Chapter 12: Liu Hongying Cries

What Liu Hongying was crying about, everyone in the family could guess. Only Liu Honghe was clueless, asking stupid questions and poking at her wounds.

Lin Xiangnan looked at Liu Honghe and secretly mouthed the word “idiot.”

Liu Honghe saw it and angrily clenched his chopsticks, glaring fiercely at Lin Xiangnan, but he dared not retort.  He could only lower his head and eat his rice angrily.

“Third brother, eat some vegetables.” Lin Xiangnan saw this and cheerfully offered him some food.

Liu Honghe slammed his chopsticks down. “I’m not eating!”

“Who are you slamming your chopsticks at?” Liu Laohui slammed the table and shouted, “You brats, none of you give me peace. I’ve wasted my time raising you!”

After being scolded by his father, Liu Honghe cowered again. He picked up his rice bowl with a look of grievance.

Lin Xiangnan shook his head in sympathy. He had thought this guy was tough. It turned out he was just a hothead who knew how to make a fuss but had no real brains.

Come to think of it, he was only a 16-year-old middle school student. What could he possibly be good at?

His only talent was throwing tantrums at his own dad. He could only bully his family.

Hu Meili had arranged a blind date for Lin Xiangnan, so he wouldn’t need to use the family’s money to buy a job. Naturally, Liu Honghe didn’t need to see her as a competitor. But the grudge over the chili water remained, and Liu Honghe still looked at her with disdain.

Lin Xiangnan didn’t care. He didn’t need to look at him.

But Lin Xiangnan and Liu Hongying slept in the same bed at night, and there was no way to avoid each other.

“Are you really going to get married?” Liu Hongying asked softly.

Lin Xiangnan answered with a perfunctory “Hmm.”

“Good families aren’t easy to find. If you marry poorly, your whole life will be ruined.” Liu Hongying started to sob again. “My parents scold me for not getting married. But they don’t even look at what kind of people they’re introducing me to! How could I possibly marry them?”

Lin Xiangnan recalled Liu Hongying’s blind date candidates. Except for the last one, who was a fool, the others were actually pretty decent.

Hu Meili was just good at talking. She wasn’t really that cruel to her four stepchildren, who she had raised with her own hands. The first two candidates were actually pretty good if you just looked at their conditions. It was just that Liu Hongying didn’t like them.

As for the last foolish candidate, it was Liu Laohui who had arranged it. It wasn’t Hu Meili’s fault.

Liu Hongying cried sorrowfully, “To buy jobs for my two brothers, this family can’t accommodate my sister and me.”

“It’s not like you haven’t been hanging around here for a year.”

If it weren’t for the obstacle of going to the countryside, Lin Xiangnan would also like to be a lazy bum at home.

“But Dad gave me an ultimatum today.” Liu Hongying said in a muffled voice. “My parents just despise me.”

Lin Xiangnan wasn’t interested in being a confidante. He deliberately yawned loudly. “Stop talking. I’m going to sleep.”

She really didn’t want to sleep with anyone else, but the family’s living conditions were too limited. There wasn’t another room to spare.

“Wuwuwu…” Liu Hongying clutched the corner of the blanket and sobbed softly.

She was so loud that Lin Xiangnan couldn’t sleep. He was so annoyed that he sat up.

“Cry, cry, cry. You’ll cry away all your good fortune. The more you cry, the harder your life will be.”

Liu Hongying’s crying stopped instantly.

But Lin Xiangnan wasn’t done.

“If you dislike the people your elders find for you, then find someone good yourself. If you don’t want to get married, then find a job yourself.”

“All you do is cry. What good does crying do?”

“If you want to cry, you should go cry to your dad. Why are you crying to me? You’re waking me up.”