Fang Enmeng went pale with shock, her vision darkening. If Li Yichen hadn't steadied her, she would have collapsed onto the ground.
"I... I don't want to get married... I still want to go to school..." Fang Enmeng kept shaking her head. "Going to college was my dad's only wish before he died. I won't give it up."
"Tch." The middle-aged woman curled her lip in disdain. "Can you afford college? If you can't pay the tuition, won't they just kick you out? You might as well get married early... have children early... and start enjoying an easy life sooner..."
Then the middle-aged woman glared at the man beside her and shouted, "Have you gone mute? Hurry up and talk some sense into your niece!"
The middle-aged man trembled slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he stepped forward and said to Fang Enmeng, "Xiao Meng, I don't want to force you either, but your cousin needs this money..."
He paused, then continued, "The groom's family already said they'll pay as soon as you agree to the marriage. You can get engaged first. They'll even pay for you to finish college..."
"Exactly... where else would you find a deal like that?" The middle-aged woman pursed her lips. "If someone had treated me like that back then, I'd have crawled on my knees to marry him."
"Well..." Fang Enmeng lowered her head, clutching the hem of her clothes so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She had almost clawed a hole through the fabric.
At last, as though resigning herself to her fate, she gritted her teeth and asked, her face pale, "If he'll pay for me to finish college... I'll agree to marry him after I graduate..."
"Now that's more like it!" The middle-aged woman's face lit up with a smile. "See?