Chapter 6: Change Part 2
One day at school,
At the end of class, Lu Chen walked toward Liu Fei Fei. She was at her desk and texting on her phone. It was clear that it was to Long Shen with the happy expression plastered on her face.
But Lu Chen didn't realize as he asked, "Fei Fei, what type of guy do you want to get married to?!"
He knew from his parents that they would get married either way. But Lu Chen still wanted to become someone that suited Liu Fei Fei's taste. His eyes sparkled with anticipation, wanting to know more about what Liu Fei Fei wanted.
However, Liu Fei Fei didn't even look at Lu Chen and continued to text on her phone. And Lu Chen took the chair in front of her.
Liu Fei Fei looked at him and frowned. She could tell if she didn't say anything, Lu Chen would bother him all the time. Her answer was,
"I don't know. A guy with long hair or something?!"
Her tone was indifferent, and there was no seriousness to the answer at all. But to Lu Chen, it made his day as he smiled,
"Fei Fei! I will grow out my hair!" He expressed, hoping that would gain her interest.
"Go and do whatever you want." Liu Fei Fei rolled her eyes in annoyance as she returned to looking at her phone.
That one comment made Lu Chen look the way he was now.
…
Her words were definitely to get me to scram. It definitely was. Lu Chen chuckled at how much of a fool he was in the past. He would listen to Liu Fei Fei's words as if they were law.
But it's because of my past that I know what I should value now. Lu Chen hated himself and how he had acted before. But he knew it was a blessing in disguise. It made him realize what he should be treasuring now.
As Lu Chen continued to think about his past actions, Elder Wu looked at him through the rearview mirror.
Something is different about the young master today.
Lu Chen was calm and mundane as he stared off into space.
In the past, Lu Chen was a prideful and arrogant person. And Lu Xiaotong's consistent spoiling amplified Lu Chen's nature. Every time Lu Chen wanted something, he would get it.
Just having this ability was enough to cause Lu Chen's mind to be corrupted. He turned into a typical spoiled rich second-generation.
However, there was no arrogance or pride coming off of him. Lu Chen was so serene and mundane that he was a statue.
And the young master thanked me before? Elder Wu didn't expect Lu Chen to thank him for a simple task. But one thing was for sure, Lu Chen turned for the better.
As the limousine pulled up in front of the school gates, Elder Wu turned to Lu Chen, "Young master, we arrived."
Lu Chen nodded and got out of the car. He turned to Elder Wu, "Thank you, Elder Wu. Have a good day."
"...You too, young master." Elder Wu smiled at him. Another surprise hit him.
Elder Wu watched Lu Chen enter the school, and as he did, Elder Wu couldn't help but say:
"Young master has definitely changed."
Going to add a comment re. Chinese betrothal and engagement, since it might seem pretty foreign to westerners (like me), and this chapter introduces the concept that Lu Chen and Fei Fei are engaged, while in the western equivalent of High School. (If you're not interested, the summary is that, according to old tradition, the two may be as much as 5/6ths married already.)
Perhaps a big difference for many foreigners is that in China marriage is seen as a joining of families, such as it was in the past in western countries. Given that most children are from one child families, it is easy to understand that parents take a keen interest in who their 'child' marries. Foreigners should also remember that the child is responsible for looking after the parents in their old age. As such, especially among the upper class, engagements were/are commonly planned out, long-term affairs involving the "Six Etiquettes". Breaking an engagement would be a big deal, essentially a divorce between two very close families, and among the elite, would have political and economic significance.
The wedding ceremony traditionally consisted of six basic procedures: making a proposal of marriage (nacai), requesting the bride's name and date of birth(wenming), sending news of divination results and betrothal gifts (naji), sending wedding presents to the bride's house (nazheng), requesting the date of the wedding (qingqi), and fetching in the bride in person (qinying). The details of each ritual could vary.
(1) Proposal: After an unmarried boy's parents found a potential daughter-in-law, they located a matchmaker whose job was to assuage the conflict of interests and general embarrassments when discussing the possibility of marriage on the part of two families largely unknown to each other. Marriages were chosen based upon the needs of reproduction and honor, as well as the need of the father and husband.
(2) Birthdates: If the selected girl and her parents did not object to the proposal, the matchmaker would match the birthdates (Chinese: 秊庚八字; pinyin: niángēng bāzì; lit.: 'the 8 cyclic characters for year, month, day and hour of birth of a man, which determine his fate') in which suan ming (Chinese fortune telling) is used to predict the future of that couple-to-be. If the result of suan ming was good, they then would go to the next step, submitting bride price.
(3) Bridewealth (betrothal gifts): At this point the bridegroom's family arranged for the matchmaker to present a bride price (betrothal gifts), including the betrothal letter, to the bride's family.
(4) Wedding gifts: The groom's family would then send an elaborate array of food, cakes, and religious items to the bride's family.
(5) Arranging the wedding: Before the wedding ceremony, two families would arrange a wedding day according to Chinese tung shing. Selecting an auspicious day to assure a good future for the couple is as important as avoiding what is believed to be an unlucky day. In some cases there may be no auspicious dates and the couple will have to review their potential date range.
(6) Wedding ceremony: The final ritual would be the actual wedding ceremony where bride and groom become a married couple, which consists of many elaborate parts
... it is likely that Lu Chen and Fei Fei, and their respective families, have completed 5 of the 6 traditional steps for marriage. So, that is the context for his behavior towards and expectations of her. He isn't a creepy stalker; he is asking his betrothed how she would like him to present himself, honoring her and her family, by asking for her preferences. (The fact that she isn't interested in him isn't really his fault.)
... of course, if I'm wrong on this, author can "Nope" on this post, and I'll delete it so that I don't mislead readers.
Thank you for your explanation. I have learned something new today.
Wait ... In his previous life he was a typical good-for-nothing-third-generation young master who usually been beaten by the protagonist for his stupidity and arrogant and his relationship with FeiFei is just a forced marriage and she loathe him like any noraml heroine the difference is that she don't meets a protagonist to save her ... Is this right?
This, guy definitely licking dog, type of villain young master that pestering heroine and be smack and killed his whole family by mc, it's difficult to like
Blob neutral
Thanks for the chapter!
One day during school,
What is this? There’s nothing after it.
Thanks for the chapter.