Chapter 1807

Su Xuewen took a deep breath, silently picked up the brush, and with trembling fingers, prepared to sign his name on the family-splitting document.

Just as he made the first stroke, Huang Dongxue suddenly let out an angry cry: "I'm not marrying you!"

She retreated repeatedly, distancing herself from Su Xuewen.

She looked at him, her eyes full of tears, bitterness, grievance, indignation, resentment, and heartache.

"If because of me, you have to give up your family business, give up providing for your father and mother, and become an unfilial son despised by everyone, then I'm not marrying you! I'm not marrying!"

"Su Xuewen, don't think about marrying me; let's end it here. I'm not marrying!"

"Because of me, you've become an outcast of your family; one day you will resent me, hate me..."

"I won't!" Su Xuewen looked at her with sorrowful eyes.

"But I will!"

Huang Dongxue took two steps back, putting more distance between them. "Don't come looking for me in the future; I'd rather marry a pig or a dog than you. From now on, men marry and women marry, and we have nothing to do with each other. Su Xuewen, can you do that?"

Slap!

The brush fell to the ground, ink splattering and staining the floor and his shoes.

Su Xuewen stared at her blankly. "How could it come to this? How could it come to this!"

Huang Dongxue wiped away her tears and said solemnly to Prison Warden Chen, who was sitting in the main seat without even moving an eyebrow: "Please bear witness, Lord Chen; from this day on, I, Huang Dongxue, have no further connection with Su Xuewen."

Chen Guanlou nodded slightly, indicating he would respect her decision.

She looked at Su Xuewen again; there was reluctance and lingering attachment, but in the end, it all turned into a helpless sigh.

"This young woman takes her leave!"

Having said that, she turned and left.

Su Xuewen reached out, wanting to hold her back. But the words reached his lips and he couldn't say them.

He watched her back until it disappeared from sight.

Finally, he let his hand drop powerlessly, his expression sorrowful and pitiful.

Chen Guanlou put away the family-splitting document, stood up, and patted him on the shoulder. "Think on the bright side! A great man need not worry about having no wife."

"Uncle, am I very weak? Am I a coward?"

"If you want to think that way, ninety-nine percent of worldly men are cowards! The Emperor in the palace is the biggest coward of all."

Su Xuewen laughed at himself, then looked miserable again. "Why wouldn't she marry me? Is it just because I was split from the family? Could it be, as Uncle said, that she only valued my family's conditions and money, and didn't value me as a person?"

Chen Guanlou looked at his pitiful eldest nephew and decided to offer a few words of comfort. "Your family's conditions and money are also part of you as a person, inseparable. It's not wrong for her to value these things.

It's just that you overestimated the foundation of your relationship and overestimated her resolve. You don't need to blame her either; given her family's situation, she definitely had to make trade-offs and choose the marriage most beneficial to herself."

Su Xuewen frowned.

"Uncle is actually speaking up for her?"

Chen Guanlou set aside his prejudices and spoke fairly. "If she hadn't been entangled with you, I would actually admire her. She dares to think and act, and when she sees an opportunity, she dares to charge forward. Seeing things reach a dead end, she also has the courage to cut off an arm to survive and start over. Many men lack the decisive and clean methods she has.

It's just a pity that the environment she is in leaves her very little room to maneuver. However, I believe she won't stop here. Give her one chance, and she will be able to rise with the wind. This girl is sharp-witted and unwilling to accept the status quo, while you are content with it. In terms of temperament, you two aren't a match. Even if you had successfully married, you would have become a resentful couple sooner or later. She is not a little woman who would obediently stay in the inner chambers."

Huang Dongxue was destined to be someone who would toss and turn her whole life; she would feel like dying if she didn't stir things up.

Looking at Su Xuewen, one could see he was a man lacking ambition, content with small wealth, and satisfied with the status quo. He was good at maintaining things but lacked drive.

For people with opposite temperaments to be forced together, fighting and clashing was only a matter of time.

Su Xuewen had a flaw, just like his father: when encountering difficult family conflicts, he chose to escape. He only moved to try and solve them when he was pushed to the brink.

Su's brother-in-law had made some progress over the years, also because he had a comparison. Before and after the family split, as long as one wasn't a block of wood, one would know which was better and which was worse, and thus know how to choose.

Before the split, eating meat required Mother Su's nod of approval.

After the split, he could eat meat whenever he wanted; life couldn't be better.

Looking at the limp Su Xuewen, Chen Guanlou slapped him on the shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

"I... I might really not be a good match for Miss Huang. Actually, I know what she's thinking, but I..."

He felt ashamed!

Before he could finish, he turned and went into the bedroom to lie down.

He lay there for several days in a row, scaring Chen Xiaolan to death. Fortunately, he wasn't fasting, just eating less, and he looked visibly thinner.

Chen Xiaolan felt both heartache and stifled, so frustrated she wanted to explode and blow everyone up, ending it all at once.

She went to Chen Guanlou to complain, saying she didn't know what to do. It seemed like everything she did was wrong.

"I didn't stop him from marrying, but now he's broken up with her. He just lies there every day, doesn't go to work, and eats very little, as if he's blaming me for breaking up a pair of lovebirds."

"Sister, you're overthinking it."

"I'm not overthinking it. He is blaming me, blaming me for ruining his marriage. Lou-er, tell me, should I find someone to calculate this? If he and that Huang girl are truly a destined match, I'll just swallow my pride and beg her to make their marriage happen."

"And not split the family?"

"Still have to split. But I can't give Xuewen nothing; I still have to help him set up his own little home. Sigh..."

At this moment, Chen Xiaolan suddenly understood why her brother refused to raise children.

Giving birth to children and raising children, in the end, are all debts.

The child was using his own health to pressure her, and she felt terrible.

Chen Guanlou chuckled. "Sister, you really are overthinking it. He isn't blaming you for breaking up the lovebirds; he's feeling guilty. Let him digest it himself, and he'll be fine in a few days."

"Wait! Why would he feel guilty just because he couldn't insist on marrying Miss Huang? How can you be sure?" Chen Xiaolan was full of doubts.

Chen Guanlou sighed. "As for this kid Su Xuewen, I don't know what to say about him either. This guy is stupid when he should be smart, and plays crooked tricks when he should be stupid.

Actually, he had long ago figured out that he and Miss Huang weren't a match. But he wasn't willing to be the one to say it; perhaps out of cowardice, perhaps because he was thin-skinned and didn't want to bear the infamy, or perhaps he simply wanted to leave enough face for Miss Huang so that if the woman opened her mouth, her reputation wouldn't be damaged.

So, he took advantage of the family split to make Miss Huang take the initiative to cut ties with him. He knew long ago that if you didn't give him a single copper, Miss Huang definitely wouldn't marry him. He used the opportunity of the family split to completely sever his connection with Miss Huang."

Chen Xiaolan opened her mouth wide, unable to believe it. "Is that so?"

Chen Guanlou nodded. "That's exactly it. Your son lying there for the past few days isn't because he resents you for breaking up the lovebirds; he's feeling guilty. Guilty for calculating against Miss Huang, for calculating against his own feelings. He hasn't fully processed it yet! Once he does, he'll recover."