Xu Qinghuan did not bother arguing with her. She looked straight at Jiang Chengxu and asked, "What do you have to say?"
Jiang Chengxu was a fool, but even he could sense that something was wrong. He dared not meet Xu Qinghuan’s eyes, yet Xu Manman’s words kept echoing in his mind: "You should know what’s in my heart!"
What could Xu Manman have possibly done wrong? Her only fault was that she admired him too much and depended on him too heavily.
"Qinghuan, she is your sister, she’s younger than you..."
Xu Qinghuan let out a scoff. "She is two months younger than me, not two years! Everyone knows exactly what she’s after! Comrade Jiang, I don’t believe you don’t realize it!"
"He knows, of course he knows! Tsk, tsk, we’re in a new era now, and yet there are still people harboring such sordid, two-timing thoughts!"
A mocking voice rang out from the crowd. Xu Qinghuan looked over and saw a young man of about eighteen or nineteen, with a crew cut, a round face, and thick brows. He looked vaguely familiar, though she couldn't place him.
"Chen Dewen, shut your mouth! What does this have to do with you? I’ll report you for slander!" Jiang Chengxu’s face turned red, his neck bulging with a mixture of anger and panic.
"Tsk! You can do it, but others can’t talk about it?" Chen Dewen would have said more, but his friend pulled him away.
Once it was laid bare, the onlookers let out a flurry of whispers. The way they looked at Xu Manman changed; there was no longer any understanding or sympathy, only shame and contempt. People pointed and gossiped; had they not been denied the sight of them in the act, they would have loved to parade the pair through the streets in humiliation.
Jiang Chengxu, fueled by a mix of embarrassment and rage, waited until most of the crowd had dispersed before gritting his teeth. "Xu Qinghuan, are you satisfied now?"
Lin Xialan was so furious she nearly jumped. "Jiang Chengxu, what the hell is your problem? How dare you yell at Huanhuan?"
"We are all one family. Can’t misunderstandings be settled in private? Why must you make such a scene in public?" Jiang Chengxu barked. "Manman is your own cousin, and she grew up being raised by her parents while you were away. You’ve ruined her reputation; have you considered her at all?"
Beside him, Xu Manman wept, her face wet with tears. Her thin shoulders shook with sobs, an overwhelming display of grievance that would break anyone’s heart and bring tears to their eyes.
Lin Xialan felt as if she were about to choke on her own fury. She moved to fight them, but Xu Qinghuan held her back firmly.
Xu Manman sobbed, "Brother Chengxu, don’t blame my sister. She just cares about you too much. Besides, our uncle gave his life for the country, and my sister is a martyr’s daughter. My father is her uncle; it was only right that he took on the responsibility of raising her."
Xu Qinghuan took a deep breath. Without a word, she tossed the engagement watch at Jiang Chengxu. "I’m not joking about calling off the engagement. Please, take my words to heart. And I’d appreciate it if you returned the men’s watch my mother gave your Jiang family."
When they became engaged, they had signed an engagement agreement and exchanged tokens: the Jiang family had given her a Shen City watch, and Song Wanlin had given Jiang Chengxu a Meihua men’s watch.
Jiang Chengxu tightened his grip on the women's watch and said firmly, "Xu Qinghuan, is this how you handle things? You’ve made a mistake, and instead of considering how to take responsibility, you choose this cowardly way to solve it?"
He believed Xu Qinghuan was merely playing hard to get, thinking that by threatening to break off the engagement, he would easily forgive her, coax her back, and let the matter fade away. She didn't seem to realize how much humiliation she had caused Manman today!
Lin Xialan was absolutely incensed; she had never seen such shameless persistence. Just as she was about to charge forward, Xu Qinghuan restrained her. "Let’s go. Don't worry about him."
Whether it was breaking the engagement or getting married, Jiang Chengxu actually had no final say in the matter. She didn't need to waste any more time on a person like him.
Once they were far away, Lin Xialan finally regained some of her composure. "Huanhuan, if he really refuses to call off the engagement, what will you do?"
Xu Qinghuan rubbed her fingers together. "Don't worry. There will be a way."
There was someone who wanted to end this marriage even more than she did. Furthermore, she had a powerful trump card in her hand.
Seeing Xu Qinghuan’s resolute back, a wave of panic rose uncontrollably in Jiang Chengxu’s heart. Furious, he was about to chase after her when Xu Manman grabbed his arm.
"Brother Chengxu, go after my sister. I’m afraid that if she’s truly angry, she might actually break off the engagement. Just coax her, and she’ll change her mind. After all, my sister really loves you."
