Uninvited!
Xue Yutang looked confident and composed. “Isn’t my proposal pretty good?”
Shen Taohua clapped her hands. “Talented!”
She was genuinely shocked.
Asking his future wife to raise his extramarital lovers for him, was that seriously a thing?
Although Xue Yutang’s main goal was probably to avoid his wife getting jealous over his many affairs and causing domestic chaos that would interfere with his lifestyle, Shen Taohua still had to admit, this man had an unusually broad mindset.
At this moment, she seemed to understand why Xue Yutang had specifically booked a private room on the second floor.
With this kind of conversation, if anyone outside overheard it, things would be disastrous.
To be honest, she didn’t dislike Xue Yutang’s frankness.
Although he had a whole “pond full of fish,” he neither tried to hide it nor used absurd lies that no one would believe to trick someone into marriage. He was openly and clearly a scoundrel, which was still better than those who were two-faced.
The fact that he was even willing to leave a child surnamed Shen for the Shen family made him seem even more generous.
However…
Shen Taohua put on a polite social smile. “Sounds very tempting, but sorry, I’ll have to decline. You should find someone else.”
Xue Yutang frowned. “Why? Aside from me, there probably won’t be a second man willing to agree to something like this.”
Shen Taohua nodded.
That was true, men willing to voluntarily wear a green hat were rare in this world. Finding even one was already difficult.
However—
“Let’s say we really did get married, and I gave birth to a son for the Xue family. How can you guarantee that your lovers outside won’t try to harm me out of greed for the Xue family’s assets, or even harm my future children?”
Xue Yutang’s expression stiffened slightly.
Shen Taohua continued, “Right now, you can’t bear to part with your little sweethearts because you haven’t met someone you truly love. But what if you do meet that person someday? You’ll definitely want me to make way for them, won’t you?
Having a child with the one you love is only natural. So what about the child I give birth to? What about me? If you remarry, that’s no problem for you, but if I divorce and remarry, I’m the one who suffers the loss.”
Xue Yutang chuckled and shook his head. “All of that is just hypothetical.”
He didn’t think he would ever give up other beauties for the sake of one woman.
Shen Taohua let out an “oh” and changed the subject. “Then if I have someone I like in the future, wouldn’t that person mind that I’ve already been married and had children?”
Xue Yutang was momentarily speechless. “This…”
He truly couldn’t guarantee that.
Shen Taohua spread her hands. “Besides, you might think this arrangement of mutual non-interference is ideal for both sides, but I can’t accept being a married woman and still having affairs with other men outside.”
More importantly, she absolutely could not accept sharing one man with other women. That was simply too unhygienic.
Xue Yutang sighed. “What a pity. I thought we could reach an understanding.”
Seeing that Shen Taohua’s attitude was firm, Xue Yutang did not press further and left very freely.
It was unclear whether he was in a hurry to find another “next candidate” willing to accept his terms.
But that had nothing to do with Shen Taohua anymore.
Shen Family Residence.
“Pfft, what did you say?!”
Master Shen spat out a mouthful of tea, eyes wide as he shouted, “Absurd! Shameless!”
What did he mean, setting up an outside household and keeping men outside? This, this was simply nonsense!
Angrily, he paced back and forth in the hall.
Leaving aside whether the Xue family could even accept such a daughter-in-law, what if their bloodline became confused in the future? He wouldn’t even know who the father of his grandchild was, that was completely outrageous!
Shen Taohua calmly cracked sunflower seeds and stabbed him verbally. “If it’s absurd, wasn’t it you who arranged this meeting? Xue Yutang is famously a flirt in the county, his lovers could line up from one end of the street to the other. What were you thinking, letting me meet him? If I really married him, could I even have a peaceful life afterward?”
The furious Master Shen froze for a moment, his gaze shifting awkwardly. “I’m busy all the time. How would I know what these youngsters are like? Besides, didn’t you say before that you didn’t want someone ugly? At least the Xue boy is good-looking.”
Shen Taohua was speechless. “I’m not someone who just takes any weirdo as long as he’s handsome. I’m loyal-minded. I don’t mix well with a playboy like him.”
Master Shen’s expression choked for a moment, then he snapped irritably, “Watch your words! So vulgar! Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at if people hear you?”
Shen Taohua shrugged noncommittally. “Harsh words, but true. Anyway, this time you should finally see it’s not that I’m being picky, your judgment is the problem.”
Master Shen refused to admit it. “Nonsense! What’s wrong with my judgment?”
Shen Taohua said, “Still denying it? Want me to remind you what kinds of strange, ugly, and utterly bizarre people you’ve introduced before?”
“Let’s start with the one before last. I won’t even mention that he was ugly, but every other sentence out of his mouth was ‘my mother says this’ and ‘my mother says that.’ Was he not weaned yet? Can’t even walk on his own? He listens to his mother about everything, he might as well marry his mother and live with her for life. Why bother getting a wife?”
Not to mention her compatibility score with him was only twenty-five, and even the overall ‘suitable match index’ was only forty. Whoever married him would have a miserable life.
Master Shen’s expression froze.
“And there was that one you said was introduced by a business partner. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that once he had a couple of drinks, he turned into a completely different person, cursing at anyone he saw and beating people whenever he was in a bad mood. If I married him, would I have to get beaten every few days?”
That one was even worse, compatibility thirty, and a suitable match index of twenty.
Master Shen’s expression gradually shifted.
