Lu Jingyu continued speaking, “That female comrade is named Lin Zijin. I remember Mom telling me her surname was Zhang or Li or something, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone surnamed Lin.
I thought I remembered it wrong, or maybe I didn’t hear clearly. After all, at that time it was just her and me—we were there for a blind meeting.
We talked quite well. I thought she was very good, and then I coaxed her into going to register the marriage directly.”
As soon as he said this, both Xu Qinglin and Lu Yichen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Their son was married—but to a girl whose background they didn’t even clearly know, and whom he had only met once.
Xu Qinglin rubbed her aching head. “Lu Jingyu, you really have a talent for this.”
“I told you to get married and you refused, but now you’re surprisingly proactive. Tell me—where is she from? What do her parents do? Do you even know any of this?”
Her requirements for her son’s partner weren’t many at all—at least she had to be from a clean background and be a decent girl.
Lu Jingyu curled his lips slightly. “Her family is just an ordinary household, living in the west of the city. I checked her household registration and documents.”
“I don’t know what her family does. I’m marrying a wife, not her whole family.”
“Anyway, I’m satisfied with her. Her name is Lin Zijin, just turned eighteen this year, and she just graduated from high school.”
Xu Qinglin blurted out in shock, “Eighteen?”
She pointed at Lu Jingyu, grinding her teeth. “Lu Jingyu, you’re an old cow eating tender grass! How old are you? You’ve gone and corrupted an eighteen-year-old girl!”
“Aren’t you ashamed?!”
As soon as she said that, Lu Jingyu’s mouth twitched. He said helplessly, “Mom, do you even want a daughter-in-law or not?”
“And besides, am I really that old? We’re only… six years apart.”
After saying this, his expression became a bit complicated, as if he also felt that what his mother said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Realizing what he was thinking, he shook his head and threw away the messy thoughts his mother had stirred up.
Xu Qinglin immediately changed her expression. “I do, of course I do!”
“It’s just that she’s so young, and you’re so…” She looked at her son with obvious disgust.
Seeing her son staring straight at her, she quickly changed her tone. “She’s still basically a child, and you’re so stubborn—how are you two supposed to live together?”
Lu Yichen, who had been watching this rollercoaster of emotions all day, finally spoke up. Since the matter was already settled, there was no point worrying anymore—his son said he was married, so he must be married. The boy rarely lied, especially not about something this important.
He put an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Alright, alright. Our son finally got married, so we don’t need to worry about his marriage anymore.”
“Besides, he chose his own wife—he’ll love and take care of her himself.”
“Older men are better at caring for people anyway.”
Xu Qinglin opened her mouth as if to say something, then swallowed it back, glaring at her husband. “The problem is the girl is so young.”
“With our son being this old, what will the in-laws think?”
“That shameless boy—I kept wondering why he didn’t find a partner, turns out he likes… I don’t even want to say it. He actually tricked a young girl into registering the marriage with him.”
Then she still couldn’t quite believe it. “They really registered the marriage?”
“Yes.”
Xu Qinglin stretched out her hand expectantly. “The certificate?”
“His daughter-in-law took it back to explain things at home. I’ll go visit her family tomorrow, and I’ll try to bring it back then.”
Hearing him say this, Xu Qinglin felt a burst of joy in her heart, though her expression remained calm. She pointed at her own son.
“You better make sure you keep your word. If I don’t see my daughter-in-law tomorrow, I’ll break your legs.”
“And tomorrow when you go to your daughter-in-law’s place—tch, my daughter-in-law—you better bring more gifts.”
“You brat, you really deserve a beating, you know that?”
“Who just silently goes and drags someone’s girl off to get a marriage certificate?”
“If anyone dared to do that to my daughter, I’d splash a basin of foot-washing water right on them.”
“Mom, I’m your son.”
“I know, I’ve heard everything you said and remembered it. I just came back to tell you not to introduce me to random people anymore.”
“And also to tell you and dad to prepare the betrothal gifts early.”
“Otherwise, my wife won’t come back with me.”
“Alright, Mom and Dad, I’m leaving now. I still have some work procedures to finish.”
After saying that, he glanced at the time and quickly slipped away.
Watching him leave, Xu Qinglin’s expression turned complicated.
“What kind of situation is this…”
“It was clearly him and…”
Before she could finish, she looked at her husband, her face filled with anger.
“No wonder something felt off. So from beginning to end, the girl from the Zhang family never even showed up.”
“She even argued with me!”
Hu Lanhua called me earlier and lectured me for ages, saying our family upbringing and the child’s character are problematic…”
“No, I have to call her back. We agreed on 10:30, and our daughter-in-law went at 11. Even if they talked a while, that’s still normal.”
“It was clearly the woman who was late—why is it our kid’s fault? I won’t take this anger.”
With that, she dialed the phone and called Hu Lanhua’s house. Once the call connected, Xu Qinglin immediately scolded her.
“Sister Hu, you really lectured my child this morning, so now I want to ask you—where was the Zhang family girl waiting?”
“She was over an hour late.”
“My child was already sitting in the restaurant before ten. He didn’t even see anyone.”
“This is clearly the woman being late and standing him up—how did it become our child’s fault?”
Hu Lanhua was also stunned and said she would check the situation and call back.
……
Lin Family
After hearing everything from her daughter, Yang Qingqiu still felt extremely worried, her face full of concern.
But since the matter was already settled, she could only wait until tomorrow to see what would happen.
She adjusted her emotions and started tidying the house.
In the morning, Lin Xue had brought a man into the alley to introduce him as her boyfriend. She hadn’t thought much of it at first.
She only knew this girl had little schemes, but didn’t expect her to act so quickly.
Since she had brought a boyfriend home, she still treated them politely.
But after learning the man’s name and family background at the dinner table, she was completely stunned.
That man was clearly the one her daughter was supposed to meet today.
The blind date meant for her daughter was now sitting at their dining table—with Lin Xue.
At that moment, she already understood what had happened.
It must have been that when she was talking to Hu Cuihua, Lin Xue overheard everything. Otherwise, how could she have acted so quickly and snatched him away?
No wonder she dressed up so carefully and went out earlier—it turned out she had bad intentions from the start.
She was furious.
She never expected to be played by her usually “well-behaved” stepdaughter.
Watching them eat the food she had cooked, she directly flipped the table…