Chapter 53: Childhood Betrothal X Blind Date √

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Childhood Betrothal X Blind Date √

Zhang Ci Hao instantly broke into a brilliant smile, shedding tears of joy that still clung to the corners of his eyes. "Sister Yu Yuan, I can’t believe it. This is actually real, that you’re willing to give us a try."

He actually cried? Deng Yuyuan suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. A strange sensation, like an electric current, numbed her entire body, making her instinctively resist yet anticipate. She ruthlessly replied, "It’s normal that you can’t believe it, because it’s fake to begin with."

"It’s not fake! Both of my ears just heard it!" Zhang Ci Hao eagerly denied it, though his voice grew smaller and smaller under Deng Yuyuan’s calm and unruffled gaze.

"Okay, I understand. I’m sorry, I lost my mind for a moment. Then, can I still go to the Knowledge Youth Institute to see you and Tuantuan?" His reason gradually returned, and he withdrew his embrace.

"I might actually be crazy... to still shamelessly throw myself at her after being rejected like this," he thought.

As the warm temperature pulled away, Deng Yuyuan lost herself for a split second. Hearing Zhang Ci Hao’s question, her brain almost failed to process it. Could those two things even be mentioned in the same breath?

Yet, shamefully, her heart had skipped a beat.

No, no, that wasn’t right. Deng Yuyuan thought about the frequency of Zhang Ci Hao’s recent visits to the Knowledge Youth Institute to see Tuantuan. With such few visits, rather than leaving an answer that would invite his daydreams, it was better to outright reject him.

"No. If we’re going to break it off, a clean break is best."

Zhang Ci Hao also remembered that he had been busy with affairs in town lately, neglecting the Knowledge Youth Institute, so he really had no leg to stand on when bringing this up. A trace of frustration flashed across his face as he threw caution to the wind. "Then just beat me to death."

"Huh?" Deng Yuyuan didn’t understand.

Zhang Ci Hao answered seriously, "Either you beat me to death, or I’ll relentlessly cling to you."

Deng Yuyuan held back her laughter. "Then I lose either way. If I don’t kill you, you cling to me; if I do kill you, you become a ghost and cling to me."

Hearing this, Zhang Ci Hao felt Deng Yuyuan made a good point. He negotiated with her in a low voice, "Then let’s just give it a try. I don’t need an official status. Whatever you want is fine."

He felt a bit anxious. Before his dad left, he had held up a gesture for "twenty." The village head just wanted to give his youngest son a moment alone with Deng Yuyuan to secretly rejoice, but he never expected his son would pull off something so bold. Time was almost up. If Deng Yuyuan didn’t agree, he really would be beaten to death by his dad.

"It depends on your future performance, but you can’t let anyone else notice our relationship," Deng Yuyuan replied with an ambiguous answer.

"Deal!" Zhang Ci Hao stood up jubilantly, giving the village head—who was just pushing the door open—a massive bear hug.

The village head dragged his youngest son out. "The Meng Family said they want to thank you in person, Comrade Deng Yuyuan. We’ll wait outside while you chat with them. Don’t be nervous. They are genuinely grateful to you for saving their precious child."

Deng Yuyuan wasn’t nervous, but she really wanted to escape. "What if I said saving people is simply my hobby, and I don’t seek fame or fortune..."

"Then they’ll just assume they’ve seen through your modesty and forcefully shove rewards at you," she thought. "It’s fine. They even brought Meng Jianhua to see you. If it really comes down to an arranged child marriage, that boy can just reject his own grandfather on the spot."

Deng Yuyuan recalled the child marriage arrangement scene in the original novel, feeling a wave of despair that made her vision go dark. The Jin Family treated Fubao like their most precious treasure. Even though they were facing a wealthy tycoon, they initially rejected the child marriage. However, Old Sir Meng was determined to set it up, claiming it was merely a joke among the elders and that it could be called off if the younger generation didn’t see eye to eye later on. After much persuasion, this joke of a child marriage was finalized anyway.

If a large household like the Jin Family couldn’t even refuse it, how could she? A child marriage would naturally be easy to reject once they grew up, but attaching it to Tuantuan just felt incredibly weird.

Moreover, this was the male supporting character who fell in love with the female lead at first sight!

What had to come would come. Old Sir Meng was pushed into the room by a tall man, while Meng Jianhua sat in a wheelchair, pushed in by his parents.

After both sides politely exchanged thanks and pleasantries, Old Sir Meng looked at Deng Yuyuan, growing more satisfied by the second. "Xiao Yuan, I heard you’re divorced and are now raising a child on your own, right?"

Here it comes, here it comes. Deng Yuyuan held her breath, words of polite refusal already rushing to her lips.

"What do you think of my youngest son? How about the two of you get to know each other? Haha."

"Huh?" she thought.

The lighting in the room was dim. Upon closer inspection, Deng Yuyuan realized that the face of the man pushing Old Sir Meng’s wheelchair resembled theirs; they were clearly a family. As their eyes met, the man’s gaze made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable. It felt like being secretly watched from a dark corner, her personal space invaded inch by inch by his stare.

Deng Yuyuan was the first to look away. The youngest son... The original novel mentioned that he remained unmarried and was born socially withdrawn. Later, he was diagnosed with a mental illness, but with the intervention of money and medical treatment, he appeared no different from a normal person during his youth. He just didn’t like interacting with others.

"You must be joking. This... I couldn’t possibly hold him back," Deng Yuyuan tactfully refused.

Old Sir Meng shook his head. "You can also tell that my youngest son has a cold personality, but he likes you very much. If you marry into our family, we promise to treat Tuantuan as our own."

"But, when I was discussing Tuantuan’s custody with my ex-husband, I swore that I wouldn’t marry for five years. I want to focus solely on taking care of Tuantuan."

Old Sir Meng waved his large hand dismissively. "What’s the problem with that? My youngest son can wait."

After all, even given ten years, this brat would still be a bachelor. Having been father and son for over two decades, Old Sir Meng knew his boy very well. He had openly tried to set him up, yet his son hadn’t acted out. What did that mean? It meant the brat was actually very satisfied this time.

This girl, Deng Yuyuan, was exceptionally beautiful and kind-hearted. If an orphaned mother and child stayed in Dazhang Village, accidents would be unavoidable. Marrying into their family was perfect. He had secretly observed his youngest son several times; the boy had been staring fixedly at Deng Zhiqing the entire time.

"I—I’m afraid I won’t be considering marriage anytime soon. I only want to stay by Tuantuan’s side until he grows up." Deng Yuyuan almost tripped over her words. She felt so desperate that she thought agreeing to a child marriage for Tuantuan would have been better.

She looked at the man with hope. "Hurry up and say it," she thought. "Say that you don’t like me at all!"

The man looked into Deng Yuyuan’s eyes, which sparkled like jewels. His hands gripping the wheelchair handles trembled nervously, barely able to control the slight shivering of his entire body.

"I... can... wait." He spoke in halting pauses, making it clear that he rarely ever spoke.

"If it’s possible in five years, we’ll talk about it then," Deng Yuyuan said, gently biting her lower lip. "I really don’t have any thoughts in that regard right now."

She walked out the door and told the village head she wanted to head back.

The village head looked at Zhang Ci Hao, gesturing for him to volunteer to walk her back. The moment his gaze landed on him, his eyes couldn’t help but twitch. The utterly unreserved Zhang Ci Hao was already supporting Deng Yuyuan by the arm.

The younger generation could leave, but he couldn’t. He still had to properly address the Meng Family’s gratitude. Since the little girl Deng Yuyuan was too embarrassed to bring it up, he definitely had to fight for those benefits on her behalf.