There’s a Problem!
Although Xue Yutang’s romantic history was quite rich, all relationships were mutually consensual.
Meng Jun, however, was different.
Also surrounded by countless romantic entanglements, most of his records did not show the normal statuses of “broken up” or “currently dating.” Instead, they all read: abandoned, abandoned, abandoned… without a single exception.
Not to mention that his list of negative traits clearly included labels like “gets tired of the new and clings to the old,” and “starts things carelessly and abandons them midway.”
His “good match index” was only a pitiful twenty, and his compatibility with her was an unprecedented ten.
She had never even seen a negative compatibility score before, ten was already historically low.
To put it simply, she even had a compatibility score of fifteen with the dog next door.
Don’t ask why she tested compatibility with a dog. When a person is bored enough, they inevitably end up doing some incomprehensible things.
In short, this was a scumbag.
Even Xue Yutang, that notorious playboy, only had a compatibility of forty with her, and his “good match index” had at least reached the passing line of sixty.
This Meng guy was far worse than Xue Yutang.
And yet, he had the nerve to spout all that nonsense in front of her?
Besides, what’s wrong with reading storybooks? Did she use your rice or something?
Seeing that Meng was still rambling on, Shen Taohua cut him off directly and asked from the bottom of her heart, “How long has your condition been going on?”
Meng Jun froze for a moment. “What condition?”
Shen Taohua said patiently, “I mean, how long have you been like this, completely lacking self-awareness, shameless, and utterly thick-skinned? Were you born this way?”
Meng Jun’s face instantly turned red. “What did you say?!”
I was even more furious than he was. “I said, is this shameless personality something inherited from the Meng family? So you get all the benefits while I’m supposed to suffer losses? And I should marry you for what exactly? Am I sick in the head?”
Meng Jun exploded in rage. “You—”
Shen Taohua: “What do you mean ‘you’? I was being polite and didn’t interrupt you, but you just kept rambling on so happily. Even delusional fantasies should have a limit, did you not look in a mirror before leaving the house? If the Meng family is so poor that they don’t even have a mirror, you could always pee on the ground and look at your reflection!”
“You love making demands so much? Fine, I’ll state mine too. My family has indeed prepared an endless dowry for me, but I’m extremely stingy. Even after marriage, I wouldn’t share a single copper coin from my dowry with my husband’s family!
If one day my husband’s family falls into ruin or trouble, I will immediately divorce him and return to my parents’ home. I will absolutely not endure hardship together with the husband’s family!”
Shen Taohua declared righteously, “I get married to enjoy life, not to suffer. When disaster strikes, of course everyone goes their own way! A husband who drags his wife into suffering after marriage is useless in the first place!”
Meng Jun’s face turned ashen.
Shen Taohua continued without stopping: “I also know that in most households, a dowry maid is often given to the husband as a concubine. But my Ping’an will get married in the future, she will absolutely not become a concubine.
Not only will I prepare her wedding gifts, but my husband will also contribute, and it cannot be little, at least one hundred taels.”
Meng Jun laughed in anger.
One hundred taels just to send off a maid? Was that maid made of gold?!
That much silver was enough for him to buy seven or eight delicate, beautiful concubines!
He finally couldn’t hold back and snapped, “I’ve never heard of giving such an outrageous dowry to a mere servant girl! This is absurd! You’re being so unreasonable and greedy, no wonder you can’t get married!”
Shen Taohua shot back, “If getting married means dealing with a brain-damaged idiot like you, I’d rather never marry in my entire life! You call my Ping’an a servant girl, what makes you so noble? If you’re so noble, go marry a princess then!
And those ridiculous demands you made for dowry, should I help you publicize them properly so everyone can come and have a good laugh?”
Meng Jun: “!!!”
Furious and embarrassed, he raised his arm and shouted, “How dare you slander my reputation!”
Shen Taohua: Hah, hit a nerve, didn’t I?
She immediately grabbed a stool that Ping’an had brought over from a nearby stall, refusing to back down.
Come on then! Who’s afraid of who!
If Meng Jun dared to act up, she’d crack his skull open right there on the spot!
“What are you doing! What are you doing!”
Before the two could come to blows, a plump middle-aged woman from a nearby stall rushed over, wielding a rolling pin.
She shielded Shen Taohua and Ping’an behind her warily and glared at Meng Jun. “You’re a grown man and you’re trying to lay hands on young ladies, have you no shame!”
Nearby stall owners, noticing something was wrong, quickly gathered around.
“Miss Shen, are you alright? Is this man trying to bully you?”
“Let’s see who dares! Do they think all of us here are dead?!”
Not every stall owner had a business relationship with Shen Taohua, but most of them had benefited from her patronage before. Naturally, they could not just stand by and watch her being bullied.
Under the hostile, watchful gazes of the crowd of stall owners, the heated rage in Meng Jun’s head cooled down instantly.
Noticing that many passersby were also turning to look, their eyes gleaming with the excitement of watching a show, a flash of irritation crossed his face.
He glared hard at Shen Taohua, who looked completely unafraid. “You will regret rejecting me today! Just you wait!”
With that, he turned and left in a hurry.
Shen Taohua snorted.
Regret? Not a chance in this lifetime.
The plump woman leading the group turned to her and asked, “Miss Shen, are you alright?”
Shen Taohua smiled obediently. “I’m fine. Thank you, Auntie Fat, and everyone else for your help. That man wanted to arrange a marriage alliance with my family, but I didn’t like him, so he got angry.”
The plump woman looked utterly disdainful. “So what if you didn’t like him? You’re not the first one he’s been rejected by. Was there any need for him to get so worked up?”
