After finishing dinner, Qiao Shu linked arms with He Hong and walked toward the door, claiming under the pretext of a stroll to aid digestion. In truth, Qiao Shu’s real intention was—
“Mom, let’s talk about the matchmaking at Aunt Cui Ping’s house this afternoon.”
A gentle night breeze blew, carrying the faint scent of osmanthus flowers in the early autumn air.
In such a relaxed atmosphere, Qiao Shu’s words immediately made He Hong feel a bit guilty.
“Shushu… I know what I did wasn’t right, but I only did it for your own good…”
He Hong’s words reminded Qiao Shu of those internet memes from her previous life: ‘Parents do it for your good, but really push the child into an abyss.’
She had been an orphan before and hadn’t understood those sentiments, but now that she had elders who loved her so dearly, she truly felt the sweet yet burdensome weight of this ‘parental love.’
Though the current situation hadn’t reached abyss levels, it still impacted her life somewhat.
“Mom, you can’t hurt me under the banner of doing it for my own good. I thought I’d made it clear enough to you all. I like you, I like Feng Xiao, I only want to stay with the Feng Family. So apart from Feng Xiao, I won’t marry anyone else.”
Qiao Shu stopped walking, gripped He Hong’s hand tightly as if to show her resolve, and locked eyes with her, her gaze full of determination.
Seeing Qiao Shu like this, He Hong’s heart jolted. With a troubled expression, she said, “But Shushu… A Xiao, his… his condition like that means he probably can’t bring you happiness in the future. He can’t make you a complete woman, can’t give you a child of your own, leaving you unable to be a woman, a mother for the rest of your life…”
This was what the Feng Family Members couldn’t bear to see, so they didn’t want Qiao Shu to marry their son anymore.
“Mom, I’ve said it already—I don’t care. What I care about is only you all, marrying Feng Xiao.”
Qiao Shu said earnestly. If she weren’t worried that telling the truth would scare the Feng Family and make them think she was crazy, she really wanted to say that what she was most satisfied with was Feng Xiao’s impotence, that he couldn’t have children!
Though she liked children and had even switched careers this life to write fairy tales, that didn’t mean she wanted to bear her own.
Especially because of the psychological trauma from her previous life, she had a natural aversion to unfamiliar men.
She could interact normally, but the thought of sharing a bed with a man, living together forever, doing those intimate things—it terrified her just thinking about it.
So Feng Xiao, ‘injured there and impotent,’ was truly the best marriage candidate for her in this era.
“Sigh, Shushu, you’re still young, still so little. Do you even know what liking or love is? You’ve been brainwashed by your grandpa’s teachings since childhood!”
Seeing the young girl’s stubbornly obtuse attitude, He Hong finally voiced the thoughts deep in her heart.
To her, and to everyone in their whole family, Qiao Shu’s single-minded determination to marry their son was clearly because Old Master Qiao had brainwashed her.
Only then did Qiao Shu understand why, despite her saying so many times that she must marry Feng Xiao, they still obstructed her—it was because she was young and brainwashed!
Realizing this reason, Qiao Shu found it both amusing and exasperating.
But putting herself in their shoes, she thought her behavior did seem rather like being brainwashed.
After all, the current ‘impotent’ Feng Xiao wasn’t exactly a great match. Plus, she’d only recently met him—how could she be ‘deeply in love’ and insist on no one else?
“Mom, I’m already nineteen, an adult. Marrying Feng Xiao is my own choice…”
Qiao Shu said seriously. “Mom, let me be frank with you. Actually, Grandpa originally intended someone else from the Qiao Family to marry into the Feng Family. He thought the age gap between me and Feng Xiao was too big, so the initial bride candidate for Feng Xiao was my second cousin.
But after receiving the letter from Elder Feng, the bride for Feng Xiao became me instead. I hadn’t planned to mention this, but since you keep saying my mind has been brainwashed by Grandpa, I think I should clarify it for you.”
Hearing this, He Hong was completely stunned. She hadn’t expected that the Qiao Family marrying a daughter to them involved so many twists and turns.
“So, Mom, no one’s brainwashed me. I truly and sincerely want to marry Feng Xiao.”
“But, but what do you stand to gain?”
This only puzzled He Hong more. If it were before, when her son was healthy, she could understand a girl wanting to marry such an outstanding son.
But now, with her son injured there, unable to bring happiness to his wife in the future—whoever married him would be jumping into a pit of fire, widowed while alive.
