Who could have an appetite to eat?

But since Xiao Lan was conducting an “interrogation,” Li Fengmei and Liu Fen had no choice but to comply. Ignoring Liang Huan’s cries, Xiao Lan locked the shop door, and the three of them went to a nearby restaurant to order some dishes.

Liu Fen couldn’t swallow her food, but Xiao Lan ate quite a bit.

Without eating well, how could she have the energy to wear Liang Huan down? When Liu Fang and Liang Bing’an arrived, there might be another tough battle to fight, so Xiao Lan needed to ensure she was in peak condition for the confrontation.

After eating, Xiao Lan also ordered a takeaway lamb noodle soup.

Bringing it back to the shop, she placed the lamb noodle soup at the storage room door. The aroma would drift through the door crack, and since Liang Huan hadn’t eaten lunch either, how could she resist such tactics?

She started out shouting, but later her throat became sore with no one coming to rescue her.

Xiao Lan, Li Fengmei, and Liu Fen just sat quietly without speaking. Unable to hear any movement, Liang Huan began to think they intended to leave her alone in the shop overnight.

The enclosed space made her anxious, and without light and in complete silence, it became increasingly terrifying.

Liang Huan’s psychological resilience wasn’t great. Within two hours, her defenses crumbled, going from angry cursing to pleading, with the transformation being completely natural. After she had exhausted herself, Xiao Lan finally crouched by the door:

“Tell me everything about Fan Zhenchuan properly, and I’ll not only let you out but also treat you to lamb noodle soup.”

Usually, Liang Huan wouldn’t give lamb noodle soup a second thought – couldn’t she eat such things whenever she wanted? But after all her struggling, she was starving, and most importantly, her inner fear had completely broken her resolve.

In the silent, dark small space, Liang Huan completely lost track of time.

What was merely two hours felt like at least half a day to Liang Huan?

“I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything…”

Liang Huan revealed everything she knew in detail.

The Fan family’s status in Hedong County, Fan Zhenchuan’s position, and the reasons behind this marriage arrangement.

When Liu Fen heard that Fan Zhenchuan was 20 years older than Xiao Lan, she clenched her fists. Fan Zhenchuan’s son was Liang Huan’s classmate, and initially, Fan Zhenchuan’s mother had wanted Liang Huan to marry into their family. How shameless!

Even more shameless were Liu Fang and Liang Bing’an.

No wonder they hadn’t contacted their hometown family for years, then suddenly returned to the village before the New Year. They showed special concern for their divorced second sister, offering 4,000 yuan to repair the house and promising to find work for Xiaolan – wasn’t it all because the couple wanted to arrange this unethical marriage for Xiaolan?

Fan Zhenchuan wasn’t just older with a son; when Liang Huan mentioned that his first wife had committed suicide by drinking poison, Liu Fen was so enraged that she suddenly stood up from her chair, knocking over the standing coat rack.

“She won’t marry him! If someone has to marry him, let Liu Fang do it!”

Liu Fen was so angry she spoke without thinking.

Hearing her voice, Liang Huan found her savior: “Wuwuwu… Second Aunt, Second Aunt, let me out, I’m scared!”

Besides his official position, what good qualities did this man have?

It was nothing but pitfalls everywhere.

Even if Xiao Lan were still stuck in the village eating sweet potatoes, she wouldn’t marry Fan Zhenchuan.

She opened the door slightly, threw in the cold lamb noodle soup, and quickly closed it again. Before Liang Huan could react, her chance to see daylight vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

“You broke your promise!”

She angrily accused Xiao Lan.

Xiao Lan smiled indifferently, “Yes, I broke my promise. Come bite me if you can.”

This laughter sounded sinister and terrifying to Liang Huan, who was ultimately too cowardly to provoke Xiao Lan further. How could cold lamb noodles be appetizing? The once fragrant, steaming noodle soup was now cold and hard. Liang Huan forced down one bite of the gamey meat before promptly vomiting it all over the ground.

The storage room was pitch black, and to prevent moisture damage, all goods were stacked on shelves, leaving only a narrow passage. Liang Huan had already bumped into things several times during her earlier struggle, and her whole body was aching.

Why was Xiao Lan so mean?

