Tan Zhi: "....." Terrified face.jpg.
What? No, can’t do, don’t do this.
She absolutely did not want this man’s affection, okay...
Right now, Tan Zhi wished she could just disappear on the spot.
The other students present: "....." Totally baffled.
Uh, what kind of "immortal" development is this... It sure looks interesting.
Su Li casually curved her lips, a knowing auntie-like smile on her face.
Su Li had to marvel once again, this oddball Wan Shimin was truly a wonder.
Making such a decisive change of target, not everyone could do that.
Wan Shimin’s hands clung tightly to Tan Zhi’s arm, dragging her towards himself.
After pulling her behind him, he did not release his grip.
He reiterated his disappointment, "A woman like you deserves to be single."
Su Li: "I’m happy with it, none of your business."
"I’m talented and strong, good-looking and smart, and I’m not lacking in love; living alone is even more carefree."
Su Li’s confident demeanor was particularly attractive, stirring feelings in many of the girls present.
Cheng Zhi was one of them.
She wasn’t a student at Jinghua University; she was quite a few years older than these young students here.
Ten years after graduation, the sense of dusk about her clearly set her apart from the students.
This time, she came here to see her younger cousin and happened across the girl surrounded by the crowd.
Her words were like a ray of sunlight that dispelled the gloom that had long hung over her head.
That’s right, she’s wealthy and attractive, not lacking in love. What men can offer, she can do better herself; why must she get married?
Her parents kept saying that a girl should do certain things at a certain age, but who set those rules?
She was thirty-two this year, with a minor success in her career, a smooth life, her own house, her own car, and financial independence.
But such accomplishments always seemed to be missing something in her parents’ eyes.
In their opinion, she was far from being as presentable as her female cousin from home.
Each time she went back, her parents would nag in her ear, "Your aunt came over to brag again, your cousin found her an excellent son-in-law."
This made her uncle and aunt look particularly honorable in the eyes of their relatives.
Cheng Zhi didn’t understand; the outstanding son-in-law wasn’t someone they had raised, so what was there to be proud of?
Moreover, she had seen this man; his eyes were fixed on high, and he was not very respectful to his in-laws, so it was a mystery what they were so proud of.
And her cousin gradually developed a sense of superiority, even starting to preach.
"Sister, you’d better hurry up and find someone; the good ones are all being snatched up. If you get married too late, you’ll end up being an older mother..."
"At your age, it’s really hard to find someone. How about I introduce someone? A classmate from junior high, divorced, with two kids..."
Cheng Zhi hadn’t even expressed her indignation, like, who was looking down on who here?
Then her parents quickly took over the conversation, "We’re not picky, as long as the person is good..."
The sad thing was that her own parents seemed to agree with this view; it seemed as if she would rapidly lose value if she didn’t marry.
There were even relatives who secretly took her mother’s hand and whispered, "Does Cheng Zhi have some health issue? Not getting married or dating, why does a girl have to strive so hard?"
She strove so hard simply because she enjoyed the joy of success.
She had dated boyfriends, but the cumbersome relationships added eighty percent to her troubles, far from the happiness of being single.
So, why would she choose to enter into marriage?
Seeing her parents’ worried expressions distressed her, so for their sake, she tried accepting a man’s invitation to date.
After dating for half a year, the relationship between the two was lukewarm. He was eager for marriage.
At yesterday’s family meeting, he proposed that if they got married, his parents would buy the apartment, they would pay for ten percent of the down payment, and the couple should cover the furniture and mortgage.
Because she didn’t contribute money to the house, the title could only be in her son’s name.
Furthermore, they hoped that after getting married, she would take a break from her job to focus on getting pregnant, given her advanced age and the difficulty of childbirth.
After the child was born, they, as the grandparents, were not going to take care of it; they had fulfilled their duty by raising their son, and they had no responsibility nor obligation to help with the grandchildren.
Oh, and lastly, since they were relying on their son for old-age support and contributed to the house, they inevitably had to live together with their son—easier for him and his wife to care for them in their old age.
After hearing all this, Cheng Zhi felt that society was filled with malice towards women.
Her boyfriend nodded repeatedly, "It’s to be expected."
And although her parents’ faces showed disapproval, when the other party mentioned her age, they seemed to shrink before him and fell silent, acquiescing to these terms.
After leaving the table, her boyfriend secretly held her hand and whispered, "My mom said that you should bring what you earned before marriage into our little family."
"You know, my salary isn’t high, and there’s barely any left after repaying the mortgage."
Cheng Zhi scoffed at once, "So you mean I’m coming over for poverty alleviation?"
Her boyfriend became furiously angry, "What are you talking about? I’m not even fussed about your age, what do you have to complain about?"
Cheng Zhi couldn’t understand why she should jump into such a pit.
It wasn’t until today, hearing that outspoken girl’s words, that she had her epiphany.
She didn’t need to care about others’ views; the choices in life were her own, and as long as she was willing, that was enough.
It wasn’t just her who thought this way; she wasn’t a freak.
Cheng Zhi felt a weight lift off her shoulders, and she pulled out her phone to call her parents.
"Dad, I still don’t want to get married."
The person on the phone was silent for a while before replying, "It’s up to you, as long as you’re truly happy."
"These days, I know you haven’t been happy; maybe your mother and I were wrong, what we truly want is for you to be happy and carefree."
After hanging up the phone with her parents, Cheng Zhi called her boyfriend, "Let’s break up, we’re not suitable."
Su Li seemed to notice something and glanced in Cheng Zhi’s direction, smiling faintly before turning to leave.
The crowd, seeing that the excitement was over, also dispersed noisily.
But the gossip about Tan Zhi quietly circulated nonetheless.
Especially at the end when they all saw that man tightly clutching Tan Zhi’s hand, just refusing to let go.