Chapter 49 – Decision
Ye Wei chuckled when he saw Joe Yin’s fake charming look as he knew better now. ‘Does she think I am stupid enough to be manipulated by her?’ He was more repulsed than charmed.
“Joe Yin is very mature for her age, and not to mention she’s a talented girl! She is already a six star Student, and destined to become a Warrior at a young age!” Joe Wan couldn’t take her eyes off the young girl she saw as a good daughter in law.
Nobody could blame her, the idea of having a Warrior daughter in law was very attractive.
Joe Wan was a distant relative of the Joe’s visiting today. She heard the rumor of a marriage proposal involving her son and Joe Yin before anyone in the Ye family even knew they were going to have the Joe’s as visitors.
She was ecstatic after hearing the news, and Joe Wan would be lying if she said she never thought about her son and Joe Yin marrying each other. Now that the day had arrived she could no longer contain herself.
Ye Wei finally understood why his mom was so excited. He shook his head and decided it was not an enthusiasm he shared. He had no interest in someone like Joe Yin!
Back in the days when they were children, Ye Wei did like Joe Yin, and they were very close to each other. But that was not the case now, not because she wasn’t pretty enough, not because she wasn’t talented enough to match Master Yi’s legacy apprentice, but because he had seen her true colors.
When he was going through hardships in his life, not only Joe Yin was not there to support him, but she looked down on Ye Wei when he was suffering. If that had not changed his opinion about Joe Yin, the recent insult surely did. It was not easy to come to terms with how little he meant to Joe Yin, but Ye Wei dealt with the negativities and saw the bright side of things with a little help from his friends and family.
“Zheng Qing, My brother! Your family is surely doing better with Ye Wei now appointed as Master Yi’s Legacy Apprentice! That is an enviable honor!” Joe Zheng Feng’s energy did not match his white hair and beard. He expressed his heartfelt respect to the Ye Patriarch with great enthusiasm.
“Ah don’t mention it, the young ones in your family are not doing so bad themselves! Joe Pei is what? Twenty-two? It’s admirable that he is already a five star Warrior!” While on the topic Ye Zheng Qing thought about Ye Zhong, and he was slightly saddened. “And you have Joe Yin; she’s a six star Student right?!”
“They are nothing compared to little Wei!” The Joe Patriarch could not stop looking at Ye Wei enviously. He was willing to do a lot of things if in return he could call Master Yi’s Legacy Apprentice his son in law. “By the way! Ye Wei is already thirteen years old if I remember correctly, is he engaged to anyone? It’s about time for him to think about marriage don’t you think?” Joe Zheng Feng sipped his cup of tea acting as casual as he could.
In this age of the Zhou Dynasty sixteen year olds was the time when one was considered an adult. Not only was it common for children to get engaged at the age of twelve and married by sixteen, it was actually encouraged. Humanity always needed new blood to fight the savage beasts and demons.
It has only been a few days, but news of Ye Wei becoming Master Yi’s Legacy Apprentice already spread far and wide. A few families had already come knocking on their doors discussing possibilities of their young daughters getting engaged to Ye Wei. But Ye Zheng Qing turned them all down because he was not satisfied with them.
“I don’t know about that; we have to be very careful who we match Ye Wei with. We don’t want to upset Master Yi. He should have a say about Ye Wei’s future too!” Ye Zheng Qing knew exactly what Joe Zheng Feng was implying as he looked at Joe Yin then replied calmly.
After the Du family started their campaign against the Ye’s, the Joe’s didn’t think twice before cutting all ties with the Ye’s. Ye Zheng Qing could understand the reasoning behind it, but he was still not entirely comfortable with how swift the Joe’s handled it without even consulting him.
The Ye Patriarch was disappointed in the Joe family, but he was also aware Ye Wei and Joe Yin were close, if Ye Wei wanted to marry her he would not say no.
“Zheng Qing brother! What do you think about Joe Yin? Ye Wei and her basically grew up together, and they understand each other very well I think! What do you say to giving them a life together?” Joe Zheng Feng attempted to hide his nerves; therefore, he suggested the matter in a joking tone.
Knowing the Ye family won’t really get anything out of the marriage, Ye Zheng Qing played dumb: “Oh! I’ve never thought about it!” Not denying the request altogether as he was under the impression Ye Wei might be in favor of this arrangement.
The Ye Patriarch actually had an idea of matching Ye Wei with Joe Yin, but it was put to the side when Ye Wei’s embarrassing South Star Academy entry test results got revealed.
With her talent and potential aside, Ye Zheng Qing had always been charmed by Joe Yin’s wittiness. The picky patriarch was starting to convince himself that this engagement might actually make Ye Wei happy.
“See? What did I tell you?” Aunt Jing Jing rubbed Ye Wei’s head and said in a cheeky voice. “About time if you ask me!”
When Joe Zheng Feng dropped the obvious hint, all of Ye Wei’s uncles cast their eyes onto Joe Yin and briefly evaluated, after which they all nodded and smiled satisfyingly at her.
Ye Wei’s mom too was wearing a big smile. She was glad that her son could have someone this excellent by his side. Joe Wan was ready to spoil her new daughter in law!
Joe Yin was not stupid, and she slowly curled her lips into the cutest smile she could, seeing the older Ye’s eyes were all set on her. She was slightly bothered with how their eyes met hers so she looked at Ye Wei instead, never had she ever been this flustered before. Ye Wei was an unworthy friend in her mind for so long, but now all the negative perceptions about him were replaced by his prestigious position, and Joe Yin started to realize how good looking he was, and how he was actually good enough for her.
All but one person was excited, and he did not get carried away thinking about the engagement, not one strand of Ye Wei’s facial muscles were contracted. He was sitting still with an emotionless straight face. Ye Wei knew that if he stayed quiet, then Ye Zheng Qing would seal the deal. “Gramps!” He took a deep breath and stood up.
“Little Wei, what’s the matter?” Ye Zheng Qing was slightly confused. Why did his grandson look sad and concerned? ‘You won the girl! Why do you look mad? Young kids are so eager these days!’
“Gramps, I do not wish to be engaged just yet…” The calm voice of Ye Wei’s provoked everyone in the great hall. They widened their eyes and put them on the Runemaster’s apprentice.
‘What? They would look good together! And he’s thirteen! Hasn’t he always been close to Joe Yin?’
The Ye Patriarch’s mind went blank for a while he frowned then apologetically waved at the embarrassed Joe Zheng Feng.
Being the patriarch, the news of his engagement request getting declined would make him a laughingstock in Green Moon City. With that in mind, Joe Wan and Ye Jing Jing pulled Ye Wei’s robe simultaneously trying to pull him down and make the situation less awkward for everyone in the hall.
Though Ye Wei tried to sound as mild as possible by not directly declining the idea of an engagement, but even still both the guests and the hosts could not help but cringe a little. They all thought the two would make a beautiful match.
Ye Wei ignored his mom and aunt’s wishes, and kept standing regardless of how hard they were pulling his robe. ‘Not this time…’
He didn’t like Joe Yin anymore and was afraid he would have to spend the rest of his life with someone he couldn’t trust. Yes, she was gorgeous and talented, but Ye Wei’s trust had been shattered from the two times Joe Yin insulted him and left him in the ditch.
It was not hard to figure out Ye Wei and Joe Yin had bad blood now judging by the way he was looking at her. Knowing the deal was probably not going to happen, Joe Zheng Feng failed to keep up the casual act. He stood up and said: “Little Wei, did Joe Yin wrong you somehow? You don’t look too happy! If that’s the case, we can talk it over! I will be a fair judge and the peace-maker!”