Chapter 859 — The Overbearing Guan Xuewen
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Guan Xuewen heard the quarrel downstairs and came down from the upper floor. Seeing Guan Xin weeping on the sofa, he was taken aback for a moment, then hurried over. "Xinxin, what's the matter? Why are you crying here? Where's your father?"
"Grandpa..." The moment Guan Xin saw him, she cried even harder. She had never felt so wronged in her life. She could not fathom how her father could dictate her marriage, forcing her to wed a man she had never met.
"There, there, don't cry yet. Tell me what happened first. Is there any problem that can't be solved? Why are you crying so bitterly?" Guan Xuewen had no idea what had come over her. He walked over, sat down on the sofa, patted his granddaughter on the shoulder, and tried to comfort her.
"Grandpa, Dad says he arranged a marriage for me when I was little, and he wants me to marry a man I've never met..." Still sobbing, Guan Xin told her grandfather everything that had happened.
"Preposterous!" Guan Xuewen slammed the table in fury. "That Guan Xiaopeng, the older he gets the less sense he has! How can a thing like this be decided at random? Don't you worry, Xinxin, your grandfather will settle this for you! Without my say-so, no one has any right to decide anything! I'm calling your father right now!"
Guan Xuewen was beside himself with rage. Upright and unyielding as he was, he was no hidebound old pedant, and the moment he heard that Guan Xiaopeng had arranged a marriage for Guan Xin, his anger flared at once. What was more, the grandson-in-law he had in mind for her was Wei Zhao, so there was all the less chance he would let Guan Xiaopeng marry her off to just anyone.
"You little wretch, what did you say to Xinxin? You've got my precious granddaughter crying her eyes out! You've grown bold, haven't you? An arranged marriage, no less! I'm telling you now, you cancel this match this instant and put the thought out of your head!" The moment the call connected, Guan Xuewen tore into him without mercy.
Guan Xiaopeng was struck dumb by the tirade. Not since the quarrel over his starting the company had his father ever scolded him like this! It gave him, all at once, the old familiar feeling of being a boy again, berated by his father for some wrongdoing, and it left him rather afraid to defy his father's wishes...
And yet, in this particular matter, he truly had no say! The engagement had been settled years ago between himself, his wife, and that benefactor. How could he unilaterally go back on it? When he thought of how great a kindness that man had shown him, how much he owed him! Without that man's investment and his connections, could he ever have achieved what he had today? Could he ever have won the approval of his wife's family?
He was not an ungrateful man, and so for a moment Guan Xiaopeng found himself truly at a loss. After years of cold war with his father, he knew that his father's outburst on Guan Xin's behalf was a chance to mend their relationship. If he yielded now, the bond between father and son would surely warm again.
But could he yield? The promise he had made to that man could never be broken! Unless that man himself broke it, Guan Xiaopeng could not bring himself to do such a faithless, ungrateful thing.
At that thought, Guan Xiaopeng could only smile bitterly. Loyalty and righteousness could not both be satisfied—what was he to do? He did not want to squander this chance to make peace with his father by provoking him all over again, and yet he absolutely could not be the one to break off the engagement.
"Father, in any other matter I would obey you, but this one I truly cannot change. It was settled back then with that benefactor—you know him too..." Guan Xiaopeng sighed. "How can I go back on my word?"