The movement of Old Master Wei's hand visibly paused. The characters, which had been flowing as smoothly as clouds and water, came to an abrupt halt, marring what would have been an excellent piece of calligraphy. The old master simply put down his brush and crumpled the xuan paper. A flawed work, naturally, no longer had any reason to exist.
Only then did Old Master Wei look up, meeting Wei Chen's somewhat icy gaze. "Have you truly thought it through clearly? You're willing to marry Chen Li, even though he's a simpleton?"
Wei Chen nodded firmly, a trace of warmth coloring his cold eyes at that moment. "I am willing to marry him. Not because he is Chen Li of the Chen family, but simply because he is Chen Li."
Old Master Wei's eyes were incredibly sharp; he immediately caught that flicker of warmth in his grandson's eyes. This shocked him greatly. He had observed his grandson's changes these past few days – it was as if he had suffered some kind of shock, retracting all emotions, his gaze icy, revealing not a single shred of feeling. But now, when his grandson mentioned Chen Li, the warmth that flashed in his eyes didn't seem fake.
What had changed Wei Chen? Just a few days ago, he was extremely resistant to the topic of marrying Chen Li, even having a huge argument with him, his grandfather.
Old Master Wei was, after all, Old Master Wei. Even if a storm raged within him, not a single ripple showed on his face. He spread out a new sheet of xuan paper and began to paint with his brush, saying, "It's good that you've come to understand. Since you've agreed to marry Chen Li, you must not treat him unkindly after the wedding."
"I will treat him well." Wei Chen closed his eyes, concealing the turbulent emotions within. When he spoke again, his words were weighty and resolute.
In this life, I will definitely cherish Chen Li, holding him dearer than anything. No one will be allowed to harm Chen Li, not even by a hair. Not even the Chen family!
...
That evening, Wei family members from all over, gathered for the Dragon Boat Festival, filled the ancestral home with noise and activity. In a large family like the Wei's, with so many people, one couldn't expect complete harmony and bliss. The fact that their internal power struggles and scheming weren't brought out into the open was already the greatest harmony the Weis could achieve.
After leaving Old Master Wei's study, Wei Chen didn't join the crowd. Instead, he took a glass of wine and leaned against the balcony railing, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, the Wei family members who had returned were already deep in conversation in the main hall, some speaking without much restraint. Even though Wei Chen stood far away, their words drifted clearly to his ears.
"Has the marriage with the Chen family been finalized?" A woman dressed like a wealthy matron nudged the person beside her, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
"I think it's settled," another wealthy matron replied, her face full of schadenfreude. "The old master is taking a tough stance. Even if Wei Chen doesn't want to marry, he has to!"
"It's that simpleton from the Chen family, right?"
"Exactly. The Chens aren't willing to marry their daughters into the Wei family. Their daughters are all meant for high-ranking officials; their usefulness is much greater there than marrying into our family."
"Who said the old master valued Wei Chen? Isn't this just cutting off his future? Marrying a man, unable to have children – no matter how capable Wei Chen is, he won't be qualified to inherit the Wei family. I wonder what he did this time to displease the old master so much that he arranged such a useless marriage." The matron spoke as if sighing in regret, but her eyes were full of amusement.
"If you ask me, our Wei family doesn't really need the Chen family's support anyway. But the old master insisted on doing this. Do you think maybe he's already tired of Wei Chen and came up with this way to save face for everyone?" another matron suggested with a knowing wink.
As the two chatted, their conversation naturally drifted to the other main character in this arranged marriage – Chen Li.
Who was Chen Li? Throughout the entire high society of Magic City, who didn't know? He was the fool of the Chen family, the waste the Chens were ashamed to mention!
The Chen family held a position in Magic City's business world equivalent to the Wei family's. However, looking at the broader picture of the entire nation, the Chen family was considerably more prominent than the Weis. After all, Chen Zhongyan, the head of the Chen family who held a high position in the imperial capital, was the uncle of Chen Shihuai, the current head of the Magic City Chen family. Thus, the Chen family held a certain status in the political, military, and party spheres of the country.
Chen Li was the illegitimate son of Chen Yunsheng, the eldest son of Chen Shihuai, and his only illegitimate child.
Chen Yunsheng was notoriously henpecked. After marrying his wife, he had no relations with other women. Chen Li was the sole exception, born only a few months apart from his wife's daughter. Everyone could see it clearly: Chen Li was the illegitimate child born from an affair Chen Yunsheng had while his wife was pregnant.
No one knew what Chen Yunsheng did, but Chen Li was brought back by the family head, Chen Shihuai himself, to be recognized and included in the family lineage.
Some people are born with the fortune of wealth and status but cannot enjoy it. Chen Li was one such person. The status of a young master of the Chen family was esteemed, but he couldn't escape the fact that he was an autism patient.