Zhang Yang smiled. "I just want to ask Cousin Yu Qin a couple of questions. Grandma, do I look like I’m here to cause trouble? I’m not stupid. Mom and Dad are already at their wits’ end at ho. If I cause more trouble, they won’t be able to take it."
His grandmother thought he made a good point, but she wasn’t entirely convinced. Still, Zhang Yang was educated now and had beco much more sensible and refined. She urged him, "Well then, be gentle with your words. Your cousin Yu Qin is having a hard ti, you know. She’s lost so much weight."
Zhang Yang nodded and went to find Yu Qin in her room.
The fate of a marriage is a curious thing. Yu Qin was tornted by her feelings for her cousin, and in turn, others were tornted because of her. It was hard to tell if this was truly a matter of fate not aligning, or simply because people always covet what they cannot have, leaving them full of disappointnt.
In any case, when Zhang Yang asked her if she truly loved his brother, Yu Qin still answered with a firm "yes."
She had already made her feelings clear to her parents and her aunt. What was there to hesitate about now? It was only because Zhang Huai’s mother was her aunt that she dared to speak so openly in front of her own parents. With any other family, how could she possibly have said such a thing?
But Zhang Yang said to her, "I don’t think you love my brother at all. You’re like soone who sees a piece of clothing they just have to have. You don’t care if your parents have to sell chickens or borrow money to buy it for you; all you care about is that it looks good on you and makes you happy. If your parents can’t get it for you, you throw a fit, threatening to die, and making everyone worry about you."
He glanced at Yu Qin’s horrified expression, his young face set seriously as he continued, "What’s wrong, is my analogy inaccurate? You say you want to marry my brother, so you insist you must marry him. You don’t care whether my brother wants to marry you or not. You don’t care that my mother is heartbroken over my brother’s misery. You don’t care that your own parents are fighting with my mother and cursing my brother over this. And if my brother never agrees, you’ll refuse to live a normal life, refuse to marry anyone else, and probably even threaten to kill yourself, making the entire family sick with worry."
Yu Qin was stunned by his words. ’I’m not like that,’ she thought. ’I don’t want to force everyone. I wouldn’t disregard my family’s well-being for a piece of clothing.’
’But why did his words flow so easily?’
’Am I really that awful? His analogy... it seems so right.’
Zhang Yang puffed out his cheeks. "My parents would be overjoyed if you were to marry my brother. But do you know why my mother doesn’t force him to marry you? Because my mother truly treasures my brother like the apple of her eye. She doesn’t want to see him unhappy, so she won’t force him. *That’s* what it ans to truly love soone. Your ’love’ for my brother is just like wanting that piece of clothing—you just have to have it. If you really loved him, you wouldn’t put him in such a difficult position!"
Yu Qin’s face turned deathly pale.
She had been brooding for days, her small face growing thin and sharp, and now she looked even more wretched. She sat there in a daze, utterly crestfallen, not even noticing as the garnt she was nding slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.
Having said his piece, Zhang Yang ignored her and simply sat to one side, watching.
Suddenly, his fourth aunt’s furious voice ca from outside the door. "What are you doing here? Co to see if Yu Qin’s dead yet?"
Then ca Zhang Huai’s voice. "Fourth Aunt, Yu Qin is like a sister to . How could I not care about her? I ca because I have sothing to say to her."
Zhang Yang shot to his feet in surprise. ’Why is my brother here too?’
Yu Qin, however, seed to snap out of a trance. She stood up, rushed out the door, and said to her mother, "Let him co in, Mom. I have sothing to ask him, too."
Zhang Huai followed Yu Qin into the room. He was just as surprised to see Zhang Yang. "Yangzi, what are you doing here? When did you get here?"
Yu Qin said bitterly, "He ca to scold . Are you here to scold too? You two brothers are certainly of one mind."
Zhang Huai was shocked. He shot Zhang Yang a glare and quickly said to Yu Qin, "Yangzi’s still young. Don’t take anything he said to heart. You can’t take a kid’s words seriously." As he spoke, he pulled Zhang Yang up, giving him a look that told him to get out.
Zhang Yang cried out in frustration, "Cousin, how can you lie so easily? When did I scold you?"
He grumbled as he sullenly left the room.
Outside, his fourth aunt also gave him a grim look. Annoyed, he went to his grandmother’s room to lie down and wait for his brother.
In the past, every visit to his grandmother’s house had been filled with happiness and anticipation. His grandmother would always save up little treats for her flock of grandsons to playfully fight over, watching with a wide, amused grin. But today, he was clearly unwelco.
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