When Guan Xin heard Kang Zhaoming tell her father that he wished to be friends with her — that is, to court her — her heart leapt into her throat. She was terrified that her father might misjudge the man, take Kang Zhaoming for some promising young talent, and consent to his suit. Fortunately, her father proved clear-sighted enough to refuse him outright.

Only, her father's reason was awfully strange! He claimed she already had a fiancé, and that she and that fiancé had been betrothed before either of them was born — promised at the belly, no less. Did such things still happen in this day and age? What an oddity!

Who would have guessed that her father, prim and old-fashioned as he looked, had such a sly, whimsical side to him? Guan Xin found it rather funny.

What delighted her most, though, was that Kang Zhaoming had swallowed her father's words whole and actually decided to abandon his pursuit of her! What a prize fool!

As it happened, Guan Xin had it wrong. In great families like Kang Zhaoming's, a match made at the parents' command and through a matchmaker's word was simply the natural order of things — just as her brother's betrothal to Wang Xinyan of the Xiao family had been settled by the elders, and once settled, no junior could alter it. So Kang Zhaoming assumed Guan Xin must be in the same position: nothing he did could change it, and so he had no choice but to give up.

Hearing that Kang Zhaoming was coming out, Guan Xin hurriedly slipped aside and sat down on the sofa, pretending to be absorbed in the television.

Kang Zhaoming opened the study door and was wheeled out by Wang Shubin. He cast a dejected glance at Guan Xin, sitting on the sofa watching television, and heaved a helpless sigh. He knew the character of a well-bred young lady like her: once she had a betrothal to her name, how could she possibly take up with the likes of him?

So he could not even be bothered to speak. As far as he was concerned, a girl he could not win over was of no use to him however pretty she was. He simply had Wang Shubin wheel him out of Guan Xuemin's villa, and slunk away.

When Guan Xin saw her father come out of the study, her face flushed. After all, she had just been eavesdropping on his conversation with Kang Zhaoming. It was nothing so terrible, but it was hardly an honorable thing to do.

Seeing her father look at her, Guan Xin grew sheepish before he had said a word. She had never done anything wicked in her life, so she confessed at once: "Dad, that Kang Zhaoming is making it all up. I never nursed him at all—"

"Oh? So you heard everything?" Guan Xiaoxiang had not expected his daughter to have been eavesdropping. Seeing her flushed face, he nodded in understanding. "That man doesn't look like any good sort. Don't have anything to do with him from now on!"

"I know. I don't go near him," Guan Xin said. "He's the one who keeps pestering me…"

"Mm. And that Wei Zhao fellow — you'd best keep your distance from him as well, don't get too close. You're a girl; you must guard your reputation!" The thought of Wei Zhao made Guan Xiaoxiang add this. He had always harbored a prejudice against Wei Zhao; ever since Wei Zhao and Guan Xuemin had gone into business together, Guan Xiaoxiang had rather disliked him.

"Huh? Wei Zhao is a good person. He's not a bad man, not like Kang Zhaoming…" Guan Xin was taken aback, but she shook her head, unable to see why her father would not let the matter of Wei Zhao drop.

"I've told you, you're a girl and you ought to mind appearances!" Guan Xiaoxiang said sternly. "Besides, you're betrothed. If any gossip gets out, it will be your own reputation that suffers!"

It was the first time Guan Xiaoxiang had spoken to Guan Xin in such a severe, brooked-no-argument tone.

"What!" Guan Xin was stunned. She stared at Guan Xiaoxiang, half doubtful: "Dad, what betrothal are you talking about? Wasn't that just an excuse to make Kang Zhaoming give up? How on earth am I betrothed?"

"It was no excuse!" Guan Xiaoxiang waved a hand. "Xinxin, you're not a child anymore, and it's time you were told. Before you were even born, your mother and I settled a marriage for you. Now that you've grown up, there's no harm in your knowing…"

"How can that be?" Guan Xin was thrown into confusion by her father's words. The shock was too great by far. Never had she imagined that she was already betrothed — that out of nowhere a fiancé had simply appeared.

"How can it not be? Marriages are decided by parents and matchmakers — so it has been since ancient times!" Guan Xiaoxiang had not expected his usually docile daughter to question him. His brows knit even tighter. Could there really be something between her and that Wei Zhao?

"Dad, what age are we living in? How can you still arrange a marriage for me? I've never even met the man you're talking about — how could I marry him? And after all these years, how can it still count? Please, call it off for me," Guan Xin said, finding it unbelievable, utterly preposterous. She could not accept it.

"Call off what? It absolutely cannot be called off!" Guan Xiaoxiang left no room for negotiation. "You will marry him in the future — no one can change that!"

"I won't marry him!" For the first time, Guan Xin — always the obedient daughter — argued back so fiercely against her father's decree. This concerned the happiness of her whole life; how could she compromise?

"You—! You'll marry him whether you like it or not!" Guan Xiaoxiang gave a cold snort, anger rising. "This is my decision to make. It's useless for you to say anything!"

"By what right? I've never met the man. I don't even know what he looks like or what he does, and I'm supposed to marry him?" Guan Xin's eyes went wide, her voice stubborn. "I won't marry him, and that's that. I don't like him!"

"You don't like him — then who do you like?" Guan Xiaoxiang shot back.

"I like… I just don't like him, that's all!" Guan Xin had nearly let it slip. Her face reddened and she stopped short.

"Do you like that Wei Zhao?" How could Guan Xiaoxiang fail to see what was in his daughter's heart? "You'd better cut off all dealings with him this instant, or I'll have someone break his legs! Your marriage was decided by your mother and me together. That man was a great benefactor to me; everything I have today was granted to me by his elders. I, Guan Xiaoxiang, am not one to go back on my word. If you come to your senses, well and good; if not, you will marry him all the same!"

With that, Guan Xiaoxiang paid Guan Xin no further attention. He rose to his feet and strode out of the villa.

Guan Xin, meanwhile, broke down in aggrieved tears. She could not understand how her father could be so domineering and so rigid as to make her marry a man she did not like. And even if that man's elder had done her father a kindness, he could have repaid it some other way — why did she have to be the one to marry into that family?