บท 5: CHAPTER 4 - The Liu Family Shocked.
After parting ways with Liu Quingshuang, Fang Haoran drove to the Liu family house, arriving in a while as he had decided to take a detour.
Father Liu and Mother Liu were already waiting at home for him at the door by the time he arrived, as they knew of his arrival.
"Haoran, come in quickly!"
Liu Quingshuang's father, Liu Wei, usually had a stern, sharp face. Today, however, his face was marred by a warm smile. He was brimming with amiability.
Quingshuang's mother, Zhang Yijuan, was equally pleased with this prospective son-in-law, showering him with care and concern.
After all, Fang Haoran was wealthy, handsome, capable, devoted, and respectful of his elders. What parent wouldn't want such a great match for their daughter?
It was just that Quingshuang, stubborn as ever, didn't like him. She treated him with cold indifference and even moved into her school dormitory in protest, forcing her parents to lower their pride and appease Fang Haoran out of fear that he might give up on their daughter altogether.
Once they were all inside and seated, Liu Wei noticed that Fang Haoran had come alone, making him frown in confusion. He had already informed Quingshuang and assumed Haoran would pick her up.
But soon, as if realizing something, his expression darkened.
"Haoran, did Quingshuang throw another tantrum?" He questioned cautiously.
Zhang Yijuan, who heard those words, had her eyes widen a bit as she hurriedly added, "Haoran, don't mind her. Quingshuang's been spoiled by us. Once she's back, I'll make sure to have a good talk with her."
She jumped to the conclusion without even waiting for Haoran's response, as both of them knew about their daughter's personality.
"Uncle, Aunt, you've misunderstood," Fang Haoran, however, shook his head, replying with a meaningful tone. "Perhaps Quingshuang is tutoring one of her 'excellent students' again and lost track of time."
Liu Wei and Zhang Yijuan, listening to his words, exchanged a confused glance. Why did it feel like Haoran was trying to imply something? They thought but could not make anything out of it, all because although Fang Haoran and Quingshuang argued several times over Ye Feng's matter, they had never involved the elders.
But that was going to end today.
For now, Haoran only engaged in small talk as he wanted Quingshuang to be home when it all went down, and not long after, she returned home.
The moment she walked in, she shot a glare at Fang Haoran, who was happily chatting with her parents, then angrily threw her bag onto the couch and sat down next to Zhang Yijuan with her face full of frustration.
"What's wrong, my dear? Who upset you now?" Zhang Yijuan asked gently; she seemed to have forgotten the matter about Quingshuang not coming home with Haoran.
"Who else but him!" Quingshuang, however, snapped, pointing at Fang Haoran with an angry expression, and soon, both Liu Wei and Zhang Yijuan frowned.
"See? This is all your fault for spoiling her. She's a grown woman and still acts so impolite!" Liu Wei growled, turning at his wife, making Quingshuang feel wronged.
"Dad!" She protested. 'Aren't you supposed to be on my side?!'
Fang Haoran, looking at all this, simply smiled. Then, his expression turned serious as he pulled out some prepared documents.
"Uncle, Aunt, I actually came today because I have something important to discuss."
Seeing his demeanor, Quingshuang began to panic.
If her parents found out that they'd been arguing over one of her students, they'd surely force her to resign—she knew that for a fact.
"Fang Haoran! Let us not involve my parents in this matter!" She blurted out, thinking that he would agree, but Haoran just ignored her and continued, "I've decided to call off my engagement with Quingshuang."
"..."
There was a short silence after that before both Liu Wei and Zhang Yijuan shot up from their seats.
"Haoran, what did you just say?!" Both Liu Wei and Zhang Yijuan were stunned.
The last time Haoran visited, they were discussing wedding plans and filled with joy and anticipation. How had things come to this today?
"Haoran, did Quingshuang do something to wrong you? Just say the word, and we'll make it right!" Liu Wei quickly tried to appease Haoran, and Zang Yijuan, taking the signal, nodded her head, moving next to Haoran and adding, "Yes, yes! We'll take care of it!"
