Then she added, “Though… I’ve already been married.”
Hearing the first half of the sentence, Jiang Youhua’s face lit up with a broad smile. Hearing the second half, her smile instantly froze.
“You’re married?! Zhaozhao, my dear, why were you in such a hurry? How could a girl as young as you go and get married already?”
Mu Lanchuan chuckled and teased, “Youhua, when your own grandson doesn’t marry, you sigh and groan. So why are you calling my granddaughter rash for getting hitched?”
“That’s not what I meant!” Jiang Youhua gave a forced smile. “I just feel Zhaozhao should have waited a bit longer. She hasn’t even met men as outstanding as my grandson yet! Marrying too early makes it way too easy to pick the wrong guy.”
Mu Zhaozhao blinked mischievously. “Grandma Jiang, thanks to your words—I really did pick the wrong guy. But I’m divorced now.”
“See! I told you!” Jiang Youhua clapped her hands and burst into laughter, laughing so hard her dentures almost flew out.
It wasn’t until she felt the air in the room freeze that she slowly reined in her laughter, cleared her throat, and said, “Zhaozhao, what I mean is… since you’re divorced, could you spare some time to go on a blind date with my grandson? He’s handsome, talented, and downright remarkable. I guarantee you’ll fall for him.”
Mu Zhaozhao waved her hands dismissively. “Grandma Jiang, I appreciate your kindness, but a divorced woman like me shouldn’t waste your grandson’s time. Please keep chatting with my Third Great-Aunt. I’ll be taking my leave.”
She quickly cooked up an excuse to slip away, terrified that if she stayed any longer, Jiang Youhua would physically grab her and start calling her “Granddaughter-in-Law.”
As Mu Zhaozhao made her swift escape, Jiang Youhua called out to her back, refusing to give up: “Zhaozhao, a granddaughter-in-law as wonderful as you—even if you’ve been divorced ten times over, I’d still take you! Think it over again!”
Mu Zhaozhao: “…”
This old lady is something else! Why can’t she wish me well for once?!
Mu Lanchuan tugged at Jiang Youhua’s sleeve. “Youhua, sit down already. My granddaughter isn’t planning on getting married again anytime soon.”
Jiang Youhua sighed heavily. “Sigh, fine. Just sign my grandson up first, then. Whenever Zhaozhao decides to remarry, that silly boy gets top priority.”
Meanwhile, the “silly boy” in question, Ruan Jingsheng, suddenly sneezed inside an apartment arranged by the Shanghai Military Region.
He rubbed his nose with his long, defined fingers and continued talking to Shan Chengming, who sat across from him: “Calculating the time, my grandmother should be arriving in Shanghai today. Go pick her up for me in a bit; I have a meeting later.”
“Grandma Jiang is in Shanghai? What is she doing here?” Shan Chengming asked in surprise.
Ever since he was a kid, the person he feared most was Grandma Jiang. Not because she was strict, but because she never played by the rules, and he was always the one taking the fall around her.
Ruan Jingsheng told him the truth. “She said she got sick of staying in the Capital. When she heard I was sent to Shanghai on a mission, she decided to tag along to visit an old friend here.”
“Fine, I’ll go to the station to get her in a bit,” Shan Chengming grumbled reluctantly.
That evening, Shan Chengming stood outside the train station, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes until he was covered in bites—yet there was still no sign of Jiang Youhua.
Back at the apartment, Jiang Youhua was already seated opposite Ruan Jingsheng, confronting him face-to-face.
“Just tell me: when are you going to get me a granddaughter-in-law?”
“Grandma, change the subject.” Although Ruan Jingsheng was impatient, he still sat upright obediently like an elementary school student.
“I won’t! Do you have any idea? I went to see my old friend today. Her granddaughter is only twenty, and she’s already been married and divorced! Look at you—twenty-five years old and not even a girlfriend to your name!” Jiang Youhua chided, frustrated by his lack of progress.
Ruan Jingsheng listened calmly from across the table, neither arguing nor agreeing.
Jiang Youhua rattled on continuously. “Jingsheng, I don’t care. You have to go on a blind date. Tomorrow, you’re coming with me to my old friend’s place to meet her granddaughter. That girl is so fair and delicate. I guarantee you’ll fall for her the moment you see her.”
Seeing that his grandmother was issuing a military command, Ruan Jingsheng quickly refused. “Grandma, I can’t go on a blind date.”
