In Cheng Lingsu's memory, Lin Yueling had always been good to her, perhaps even treated her the same as her own daughter. Jiang Xiu had almost killed her family in Ninghai but Lin Yueling had protected them. She felt really ashamed that she would have to say such kind of words to Lin Yueling, but the matter had already reached this stage, and she had no choice left.
She dialed Lin Yueling's number. Lin Yueling's delighted voice came through from the other end. It was evident that she was happy that Cheng Lingsu called her, "Susu, did you call Aunt cause you missed me? Are you adapting well at the Imperial Capital?"
Lin Yueling had after all grown up in the Imperial Capital.
Cheng Lingsu said, "I'm living well. Aunt, I…"
"Hmm?"
Lin Yueling could sense Cheng Lingsu wanted to say something, "Tell me what you want to say. No need to feel embarrassed about it. Why don't you tell me your bank card number? Aunt will send you some pocket money."
Lin Yueling guessed that Lingsu had called because she was short on money. Nowadays, expenses in university were quite high as Susu had always lived quite richly right from her childhood. Lin Yueling didn't feel it inappropriate but instead felt quite happy. Since Susu was asking her for money, it meant she wasn't considering her as a stranger.
"N-No…"
Cheng Lingsu took a deep breath in, "Jiang Xiu and I broke up. I got a boyfriend as well. Jiang Xiu has consented to this too."
"What?"
Lin Yueling was a little taken aback, "Did that damn brat…"
Tears kept falling from Cheng Lingsu's eyes, "I'm sorry, really sorry, Aunt Lin. It isn't Jiang Xiu. I'm the one in the wrong. I like someone else so I can't get together with Jiang Xiu."
She didn't know where these tears were coming from. She felt she was suffering through extreme grief.
"I'm sorry…"
Lin Yueling turned silent for a while on the other side of the call then said, "Aunt doesn't agree to this. Susu, don't blame Aunt but this matter is related to a generation of grievances. If you want us to put this down, you have to marry Little Xiu and become hell-bent on following him."
Lin Yueling was indicating to her that there was a condition to relinquish this hatred and it was that she had to marry Jiang Xiu, become their daughter-in-law, and give birth to a child. Only then would she have repaid the debt. This was also the reason Jiang Xiu had let the Cheng family off at that time. Lin Yueling wasn't going to accept Cheng Lingsu backing out at this moment but she talked to her mildly as she was afraid she would hurt the feelings between them.
"But, Aunt…"
"No buts. The engagement between you and Little Xiu was set in your childhood. Aunt has always viewed you as my future daughter-in-law. What do you want Aunt to do? I can't accept anyone else as my daughter-in-law."
"Aunt…"
Lin Yueling's words stabbed into the softness inside her heart. Her grief-filled heart burst forth with a deluge of emotions and she couldn't help but cry out bitterly in a loud voice.
Lin Yueling asked her, "Susu, don't cry. Tell Aunt what happened."
Lin Yueling had suffered the whims of fate all these years and become like a pearl covered in dust which had lost its brilliance, but she was a daughter of a rich family and had a keen gaze. Especially now that her husband had recovered and son's future full of prospects, she felt completely revived.
Ling Yueling felt something was wrong once she heard that Susu got a new boyfriend in less than a month after she went to study at the Imperial Capital. Their Cheng family was saved under the reason that she would become Jiang Xiu's wife in the future and she would have to consider the consequences to her actions.
"Did Little Xiu force you?"
"He didn't!"
Cheng Lingsu wouldn't dare to do it and neither would Cheng Hanlin. Since it had reached this step, it meant Jiang Xiu had a hand in it. Lin Yueling said, "That damn brat, does he think he's amazing because people call him 'Mr. Jiang'? Does he not understand he must not abandon his wife who will accompany him through the vicissitudes of life?"
"Aunt, I…"
"Jiang Xiu doesn't like me so wouldn't it end up bad if it's forced?"
Lin Yueling said, "It's fine as long as it happens. I went through bitter hardships to raise him and does he think he can't allow me this one wish? If I have to hold back, I might as well do it for a lifetime."
Cheng Lingsu had realized for the first time that her future mother-in-law had such a willful side to her.
