Chapter 343: 100-Years Marriage Agreement

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The damage that the Huo couple had caused Huo Tian was immeasurable. Xi Cheng did not know how many times his daughter had been ignored when she was growing up, nor did he know how many scoldings and beatings she had suffered. Xi Cheng only knew that the 18 years of living in the Huo
Family had made Huo Tian become this sensitive girl who yearned for care and love. It was to the extent that she could not even throw a tantrum at her parents.

Ding Rong nestled in Xi Cheng’s arms for a long while, gradually calming down her bad mood. She said with lingering fear, “Huo You is only 19 years old, but the Huo Family has already decided on a fiancé for her. I really can’t imagine if Tiantian hadn’t returned to our side, would she have been randomly
assigned to some man with a bad personality?”

Men’s thoughts would probably never be as fragile and sensitive as women’s. Xi Cheng felt that it was just Ding Rong’s assumption and there was no need to discuss it.
Hence, he said perfunctorily, “Tiantian is different from Huo You. In order to maintain her current wealthy life, Huo You is willing to accept a marriage filled with schemes and interests. Tiantian won’t let others manipulate her life because of materialistic conditions.”

These words consoled Ding Rong very well. She relaxed and leaned into Xi Cheng’s arms. “Yeah, I really like to let my thoughts run wild. Tiantian has returned to our side. You’re not the kind of father who would disregard the child’s wishes and forcefully decide on a fiancé for her. Our Tiantian will
definitely have a blissful marriage.”

“That’s right, I…” Xi Cheng was about to agree with Ding Rong, but before he could finish, he suddenly thought of something and froze.
Ding Rong sharply noticed the pause in Xi Cheng’s words and the stiffness in his body. She sat up straight again and looked suspiciously at Xi Cheng, who looked like something was wrong. “What’s the matter? Did I say something wrong just now?”

“No, no… It’s just that I just remembered something,

Xi Cheng immediately denied it in a natural tone and even pretended to smile casually. If it were anyone else, they might have been deceived by his impeccable disguise. However, the person in front of Xi Cheng was Ding Rong. Ding Rong knew his various expressions and actions like the back of her hand.
She sharply noticed the guilt in Xi Cheng’s eyes.

Ding Rong narrowed her eyes slightly and said without batting an eyelid, “Are you planning to explain yourself, or do you want me to wait until I personally discover the secret you’re hiding ?”
It was as if time had gone back 20 years. The figure of Ding Rong in front of Xi Cheng overlapped with his newly wedded wife. Back then, the two of them, who were also young and impetuous, lived together and would occasionally have some friction and conflicts.

Sometimes, when Xi Cheng did something that he did not want Ding Rong to know, Ding Rong would be like an omnipotent detective, always able to tell some clues from his words and actions. Back then, Ding Rong was also like now, squinting slightly and looking at Xi Cheng with a solemn expression.
“Ifyou take the initiative to tell me, I might be able to let you off, but if I personally find out your secret, then you have to be careful!”

Although they had been separated for 20 years, this familiar scene still frightened Xi Cheng.

The usually calm Xi Cheng was now feeling a little restless. He was so nervous that he loosened his tie and carefully looked at Ding Rong’s expression. “Honey, if I confess, you mustn’t be angry at me

Sure enough, he was the same as before, hiding many small secrets that she did not want to know! Ding Rong snorted coldly in her heart, but she looked tolerant and magnanimous. “I’m already more than 40 years old, so how can I still be as angry as I was when I was young? Hurry up and tell me, what
did you hide from me?”

“Ididn’t hide anything from you. I just didn’t tell you some things…” Xi Cheng explained with a strong desire to live.” Erm, our Hill Family and the Cameron Family actually have a marriage agreement. It was decided more than 100 years ago. At that time, there was even a notary document signed.
Unfortunately, after so many years, there are no suitable young men and women who came from both family heads’ lineage…”

Ding Rong’s eyes widened and her gaze became more and more terrifying, Xi Cheng felt frightened under Ding Rong’s furious gaze and could not continue speaking
Although Xi Cheng did not make things clear, Ding Rong still understood what he meant. Her brows were tightly furrowed as she suppressed her anger and looked at Xi Cheng. “You mean to say that this marriage agreement will end up landing on our Tiantian?”

