Liu Guoding's death did not affect Ding Yun much. As soon as he was cremated and buried, Ding Yun practically forgot about him. However, what Ding Yun did not expect was that this matter had a rather significant impact on her daughter.
For some reason, after Liu Guoding's death, her daughter stayed in her room alone, refusing to eat or drink for an entire day. Then, she came out and told Ding Yun that she wanted to go on blind dates and find a companion for a second marriage. Her reason was that she felt her father was extremely lonely and helpless when he died. At the same time, she thought of herself, believing that Ding Yun would pass away before her. Her son would likely not live with her, and even if they did, the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law might not be good. She neither wanted to be bullied nor wanted to make things difficult for her son. Therefore, she felt it was better to find a companion while she was young, lest she have no one to accompany her when she fell ill in her old age.
In addition to this, she specifically laid out some requirements:
"The blind date I'm looking for should preferably be younger than me. Because I've seen news reports stating that the average lifespan of women is much higher than that of men, if I find someone of similar age or even older, it won't be me who needs someone to accompany me when I'm sick, but I'll have to accompany him. In that case, I might as well not remarry.
Also, it would be best if both parents are deceased. If not, having siblings and not being the eldest in the family would be acceptable, as I don't want to marry into a family and spend years caring for elderly parents with poor health.
They can't be too ugly, nor have obvious defects like disabilities or scars on their face. Of course, if they are exceptionally handsome or have a great physique, these aspects can be more flexible. Not being able to see or hear is acceptable.
Their personal habits cannot be too bad, not someone who doesn't shower for a month, change bedsheets for half a year, or clean for a year. Preferably, they should be somewhat diligent. If they can cook, that would be even better.
It doesn't matter if they have no children, but if they do, their children should be older. I don't want to help raise children. They should at least be in junior high school or older. I also don't expect to treat them like my own mother, but I certainly won't abuse them. We can just get along normally, and I'll provide what's necessary.
Furthermore, their salary cannot be too low, their job cannot be one that keeps them away from home all day, nor can it be an extremely exhausting job that easily leads to sudden death. I don't want to become a widow shortly after marrying someone and have people accuse me of being a jinx. As for other things, I'll think about them later..."
Listening to her daughter so matter-of-factly list these demands, Ding Yun could only roll her eyes, unsure how to react or what expression to wear. These requirements were too numerous and too specific. Some young people online now have such low standards that they just need someone alive, male or female, who can hold an umbrella in the rain. With such detailed demands, even a matchmaker would probably be unwilling to take on the job, or at least not be motivated to earn money from it. This clearly indicated an extremely demanding client, and few matchmakers would be willing to entertain such requests.
"Mom, what's with that expression?"
Before Ding Yun could finish rolling her eyes, Liu Lan noticed and said with dissatisfaction, "Do you think I'm being difficult and demanding? Do you think that at my age, and being divorced, I'm not qualified to make these demands? Let me tell you, I've already researched the blind date market here. My demands are a bit much, but I don't want a bride price. I'm healthy, don't want a bride price, and I don't have any younger brothers to support. I have a son, but didn't you previously say you were willing to take custody? You can change the guardian to you then. My conditions aren't too good, are they? I have more demands and they're specific, isn't that natural? Oh, right, I also don't want to buy a house, just a place to live is fine, and I don't need a car. Some fifty-something elderly ladies now still ask for a bride price. I'm not even forty yet. In a big city, I might not even have been married. So it's only natural to have more demands!"
"Don't worry, I'm not judging you. If you want to look for someone like that, then so be it. If you can actually find someone, I can only congratulate you and won't hold you back. So, what's your plan now? Do you need me to introduce you to a matchmaker, or will you find one yourself?"
Although Ding Yun felt her daughter's requirements sounded a bit unreliable and unlikely to lead to finding a suitable partner, if her daughter could get married, it would clearly be a good thing. Ding Yun had no reason to refuse.
"Matchmakers nowadays are too unreliable, they basically lie through their teeth. So, I'll do it myself. I've already checked out the more famous blind date corners in our town and county. I'll go myself. But I don't have any money, could you give me some money to buy a couple of decent outfits and some cosmetics? I need to dress up a bit and make myself presentable. That way, I can meet potential partners better..."
Liu Lan said this with an air of entitlement and justification, but Ding Yun couldn't help but suspect whether her daughter genuinely wanted to find a partner or was just trying to get some money to buy clothes and the like. After all, she hadn't bought any clothes last year, and her skincare products were almost used up. Even basic items like lip balm were running low. She should have restocked, but she didn't have the money.
Finally, Ding Yun specifically said she was going back to her room to get money, then secretly transformed and cast a truth spell on her daughter that would last for half an hour. Only then did she come out with a thousand yuan. She didn't give the money to her daughter immediately but first cautiously repeated some questions. After getting confirmation that she indeed had the intention of remarrying and also wanted to take the opportunity to buy clothes and skincare products, Ding Yun ultimately decided to give it another try and handed over the thousand yuan. If she could get her daughter married off for a thousand yuan, it would be a monumental blessing. Such a good girl should just go and bother someone else.
Liu Lan then happily took the money and left without a word, heading straight out to go shopping. In the following days, she did make some effort to dress up and went out early each day. Sometimes she would return somewhat happy, and other times she would return furious. Her daily expressions were a clear indication of how her blind dates were going. Clearly, there were very few promising leads and she was often angered.
Later, perhaps due to some external stimulus, she announced that she wanted to lose weight. She made Ding Yun lock up the food and not let her eat, and she went out running every day, even joining Ding Yun in square dancing. In short, she made an effort for a period of time. However, the results were indeed not very good. After all, without controlling her diet, occasional aerobic exercise really wouldn't lead to significant weight loss!
Finally, Ding Yun, fearing she would give up, cast a very subtly powered slimming spell on her every evening for two months. This helped her lose weight to around 120 jin, which made her believe her efforts were effective and she persisted.