Mr. Xue felt an explosion of thoughts in his mind, all the scenes from that year flashed in front of him.
The handsome-looking Divine Doctor Xue praised him and exaggerated his future achievements, insisting on forming a relationship and not accepting the remuneration he had offered.
All this made a lot of sense now.
He did not take money from the Xue family because he wanted to leave a relationship in the form of favor between his disciple and the Xue Family.
He was not satisfied with the remuneration because he wanted everything, all of the Xue family.
Mr. Xue sighed helplessly and asked Father Xue to leave him alone and entertain the guests.
...
In the guest hall of the Xue family,
Ye Feng, Xue Ningli, Mother Xue and a few other members of the Xue Family were sitting in the sofa area.
Ye Feng was praising Mother Xue while Xue Ningli's sole focus was on snacks on the table.
Mother Xue glared at her from time to time while maintaining her elegant-lady personality, accepting the shower of praises from Ye Feng.
Since Father Xue was the only one in the family who had been in contact with the mysterious caller, the Protagonist halo was effective on other Xue family members. They were having a hearty conversation while snacking on the treats on the table.
10 or minutes later the door was opened and a young lady dressed in an orange martial arts uniform entered.
She was about 1.7 meters tall and looked like a female god of war with her slightly dark complexion compared to the wealthy ladies present inside the hall.
She was one of the heroines of this story, Xue Diwei. One of the strongest supports during Ye Feng's rise through the middle stages of the plot. She was like a capable general who managed the fighting strength of the protagonist camp. Only later when Earth immortals were sprouting like mushrooms did she become less relevant being an Earth Immortal herself, she could not provide help to Ye Feng.
She had already visited her grandpa and father so she was in no mood to play along the routine.
She came in along with Father Xue following behind and stood behind him like a warrior.
Father Xue did not want to break off with the protagonist camp on rude terms so he joined them in the hall and eased the atmosphere while explaining and bragging about the difficulties he faced while fighting for this medicine.
Suddenly the whole story became some sort of life-threatening adventure where he made a friend and owed his life to that benefactor. After deep deliberation, he promised to send her daughter to be his aid for some time.
Ye Feng's face was twitching from time to time.
'Fcuk!!! You just went to the gate and brought back the bottle containing medicine.'
'Where the fk is the beast? Life and Death battle? and benefactor?'
'I am the benefactor and your son-in-law. Worship me!!'
The talk went on for some while after which Ye Feng felt that he needed to speak up or his purpose might be left unattended.
"Ahem!, Uncle Xue, I need to talk to you about something."
Father Xue knew what was coming so he smiled brightly and asked, "Nephew Ye, Please speak what is in your mind."
Ye Feng straightened his chest and played cautiously, "Uncle Xue, You must know that my master Divine Doctor Xiao had some history with the Xue family. Patriarch Xue must know the details."
"When I descended the mountain, the master asked me to visit your family and discuss the contract arranged between the two families."
He looked at Xue Diwei from the corner of his eyes and continued,
"I have someone I like, so I would like to request Uncle Xue to fulfill my selfish request and return the engagement letter to me."
He sighed as if a heavy burden had finally been removed from his shoulders.
However, inside his heart, Ye Feng was already preparing for the next scene.
Xue Diwei was famous throughout the province.
Young.
Talented.
Beautiful.
A martial arts genius.
Women like this always possessed extraordinary pride.
The moment she heard him cancel the engagement, her ego would definitely be hurt.
Perhaps she would challenge him.
Perhaps she would refuse outright.
Perhaps she would demand an explanation in front of everyone.[1]
Regardless of the reaction, Ye Feng already had an answer prepared.
The script had already formed in his mind.
Yet after two minutes—
there was no shouting.
No questioning.
No anger.
No challenge.
No one came forward to get slapped.
The only thing that changed was Father Xue's face which looked much darker than before.
Father Xue calmed his emotions and looked towards her daughter as if asking for her opinion. She looked calm like a lake and just nodded to him.
She stepped toward the sofa area where everyone was seated.
Seeing this, Ye Feng, Ningli and several others stood up as well.
Xue Diwei walked forward calmly.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
The atmosphere gradually became tense.
Several younger members of the family unconsciously held their breath.
Even Mother Xue stopped drinking tea.
Under everyone's gaze, Xue Diwei stopped directly in front of Ye Feng.
Then—
she took out a small scroll from her sleeve and handed it to him.
Ye Feng accepted it automatically before his brain could process what was happening.