In this era, no one dared to speak of "feelings" or "love" so openly.
Jiang Chengxu’s feet remained firmly planted on the ground. He could not allow Xu Qinghuan’s temper to grow unchecked. They had a whole lifetime ahead of them after marriage; was he expected to always yield to her, coax her, and indulge her bad habits of throwing tantrums over nothing?
"Let’s go. Let’s get a doctor to bandage your wounds first." Jiang Chengxu tucked the women's watch into his pocket.
Xu Manman stared at it. "Brother Chengxu, may I have a look at my sister’s watch? I’ve never seen what a watch looks like."
Her tone was filled with an indescribable sense of melancholy. Jiang Chengxu’s heart softened immediately. He realized that while the watch had been on Xu Qinghuan’s wrist for nearly a year, Xu Manman had never even had a chance to see it.
"Does your sister usually not let you look at it?" Jiang Chengxu couldn't help asking.
"It’s a valuable item, and an engagement token at that. How could I bring myself to ask my sister for such a thing?" Xu Manman said, acting with maturity.
Jiang Chengxu handed her the watch. "Take your time. I’ll have to give it back to your sister later." He would teach Xu Qinghuan what was right and wrong, but he would never call off the engagement.
"Yes, it should be returned to my sister."
A flash of dark light crossed Xu Manman’s eyes. She couldn't wait any longer; if she waited, she would be sent to the countryside.
As she held the watch, she tripped, stumbling forward. She grabbed onto Jiang Chengxu with one hand, while the watch flew from the other.
Although it was an all-steel watch, it slammed hard against a stone wall three meters away. When Xu Manman scrambled over to pick it up, the dial was already shattered into a web of cracks.
"It’s all my fault, all my fault, I’m so sorry! Brother Chengxu, let me pay you back for the watch! I’ll go home and beg my mother—I’ll even kneel if I have to—but I’ll make sure she gives me the money and the voucher to compensate you for this watch." Xu Manman held the watch, looking pitiful.
Looking at the dial, which seemed as if it might fall apart at any second, Jiang Chengxu’s expression darkened. The watch was ruined; there was no way he could return it to Xu Qinghuan in the immediate future. Still, Manman hadn't meant it. If they explained it well, Qinghuan should be able to understand. It wasn’t a big deal.
"Brother Chengxu, hit me! Hit me hard!" Xu Manman grabbed Jiang Chengxu’s wrist and tried to pull it toward her own face.
Jiang Chengxu clenched his fists, standing in a standoff. "Manman, don’t be so agitated. You didn’t do it on purpose."
"But this is a watch! It cost 120 yuan, plus a watch voucher! Brother Chengxu, I will definitely beg my mother to give me the money to pay you back!"
120 yuan was not easy to save, and a watch voucher was even harder to come by. In this day and age, a marriage required "three items that rotate and one that rings," and the watch was one of the rotating ones. Without a voucher, even with money, one couldn't buy anything at the department store or the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. For the sake of marriage, some families would move heaven and earth to get vouchers from the black market, where a single watch voucher cost nearly as much as the watch itself. It was absurd. The Jiang family had gone to great lengths to acquire that watch in the first place.
It would be a lie to say Jiang Chengxu didn't feel the sting of the loss, but seeing Xu Manman so self-reproachful, her eyes filled with guilt, admiration, and a faint glimmer of light as she looked at him, he couldn't bring himself to say a word of blame.
"It’s alright. I’ll see if I can find a way to get it repaired."
"Brother Chengxu, scold me. Just scold me a little, and I’ll feel better." Xu Manman leaned against him. "Brother Chengxu, I feel so miserable inside. Why am I so clumsy? I can’t do anything right, I couldn’t even hold onto a watch. Such a precious thing—more precious than my own life—I shouldn’t have let it be damaged, even if it meant I had to fall and break myself instead."
"Don’t talk nonsense. No matter how precious a watch is, it’s not more precious than a person." Thinking of her upbringing, Jiang Chengxu realized she probably had never even seen what a watch looked like, and he couldn't bear to let her continue blaming herself.
"Mm, only in your eyes am I more precious than a watch." She lifted her head from his shoulder, forcing a smile.
Seeing that smile, full of nothing but reverence and gratitude for him, a surge of heroic pride welled up in Jiang Chengxu’s heart. "Your sister won't blame you once she finds out!" After all, for all these years, Xu Qinghuan had occupied the place in life that should have been Xu Manman’s, enjoying all the love and affection of the Xu family.
"Really?" Xu Manman’s face brightened, as if a great weight had been lifted.
Happy New Year!