December 24th, 5 PM.
Ding Yun arrived home and nervously knocked twice.
Inside, Huang Haijuan immediately put down the clothes she was half-folding, rushed to open the door, and after a fleeting trace of hesitation, forced a smile. She reached out to take Ding Yun's bags and called out,
“Come in, come in, you must be tired from your journey!
Give me your things, and you go rest on the sofa!”
Although Ding Yun muttered inwardly about how her mother had suddenly changed her tune, she still handed over the items she had brought back and walked straight into the living room to sit down.
Then, she saw her mother lock the door.
After putting away the key and tossing her bags aside,
She strode into the living room, grabbed a stool, and moved it to sit opposite Ding Yun, roaring,
“Don’t move, just sit here!”
“Now that you’ve entered this house, don’t even think about leaving easily. You’re really something, avoiding my nagging about marriage by not coming back for three years. Why didn’t you just never come back? Yet here you are!
Sit here and shut up, listen to me.
I’ve already found you blind dates, twenty of them. I’ve carefully selected them all recently, and starting tomorrow, you’re going on these dates.
I don’t care what you think.
You have to settle down this year, and if possible, I’ll even accept a shotgun wedding. Otherwise, don’t even think about going back. That job of yours, you can forget it.
My only task this year, my only New Year’s resolution, is to resolve your lifelong commitment.”
Huang Haijuan paused here and continued,
“Let me tell you, the biggest regret of my life was letting you go to university and work out of town.
Those people who were with you in junior high and high school but didn’t go to university, some of them already have a second child, and some have been divorced twice. But you? You haven’t even married once, let alone found a partner. It’s embarrassing!
There are sixty to seventy million more men than women.
And you still can’t find a partner. Does that make any sense?”
“Mom, is it necessary? I’m perfectly fine living alone. Why do I have to get married and become someone’s nanny? Cousin isn’t married, and she’s doing just fine!
On the contrary, more people have chaotic lives after getting married!”
Ding Yun finally found an opportunity to interject,
Trying to refute her mother.
“Cousin, your cousin isn’t married because of objective reasons, right? With her height of 1.85 meters and a master’s degree, where is she going to find a suitable partner!
Besides, your cousin is only a few years older than you. How do you know her future will be fine? You want to give examples? Then I’ll give you an example. I won’t go far. Look at Zhang Huaixiu in our complex. She never married and is sixty-two this year. A while ago, she fell and broke her hip bone.
A neighbor next door took her to the hospital.
No one to accompany her in the hospital.
One person in the hospital, one person undergoing surgery!
Would she be like this if she were married with children?”
Before Huang Haijuan could finish speaking and try to present another example, Ding Yun interrupted,
“Mom, are you going to compete with me in giving examples?
Then I won’t talk about anyone far away. Let’s talk about your third grand-aunt. She was married and had children. But do you think her current situation is any different from Zhang Huaixiu, who you just mentioned never married?
Her husband passed away seven years ago, right?
Her daughter is married and lives far away; it takes eight or nine hours by train to visit her mother’s home. Her son works out of town and visits no more than three times a year. So isn’t she alone at home? If something unexpected happened to her, could she wait for her son to come back and take her to the hospital? By then, she’d probably be cold.
I know what you’re worried about.
You’re worried about my old-age care.
You don’t need to worry about this at all. I told you a few years ago that I transferred to a national institution. My pension will be covered by the state from now on. You don’t need to worry about it, nor about the quality of nursing homes.”
“Does this put your mind at ease?
If not, then you can wait a bit longer…”
After speaking, Ding Yun took out her phone and operated it for a moment. Immediately, Huang Haijuan’s phone rang with a notification: “XXX has transferred one million yuan to you.”
Then, with a look of astonishment, she took out her phone, checked it several times, and only after confirming it multiple times did she believe that her daughter had just transferred a million yuan to her.
But then, Huang Haijuan nervously patted Ding Yun’s shoulder and lowered her voice, saying,
“Are you trying to die? Where did you get this money?
You didn’t embezzle or misuse public funds, did you? Your talk about old-age care shouldn’t mean spending the rest of your life in prison.
What’s going on? Tell me quickly!
You’re killing me with worry!”
“Oh, Mom, it’s alright…”
Ding Yun hadn’t directly revealed her assets earlier because she was afraid of shocking her mother. Now, to show her mother that she could live well without getting married and that men would only be a burden, she could only reveal a little. She showed her mother her salary statements, letting her know she wasn't lacking money.
She then specifically explained the situation in detail,
Explaining that the subsidies were legitimate income,
Not bribes or anything like that.
Finally, Ding Yun specifically stated that she wouldn’t take back the million yuan, hoping only that her mother would stop bothering her.
Neither pressuring her to get married, nor forcing her into blind dates.
“What you’re saying, everything I did was for your own good. Do you think I enjoyed worrying? It’s fine if I don’t interfere, but if you regret it later, don’t blame me. Some things have no do-overs.”
Knowing her daughter’s old age was secure, Huang Haijuan
Finally relented and no longer insisted.
“Don’t worry, I won’t regret it!
Just cancel the blind dates for me. I don’t want to spend the Lunar New Year holiday constantly going on dates.”
“About that, I’ve already made arrangements with people. It might not be good to refuse directly now. How about you just go, and then you can say you weren’t interested? Besides, a few of them are quite good.
Perhaps you’ll hit it off!”
“But you said you wouldn’t force me into blind dates!”
“Sigh, fine, I’ll cancel them, alright!”
After a period of communication, Ding Yun and her mother finally reached a fragile consensus. However, some pressure that was lifted from certain individuals did not disappear.
After agreeing not to force her daughter to marry, Huang Haijuan inevitably began to worry about her son and decided to place all her family’s hopes on him, hoping he would find a partner and get married soon, and perhaps have a few children who could help care for his aunt in her old age.
Then, Qian Dongdong, who hadn’t even graduated from university,
Was naturally targeted by his mother. The blind date resources originally prepared for Ding Yun were all transferred to him, with the hope that he would marry and have children soon.
As for when this fervor would subside?
Perhaps only when the third generation is born
Will Huang Haijuan’s restless heart be able to calm down.