Xi Cheng coughed awkwardly and tried to explain himself. “Honey, listen to me. I didn’t expect things to turn out like this either. That marriage contract has been around for almost 100 years, so I didn’t take it seriously at all. It was only a few days ago when I asked someone to add Tiantian’s name to the
genealogical record that a few old fellows from the Hill Family had specially dug up the matter of the marriage agreement. I was busy with Tiantian’s birthday banquet and couldn’t be bothered to argue with them, so I set this matter aside first…”

Ding Rong took a deep breath, wanting to find the unreasonable aspects of this matter from logic. “Don’t joke with me. According to normal logic, when the two families were engaged back then, shouldn’t they have first confirmed that the two families had an unmarried young man and young lady of
suitable age? How could they have decided on the marriage agreement when there were no suitable partners for marriage?”

Xi Cheng explained helplessly, “Back then, the ones who were engaged were the Hill Family’s daughter and the Cameron Family’s youngest son. The two families had just held an engagement ceremony when the Cameron Family’s youngest son signed up to join the military. Later on, he died on the
battlefield and never came back. In order to continue the cooperation between the two families, the two family heads signed such a marriage agreement.”

This explanation could indeed explain the loopholes in the logical aspect. The scales in Ding Rong’s heart were already starting to tilt and she was starting to believe the authenticity of this marriage agreement. It was precisely because of this that she found it even more unacceptable.
Ding Rong shifted her body and sat a little further away from Xi Cheng. She crossed her arms and looked at Xi Cheng warily.

“So, just when I was just feeling lucky that my daughter can have freedom of marriage, you want to tell me, ‘I’m sorry, your daughter also has a marriage partner that has been decided for her since a long time ago.’ She’s also unable to freely choose a marriage like Huo You, and her situation is even more
difficult than Huo You’s. More than 100 years ago, her ancestors had already decided on a marriage partner for her. Tiantian had never even seen the other party before and does know even know what kind of troll he is, but she has to form a family with him?!”

The more Ding Rong spoke, the angrier she became. She shot up to her feet from the sofa and looked at Xi Cheng angrily. “Respectable rich man from America, I have to clarify something to you first. Even if Huo Tian is your daughter, she hasn’t changed her nationality. This is a liberal and democratic
country. As a citizen of China, Tiantian has the right to choose if she wants to get married or what kind of person she wants to marry! I definitely won’t let you guys control my daughter’s marriage and life!”

With that, Ding Rong turned and left angrily. Even if she had to abandon her lover whom she had just reunited with, she had to leave this decaying and dilapidated family with her daughter!

It was too ridiculous. The Qing Dynasty had been destroyed for hundreds of years. Yet, the United States, which boasted of its advanced culture and freedom of thought, actually still had a feudalistic family like this!
Xi Cheng was anxious to explain, but in Ding Rong’s anger, he could not even find a chance to interrupt. Seeing that Ding Rong was about to walk away, Xi Cheng quickly stood up and chased after her while staggering. In a moment of desperation, he grabbed Ding Rong’s arm.
Ding Rong was so angry that she wanted to shake Xi Cheng off. Unexpectedly, Xi Cheng could not stand steadily, so he stumbled back a step when she pushed him hard and fell uncontrollably.

Ding Rong was shocked and could not be bothered to be angry anymore. She anxiously reached out to hug Xi Cheng, who was about to fall.

However, Ding Rong was slender to begin with, so how could she support Xi Cheng’s body? In the end, the two of them hugged each other and fell onto the soft carpet.

Fortunately, the carpet in the small reception room was soft enough that neither of them suffered any obvious injuries.

Neither of them could be bothered to check their own conditions. Their first reaction was to be concerned about each other’s conditions. They looked at each other anxiously and spoke almost at the same time.

Ding Rong was panic-stricken. “How are your legs? Did you get hurt?”

Xi Cheng was also worried. “Rongrong, I’m sorry. How are you feeling? Did you get hurt from the fall?”

The next moment, the two of them said at the same time, “I’m fine, how about you?”

The two consecutive coincidences left them speechless for a few seconds. Their eyes met and they couldn’t help but laugh..