Shen Taohua pressed on. “And then there was the most ridiculous one last month, the child from his mistress was already old enough to run errands. Marrying him would’ve meant becoming a mother overnight. Even if you’re desperate to hold a grandchild, you can’t just pick so recklessly, right?”
That one’s compatibility was a bit higher, forty, but that was just picking the tallest among the short ones. The suitability index was only thirty-five. Still rubbish!
Shen Taohua clicked her tongue. “If this keeps going, I’m going to start wondering if I’m even your real daughter. Or maybe you’ve got some illegitimate child out there and are trying to get rid of me quickly to make room for them.”
At this, Madam Shen, who had just barely recovered from Xue Yutang’s shocking proposal, started looking at her husband in a very different way.
Master Shen’s face completely turned green.
“Shen Taotao! Stop trying to sow discord between me and your mother. What illegitimate child? Our Shen family only has you!”
To stop her from going even further off track, Master Shen quickly changed the subject. “If you think the ones I found aren’t good, then tell me, what kind of man do you actually like?”
Shen Taohua rolled her eyes and smiled sweetly. “Me? I just want to stay at home and take care of you and Mother in your old age, be filial to you both.”
Master Shen’s forehead twitched. “So in the end, you still don’t want to get married!”
Shen Taohua kept smiling. “Yes. You figured me out, Father. You really know me best! Hehe.”
Master Shen snapped in anger. “And you still have the nerve to laugh! I think you’re trying to kill me with anger! Fine, fine, get out, get out! Just looking at you annoys me!”
Madam Shen frowned. “What kind of talk is that? How can you tell our daughter to ‘get out’?”
The furious Master Shen blurted out without thinking, “It’s all your fault for spoiling her so much that she’s like this now! A loving mother ruins her child!”
The always gentle and soft-spoken Madam Shen said in a dangerous tone, “Shen Feibai, say that again?”
Master Shen’s expression stiffened. Shen Taohua, on the other hand, silently went “oh-ho” in her mind and gave him a sympathetic “light a candle for you” look.
Master Shen jolted. “Madam, Qingqing, that’s not what I meant. I just slipped, that’s all.”
Shen Taohua, clearly enjoying the drama, added fuel to the fire. “If that’s not what you really thought, how could it just slip out like that? That’s like how people only tell the truth when they’re drunk.”
Madam Shen’s gaze toward Master Shen grew even more dangerous.
Master Shen was almost furious enough to spit blood. “Shut up!”
Madam Shen gave a cold laugh. “What, struck a nerve? Embarrassed into anger now?”
Master Shen choked, frustrated. “No, I didn’t—”
Seeing that her parents were about to start arguing because of her, Shen Taohua slipped away quickly. “Father, Mother, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to my room first.”
Master Shen really didn’t want to see her right now. He quickly waved his hand. “Go, go!”
Shen Taohua: “Got it! I’m leaving now! Don’t let me interrupt you comforting Mother!”
Master Shen: “……”
So much for speaking the truth.
And whose fault was all this, anyway?
Because Xue Yutang’s proposal was too outrageous, the Shen couple unusually did not arrange any more matchmaking meetings for Shen Taohua over the next two days.
But sometimes, when one is too “popular,” even without arrangements, people still come knocking on their own.
Just as Shen Taohua was about to find a comfortable spot to farm points, she was blocked on the way. She looked at the man in front of her, fairly presentable but for some reason unpleasant, and asked in confusion, “Something wrong?”
Meng Jun glanced her up and down subtly. “You must be Miss Shen, right? I am the young master of Meng’s Pawnshop. I heard the Shen family is currently arranging marriage meetings for you, and coincidentally, my family is also looking for a virtuous wife for me. I think we are quite suitable.”
Shen Taohua: “……?”
She was about to speak when Meng Jun continued on his own.
“Miss Shen is no longer very young, so I assume you’re also eager to settle this matter quickly. In that case, let’s skip the small talk. I’ll state our family’s requirements for a new daughter-in-law first.
Our Meng family is the largest long-established pawnshop in the city, with over a hundred years of history. It is not easy to enter our household.
The bride’s natal family must prepare at least sixty-four dowry boxes, including over three hundred mu of fertile land and three shops as part of the dowry. In addition, there must be no less than five thousand taels of silver as personal dowry money.”
Shen Taohua: “……”
Meng Jun spoke at length and with great confidence: “Our Meng family has strict requirements for the matriarch of the household. After you marry in, you must strictly observe the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, regard your husband as your heaven, be filial to your in-laws, and love your younger brothers and sisters-in-law.
I’ve heard that you often read all kinds of nonsensical storybooks. After marriage, you should read less of those and instead study the ‘Nüjie’ (Lessons for Women) more, cultivate proper female virtue, and pay attention to feminine speech and demeanor, that is what you should be doing.
After marriage, you must behave properly and stay at home, not go out casually, and obediently bear children for our Meng family to continue the lineage. As long as you can give our family a few sons, I will naturally not treat you poorly.”
Shen Taohua: “……??”
Meng Jun continued, “If you cannot bear a son, or if you bear too few, then for the continuation of the Meng family, I will inevitably take a few more concubines in the future. But don’t worry, I will not shortchange you when it comes to the treatment of the legitimate wife.”
Shen Taohua: “!??”
When I typed those question marks, the problem was definitely not me, it was that your brain was clearly ill.
If he had even a few more peanuts to go with his drinks, he wouldn’t be this drunk on daylight delusions. What kind of daydreaming was this in broad daylight?
And when she subconsciously opened the system panel to check his personal information, she was so angered she almost laughed out loud.