Li Changyu hurriedly said, "Of course I trust you and Mother. But Father, you know I’m very busy right now. Please don’t look for a match for me just yet. Let me work for a couple of years. I’m not that old. Am I going to have trouble finding a wife? Look at Huai Zi and Qingmu—neither of them are engaged, right? Why? It’s because they want to focus wholeheartedly on their work."

At the mention of those two, Li Gengtian was speechless.

Everyone in the village knew that Zhang Huai and Qingmu didn’t want to get engaged for the time being. And Changyu was two years younger than them, so there was indeed no need to rush. Besides, wasn’t his eldest son about to be engaged? If he wanted to hold a grandson, he could count on his eldest.

He stared at his younger son with a grave expression and said, "That’s not out of the question. But, Changyu, you cannot go and secretly promise yourself to someone. Even if you’ve taken a liking to a girl, just tell your mother and me. I will handle it for you. Don’t you go doing anything foolish on your own."

Li Changyu was immediately displeased and was about to argue, but Li Gengtian raised a hand to stop him. "I’m just giving you a word of caution. Your brother has a steady temperament, so I don’t worry about him when he’s out. You’re a bit more impulsive, so naturally, I have to nag you a little more. It’s not that you can’t have your own ideas. I’m just telling you that for some matters, it’s more convenient to have an adult step in to resolve them. It’ll also save you from making unnecessary mistakes."

The moment he said that, Mrs. Fang understood he was thinking about his own youth. She immediately realized his heartfelt intentions and quickly chimed in, basically telling Changyu that if anything came up, he should let his parents know so the family could discuss it together.

Li Changyu didn’t know about his parents’ past and couldn’t understand why they kept repeatedly warning him not to get secretly engaged to someone. It was as if they thought he was some kind of frivolous person.

’Sigh! But I can’t really argue with them, because I do have someone in my heart!’

Li Changfeng looked at his younger brother with a scrutinizing expression.

Feeling agitated, Li Changyu met his brother’s probing gaze and made a funny face at him.

Although he still looked mischievous and playful on the outside, his heart was heavy. ’I haven’t even figured out my own feelings yet,’ he thought, ’how am I supposed to tell you all about it?’

Li Mingrui glanced at his son and daughter-in-law but said nothing.

After Mrs. Fang went to the kitchen to cook dinner, Li Changfeng went to the schoolhouse to consult Mr. Zhou, and Li Gengtian also left the main hall, Li Mingrui slowly began to tell his young grandson about Li Gengtian’s youth.

It turned out that when Li Gengtian was young, he met Mrs. Fang while studying at Xiatang Market and had secretly fallen for her. But Li Mingrui didn’t know this, so he and his wife had arranged a match for him. As a result, Li Gengtian naturally wanted to break off the engagement.

But the girl’s family was not easy to deal with. They refused to back down and caused a constant scene, even threatening to deliver their daughter’s corpse to their doorstep if the engagement was broken.

Li Changyu sucked in a sharp breath. "Then... then what happened?" he asked nervously. "Why did Father still end up marrying Mother?"

Li Mingrui unhurriedly used a small wooden stick to poke the embers in the brazier at his feet, then rested his feet on it again before saying, "Did you think they were really doing it for her reputation? It was all about the money. It was my fault, too, for being a poor judge of character. But once we knew they were after money, the matter became easier to resolve. We ended up spending a sum of silver to call off the engagement. The only problem was, the whole affair became known throughout the neighboring villages. For years after she married into our family, your mother didn’t dare leave the house, for fear of being gossiped about."

After hearing this, Li Changyu stared blankly at the jujube tree outside the door, its branches now bare, and said nothing.

He finally understood what his father, mother, and grandfather meant. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Li Mingrui said to his grandson, "These engagements can be simple. If two families meet and feel it’s a good match, it’s settled. But they can also be troublesome. If other things get involved, you might end up as enemies instead of in-laws. Your father is just afraid you’ll walk the same path he did."

Li Changyu’s heart grew heavy. He felt exceptionally hesitant.

’If I were to compete with Huai Zi for Juhua, would it also cause a huge scandal in the village?’

That wasn’t what he wanted to see. It wouldn’t just be bad for Juhua; he also didn’t want to fall out with his friend, Huai Zi.

’Also, would Father and Mother agree to let me marry Juhua? Would they look down on her?’

He pulled his gaze back from outside and asked Li Mingrui seriously, "Grandfather, if I chose someone myself, would you all agree to let me marry her?"

Li Mingrui looked at him in surprise. Could it be that his young grandson had really done the same thing as his son all those years ago—secretly promised himself to a girl?

’If that’s the case,’ he thought, quite annoyed, ’it really must run in the family!’