Chapter Nine: Unexpected Change

Bai Ranhe was clearly startled by the gloom settling over my face and hastily tried to explain, “Yangxi, don’t misunderstand me. What I mean is, as long as you’re willing to call off the engagement yourself, I can arrange for your little sister to attend the Experimental Middle School in Duhe City—and in an advanced class, no less. The Bai family will cover all her tuition and boarding expenses.”

The Experimental Middle School in Duhe City was a top national school with extremely high admission standards; having money alone was no guarantee of entry. But once inside, unless one was a fool, every student who graduated from there could gain admission to a prestigious university.

Pi Lin’er wasn’t lacking in academic talent, but the school in our village was woefully inadequate—the teachers themselves often hadn’t even graduated from middle school. If things went on like this, Lin’er wouldn’t just miss out on university; she might not even make it into high school. Like most of the kids in the village, she’d have no choice but to leave early and work as a laborer.

Although Lin’er and I weren’t related by blood, she’d treated me as her own brother since childhood, growing up playing in the mud by my side. I’d long considered her family, and of course I wanted her to have a bright future.

On one side was the engagement my grandfather had arranged; on the other, Lin’er’s prospects. I found myself trapped in a painful dilemma.

I thought long and hard before finally making my decision. “Uncle Bai, I don’t need your two million,” I said at last, “but you must promise me one more thing.”

“Name it!” Bai Ranhe’s face lit up with joy as soon as he heard I agreed to break off the engagement—and didn’t even want his money.

“I’ll withdraw from the engagement,” I said, “but after that, I reserve the right to pursue Bai Xiaoli openly. If I win her heart by my own efforts, you mustn’t stand in the way of our marriage.”

Bai Ranhe didn’t dwell on this for long; he laughed heartily and said, “Young people should be free to fall in love—it's a right granted by the country. If you can win Xiaoli’s heart by your own ability, I certainly won’t stop you.” With that, he took out a divorce agreement for me to sign.

The document was densely packed with words, but its main point was that I, Pi Yangxi, was voluntarily annulling the engagement—it wasn’t the Bai family breaking their promise. I shot Bai Ranhe a cold glance. “Uncle Bai, my grandfather helped you prosper, yet this is how you repay his grandson? Aren’t you afraid of retribution?”

“Hey now, young man, that’s not fair. I never said I wanted to break the Dragon King’s promise. You’re the one withdrawing from the engagement; if you hadn’t agreed, I would have honored it.” With the annulment a done deal, Bai Ranhe was quick to shift the blame—he wouldn’t even call me by name anymore.

His shamelessness made me sick. I sneered and said, “Fine. If your family runs into trouble because of this, don’t come blaming me.” With that, I signed the agreement.

No sooner had I finished than I felt a sharp pain between my brows—something was wrong. I’d broken my grandfather’s promise; misfortune was sure to follow. Instinctively, I glanced at Bai Ranhe, and sure enough, a flash of red light darted across the center of his forehead—a dire omen.

I said nothing further. Once Bai Ranhe had put away the agreement, he said, “Tomorrow, just take your sister to the Experimental Middle School to handle the transfer; I’ll make sure everything is taken care of.” With that, he turned and prepared to leave.

I called after him, “Mr. Bai, may I ask—when exactly did my grandfather arrange this engagement with your family? Was it before or after the ‘Wealth Bringer’ shipwreck?”

If it was after the incident, that would mean my grandfather and the others were still alive. But Bai Ranhe’s answer doused that hope at once: “A few days after the engagement was set, your grandfather’s boat sank…” He didn’t give me a chance to ask more—he just got in his car and drove away.

Once Bai Ranhe’s motorcade had left, the village fell quiet again. The wan sunlight bathed both me and the dragon-tortoise statue at the village entrance, casting our long shadows far behind us.

“Yangxi, something bad’s happened! Something terrible!” The retribution for annulling the engagement struck like a tidal wave. The group who’d gone to the Yellow River’s bank to burn paper for Pi Sansha came running toward me in a panic.

My heart jumped. I rushed up and grabbed the first young man to reach me. “What happened?”

He was still panting as he replied, “Lin’er—Lin’er was taken by the Fox Spirit.”

What!

The news that something had happened to Pi Lin’er nearly made my legs give out. Forcing myself to stay calm, I took a deep breath and asked, “What exactly happened?”

“We were burning paper for Sansha by the Yellow River when a group of yellow weasels came out of the hills. In broad daylight! They didn’t seem afraid of people at all—they just stood there, staring at Lin’er. A few of us grabbed sticks and tried to drive them off, but they wouldn’t budge…”