Chapter 115.1: A Wonderful Love Story in the Republic of China
When Ji Rang, the young master of the Ji family, was studying abroad in the UK, his family made a marriage appointment for him and sent a telegram to tell him: Return to the country and get engaged.
Master Ji who had been lawless since he was a child, reacted thunderously as he read the telegram. He was furious, so he categorically returned back a telegram to his home: He Ji Rang, should be considered as dead this time, and he would rather jump off the cruise ship than take a woman he doesn’t know as his wife!
His grandfather, a famous capitalist in Shanghai, everyone respectfully called "Old Ji" answered him back calmly: Don't come back if you don't want to marry.
Mother Ji stood aside with a worried look and asked the old man: "If you irritate him like this, what if he really doesn't come back?"
Old man Ji smiled coldly: "You don't understand his temperament? The more you stimulate him, the more he has to fight against you. I think, within seven days, we will be able to see this stinky boy."
This was to know that the son was like his father, and thus more so like his grandfather.
At this time, Ji Rang, as expected, had already boarded the cruise ship returning home aggressively.
The grandfather, who had always loved him very much, would actually say "Don't come back if you don't want to marry". Was it human?! For the sake of an outsider, he didn’t even want his baby grandson anymore!
He wanted to go back and see, what was the origin of this woman who confused his family!
He returned to China with his friends and classmates, all of whom were Shanghai's famous young masters, who had received a lot of new ideas and education in the past few years. Those old-school behaviors in China were very repugnant to them.
They heard that Ji Rang had been ordered to marry, and were saying this while gloating:
——"You will die if you don't marry, can they still make you faint and take you to the worship hall?"
——"I heard that the women in those old aristocratic families still have their feet bound till the bones of their feet are broken[1]. Tsk tsk, it hurts to think about it."
——"Agent, don't compromise. Just think of those little feet, you will definitely have a nightmare when you look at it!"
——"If you want my suggestion, you should take a girlfriend back, make the first play!"
Standing on the deck, Ji Rang looked at the endless blue ocean, clenched his fists, and said righteously: "Need to reform, starting with rebelling against the old-style arranged marriage contract! This time, I will not compromise!"
On the day he returned to China, it rained heavily in Shanghai.
The Ji family sent a car to pick him up. The driver had grown up with Ji Rang, the son of the gardener of the Ji family, and his little companion, Fugui, excitedly helped him get his luggage into the car. After getting in the car, his eyes were red: "Master, you’re finally back, Fugui missed you."
Ji Rang was very upset: "Stop, stop, tell me about that woman first, how did she come about?"
Fugui was worthy of being his childhood companion, and he immediately understood who he was talking about: "You are talking about Miss Qi? She is the daughter of the Qi family. Master, do you know the Qi family? They own a famous Chinese medicine clinic; Mr. Qi is known to be a living Hua Tuo[2]! At the beginning of the year, the master suffered from rheumatism, and it was so painful that he could not even get out of bed. It was useless to go to the hospital for injections and water removal! Later, Master Qi brought Miss Qi and stayed at the Ji Mansion for a month, taking care of him day and night, and the master finally recovered. "
Ji Rang found it incredible: "Just for this, Grandpa sold me?!"
"Isn't it, they are the savior. Besides, everyone in the mansion likes Miss Qi, she is actually quite nice…"
Before the words were even finished, Ji Ran blasted out: "She's just a shit! You shut up!"
The car drove to the Ji Mansion in the heavy rain. It had just driven to the door where they were waiting for the people inside to open the iron door, when a rickshaw stopped by their side. Because of the heavy rain outside the window, Ji Rang first saw an open blue and white umbrella, with the umbrella cloth stretched out in the rain, and then he saw a slender figure jump out of the rickshaw.
She wore a water-resistant pink jacket and skirt, white embroidered cloth shoes, long hair pulled up in a well-behaved frieze, with two thin braids hanging from the neck, her brows were lined and her eyes were as pretty as stars and moons.
Holding an umbrella in one hand and a big bag in the other, she ran through the small door all the way to the gate with the white cloth shoes stepping in puddles making splashes.
Ji Rang didn't react until her back disappeared into the rain, and turned to ask Fugui, "Who is that?"
Fugui looked around and didn't see anything and said casually: "Maybe it's a maid in the mansion."
