5 – Suffocating Pressure to Marry
The afternoon’s work continued with reviewing materials. Although it was somewhat tedious, Su Qinghe still read very attentively.
After a day of familiarization, Su Qinghe now had a more concrete understanding of how the company and the brand operated.
Once the design director assigned her work, she was confident she would quickly get into the swing of things.
“Qinghe, do you take the subway or the bus to get home?” Li Jiajia turned to look at Su Qinghe.
Su Qinghe replied, “I take the subway.”
“Then shall we walk together?”
“Sure, just give me a few minutes.” Su Qinghe neatly organized the documents on her desk and put her mouse and keyboard back in their proper places.
After tidying up her desk, Su Qinghe picked up her bag and left work with Li Jiajia, heading toward the subway entrance.
As they walked out of the first-floor lobby of the company building, Su Qinghe looked around cautiously, scanning her surroundings carefully, afraid of running into Lu Yanci again.
Fortunately, she didn’t happen to run into him this time.
On the way to the subway station, Su Qinghe chatted and laughed with Li Jiajia. When they entered the station, they had to go in different directions, so they waved goodbye and each squeezed onto their respective trains.
By the time Su Qinghe returned to the entrance of her apartment complex, the sky was completely dark. The streetlights on both sides of the walkway stretched her shadow long behind her.
Opening the door and stepping inside, Su Qinghe casually placed her bag on the cabinet and bent down to change into her slippers.
The apartment was unusually quiet. She didn’t hear the familiar sound of keyboard typing, and He Nanzhi’s door was open.
Su Qinghe glanced inside—He Nanzhi wasn’t there. She must have gone out.
Turning on the TV and randomly picking a news channel, Su Qinghe sat absentmindedly on the sofa playing with her phone.
Just then, a video call popped up. Seeing that it was her mother calling, Su Qinghe quickly pressed accept.
Lin Hui’s delicate and dignified face appeared on the phone screen.
Su Qinghe smiled and asked, “Mom, have you and Grandma eaten dinner yet?”
“We have. What about you?” Lin Hui smiled at Su Qinghe with affection.
“Not yet. I just got home from work. I want to rest for a bit before cooking dinner.” Su Qinghe wasn’t used to eating takeout; even when she was studying abroad, she mostly cooked for herself.
“Hehe, didn’t you go on a blind date a couple of days ago? How was the guy?” Lin Hui had held back for two days but ultimately couldn’t resist calling to ask.
“Uh…” Su Qinghe frowned slightly. “I don’t think he’s a good fit. He’s a mama’s boy, and he also demanded that after marriage, I must quit my job to be a stay-at-home housewife, staying home to take care of him exclusively.”
“That kind of demand is way too unreasonable.” Such an excessive request made Lin Hui click her tongue in disbelief.
Su Qinghe pursed the corner of her lips. “Naturally, I wouldn’t agree to something like that. So, this blind date failed again.”
“Of course you can’t marry someone like that. If it failed, it failed. If Jiang Yue has other suitable candidates, I’ll have her keep introducing you to more.”
The Jiang Yue Lin Hui mentioned was their neighbor’s older sister back in their hometown.
Jiang Yue had attended university in the capital and, after graduating, joined a large company as an HR. She had a wide network of connections and had enthusiastically offered to set Su Qinghe up with potential matches.
Hearing this, Su Qinghe’s head throbbed with frustration, and she couldn’t help but let out a groan. “Mom, can I just not go on blind dates?”
“Sure, you can.” Lin Hui nodded.
Seeing the hopeful look in her daughter’s eyes, Lin Hui continued, “Just find yourself a boyfriend and fall in love—then you won’t need to go on blind dates anymore.”
Su Qinghe: “…” Where on earth was she supposed to find a man to date at a moment’s notice?
“Hehe, you’re 25 now—well, you’ll be 25 right after the New Year. Listen to your mother, it’s the right time. If you date someone for a year or two now, then get married and have kids, it’ll be perfect timing.”
Lin Hui knew her daughter wasn’t too keen on continuing the blind dates, so she patiently tried to persuade her.
Listening to her mother’s nagging, Su Qinghe nodded repeatedly and replied perfunctorily, “I know, Mom. I’ll go on the blind dates.”
“Alright, Hehe. You haven’t eaten yet—go make yourself some food, don’t starve.”
Realizing Su Qinghe hadn’t eaten yet, Lin Hui stopped her nagging and quickly ended the video call.
Su Qinghe tossed her phone onto the sofa, lowered her head, and stared at her empty palms, lost in thought.
Every time her mother called, she would bring up the matter of her marriage.
Was there some law that said it was a crime not to get married by a certain age?
At this moment, Su Qinghe wished she could find a man to enter into a fake marriage—get the marriage certificate, then leave each other alone and continue living her free and easy life.
But she knew very well that this would never happen.
Real life wasn’t a novel; there was no way something so absurd could occur.
Just as Su Qinghe’s head was about to split from the headache, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the front door. He Nanzhi pushed the door open and walked in, her phone in hand and a few bags of groceries hanging from her arm.
“Nanzhi, let me take those in.” Su Qinghe stood up and walked over, taking the groceries from He Nanzhi’s hands before turning and carrying them into the kitchen.
After putting the groceries away, He Nanzhi also came in and stood beside Su Qinghe, saying, “I bought a fresh sea bass. Is fish okay for dinner tonight?”
“Mm, sure.” Su Qinghe nodded gently.
Both of them knew how to cook. While Su Qinghe steamed the fish, He Nanzhi washed and chopped the vegetables beside her.
In less than half an hour, dinner was ready.
One dish of steamed sea bass, a plate of stir-fried greens, and a bowl of rice each—that was their dinner.
After finishing the meal and cleaning up the dining table and kitchen, He Nanzhi returned to her room to continue writing her script.
Su Qinghe sat on the sofa for a while, flipping through channels with the remote control but finding nothing she wanted to watch.
She turned off the TV and went back to her room, sitting down at her computer and opening her email to reply to messages from friends overseas.
A few months ago, she had given up a great job opportunity in Italy and decided to return to China to develop her career. Her friends were all concerned about how she was doing.
…
Shengshi International Tower, top-floor CEO’s office.
It was already past ten in the evening, yet Lu Yanci was still seated at his desk, reviewing the quarterly reports submitted by the various executives.
After a while, Zhou Shiyu walked in carrying a glass of water and set it down on the desk.
Zhou Shiyu stood to the side and said softly, “President, it’s already very late. Perhaps you should head home and rest.”
“If you’re done with your work, you can clock out and go home. No need to wait for me.” Lu Yanci rubbed his brow, his tone tinged with weariness.
Lately, his mother, Li Wanyun, had been inviting wealthy young ladies over to the house every day for meals and chats.
They would stay until very late, and the implication behind it all went without saying.
To avoid those gaudily dressed heiresses, Lu Yanci had no choice but to use work as an excuse and stay late at the office every night.
“Then I’ll step out for now. Call me if you need anything.” Since the boss hadn’t left yet, his special assistant naturally had to stay and work overtime as well.
Lu Yanci rose and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the high-rise buildings across the way whose lights had already gone out. Suddenly, the silhouette he had seen during the day flashed through his mind again.
His memory was excellent, and now that he thought about it carefully, the figure from earlier that day bore a striking resemblance to the one that had faded into the distance in the rain that day!