Ye Shuhua's eyes were still red as she followed suit, "Mr. Huo, please state any requirements you have. As long as we can accommodate them, we will not refuse. After all, it's our daughter's fault for being thoughtless. Fortunately, Mr. Huo is so well-qualified that it surely won't affect his prospects of finding a girlfriend and getting married in the future. Otherwise, we would really feel apologetic."
What good is it being attractive? Can attractiveness be eaten or spent like money?
Besides, Xu Pei is just as handsome as Huo Xiyao, not to mention his own capabilities and his family's excellent conditions. You couldn't pick one like him out of ten thousand, so how can this young man in front of us compare?
One would know there's no comparison at all.
Panpan was worked up at the moment, not thinking about the many ramifications. As her mother, I had to protect her and prevent future regrets.
Huo Xiyao waited until Xia Benjun and Ye Shuhua finished speaking, then turned directly to Xia Chu, "Xia Chu, what do you have to say? I was married to you in the eyes of the law, and I'll only listen to you."
Only then could I clearly see that without the cover of her intricate makeup, her complexion was even worse than it had been during the day.
The beautiful and fitting dress that had made her resemble a delicate and exquisite mermaid during the day was now replaced with a simple, plain-colored house dress, making her seem even more fragile and ready to collapse.
Huo Xiyao's brow furrowed imperceptibly.
She must be experiencing immense pain now, teetering on the brink of collapse, right?
Yet her parents, who should be her closest kin, didn't seem to pity her. Instead, they wished to quickly deal with this "trouble" and to have her marry her treacherous ex-fiancé...
Deeply exhausted in body and soul, Xia Chu spoke in a hoarse voice, uttering her second sentence since she let Huo Xiyao in, "There's no precedent of getting the marriage license one day and divorcing the next. Besides, there's a one-month cooling-off period for divorce now, so even if we wanted to, we couldn't get a divorce tomorrow."
Huo Xiyao understood.
It wasn't that she didn't want to divorce, but she didn't want to follow the wishes of her parents or her scumbag ex-fiancé.
The scumbag who cheated didn't even have the courage to solve the problem himself, hiding behind the scenes and shamelessly pushing his future in-laws to take the bullet for him. What a disgrace!
Huo Xiyao nodded, "I also believe that marriage isn't child's play – you don't simply marry one day and divorce the next. So Mr. Xia and Mrs. Xia, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I'm not going for a divorce. Not only am I not divorcing, but I also fell in love with Xia Chu at first sight and intend to be with her for a long, long time."
Xia Benjun's face darkened instantly, "What do you mean, Mr. Huo? You only met my daughter for the first time today; how deep could your feelings possibly be? I don't believe you can't see that she's acting out of spite. She and her fiancé were in a good relationship. How could she possibly want to be with you for a long, long time?"
"Mr. Huo, state your conditions if you have any, but let me make it clear upfront; we're just an ordinary family. So take it easy and don't try to take advantage of the situation by making outrageous demands. It's just been one day, plus the day at the divorce office, totaling two days. If we give you thirty to fifty thousand, that's a five-figure sum a day – you won't find another deal this good anywhere else. Please consider it carefully, Mr. Huo."
Huo Xiyao smirked.
Thirty to fifty thousand, and they dare to offer that? Are they treating me like a beggar?
They say that to love someone is to be willing to spend money on them. It's obvious that these so-called parents don't truly care about Xia Chu.
And their so-called golden son-in-law also wants to solve the problem with just a few tens of thousands; not much "golden" about him!
Huo Xiyao spoke indifferently, "Didn't you just say that whatever conditions I put forward, as long as you can meet them, you'd definitely not turn them down. Is this how you don't turn them down?"
After a pause, "I'm sorry, but fifty or sixty thousand doesn't even catch my eye. Not to mention fifty or sixty thousand, even with ten or a hundred times more, I won't divorce her."
Xia Benjun's face darkened even more, "Are you implying you want to forcibly cling to my daughter? Then don't blame us for being impolite!"
Ye Shuhua couldn't hold back her anger either, "Mr. Huo, my daughter was indeed impulsive today and that was her fault, but you can't just take advantage of that, can you? She can't possibly live with you, and even if she were willing, we as her parents would never agree."
"Our son-in-law is very successful in his career and his family has good conditions; he can offer my daughter the best life. As parents, when we marry off our daughter, isn't it so she can have a good life? Mr. Huo, although you seem to have good conditions, wanting to own a house and property at your age won't be easy. A melon forcibly twisted is not sweet, so could you please not be so stubborn?"
The scorn on Huo Xiyao's lips grew even more.
Just running a small law firm, and only owning 40% of the shares at that—dare to claim 'very successful in career'?
Oh, the scumbag also has a father who is a member of the Su City leadership team, a mother who is an associate director; indeed one could barely say 'his family has good conditions.'
But so what, even that didn't catch his eye!
Huo Xiyao's tone became colder, "Xia Chu has shown such determination, who exactly is the one trying to force the melon now? I'll say it again, I will not divorce!"
Ye Shuhua became even angrier, "So, you are really fixated on clinging to us? Let me tell you, it's impossible, so stop dreaming!"
But she also feared that Huo Xiyao really wouldn't divorce, so she softened her tone, "Mr. Huo, why must you do this? It's clear it's impossible, wouldn't it be nice for you to just take the money and go? Why insist on driving things to a point where both parties are injured? If we must, we can give you more... Her dad, let's give Mr. Huo eighty... forget it, just a hundred thousand; I can afford it with the money I have on hand, barely enough, how about that?"
Xia Benjun nearly exploded when his wife suddenly raised the offer to a hundred thousand.
These spendthrift women, who negotiates like this, raising the price by five or ten thousand gradually? Aren't they afraid that the enemy will become even more greedy?
And where did she get that money? He was the one who controlled every penny of her retirement fund... She must have secretly gotten it from that wretched girl, who even lied to him about not having money. He'd settle the score with her later!
In the end, Xia Benjun still managed to suppress his anger; getting that wretched girl divorced and continuing her relationship with Xu Pei was the important thing.
Annoyed, he said, "Since you're so insistent, what else can I do? Listen up, Huo, my wife just raised the offer to a hundred thousand, now you must be satisfied and agree to the divorce, right?"
But Huo Xiyao remained unmoved, "Sorry, even if you raise it to a million, as long as Xia Chu doesn't say divorce, I won't either. And Xia Chu has made her stance clear, there's no divorce the day after the wedding, so you can give up any hope."
"You may leave now, Xia Chu needs rest. Her complexion is so pale and her condition so bad, I don't believe you as her parents can't see it!"
Xia Benjun was furious, "A million, why don't you go rob a bank! This is my daughter's home; if anyone should leave, it's you. Get out now, or don't blame me for chasing you out with a broom!"
He had come to understand that without resolving this internal trouble first, uniting the family's front, they wouldn't be able to deal with the external problems.
So, it was better to drive the person out first and then discuss matters with that wretched girl.