"B-But… He isn't the same as before, he is Mr. Jiang now… Aunt, I'm the one in the wrong. I let you down. Can you end my engagement with Jiang Xiu?"
"Aunt, I have never asked you for anything ever since I was child. This is the first time I'm requesting you."
Lin Yueling planned to say something but her words got stuck in her throat. She recalled the scene of the little Cheng Lingsu feeding her congee, "Susu…"
"It's like that, Aunt. I'm hanging the call."
Lin Yueling couldn't wake up to reality for a moment after listening to the beep sounds on the other end of the call. After a few moments, she called Jiang Xiu.
"Stinky brat, did you make Susu angry?"
Jiang Xiu felt that her tone was quite high, "I didn't. Why?"
"You aren't going to confess it?"
Jiang Xiu said, "I'm also helpless. She found a boyfriend who's more handsome and well-off than your son, a child of Shanghai's Song family.
"Mother, since she has a better option, why don't you let her go?"
Jiang Xiu was totally oblivious that Lin Yueling was fuming with fury on the other end of the call. Her anger erupted once he finished speaking, "Jiang Xiu, you are really something now. You've become quite sinister and ruthless befitting the name of Mr. Jiang. Do you think Mother doesn't know Susu and the Cheng family is? Would she even dare to contact another boy without your approval?"
"If I have guessed it right, you forced her to get a boyfriend, right?"
Jiang Xiu asked, "Mother, how can you say such words to your son?"
"Shut up!"
Jiang Xiu words lacked in confidence, "I really didn't do it…"
"Take Susu back for me."
"Mother, can't you leave it alone? Her heart isn't set on me and she also has a boyfriend. What's the use in taking her back?"
"Are you going to do it or not?"
"Hello… Mother? W-What? I can't hear you…" Deity Xiu used the shameless move of having 'bad signal' then turned off his phone.
"Stinky brat!"
Lin Yueling was really angry. She called him again but Jiang Xiu had already turned off his phone. She paced around house for a while. The more she thought about it, the stranger the matter felt. She felt that Jiang Xiu had directed this and Susu had matched accordingly, "Conscienceless little brat. Don't forget your little life was saved by Susu. You want to throw her aside now that you have become successful?"
She didn't know that Cheng Lingsu had acted quite heartless towards Jiang Xiu in a previous life.
"This can't happen. No way it can happen."
Jiang Yi came inside at this moment. He was beaming with a glow and seemed as if he had gone through an arduous day. He saw his wife pacing around in the house, "What happened?"
Lin Yueling told him the entire story.
"We can't let Little Xiu do this. I won't allow my son to do this. I'm planning to visit the Imperial Capital."
Jiang Yi was startled, "You're going to return?"
"What else can I do? Do I sit still as Little Xiu and Susu break up?" She went in pack her luggage after saying this, "Don't forget. Our son is still at the Imperial Capital. He still has two engagements stuck on him. Can you imagine the consequences if he breaks his engagement with Susu?"
Jiang Yi's expression changed immediately, "Right! I almost forgot this."
"It seems like you'll indeed have to return to the capital."
Lin Yueling came outside with her leather suitcase. She was enraged, "That brat, he's causing a lot of trouble. How is Susu not suitable for him? Looks like he has forgotten I raised him up by running a fruit stall. How dare he avoid her now?"
Jiang Yi also paced around the house in worry, "Although he's a bit skilled in studies and also has the underworld of Jiangnan selling him face, these are all rootless things. If he keeps acting so rash, it would lead to doom."
Lin Yueling said, "At that time, we shouldn't have been soft hearted and let him go to the Imperial Capital. If he had stayed in Jiangnan, the divide between our families would've gotten better."
"Right now, the topmost priority is to ensure Susu's engagement with him isn't broken off."
Jiang Yi immediately called his secretary, made him book a ticket then delivered his wife down. The car waiting downstairs was a Volkswagen. As the Secretary of Annan, he had a special car with a special number arranged for him. However, in the end Anan was a poor, tiny county-level city. The total GDP of the city was far lesser than a district.
"Otherwise, shall I come along with you?"
Lin Yueling shook her head, "He won't listen. I will bring him back to Jiangnan. There's no need for him to continue studying at the Capital."