The others nodded in agreement. “Exactly!”
One of the stall owners recognized Meng Jun and specifically reminded her, “That looks like the young master of the Meng family who runs the pawnshop. He’s not a good person. You were right not to choose him.”
Shen Taohua nodded in agreement. “I think so too.”
After confirming she was fine, and since several stalls had customers arriving, the crowd quickly dispersed.
Shen Taohua then continued her point-farming journey. When it was about time, she stopped by a bookstore.
After learning that the latest installment of her favorite author’s storybook wouldn’t arrive for several more days, she left in disappointment and headed home early.
Meng Family Residence.
Humiliated, Meng Jun returned home and immediately started cursing in anger.
“What do you mean my dowry won’t be spent on me at all? What does she think she is!”
Once a woman marries, both she and her dowry naturally belong to her husband’s family. He can spend it however he likes, what right did she have to interfere?
Meng Jun’s otherwise somewhat handsome face was filled with lingering malice. “I already didn’t mind that she’s always out in public and associating with a bunch of low-status commoners, yet she still dares to make demands in return!”
If it weren’t for the Shen family’s wealth, did she even qualify to become a daughter-in-law of the Meng family?
After venting his anger with a string of curses for a while, Meng Jun finally felt a bit better. Then, thinking of his family’s situation, he quietly took a breath and forced himself to endure, small patience prevents great chaos.
No matter what, he had to stabilize her first.
As for Shen Taohua’s ridiculous demands, he sneered inwardly.
What did she mean by “when disaster strikes, everyone goes their separate ways,” and “divorce if things get difficult”? Once she married in, did she really think things would still be up to her?
Once she entered the Meng household, she would be a member of the Meng family. Whether it was her dowry or even her as a person, it would all be at his disposal.
Thinking this way, Meng Jun felt much more at ease.
Shen Taohua had assumed that after being scolded so harshly, Meng Jun would never come back for more humiliation.
Who would have thought that the very next day, this man would show up again as if nothing had happened at all?
Shen Taohua was puzzled. Did I not make myself clear enough last time?
Did I have to spell it out for him, like, “your scumbag aura is practically suffocating me, please do everyone a favor and disappear from my sight”, before he would get it?
What’s more, this time, Meng Jun did not mention his dissatisfaction from yesterday at all. Instead, he even said, “I can agree to all the conditions you mentioned before.”
Shen Taohua looked at his face full of “grievous endurance” and was completely speechless.
Why don’t you go look in a mirror and see if you even believe what you’re saying?
She said casually, “Empty words don’t count. What if you can’t do it? How about you write it down, if you fail to fulfill it, you transfer half of the Meng family’s assets to me as compensation?”
Meng Jun’s eyes widened and his mouth opened, Shen Taohua could practically see the curses about to burst out of his throat.
At the critical moment, he seemed to remember something and forcibly swallowed them back down. Forcing a strained smile, he said, “Miss Shen is quite the jokester.”
Shen Taohua also smiled. “Who’s joking with you? I’m serious. What, are you scared because you know you can’t do it? If you can’t do it, then don’t make empty boasts in the first place.”
“You—!” Meng Jun took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. “Half of the family assets is impossible. Don’t you think you’re being too greedy? You can propose some other, less excessive conditions. I might consider agreeing.”
Shen Taohua looked utterly speechless.
Marriage isn’t business negotiations, why are we haggling like this?
And also…
She stroked her chin and sized Meng Jun up and down.
He clearly didn’t want this at all, yet still forced himself to come here, making it look as if she were coercing an innocent man into prostitution. If there was nothing suspicious going on, no one would believe it.
Her scrutinizing gaze made him increasingly uneasy. As expected, Meng Jun’s eyes started to dart around.
Shen Taohua: He’s guilty! He’s definitely guilty!
There’s absolutely a problem!
Just as she was preparing to test him further, Xue Yutang suddenly appeared from who-knows-where, fanning himself leisurely.
“Oh, what a coincidence.”
Xue Yutang glanced at Meng Jun, whose expression wasn’t great, and shook his head. “I thought Miss Shen rejected me because she had found someone more outstanding. But this… is it really just this?”
Shen Taohua’s interest was instantly piqued.
“Young Master Meng is the young heir of a century-old establishment. His family background and appearance are no worse than yours. How can you say ‘just this’?”
Xue Yutang sneered. “You can’t judge a book by its cover. Some people may look decent on the outside, but inside they’re far from it.”
Shen Taohua perked up immediately and urged, “In what way? Go on, explain in detail.”
Meng Jun’s expression changed drastically. “Xue, you—”
But Xue Yutang didn’t wait for him to finish and directly exposed his background.
He frequented pleasure houses just like Xue Yutang himself, was frivolous and indulgent, that was one thing, but he also toyed with the feelings of women who admired him and mistreated the servants he bought.
Everything matched almost exactly what Shen Taohua had seen in the system interface.
What even she didn’t expect, however, was that Meng Jun wasn’t just here to propose to her, his family had also been secretly arranging meetings with who knew how many other young women, and as of yesterday, those negotiations were still ongoing.
So here was the question: could he possibly have clarified things with all those women in just one day? Obviously not.
Shen Taohua made the expression of a subway elderly man staring at his phone.
The system only recorded actual emotional entanglements, so it made sense these wouldn’t appear there.
But arranging simultaneous matchmaking with multiple women, what exactly was that supposed to be? Picking a concubine lineup?
She didn’t want anything to do with a scumbag playboy, yet somehow she was about to become just another fish in his pond?
And when she casually opened Meng Jun’s favorability toward her, she was once again completely speechless.