Noon.
Peace Village Government Headquarters, Ma Family Village.
A young man wearing a camouflage vest and carrying a snake-skin bag, was headed towards the house of Ma Guoliang.
His name is Zhao Tiezhu, twenty-four years old, with a square face, buzz-cut hair, standing at 1.8 meters tall. His skin was a healthy wheat color, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. His strong muscles bulged all over his body, making him look like a young bull. All in all, he was an attractive and manly young man.
However, a charming smile often appeared at the corners of his mouth, giving others a sense of mischief.
He had just returned from his military service and was visiting Ma Guoliang's household intending to break off the marriage engagement with his daughter, Ma Jinlian.
Ma Guoliang's home was a three-story brick and concrete structure.
Because the building was adjacent to the village government building and facing the main street, Ma Guoliang opened a farmhouse restaurant that catered to the village government and various agencies, as well as visiting tourists, and the business was booming.
Relying on the advantage of being close to the water, Ma Guoliang became a well-known "ten-thousand-yuan household," earning more than ten thousand yuan each month.
Zhao Tiezhu set down his snake-skin bag. After arriving at the Ma family's entrance, he shouted, "Is anyone home?"
"Who is it?"
A middle-aged village woman dressed in a floral print long skirt, heavily made-up face, and adorned with gold and silver trinkets walked out of the house.
It was none other than Ma Guoliang's wife, Zhen Guiying.
Zhao Tiezhu squinted his eyes and immediately put on a smiling face, reverently saying, "Aunt Zhen, hello, I am Zhao Tiezhu from Li's Village, and today, I've come here to discuss the marriage situation between Ma Jinlian and myself..."
"What? The marriage?" Zhen Guiying’s expression changed immediately.
No wonder her face changed colors. Although Zhao Tiezhu was decent looking, his plain outfits made him look out of place like a farmer who had come back from working in the city.
Even though her family also came from a farming background, her daughter, Ma Jinlian, was a well-known beauty in the Peace Village. It was planned that she would marry into the city in the future. So, how could she marry someone who appeared like a farmer?
At this moment, a middle-aged man, wearing a suit and tie, and with a large gold tooth shining in his mouth, appeared—looking every bit the upstart.
"Presumably, this is Uncle Ma Guoliang."
Zhao Tiezhu glanced at the middle-aged man, with a surprised look, "Oh my, Uncle Ma, I've heard about your renowned social standing. Meeting you in person today exceeds all the stories I’ve heard about you!"
This middle-aged man was none other than the so-called “Ten Thousand Wealth Holder,” Ma Guoliang.
Listening to his overflowing flattery, Ma Guoliang felt quite pleased and laughed, "Young man, who are you?"
"Uncle Ma, to be honest, I am Zhao Tiezhu from Lirong Village... I came to discuss marriage matters..." Zhao Tiezhu replied with a smile.
"What?"
Ma Guoliang's expression slightly changed, then he fixed his gaze on Zhao Tiezhu: "You say you are Zhao Tiezhu from Lirong Village, do you have any proof?"
"Uncle Ma, this is my identity card..."
Zhao Tiezhu smiled slyly as he took out his identity card and handed it to Ma Guoliang.
After Ma Guoliang took a look, he frowned. The most worrying thing finally happened.
Seeing that he was silent, Zhao Tiezhu took out a jade pendant and continued with a smile, "Uncle Ma, this is the jade pendant my grandpa left for me. It's only half a piece. He mentioned on his dying bed that the other half is with your family..."
"Enough, don't say anymore, I know about it..." Ma Guoliang waved his hand, looking flustered and exasperated.
It turned out, his daughter, Ma Jinlian, was struck by a strange illness since she was a child, hanging by a thread between life and death; she had been to many hospitals in the city, but to no avail. In the end, it was the miraculous medical skills of the village’s old traditional Chinese medicine doctor, Zhao, from Li Long village that cured his daughter’s peculiar illness.
As a condition, Ma Guoliang wrote a marriage contract, betrothing his daughter to Zhao's grandson, Zhao Tiezhu.
The jade pendant hanging around his daughter's neck was left by the old Chinese medicine doctor Zhao, serving as a betrothal gift.
However, Ma Guoliang has always been dissatisfied with this arranged marriage, seeing Zhao Tiezhu's appear discreetly as a rural worker only further fueled his discontentment. He grumbled, "Zhao Tiezhu, while it's true that you have half of the jade pendant, this doesn't prove anything. Where is the marriage contract I gave you?"