Why wouldn’t her aunt save her, why didn’t her second aunt care about her?

Liang Huan felt the whole world had wronged her. They were truly awful – no wonder her mother rarely visited her maternal family, there wasn’t a single good person among them!

Xiao Lan went outside, initially planning to call the Liang family immediately, but then thought there was no need to rush.

“Let’s go home first and discuss what to do.”

Indeed, what should they do about this? The three walked back to Grandmother Yu’s house silently. Grandmother Yu hadn’t returned from street sweeping yet, so the three brought out chairs and sat in the courtyard.

Li Fengmei and Liu Fen were so angry they didn’t know what to say!

If Xiaolan was angry about this, they were even more at a loss for solutions.

Liang Huan had revealed everything she knew – Fan Zhenchuan wielded considerable power in Hedong County, and Liu Fang had been spreading misleading information. Now Fan Zhenchuan was saying they would hold the wedding in May, so how could they now claim it was all a misunderstanding and that Xiaolan knew nothing about it? Li Fengmei thought that even rural farmers wouldn’t easily accept a “broken engagement.”

Being jilted brought shame to both the women’s and men’s families, and Fan Zhenchuan wasn’t an ordinary person.

Weren’t officials particularly concerned about face?

If Xiaolan refused to marry him, Fan Zhenchuan would surely be angry and make things difficult for her.

But this was a man 20 years older than Xiaolan, whose son was only 2 years younger than her, who had inappropriate relationships, and whose first wife had committed suicide – every single aspect was problematic. Even if Xiaolan were still like before, marrying Fan Zhenchuan wouldn’t be a good choice, let alone now!

“This is all your younger aunt’s meddling – if someone has to marry him, let Liang Huan do it!”

Why should Xiaolan have to jump into this fire pit just because Liang Huan was Liu Fang’s precious daughter – were other people’s daughters just worthless weeds by the field? As said before, Liu Fang had no right to decide whom Xiaolan would marry.

Li Fengmei’s words were more from anger and didn’t address the fundamental problem.

Xiao Lan now pieced together everything Liang Huan had said, and it all became clear. Liu Fang and Liang Bing’an had never given up on making this marriage happen, as shown by Liu Fang’s frequent trips to Qijing Village after the New Year. Their persistence in coming to Shangdu to discuss the same matter, Liu Fen’s refusal… then Liu Fang directly bringing Fan Zhenchuan’s mother for an “inspection.”

Liang Huan had said that Fan Zhenchuan’s mother’s surname was Li, and not only did Liu Fang call her Aunt Li, but everyone in Hedong County knew “Aunt Li’s” influence – who wouldn’t want to curry favor with Fan Zhenchuan’s mother! The Aunt Li that Liu Fang brought to the shop was the same person, and the medium-built man who Xiao Lan had seen, who somewhat resembled Aunt Li, must have been Fan Zhenchuan.

Thinking about how she had been “inspected” like merchandise by the Fan family without her knowledge, Xiao Lan felt as disgusted as if she had swallowed a fly!

It wasn’t just her imagination – that day there had indeed been a gaze that made her particularly uncomfortable.

Fighting back her nausea, Xiao Lan tried to analyze the situation rationally:

“Aunt, there’s no point in having Liang Huan marry him now – it depends on what the Fan family thinks. I don’t believe there’s no way to reason with them, but sometimes local tyrants in small counties don’t listen to reason. I’m not afraid of the Fan family, but I’m worried that my aunt won’t be able to bear the consequences of offending them, and she’ll come crying and making a scene, putting you all in a difficult position.”

She was their sister – would Liu Yong and Liu Fen soften their hearts?

If Liu Fang became desperate, which would be more important – their sister’s life or Xiao Lan’s happiness? Xiao Lan didn’t know how her uncle and mother would choose! Of course, even if the whole family urged her to marry Fan Zhenchuan to resolve the trouble, Xiao Lan would never agree to it.

What troubled her was that she might lose the family relationships she had in the 1980s because of this.

Li Fengmei’s heart skipped a beat – these words were meant for her mother to hear, weren’t they?

Liu Fen’s hands were trembling. Despite the pleasant April weather, she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

“This is bullying you – it’s my fault for being useless, letting people bully you like this!”