Blind Date Part 1

Xiao Man was naturally quite beautiful and hadn’t faced much hardship in the countryside. Even though she didn’t work in the fields and didn’t earn many points, Lin Chengshan sent her money, so her life was pretty comfortable. She didn’t have calluses on her hands and remained fair and delicate.

After other female educated youth got married, they still had to work in the fields. But Xiao Man didn’t have to work in the fields at all. Lin Chengshan had prepared all the tickets and money. The greatest hardship she had endured was probably giving birth to her daughter.

“This dress seems a bit plain,” Mother Xiao said. “All green isn’t suitable.”

“The leaves are green, but the rest is white,” Xiao Man replied. “It’s quite refreshing.”

“No, it’s not acceptable,” Mother Xiao said. “The green is too obvious. Wearing this to a blind date will only remind people that you’re a remarried woman. Even though it’s in the past and not your fault, men tend to overthink. In the future, try to avoid wearing this color.”

“But you helped me buy this dress,” Xiao Man said.

“This wasn’t something we considered when we bought it, was it?” Mother Xiao replied.

Mother Xiao looked at her daughter’s fair and delicate face. Unlike other educated youths who returned to the city with rough hands and poor skin, her daughter’s skin was still good. Mother Xiao believed the man would surely appreciate her daughter’s qualities.

“If you can’t wear it, give it to your sister-in-law.”” Mother Xiao said.

“Will she be happy about it?” Xiao Man asked.

“She should be happy to have new clothes,” Mother Xiao said. “Can she still make a fuss?”

The Xiao family’s eldest daughter-in-law had also worked on a farm and endured hardships. Even so, Mother Xiao cared more about her daughter and less about the eldest daughter-in-law. Mother Xiao felt that if the eldest daughter-in-law hadn’t found another match, she would have left. After all, she had mentioned divorce before.

Indeed, the eldest daughter-in-law was the first to mention divorce, but she never actually went through with it and still endured hardship with her husband.

However, Mother Xiao always remembered what the eldest daughter-in-law had said and couldn’t forget it. She felt that the eldest daughter-in-law had nearly escaped.

“Don’t worry about her. Dress up nicely for this blind date. It’s best if it works out,” Mother Xiao said. “If it doesn’t work out, you’ll have to keep looking. There won’t be any better options. You know, you’re not the only educated youth coming back from the countryside. Didn’t others try to hide their pasts?”

“……” Xiao Man was silent.

“There’s a male educated youth from our street who came back and said he wasn’t married, but it turns out he had married someone else. It wasn’t long before his wife from the countryside showed up with their child, causing a scene,” Mother Xiao said.

“What did he do?” Xiao Man asked.

“What can he do? Just let that woman leave,” Mother Xiao said. “He’s remarried, has a new wife, and the new wife is an educated city girl. There’s no way he’d give up his current marriage for a coarse village woman. In the end, the child could stay. Marriage is about connections, not grudges. Their family has enough issues as it is.”

“Yes, but I haven’t divorced…” Xiao Man looked at her mother.

“It’s not a big deal. Just go get a divorce from that rural man,” Mother Xiao said. “They know your situation. We haven’t hidden anything. He’s a widower, and his education isn’t as high as yours. You’re going to college. You’re more than a match for him.”

Mother Xiao wished her daughter hadn’t married in the countryside and had a child. If that had been the case, her daughter’s current life would be even better.

In the county town, Lin Chengshan quickly handled the paperwork with the help of someone, and the village head also handed over the money to Lin Chengshan.

“Are you really not going back?” the village head asked.

“I’m not going back.” Lin Chengshan replied. “I’ve already packed everything. The child is quite tired, so today we’ll just wander around the county town. We’ll go to the city tomorrow.”

Lin Chengshan was primarily concerned about his daughter’s health. Her condition wasn’t very good. Some people get car sick and vomit continuously. Lin Chengshan noticed his daughter wasn’t the type to complain. It didn’t matter to him as a grown man. What was important was the child.

“That’s good,” the village head nodded. “Having the child with you in the city will be better.”

The village head didn’t elaborate further. Lin Chengshan was a decisive person. No matter how much they said, it wouldn’t change things. For example, the village head had thought Lin Chengshan would stay in the village for a few more days, but who would have expected him to leave so quickly?

“We’ll move into the house tomorrow.” The village head assured Lin Chengshan. The property transfer is complete, so it’s only a matter of a day or two.

Lin Chengshan had already given the keys to the village head. It was fine if the village head and his people went to clean up the house today.

The village head hadn’t told his son or anyone else about the house, and he hadn’t said much to his wife either. The village head knew that Lin Chengshan didn’t want to interact much with the Lin family. Upon reflection, it was clear that the Lin family had treated Lin Chengshan unfairly, and it was understandable that he wanted to leave with his child.

“Thank you very much,” Lin Chengshan said.

“It’s okay, I’ll go first.” the village head replied.

Lin Chengshan was holding his daughter, Lin Qingqing, who was nibbling on a steamed bun because she was a bit hungry. Lin Chengshan first took his daughter to a nearby restaurant and ordered braised pork.

“Eat up,” Lin Chengshan said, serving lean meat to Lin Qingqing, knowing that some people don’t like fatty meat.

Of course, in this era, people generally liked fatty meat, but Lin Chengshan thought it was too greasy. His daughter wasn’t used to such rich food and might get a stomach upset from it. Most importantly, Lin Chengshan thought that even if others enjoyed fatty meat, his daughter should avoid it.

Lin Qingqing glanced at her father. When he indicated that she should eat the meat and continued to serve her, she thought she should eat as much as she could. If her father decided not to keep her later, at least she’d have had some good food.

Even now, Lin Qingqing is still worried that her father might not want her.

“Eat slowly, don’t rush,” Lin Chengshan said, helping his daughter with the meat while he ate the fatty parts himself.

Lin Qingqing’s mouth was full of oil, and she genuinely felt that she had eaten a lot of delicious food these past two days. She hoped she could continue to eat well in the future.

“Later, you’ll still have these kinds of food,” Lin Chengshan said with a smile. “I’ll cook for you. My cooking skills are quite good.”

In his previous life, Lin Chengshan often cooked and made pastries. His culinary skills were well-regarded. Some well-known chefs even suggested that Lin Chengshan could open a restaurant and become a head chef. They weren’t just flattering him, he had seriously studied and excelled at cooking.

Lin Chengshan tasted the restaurant’s braised pork and found it wasn’t very good. He saw his daughter enjoying her food so much and understood that she had never had such food before, which made it especially delicious to her.

“Daddy, eat,” Lin Qingqing said, serving Lin Chengshan some dishes.

“Daddy is eating,” Lin Chengshan replied, noticing how well his daughter used chopsticks. Many children her age still struggled with chopsticks.