“Calm down, Third. Whatever An’an did wrong, I’ll be sure to correct her.”

 “I’m the one who did wrong,” Sheng Third blamed himself with a sigh. “I failed to teach Sheng Ning well, and I failed to teach the younger one well, too.”

 Sheng Ning’s heart ached with grief. Regardless of how she looked at it, the one who had truly messed up the family was her.

 Xu Xianxiong stood there, embarrassed that his presence had led to the family fight. He rubbed his hands together and made a move to leave, but was stopped by Sheng Third.

 “Brother Xu, please have some lunch before you go.”

 “No, I still have to rush back to do my farm work. The grass in the field is still waiting to be raked.”

 “Ningning, see Uncle Xu out.”

 “All right!” Sheng Ning forced a smile on her face and saw Xu Xianxiong out the door. “Please watch your step, Uncle Xu,” she said.

 “My dear niece, stay. You don’t have to see me any further.” Xu Xianxiong was big in stature, and within a few steps, he was already far off into the distance.

 Sheng Ning stood in a daze on the threshing ground, gazing into the distance in the direction of the Xu family village.

 Initially, it was simply a case of her not being to Xu Qigang’s taste and liking. However, today, when her sister spoke so harshly of her, her father heard with his own ears the real reason why Xu Qigang didn’t want her. She was probably repulsive in the eyes of the Xu family by now.

 No man would want the label of a cuckold attached to him, especially since it was directly tied to his dignity. Even the kindest and most honest man alive wouldn’t dare marry her now.

 She would have to give up all hope of ever marrying Xu Qigang.

 She had optimistically returned home with the hope of fixing the details of her betrothal with the Xu family.

 Now, she could abandon the idea without a second thought. The only option left to her was to work hard in the song and dance ensemble.

 But why did her heart ache so painfully, and why were her eyes stinging? Sheng Ning rubbed her eyes, and her usually sparkling eyes turned red and swollen.

 “Ningning, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for not teaching An’an well.” Upon pacifying Sheng Third, Shen Luhua had come outside to see Sheng Ning staring blankly ahead of her, and had suddenly felt a sense of panic.

 She knew how vicious Sheng Ning could get. When her feathers were ruffled, she had no qualms about pointing her finger at her elders and yelling at them. When they were in the kitchen, they heard every word that An’an said, and she had indeed gone overboard. Even if Ningning gave her a good scolding, she had nothing to say to defend herself.

 “It’s not your fault, Mom. At the end of the day, you treated An’an unfairly just so I could get into the song and dance ensemble.” Whenever she remembered An’an lying in the coffin at the entrance of the village, all her anger would immediately dissipate.

 “Huh?” Shen Luhua had mentally prepared herself for a dressing-down. She hadn’t expected Sheng Ning to say that, and was momentarily stunned.

 “Let’s have lunch! The food’s already cold.” Sheng Ning sighed and pulled Shen Luhua back to the yard.

 She brought the dishes out to the table and kept a portion aside specially for Sheng An. The family sat down to eat in uncomfortable silence.

 “Father, try this. I cooked it.” Sheng Ning placed some food in Sheng Third’s bowl with a smile.

 Since she was young, Sheng Ning had never served anyone before. Her personality was extreme, and she was very selfish. Sheng Third knew this well, and seeing her take the initiative to serve him made his mind go blank. “Oh! Thank you!”

 “Father, I’m your daughter. Why are you thanking me? One day, when I finally earn enough money, I’ll take you to live in the city, where you can eat delicious food all day.”

 Sheng Third was so elated by his daughter’s attempts to cheer him up that a huge smile appeared on his face. Sheng Ning noticed that Shen Luhua seemed unsettled and said, “Mom, don’t worry. I kept some food aside for An’an. When she’s back, we’ll just heat it up, and it’ll be fine.”

 “One trip out, and this child has grown up so much.” Shen Luhua couldn’t deny that she didn’t have second thoughts about marrying Sheng An to the mayor’s son, but witnessing Sheng Ning’s behavior at that moment reassured her that their sacrifices had been worth it.

 Although the mayor’s son didn’t have a very sound mind, An’an didn’t exactly stand to lose anything, either. As long as she lived her life well, everything would be fine.