Chapter 489: Rejection

The ward mate’s wife also chimed in with a smile on her lips. "Of course, I like Ruochen. Who wouldn’t like her? She is such a good girl. I only heard from my husband that she is docile and well-behaved. But now I know that she is not only obedient but also respectful and caring. I truly like her. Though I accept that my husband might be too anxious, I also feel that this matter is more than just feasible." The woman was in total agreement with what her husband said. She looked at Han Yichen and hoped that the man would agree because she truly wished she could get Han Ruochen as her daughter in law.

When Han Yichen noticed the look of eagerness and anticipation on the faces of the two of them, Han Yichen did not know what to do. If someone heard their words, Han Yichen was worried that they would think that he was trying to sell his daughter in exchange for petty favours.

"Brother Zhao, I am quite happy that you like my daughter but this matter is not feasible." Han Yichen shook his head. "I have no say in this matter. During these days, you already know what kind of situation I have at home. My wife is unreasonable and as a father, I have done nothing for Ruochen. She has suffered a lot of hardships and grievances because of me. What’s more, this concerns her entire life. Besides, she is still recovering from the betrayal that she has received. I don’t want her to marry someone she doesn’t like. I do not ask for much as long as Han Ruochen likes the man and he cherishes her in return."

With that, he shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He did not even have enough money to arrange a decent dowry for his daughter. How could he even think about marrying off Han Ruochen? Who would be willing to marry someone who did not even have enough money for a dowry? Even if the Zhao family were really nice, they would still expect Han Ruochen to bring something with her, right? He could not marry his daughter off without giving her anything.

He did not want to come across as too tough and rude, so he could only deal with the two of them in such a manner.

The ward mate was called Old Man Zhao, and unlike Han Yichen, who had both sons and daughters, he was unlucky. He did not have any daughters. Master Zhao’s youngest son was called Zhao Mingzhu. He was a soldier, and he was twenty-two years old this year, though he was younger than Han Ruochen. Old Man Zhao did not think that there was anything wrong with it. After all, Han Ruochen was pretty, bold and knew how to sail. She even knew English! No matter how he looked at her, she was a good candidate for daughter-in-law.

Though Old Man Zhao liked his four sons, after all, he was also getting old, and he did not like the mischievous attitude of his sons and now wanted a good and obedient daughter. However, he was too unlucky. He did not have a daughter and his sons did not have a daughter either. He only had grandsons. Now all he wanted was his youngest son to get married to a good woman and give birth to a granddaughter for him. Other than that, he truly had no other wish.

What was more, his youngest son was too picky. They had arranged a bunch of matches for him but none of them worked. He would either refuse them for being too dark or too fat or too ugly.

What was more, it was really hard to find a match for a man who was a soldier. Not many women were willing to follow a soldier, after all, unless a soldier became a platoon leader— he would not be able to get a housing quota for his wife, which meant that their third daughter-in-law would have to stay behind with them and would only meet their third son for a few days. What was more, their other two daughters-in-law were not easy to get along with; they were rude and sometimes petty. If the third one was not good at handling people, then there was a good chance that the woman would be bullied to death.

What was more, they had heard all about the scandal that happened in their village a few days ago. One of their neighbours’ sons was also a soldier, and he got married after much persuasion from his parents. However, turned out that once the man left, the woman actually ended up having an affair with one of the widowers in the village. And she even got pregnant!

The Zhao couple heard of the scandal and could not help but worry about their son. If their future daughter-in-law turned out to be fickle and was not willing to stay loyal to their son for her entire life, wouldn’t it bring disgrace to their son and their family?

For this very reason, they were very anxious and worried. On one hand, they were worried that their daughter-in-law would be bullied and at the same time they were worried about the fact that their new daughter-in-law would be so scheming that she would play the two of them like fools. It was a matter of their reputation and they couldn’t possibly let a woman disgrace them.

What was more, Old Man Zhou actually landed in the hospital because of this very reason.

He had arranged a blind date for his son. The matchmaker also sang praises for the young lady. But Old Man Zhou was still worried. He thought that even if the matchmaker said that the lady had a good personality, he did not dare to believe it. After all, it was one thing that the girl had a good personality or whether she was good enough to become the wife of a soldier.

But who would have thought that he would find such a shocking revelation?