Chapter 858 — You'll Marry Him Whether You Like It or Not

When Guan Xin heard Kang Jingming tell her father that he wanted to court her, her heart leaped into her throat. She was terrified that her father, unable to see through the man, might take Kang Jingming for a promising young talent and agree to let him pursue her. Fortunately, her father proved clear-sighted enough and turned him down flat.

Only, her father's reason was awfully strange! He had actually claimed that she already had a fiancé, and that the engagement had been arranged before she was even born. Did such things as prenatal betrothals still exist in this day and age? How utterly bizarre!

Who would have thought that her staid, old-fashioned father had such a whimsical, eccentric side to him? Guan Xin found it rather amusing.

But what delighted her most was that Kang Jingming had actually believed her father's words and decided to give up his pursuit of her! What a prize fool!

In truth, Guan Xin had it wrong. In great families like Kang Jingming's, marriages arranged by parents and matchmakers were simply the natural order of things. Take her brother's engagement to Wang Xinyan of the Xiao family—that too had been settled by the elders, and once settled, no junior had the right to alter it. So Kang Jingming assumed the same must hold true for Guan Xin. No matter what he did, he could never change it, and so he had no choice but to give up.

Hearing that Kang Jingming was about to come out, Guan Xin hastily slipped over to the sofa and plopped down, pretending to watch television as though nothing had happened.

Kang Jingming opened the study door, and Wang Shubin wheeled him out. He cast a dejected glance at Guan Xin sitting on the sofa watching TV, then heaved a helpless sigh. He knew the temperament of well-bred young ladies like Guan Xin: once a girl was bound by a marriage contract, how could she possibly take up with him?

So he could not even be bothered to speak. To his mind, a girl he could not win over was of no use no matter how pretty she was. He simply had Wang Shubin wheel him straight out of Guan Xuewen's villa, and slunk away in disgrace.

When Guan Xin saw her father emerge from the study, her face flushed at once. After all, she had just been eavesdropping on his conversation with Kang Jingming—nothing serious, perhaps, but hardly honorable either.

Seeing her father look her way, Guan Xin grew embarrassed before he had even said a word. Having never done anything wrong, she confessed her misdeed straight away: "Dad, that Kang Jingming is talking nonsense—I never nursed him back to health at all..."

"Oh? So you heard everything?" Guan Xiaopeng had not expected his daughter to eavesdrop. Seeing her blush, he nodded in understanding. "That man doesn't seem to be any good. Keep away from him from now on!"

"I know. I don't even associate with him," Guan Xin said. "He's the one pestering me..."

"Mm. And that fellow Wei Zhao too—you'd better keep your distance from him as well. Don't get too close! You're a girl, and you must guard your reputation!" Guan Xiaopeng thought of Wei Zhao and added another remark. He had always been prejudiced against Wei Zhao; ever since Wei Zhao and Guan Xuewen had founded their company together, Guan Xiaopeng had rather disliked him.

"What? Wei Zhao is a good person. He's not a bad man, nothing like Kang Jingming..." Guan Xin was taken aback, then shook her head, unable to understand why her father kept harping on about Wei Zhao.

"I told you—you're a girl, and you should mind appearances!" Guan Xiaopeng said sternly. "Besides, you're already engaged. If any rumors start to spread, it will be bad for your reputation!"

It was the first time Guan Xiaopeng had ever spoken to Guan Xin in such a stern, incontrovertible tone.

"What!" Guan Xin froze, staring at Guan Xiaopeng in disbelief. "Dad, what engagement are you talking about? Wasn't that just an excuse you made up to make Kang Jingming give up? How could I possibly be engaged?"

"It was no excuse!" Guan Xiaopeng waved his hand. "Xinxin, you're not a child anymore. It's time you knew. The truth is, before you were born, your mother and I settled a marriage for you. Now that you've grown up, there's no harm in telling you..."

"How can that be?" Hearing her father's words, Guan Xin was thrown into utter confusion. The shock of the news was simply too great. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she was already bound by an engagement, and that a fiancé had sprung up out of nowhere!

"How can it not be? Marriages have always been arranged by parents and matchmakers since ancient times!" Guan Xiaopeng had not expected his usually docile daughter to question him. His brow furrowed even deeper. Could there really be something between her and that Wei Zhao?

"Dad, what century are we living in? How can you still be arranging marriages? I've never even met this man you're talking about—how could I possibly marry him? And after all these years, how could it still count? Please, just call it off for me?" Guan Xin found it inconceivable; the whole thing was absurd beyond belief, and she could not accept it.

"Call it off? Absolutely not!" Guan Xiaopeng left no room for negotiation whatsoever. "You will marry him, and no one can change that!"

"I won't marry him!" For the first time in her life, Guan Xin—always the obedient daughter—rebutted her father so fiercely. This concerned her lifelong happiness; how could she possibly compromise?

"You! You'll marry him whether you like it or not!" Guan Xiaopeng gave a cold snort, his anger rising as well. "I've made up my mind on this matter. It's useless for you to say anything!"

"On what grounds? I've never even met the man, I don't know what he looks like or what he does, and I'm supposed to marry him?" Guan Xin glared, her voice stubborn. "I won't marry him—I don't even like him!"

"If you don't like him, then who do you like?" Guan Xiaopeng shot back.

"I like... I just don't like him, that's all!" Guan Xin had nearly let something slip. Her face flushed, and she hastily clamped her mouth shut.

"Are you in love with that Wei Zhao?" How could Guan Xiaopeng fail to read his own daughter's heart? "You'd better cut ties with him while you still can, or I'll have someone break his legs! Your marriage was decided by your mother and me together. That man showed me a great kindness. Everything I have today was bestowed on me by his elders. I, Guan Xiaopeng, am not one to go back on my word. If you come around to it, well and good. If you don't, you'll marry him all the same!"

With that, Guan Xiaopeng paid Guan Xin no further mind. He rose to his feet and strode out of the villa.

Guan Xin, meanwhile, burst into tears of grievance. She could not fathom how her father could be so domineering and hidebound, forcing her to marry a man she did not love. And even if that man's elders had once done her father a kindness, could he not repay it some other way? Why must it be through her marriage?