He had his mind blown multiple times today, so much so that there was nothing to be blown. He was totally numb at this point.
'What in the world is happening here? Why did she not attack me? Where is the genius ego?'
He opened the scroll with great difficulty and made sure that it was the engagement letter.
The whole family was watching the show while stealing popcorn from the big tub Ningli was holding at this point of time.
She probably had magical powers to summon snacks when something exciting was happening around her.
Xue Diwei's cold voice rang inside the hall, "I understand your feelings. There is no bond between us and I respect your choice."
"This cancels the engagement between us. Thank you." she smiled towards the end as if happy with this outcome.
Ningli had her eyes red as if she were watching a sad ending. Sobbing while stuffing her face with popcorn.
...
There was eerie silence inside the hall except for a loud munching sound coming from Xue Ningli's mouth.
Ye Feng had the urge to give her a fist of love.
He calmed down and started laying the whole scenario in his mind, nothing made sense since the time he entered the Xue Family mansion. No one behaved as they should.
At this point someone should have said 'How dare you?' or 'You are from different worlds'. But none of this happened. Instead, the opposite side accepted the divorce like a movie ticket refund.
Father Xue stood up as well and spoke with a heavy tone.
"Nephew Ye, I had been thinking about how to bring this topic up with you."
"I am glad that our thoughts match."
"I have already promised my benefactor that Diwei will follow him for some time as part of her training."
"This opportunity is extremely important to her future."
"To be honest, I was worried that the engagement might complicate things."
"Now that you have taken the initiative, I can finally put my mind at ease."
"I am thankful for your understanding."
"If there is anything the Xue Family can help you with in the future, feel free to speak."
He patted Ye Feng's shoulder.
Inside his heart, Father Xue silently gave himself full marks for the performance.
Ye Feng was at a loss of words. He could sense the isolation from Father Xue's tone along with his indirect eviction notice.
He cupped his hands and still played the gentleman, "Thank you Miss Xue and Uncle Xue for understanding my thoughts. I will take my leave for today."
Ye Feng felt extremely uncomfortable.
Everything had gone wrong after entering the Xue Family.
The treatment opportunity was gone.
The engagement was gone.
Even the scene he had imagined where Xue Diwei would challenge him never happened.
It felt like he had punched cotton with all his strength.
There was nowhere to vent his frustration.
He forced a smile onto his face and maintained his gentlemanly appearance.
"I still have matters to attend to, so I will not disturb everyone further."
After saying that, he quickly left the hall.
His pace was much faster than when he arrived.
The hall became strangely quiet.
Everyone watched Ye Feng leave through the doorway.
The whole process felt unreal.
An engagement that had existed for years was canceled in just a few minutes.
There was no argument.
No conflict.
No dramatic confrontation.
Even Mother Xue felt that the situation was somewhat absurd.
This was the first time she had seen someone come to cancel an engagement and leave with the engagement letter in hand.
Other members of the family were still unable to process the plot they went through. They looked at Father Xue for some answers but he did not get anything.
Father Xue just said, "Try not to have further contact with him in the future, especially you Ningli."
He raised his hand while forming a claw and warned, "If I see you wandering around him in the future then you are in for house arrest for 1 year."
"And no snacks" he added.
Xue Ningli was scared pickles. She nodded like a chicken while still munching on the popcorn.
Father Xue face palmed himself and decided to call the mysterious person to update him on the progress and arrange Xue Diwei's matter.
Xue Diwei stayed back and explained the reason behind the acceptance of divorce and the plans.
Typically someone might have objected but in the absence of Protagonist Halo, everyone still retained their IQ and supported their family head unconditionally.
Father Xue came back with a smile on his face and told Diwei of the agreement and told her to visit the designated location the day after tomorrow along with him to meet someone.
"Dad, can I go as well?"
Xue Ningli's eyes immediately lit up.
Father Xue answered her with a flick to the forehead.
"Ouch!"
She covered her forehead and looked wronged.
"Stay home."
"The last thing I need is for you to get kidnapped again."
Xue Ningli instantly lowered her head.
Then Father Xue added another sentence.
"And no snacks for one month."
Ningli's eyes widened in horror.
The punishment sounded even worse than house arrest.
Father Xue ignored her tragic expression and looked toward Xue Diwei.
The smile on his face gradually faded.
The mysterious man's conditions had been fulfilled.
The next meeting...
would determine the future relationship between the Xue Family and that hidden expert.
__________________
[System Notification: Strain has crossed 40%]
[1] Where does he get all this confidence from?