As the car drove in, Ji Rang strode in without waiting for Fugui to open his umbrella. Mrs. Ji had been waiting at the door for a long time. Her son having spent several years abroad had come home; Mrs. Ji cried when she saw him. Everyone in the mansion came, but the old man was not seen.
He put away the luggage and comforted his mother. Ji Rang took a sip of hot tea before asking, "Where is Grandpa?"
Mrs. Ji said: "It has been raining these few days, and grandpa's rheumatism has gotten worse again. He’s resting in the house."
Ji Rang frowned: "Has he taken the medicine?"
"He has eaten, the previous medicine was finished, so, today the little girl from Qi's family sent a little more medicine over, and she is simmering it." After Mrs. Ji finished saying this, watching Ji Rang's changing face, she hurriedly pulled his hand to soothe him: "Don't rush to object first, see her first. We will never hurt you, this little daughter of the Qi family is a good girl, if you can be with her…"
Ji Rang shook off her hand, rubbed her hands, stood up, and yelled angrily: "I won't like her even if she is the best girl! Anyway, I won't agree to this marriage! This is my life and I will make my own decisions, and you don't need to arrange it for me! "
Just after the roar, there came an angry voice from the second floor: "You have stayed abroad for a few years, and now you really regard yourself as a representative of the new era? Just let those idiotic ideals you learnt in those years go, and let Yingying marry you, I still think you’re getting a cheap bargain!"
Ji Rang looked up and saw that Old Man Ji was sitting in a wheelchair with an angry look on his face that hated iron for not becoming steel[3]. And beside him, stood a little girl with a very unnatural expression.
Wearing water-resistant pink jacket and skirt, who had well-behaved hair, and white cloth shoes.
It was the girl he saw in the rain just now.
Ji Rang, who was about to quarrel with his grandfather for three hundred rounds, suddenly felt his throat being blocked, unable to say another word.
Mrs. Ji hurriedly got up and said: "Arang just came back and Yingying is here, so don't make any noise. Dad, why are you getting up? Yingying, is Grandpa's medicine ready?"
The girl pushing the wheelchair nodded, with a soft voice: "It is simmering in the pot, it has to be boiled for another hour. The clinic is still busy, so I have to go back."
Until the girl left the Ji mansion, Ji Rang still didn't recover.
Elder Ji came downstairs and taught him for most of the day. He didn't even refute it. He kept his head down and nobody knew what he was thinking.
When the old man saw him like this, he thought he was talking too much. In the end, he felt sorry for his grandson. Finally, he put his tone down and said with earnestness: "A good girl like Yingying can't be found even with a lantern. That is why Grandpa is so anxious. I’m doing this for you. I’m afraid that this person will be snatched away by others! When you come back, you should not mix with those friends, and go to Yingying’s place more. Maybe you will learn something. Do you like her?"
Ji Rang's face went blue and white, but in the end, he didn't say a word, and went back to the room to rest.
Mrs. Ji looked at his dejected back with distress: "Arang seems to have been hit hard this time, Dad, let's forget it…"
Elder Ji sighed heavily, and after a long time he said, "Let’s watch it first. If he really doesn’t want to, I can’t force him to marry. What’s more, it’s impossible for the Qi family to see him as virtuous and marry their daughter to him."
At this time, in the Qi family, Qi Ying, who was holding the prescription to help Father Qi brew the medicine, stepped on the ladder and said, "I saw the young master of the Ji family today."
Qi's father immediately put down what he was doing and came over and asked, "How was it?"
Qi Ying opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed a handful of holly: "Like the rumors, he has a stubborn and hot temper. Dad, I think he is very reluctant for this marriage. I don't like people like him, so let's forget it."
Father Qi frowned and said: "Is marriage a trifling matter! Since I made a promise with Mr. Ji, I can't go back on it." He paused, sighed, and said: "Yingying, now all over Shanghai there is the shout of “Eliminate the old and welcome the new”, do you know that Chinese medicine is also suffering harm in the middle of this revolution? Our family, we are about to fall, if we can't find you a reliable husband, how will I explain to your mother when I go to the underworld in the future? "
Qi Ying was silent for a while, then turned around: "What if he insists on not marrying me?"
Father Qi sighed and waved his hand: "Then that's it. Father can always find another good relationship for you."
Qi Ying bent her eyes and smiled obediently.