So why was Qiao Shu so insistent on marrying her son…?
“Mom, if I say I’m after you, Dad, Grandpa, Sister, Ningning and Kangkang, and Feng Xiao—would you believe me?”
Qiao Shu smiled. Since she’d laid her cards on the table with He Hong to avoid future matchmaking nonsense, she decided to share some of her real thoughts.
“I like you, I like becoming the Feng Family’s daughter-in-law, I want to become family with you all, and I like… Feng Xiao.”
She said the last part a bit insincerely.
But He Hong didn’t notice. At that moment, Qiao Shu’s words were too much for her to process.
“Child, if you want to become family, our family can take you as a goddaughter—we’d still be family. There’s no need to marry Feng Xiao…”
It took He Hong a good while to regain her composure before murmuring this.
But Qiao Shu’s next words moved her deeply.
“Mom, even as your goddaughter, I’d still have to marry someday. Then I’d still be separated from you all…”
Qiao Shu blinked, pouting coquettishly.
“And I really do like Feng Xiao. If I have to marry someone in this lifetime, it can only be him. Anyone besides Feng Xiao—I’d rather die than marry!”
Of course, dying was impossible. Qiao Shu only said it to make her resolve sound more alarming.
Sure enough, it startled He Hong.
“You silly child! What talk of dying—pfui, pfui, pfui! Bad luck!”
He Hong frowned tightly and said hurriedly.
Seeing how anxious He Hong was, Qiao Shu knew she’d achieved her goal.
“So, Mom, no more matchmaking for me in the future. It wastes my time and others’. I just want to stay by your sides, live my days with Feng Xiao.”
Understanding how resolute Qiao Shu was about marrying her son, He Hong sighed inwardly. Her previous idea of taking Qiao Shu out more to meet the outstanding young men in the Military Compound vanished instantly.
After all, the girl had spoken to this extent, and she truly liked their son and wanted to be their daughter-in-law. How could she let the child feel heartbroken?
Even if Shushu wouldn’t have a child of her own in the future…
As if reading He Hong’s mind, Qiao Shu added fuel to the fire.
“Mom, as for children—to be honest, my family spoiled me rotten. You all say I’m a child myself—how could I be a good mother to others? So I don’t want to have kids. It’s fine not having them—no need for me to toil away raising them through hardships. The two kids Feng Xiao adopted will be mine from now on. How great is that? No need to raise them—they grew up on their own~! I heard their distant little aunt has been taking care of them all along. Perfect—no effort from me and I get two kids for free…”
Hearing the girl’s heartless words, He Hong found them outrageously unorthodox and absurd.
But looking at Qiao Shu’s pretty, innocent face, she realized bearing and raising children was indeed hard work, and giving birth was so dangerous for women.
Their delicate girl got hurt from the slightest bump. If she gave birth later, how much suffering would that be!
Plus, with her weak constitution, it would be even riskier than for most…
Suddenly, He Hong thought Qiao Shu marrying her son was actually great!
Marrying elsewhere and giving birth—way too dangerous!
She couldn’t bear the girl suffering even the slightest grievance or risk.
So—
“Shushu, no marriage! No kids! With your little frame, giving birth is too dangerous! From now on, Mom won’t take you to meet anyone else. When you reach age, you and Feng Xiao go get your marriage certificate! You’ll be Mom’s daughter-in-law! Our family definitely won’t let you suffer the slightest bit!”
He Hong had thought it through. Qiao Shu was too delicate, her constitution too frail—childbirth posed too much risk.
And thinking about it, what if the girl met a bad person elsewhere and suffered grievances after marrying into another family?
So suddenly, He Hong felt that Qiao Shu marrying their ‘impotent’ son was the best choice!
Of course, if the girl regretted it later and wanted to change her mind, their whole family would support her.
“But Shushu, if you change your mind later, tell Mom anytime. No matter what decision you make, we’ll support you.”
“Mom, don’t worry. I definitely won’t regret it or change my mind.”
With the matter settled, Qiao Shu thought there’d be no more annoying matchmaking in the future. She happily linked arms with He Hong again and said coquettishly,
“Mom, you’re so good to me. I like you so much~!”
He Hong’s heart melted completely from Qiao Shu’s coquetry. She felt the girl belonged in their home~!
After resolving the Feng Family’s ‘well-intentioned’ matchmaking attempts, Qiao Shu happily fell asleep.
The next day, the day she’d arranged to meet Weng Kanya, her good mood soured a little.