“Why not?” Jiang Youhua demanded, her expression making it clear she wouldn’t drop the matter without a solid reason.
She knew that what happened fifteen years ago had been a huge blow to him, causing him to gradually become cold and aloof, with no desire for marriage. Still, as his grandmother, she couldn’t help worrying about his future. She feared he’d spend his life without someone to care for him and keep him warm.
Ruan Jingsheng replied indifferently, “I came to Shanghai on a mission. I don’t have time.”
“Every job has time off! Reason invalid!” Jiang Youhua said, thoroughly displeased.
Ruan Jingsheng pressed on, “I already have a woman I need to take responsibility for. The moment I find her, I will marry her.”
“Even if there’s a girl, you can just break it off! That reason isn’t—” Halfway through her sentence, Jiang Youhua froze as realization struck. “What did you say?! What do you mean, a woman you need to take responsibility for?”
This was a massive surprise.
Ruan Jingsheng pursed his thin lips and said, “A while ago, I crossed the line with a female comrade. I am going to marry her and take full responsibility for her!”
Talking about such matters with his grandmother was somewhat embarrassing, but as a real man, he had to own up to his actions. There was nothing to hide. He hadn’t planned on bringing it up so soon to spare his family from worrying, but if he didn’t speak up now, he’d be forced into a blind date.
Jiang Youhua’s eyes nearly popped out of her head in shock. She stood up, grabbed Ruan Jingsheng’s head, turning it left and right, and said with utter seriousness:
“My dear grandson, are you possessed by a ghost? You wouldn’t even glance at a female mosquito flying past you—how on earth did you end up doing… that with a stranger?”
By the time she finished, her old face flushed red.
Although hearing this sounded like good news at first, what actually happened? What kind of trickery had the other party used to make her iron-willed grandson step out of line? What if she turned out to be a fake, manipulative woman?
She didn’t seem half as reliable as Mu Zhaozhao.
Ruan Jingsheng gently brushed Jiang Youhua’s hands away. “Grandma, I really did drink alcohol that day and made a mistake. But I am definitely going to take responsibility. Until I find her, I won’t go on a blind date with any other woman.”
Alarm bells rang in Jiang Youhua’s mind. He lost his mind because he drank? Could it be related to his father? Is it really…?
Though consumed by anxiety, she knew she couldn’t mention a word of this to Ruan Jingsheng. The entire family had agreed to keep it from him.
On the surface, she slapped her thigh, acting lamentous. “You brat! I’m telling you, you are never allowed to touch alcohol again! Oh, my heart aches… The sweet granddaughter-in-law I picked out with so much trouble—gone, just like that!”
“What’s gone? Grandma Jiang, you came back on your own—why didn’t you give me a head-up? Look at all these mosquito bites on me! I look practically unrecognizable!” Shan Chengming rushed into the apartment, catching the tail end of Jiang Youhua’s complaints.
Jiang Youhua turned around and caught sight of Shan Chengming, whose eye was swollen shut from a mosquito bite. She couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter.
Waving her hand, she said, “This old lady is tired. I’m going to sleep.”
With that, she let out a yawn, abruptly changed the subject, and made her grand escape.
Ruan Jingsheng pulled a tube of military-issue ointment from a drawer and handed it to Shan Chengming. “Brother, I’m sorry. I didn’t know she changed her train schedule either.”
Shan Chengming pouted, forced to accept his bad luck. He knew it—nothing good ever happened whenever he ran into Grandma Jiang!
When Mu Zhaozhao arrived back at the Mu family ancestral residence, Qi Ruobing and Mu Yunxing were already sitting on the sofa waiting for her.
The two of them looked fierce, as if they wanted to devour her whole.
Mu Zhaozhao looked at them—one with a dislocated shoulder, the other with a black eye. Together, they couldn’t even make up one whole functional person, let alone pose a threat. A sneer touched her lips.
Seeing this, Mu Yunxing flew into a rage. “Mu Zhaozhao, who do you think you’re looking down on?! Tell me, did you steal the money from my mom’s room and mine?”
Mu Zhaozhao replied coldly, “I do look down on you—what are you going to do about it? I take it you’ve already turned my room upside down since coming back, haven’t you? Did you find your missing money?”
She sneered, “I advise you to stop framing me without evidence! You’d be better off spending your time stalking Uncle to see if he quietly funneled your money away to those extra ‘aunts’ he keeps on the side!”