Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

It would have been easy for his daughter to marry a talented young man from a family of equal social standing. But finding a son-in-law with potential—that required careful selection, and he had been keeping a sharp eye out.

Mr. Gao was a businessman, and his eye for judging people was as sharp as his eye for spotting business opportunities. He had set his sights on Li Changyu, and he didn’t waste any time. After the meal, he brought it up with County Magistrate Hu—who Li Changfeng had invited to help entertain the guest—and asked him to be the matchmaker.

When County Magistrate Hu spoke to Li Gengtian, he was, of course, overjoyed and immediately agreed. He had no reason to refuse. The other family was wealthier and more powerful than his own. ’They’ve taken a liking to my son because they see his talent and value his abilities,’ he thought. ’It has nothing to do with me, Li Gengtian, or the rest of the Old Li Family.’

County Magistrate Hu also smiled and vouched for the girl, saying that Mr. Gao’s daughter was impeccable in both looks and character—his own wife had met her. To be honest, he was a little surprised and couldn’t quite believe that Mr. Gao had chosen Changyu as his son-in-law!

Amidst his joy, Li Gengtian suddenly recalled that Li Changyu had once insisted on making his own decisions regarding his marriage. Having agreed to this engagement without even asking his son, he couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.

And that unease soon became a reality.

That evening, when Li Changyu returned home, he was utterly astonished to hear his father had already arranged his engagement. He paid no mind to his father’s explanations and adamantly refused.

Li Gengtian was furious. "You need a reason for things," he said, restraining his anger. "Even County Magistrate Hu praises Mr. Gao’s daughter. You refuse without even asking why? I’ve already given them my word. Am I supposed to break off the engagement now? Besides, he is the brother-in-law of your older brother’s esteemed teacher! We should be doing everything we can to show our respect, how can we treat them this way?"

Li Changyu retorted resentfully, "Then why did you agree? Did you forget you promised me I could make my own decisions about my marriage? Grandfather was there, Mother was there, and so was my brother!"

Li Gengtian raged, "You said you wanted to choose your own wife. Fine. Then consider Mr. Gao’s daughter and tell me if she’s not good enough for you. If you can say she isn’t worthy of you, I’ll go and break off the engagement right now."

Li Changyu, at the end of his rope, shot back, "It doesn’t matter how wonderful she is! She’s not the one I love."

Li Mingrui and Mrs. Fang listened from the side, stunned. The argument between the father and son grew more and more heated, until Li Changyu’s final shout left them both feeling dizzy. It was as if they were witnessing the scene from years ago when Li Gengtian had demanded his own parents break off an engagement. Li Mingrui was so angry his hands began to shake. ’Is breaking off engagements going to become a tradition in our Old Li Family?’

Li Gengtian’s heart sank. He had a very bad feeling about this. "Who is it you love?" he asked in a low voice. "Tell me. I told you long ago that if you had your eye on someone, you needed to tell your mother and me. This is exactly the kind of mess I was afraid of."

Li Changyu could no longer hide it. He looked at the three elders and said, "I love Juhua. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. For one, Juhua is still young. For another, I did give you a heads-up. I thought that when you decided to arrange a marriage for me, you would at least ask me first. Who would have thought that Father..." He didn’t finish his sentence, but his reproachful gaze said it all. ’You’re the one who went back on your word,’ he thought, ’how can you blame me for this?’

Li Gengtian listened to his son’s words with his heart in his throat. When he finished, he let out a long sigh of relief. ’Finally, I don’t have to break off the engagement.’

He paid no mind to his son’s resentful glare. He sighed and said, "Changyu, I won’t say anything bad about Juhua—you must have your reasons for liking her. But it’s hopeless now. Juhua is getting engaged to Zhang Huai."

Seeing her younger son’s stunned expression, Mrs. Fang’s heart ached for him. She took his hand and carefully explained everything about the Zheng Family’s upcoming engagement to the Zhang family. She told him about the village gossip, about how Zhang Dashuan and Zheng Changhe had gone to confront Zhou Baozhu, and more. She spoke for a good long while.

Li Changyu asked numbly, "How did they get engaged so suddenly?"

Li Gengtian said, displeased, "Those two families have always been close. Zhang Huai is always with Qingmu, and he sees Juhua all the time, too. What’s so strange about them getting engaged? It’s you I’m wondering about. You’ve only seen Juhua a handful of times, how can you be so sure you love her? She keeps her face covered these days. If she took that veil off, can you be certain you’d still feel the same?"

Hearing that Juhua was to be engaged, Li Changyu was heartbroken and his mind was in turmoil. Li Gengtian’s words just made him angrier. "It’s not like I’ve never seen her face! What’s the big deal? So she has a patch of bad skin!"

Realizing that it was impossible between his son and Juhua, Li Gengtian relaxed considerably. He didn’t argue the point, but simply asked, "Even if you love her, she’s still getting engaged to Huai Zi. What are you going to do, crash the wedding and steal her away?"

Li Changyu blurted out, "Then you should have backed me up! You should go to the Zheng Family and propose marriage, then let Juhua choose for herself! Maybe she would have chosen me!"

Li Gengtian’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at his younger son. "Are you telling me I should break off the engagement with Mr. Gao, go back and propose to the Zheng Family, interfere in the business between the Zhang family and the Zheng Family, and turn everything completely upside down... all just so Juhua gets to choose once? And what if she still chooses Huai Zi? Are you so sure she would choose you?"

Li Changyu sank weakly onto a stool, his eyes dim and lifeless. ’What confidence do I have?’ he thought. ’I saw long ago that Juhua and Huai Zi were in love with each other. What on earth was I hoping for? And why can’t I get her out of my mind?’

Seeing her younger son looking so utterly dejected, Mrs. Fang’s heart ached terribly. She shot Li Gengtian a fierce glare, then stroked her son’s hand as tears began to fall.

Li Mingrui also sighed. ’My poor grandson,’ he thought. ’When his father raised a fuss to break off his engagement all those years ago, he was able to marry the woman he truly wanted and get his heart’s desire. But now... not only is it difficult for him to break this engagement, but even if he did—even if he risked offending Changfeng’s esteemed teacher—there’s no guarantee he’d be able to marry Juhua. There’s no guarantee he’d get his heart’s desire!’ (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)