Xiao Zheng was illiterate, but he recognized the government seal; it was the same one he saw when he and his wife registered their marriage at the County Government.
It was true... it was true...
Xiao Zheng was so angry that his whole body shuddered, and his legs nearly gave out. He stumbled several steps backward before steadying himself.
His hand pointed accusingly at Xiao Changyi as he cursed uncontrollably, "How could the Xiao clan produce such a useless heir like you!"
Xiao Changyi appeared indifferent and simply tucked the marriage certificate back into his chest.
An Jing sneered coldly, "Aside from not removing his name from the family registry, when have you ever truly considered him the heir of the Xiao clan?"
"Preposterous! Absolutely preposterous!" Xiao Zheng cursed repeatedly, so angry that his teeth chattered. Then, he said viciously, "Xiao Changyi, you dare to bring shame to our family by marrying into another family. Are you not afraid we’ll disown you from the family registry?"
Finally, Xiao Changyi spoke, his voice calm and composed, "Please do it quickly."
Xiao Zheng was nearly mad with rage.
An Jing was delighted. Her husband had this talent of infuriating others profoundly without saying much, and when he did speak, it was lethal.
In fact, by marrying into An Jing’s family, Xiao Changyi would automatically be removed from the Xiao family registry and be added to An Jing’s—but Xiao Zheng, blinded by anger, had completely forgotten this detail.
"You, you, you..." Overwhelmed with fury, Xiao Zheng struggled to articulate a single word. In the end, he simply turned and stormed off.
"Clan Leader Xiao, please take care," An Jing called out with a beaming smile as Xiao Zheng’s figure receded.
Xiao Zheng clenched his jaws so tightly in anger that they nearly cracked, but he did not turn back. Instead, he quickened his pace, striding away even faster.
When passing villagers saw Xiao Zheng leave, they too dispersed—not to attend to their farm work but to head back and spread the sensational news that Xiao Changyi had married into An Jing’s family.
This was big news indeed, enough to give them laughs for years!
In Jiuping Village, there were several clans, but the Xiao clan had the largest population and always overshadowed the others. Now, with a disgraceful heir who married into another family, the Xiao clan would never be able to hold their heads high in the village again!
And there was Xiao Chen’s, who had been proud that her daughter married into the town, always thinking herself a cut above the rest. Now, her eldest son had married into another family—if it didn’t kill her with rage, it would surely make her sick with anger!
The villagers were so elated they wished they could celebrate with firecrackers.
An Jing paid no mind to the villagers gleefully trotting back, instead, she looked at Xiao Changyi with a teasing smile, "It looks like the good days for your family have come to an end."
Xiao Changyi shook his head.
"Hmm?" An Jing was puzzled.
Only then did Xiao Changyi say, "That’s no longer my family." After a pause, he added, "I’m only part of your family now."
An Jing immediately smiled so broadly that her eyes disappeared.
Upon returning home, Xiao Zheng reported the matter of Xiao Changyi’s marriage and clamored to remove Xiao Changyi from the Xiao family’s registry.
Xiao Zheng’s wife was also angry, feeling disgraced, yet unlike Xiao Zheng, she was not so blinded by rage, and she said, "He’ll automatically be removed from our family registry by marrying into another family, there’s no need for you to do anything."
Once he heard this, Xiao Zheng became clear-headed and even more furious. He huffed and puffed for a while before going to discuss the matter with the Xiao Family Elders.
Upon hearing that Xiao Changyi had married into An Jing’s family, the Xiao Family Elders were so angry that they almost toppled over.