"Dad! Mom!" Quingshuang was livid. Her parents had, once again, immediately assumed it was her fault.
At school, she prided herself on being mature and composed. But in front of her parents and Fang Haoran, she couldn't help but lose her cool.
"I didn't do anything wrong! If anything, it's him who's been completely unreasonable!" Not being able to take it anymore, she burst out, "It's because I helped tutor a male student with his studies that he went and broke the poor kid's arm! And I had to pay for his medical bills too!"
Since the cat was out of the bag, she would tell them how unreasonable Haoran was.
She glared at him as she continued, "That boy is in his senior year of high school, from a poor family, and about to take the college entrance exam in a few months. What he did could ruin that kid's future!"
Liu Quingshuang grew increasingly upset as she spoke. She added, "After we get married, what next? Am I not even allowed to see my own father?!"
Hearing their daughter's voice filled with grievance, Liu Wei and Zhang Yijuan didn't know whom to believe.
They knew that Quingshuang could be headstrong at times, but she had never been a liar.
But then again, Fang Haoran didn't seem like the type to do something so extreme. Liu Wei had investigated the Fang family's business group and knew that Fang Haoran was generally regarded as kind and fair, never one to abuse his power.
"Quingshuang, is this all just a misunderstanding between you and Haoran? Why don't you two talk things out?" Liu Wei, understanding that it must be a misunderstanding, tried to smile, and Zhang Yijuan added, "Yes, yes. If there's any issue, let's resolve it calmly."
Haoran, however, calmly shook his head, "There's no misunderstanding." He looked right into Liu Wei's eyes and continued, "Although the engagement was only verbal, I believe it's better to explain things to you in person."
He glanced at Quingshaung, who shot a venomous look at him and added, "Since Qiingshuang clearly dislikes me, I think it's best to officially call off the engagement." The next second, seeing the complicated look on Liu Wei's face, he spoke again, "Uncle, rest assured, this won't affect the cooperation between our families; we will just need to renegotiate the development plan for that land in the southern part of the city."
Fang Haoran's composed explanation left no room for doubt. But Liu Wei still wanted to say something, so Haoran sighed, handed him a stack of documents, and stated, "Uncle, once you take a look at this, you'll understand. As for this engagement, I've made up my mind—it's over."
Seeing Fang Haoran's firm stance, Liu Wei swallowed his words and began reading the documents.
Seizing the moment, Fang Haoran stood up and left the house. It was not easy as Zhang Yijuan tried to stop him, saying that she had made his favorite soup, but he just said that he had things to handle at home and left.
The last thing he did was turn to Quingshuang and say a few sets of words before he was gone.
"From this moment on, we have nothing to do with each other."
Now, sitting on the couch, recalling his resolute figure leaving, for some reason, Liu Quingshuang didn't feel happy—there was an odd sense of emptiness in her heart.
But when she recalled his last words, a flare of anger rose within her. 'He had something to take care of at home when he lived alone?!' It was an obvious lie—she knew it. So she just snorted on the inside.
'You want to have nothing to do with me? Do I look like I care?!'
She justified her anger by thinking that if anyone should be breaking off the engagement, it should've been her. Yet now, it felt like she was the one who had done something wrong, so after muttering a few more curses under her breath, she glanced at the documents in her father's hands.
She was curious about what those documents had since Fang Haoran had said that those documents were the reason why he wanted to break off the engagement, after all.
Quingshuang never considered herself to be the cause, but she also knew Fang Haoran wasn't someone who would fabricate things. What could possibly fill an entire stack of papers?
She wanted to ask but stopped when she noticed her father's face growing darker with each passing page.
'What's happening?' She felt like something was not right, so she called out to her father, "Dad?"
Her soft inquiry, however, was like a match to a powder keg.
"Don't call me 'Dad'! I don't have a daughter like you!"
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