marry someone who didn’t like her, and she most certainly wouldn’t marry someone she didn’t like. It turned out they were the same type of person, he had also thought the same, which is why he had yet to agree to the marriage arranged by his family.
He looked at her, what kind of woman was she? Stubborn yet beautiful, strong yet delicate, confident yet playful. He felt as if he saw another side of her, wondering how many facets she had. She was different from the unchanging women, stirring in him an uncontrollable urge to unearth more.
But the one he liked now was Xiaoxiao. If he had met her first, would things have been different? He startled himself with the thought.
"So, you should go, stop provoking me."
These words pierced Chu Lian’s heart. He saw the resoluteness on her face, but she was right, if he wasn’t going to marry her, he shouldn’t keep provoking her.
"I understand," he said before turning and walking away. No one saw the trace of desolation that flickered through his deep-set eyes.
Seeing the shameless man leave, Wang Xiangxiang wiped her tears away. She thought this should be the end of their entanglements.
She didn’t understand what had come over her just now, finding herself crying out of a sense of grievance, perhaps single-handedly upholding the family had grown too tiring. After venting, she felt much better.
Stretching her arms and yawning, she took a deep breath and a smile spread across her face, as she pep-talked herself, "Wang Xiangxiang, you’ve got this."
She had to manage the business well, raise her brother properly, and find a suitable gentleman. She couldn’t admit defeat; she would have to find a matchmaker again to seek out a good match for herself.
Once Chu Lian left the Xiangxiang Cloth Shop, the coachman came forward, "Young master, where shall we go now?"
"..." Where to indeed, anywhere but home for now, surely those three oddballs at home would mock him once more, so he told the coachman, "You go back to the main residence and tell them I’m off to the Academy and won’t be returning for a few days."
After sending the coachman off, Chu Lian wandered aimlessly through the streets.
Indeed, the streets and alleys were all buzzing with discussions about his rejected marriage proposal. He gave a bitter smile. Now, he had become the laughingstock of the town, described as less than a pig or a dog. On reflection, he realized such an insult was well-deserved; it was all his own doing.
Back at the Academy, he also became the subject of his classmates’ whispers and points, but his status was unlike Yang Ming’s. The classmates would tease Yang Ming but would not overtly mock him.
Instead, some came to ingratiate themselves, offering consolatory words.
"Don’t take it to heart, Brother Chu."
"Right, it’s a good thing you were turned down. The Wang Family’s Miss is already of such an age; she’s practically an old maid. It’s better for you to find someone younger."
"Exactly, what’s so good about some old maid? No one even knows what she looks like; she could be very ugly for all we know."
"Saying such things shows she has a terrible temper too. Imagine having a shrew at home if you married her."
Chu Lian’s face grew darker and darker as they evaluated the wilful girl so unkindly. Such words were only permissible for him to say, not others. She wasn’t like that at all. He thundered at them, "All of you, shut up."
Startled by his outburst, someone said, "Brother Chu, you..."
But before they could finish, Chu Lian swung his fist, striking with intense ferocity, and warned as he did, "Don’t you dare speak ill of her again."
After saying this, he left abruptly.
The crowd was left in bewilderment, wondering what had just happened. Chu Family’s Eldest Young Master had actually struck someone over that Miss from the Wang Family.