"The marriage contract is right here." Zhao Tiezhu hastily took it out and handed it over.
Upon seeing the marriage contract, Ma Guoliang could not deny it, but he shamelessly replied, "Zhao Tiezhu, even though there's a marriage contract, what era are we in now? Who still arranges marriages? You might as well give up; I won't marry my daughter off to you!"
"I actually…"
Just as Zhao Tiezhu was about to speak, Zhen Guiying cut him off, “Zhao Tiezhu, my daughter is the most attractive girl in our village. Why don't you take a good look at yourself in the mirror? With your poor appearance, you actually dream of winning the swan with your ugliness?"
"Winning the swan with my ugliness?"
Facing the sudden naked humiliation, the smile that Zhao Tiezhu initially wore on his face gradually faded.
"Isn't it the truth?"
Zhen Guiying disdainfully glanced at him and started to chatter incessantly, "Our daughter Jinlian, she has both beauty and a figure. There are so many handsome young men from the city pursuing her; whatever she wants, people can buy for her. What about you? What can you provide for my daughter? Let's not talk about a house and a betrothal gift, even a brand-name bag that costs over a thousand is something you cannot afford even if you sell yourself!"
"What did you say?" Zhao Tiezhu said in a deep voice.
Damn it, I was just being humble, nearly becoming an obedient grandson, all in hopes of dissolving this engagement smoothly. However, I didn’t expect such humiliation.
For a moment, his face darkened ominously, emitting an intimidating aura.
"Ahhh!"
Ma Guoliang and Zhen Guiying were staring at him, their hearts suddenly filled with a hysterical fear.
At this moment, the couple felt as if Zhao Tiezhu standing before them was akin to a god of death, emanating an aura of murder.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Ma Guoliang and Zhen Guiying visibly frightened, Zhao Tiezhu chuckled mockingly, "I think, you've misunderstood. My visit this time is actually to return the marriage certificate, to dissolve the engagement..."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, both Ma Guoliang and Zhen Guiying secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
But immediately, both were displeased. This stinking farmer, just a dirt-spattered commoner, dared to call off the engagement? On what grounds? If anyone should quit, it should be us!
As they fumed, Zhao Tiezhu was already smirking again, "However, I've changed my mind now!"
With that, he reached out and snatched the marriage certificate from Ma Guoliang's hand, picked up the snake-skin bag on the ground, and turned to leave.
"Zhao Tiezhu, stay where you are!"
Watching Zhao Tiezhu hasten away, Ma Guoliang's face was grim.
Zhen Guiying was even stamping her feet in anger, "You ill-bred stinking farmer, come back here, come back..."
"Haha, dear future in-laws, wait for your son-in-law to come for the bride!"
With that, Zhao Tiezhu's laughs faded into the distance, leaving Ma Guoliang and Zhen Guiying seething in frustration.
Just then, a pretty girl, dolled up in flashy attire, stepped out of the house. "Dad, Mom, what's going on?" she asked.
Zhen Guiying turned her head and saw that it was her daughter, Ma Jinlian, who had come out. Sighing, she said, "It's about your matter."
With that, she briefly explained the matter of Zhao Tiezhu's canceling of the marriage.
Upon hearing that, where could Ma Jinlian bear it, she stomped her feet, shouting, "Dad, Mom, I don't care, I don't want to marry some bumpkin farmer, No, I will go get the marriage certificate back."
"Hold on!" Ma Guoliang reached out to stop her.
"Dad, what are you…" Ma Jinlian was puzzled.
"What if you find Zhao Tiezhu and he refuses to return the marriage certificate, what will you do?"
"I'll call more people, if he doesn't return it, we'll snatch it."
"No, as far as I know, Zhao Tiezhu was a special forces soldier in the army. He has exceptional skills, even if you bring more people it will be useless."
"Dad, so you're just going to let your daughter marry such a smelly farmer?"
"Of course not, we need to think this through in the long run, we can't use force, we have to use wisdom."
Ma Guoliang paced back and forth anxiously with his hands behind his back, then suddenly slapped his forehead, saying, "I've got it!"
"What's the solution?"
"According to what I wrote in the marriage certificate, if one party commits a fundamental error, the other party can cancel the marriage. If Zhao Tiezhu commits such an error, and we spot it on the spot, can he still refuse to cancel the marriage?"
With that, a cunning and sinister gleam shot out from Ma Guoliang's eyes.
