一夜情

“If you think that Hu Yiming is not bad, I actually think it’s not a bad decision to marry him. But, of course, you’ll have to ask yourself seriously. I’m not trying to kick you while you’re down; I’m just giving you a suggestion. Think about it. Let me know when you’ve made your decision, and I’ll help you,” Zhao Chuchu said seriously.

She wasn’t going to abandon them, but she needed to take drastic action.

Zhao Meilan and her mother looked at each other while Zhao Chuchu walked to the bedside. She took out her silver needle and started performing acupuncture on Zhao Guitang.

Hu Yiming looked at Zhao Meilan and said innocently, “Sis, I will be good to you. Can you please not abandon me? I don’t want Zhao Meijuan. She’s so fierce, and she snatched my silver. She told me not to tell my parents, or she would beat me.”

Zhao Meilan looked at Hu Yiming. Her mind was a mess.

Was she really going to get married at such a young age? She wasn’t even 13!

But it was true that Hu Yiming tailed behind her every time he went to Lengshui Village.

She was thinking about what Zhao Chuchu said.

If she rejected her suggestion, does that mean she didn’t need to marry Hu Yiming?

Just as Zhao Meilan struggled to sort out her thoughts, Zhao Guitang woke up.

“Hubby, are you feeling alright now?” Madam He asked anxiously.

Zhao Guitang looked at Madam He and said, “I’m fine. Where’s Meilan?”

“Dad, I’m here,” Meilan hurriedly took a step forward and answered.

“He’s alright, but please control your emotions better in the future. Don’t get too angry or anxious. If you vomit blood again next time, things will get quite troublesome.” Zhao Chuchu told a partial lie. She then said, “I think this engagement isn’t as bad as you think.”

Zhao Guitang sighed and said, “Chuchu, you don’t know this. Yiming, he’s forever a child! If Meilan marries him, then...”

Zhao Guitang didn’t even dare to imagine what their future would be like.

It was all his fault for being so useless. His parents were controlling every aspect of his life. They chased his family out of the clan, and he couldn’t even dictate his own daughter’s marriage.

“Well, now you’ve seen how they treat you. Are you still going to be soft with them in the future?”

“I’m not soft. I’m just... I’m useless.” Zhao Guitang lowered his head in shame.

“I will be good to Sis,” Hu Yiming said anxiously. “I’ll do whatever Sis tells me to do. I’ll listen to her for everything.”

Zhao Guitang and Madam He looked at Hu Yiming.

He’s already 16, yet he’s still as innocent and simple as a child. He didn’t know anything.

He might not even know the meaning of marriage.

Zhao Guitang and Madam He couldn’t imagine how much suffering their daughter would go through if she married him.

When Zhao Chuchu saw this, she said, “Even if you rejected the Hu clan, there would be someone else in the future. It might be a Zhang clan or a Li clan. Besides, your mother doesn’t care about Meilan’s life. All she cares about is how much money she can exchange Meilan for. So, relatively speaking, the Hu clan is quite decent.”

Furthermore, Hu Yiming was different from the other intellectually disabled people. He is very clean, and he doesn’t throw tantrums. Even though he is a child, he is an obedient and well-behaved child, not one of those crazy rascals.

“Do you think the Hu clan is good?” Madam He was in despair.

“I don’t have an opinion. I’m just making a suggestion. You can decide what you want to do. But, of course, I will help you with whatever decision you make.”

“If you want Meilan to marry Hu Yiming, then do it. However, if you don’t want her to marry into the Hu clan, I have a way to make them call off the engagement.”

Zhao Guitang and Madam He looked at each other.

“Call off the engagement?”

“Yes, think about it carefully. I suggest that if Meilan really likes Hu Yiming, it’s not bad to marry him. Then, at least you wouldn’t have to be threatened by your mother anymore in the future.”

Zhao Meilan was as important to Zhao Guitang and Madam He as their own lives.

But if she married into the Hu clan, things would be different. Based on Zhao Chuchu’s thinking, she would become a member of the Hu clan, and Old Madam Ma wouldn’t be able to make decisions for her anymore.

Besides, it’s not like she couldn’t cure Hu Yiming.

If Meilan decided to marry Hu Yiming, Zhao Chuchu could cure Hu Yiming after they married.

If Zhao Meilan wasn’t willing to marry him, she could ask the Hu clan to call off the engagement by promising to cure Hu Yiming. Surely the Hu clan would be happy to do it.

“Sis, please don’t abandon me,” Hu Yiming seemed to be aware that Zhao Meilan didn’t want to marry him. He tugged on Zhao Meilan’s sleeve cautiously. His eyes turned red, but he didn’t make any noise or throw tantrums.

Zhao Meilan didn’t dare look at Hu Yiming. She said, “Yiming, your family will be here to fetch you back in a while. You should go home. I have a lot of things to do starting tomorrow. You can come after this period.”

“Sis, do you not want me?”

“I’m just busy.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll listen to you, but you can’t abandon me.”

Zhao Meilan wasn’t sure how to answer Hu Yiming.

Although Hu Yiming was a child, he treated her really well. Whenever he went to Lengshui Village, he would secretly give her candies.

“You need to formally propose and promise a dowry to marry a girl. You can’t just cling to her like that. You’re going to taint her reputation this way. If that happens, people will look down on her even if she marries you, understand?” Zhao Chuchu said to Hu Yiming. “If you really like her, go home and ask your mother how to marry a girl.”

“Oh really? I’ll go home and ask my mother right now.”

Hu Yiming ran out the door immediately after saying that.

Zhao Meilan wanted to stop her, but when the words reached her mouth, she swallowed them back down.

Hu Yiming didn’t go to Lengshui Village alone. A mammy had accompanied him there.

But the mammy had already been bribed by Old Madam Ma so that she would help them scheme against Zhao Meilan. Besides, it didn’t matter who Hu Yiming married. If it’s Zhao Meilan, she would still be able to get money from it.

Hu Yiming ran to Old Madam Ma’s place and tugged on the mammy to bring him home.

“Young master, what are you doing?”

“I want to go home now. Immediately!”

Hu Yiming appeared very anxious.

“Sis, I think you should go home with him first. I’m sure Yiming has something urgent to attend to. By the way, please help us speak a few words in front of his parents,” Old Madam Ma hurriedly reminded the mammy, then secretly stuffed a tael of silver into her hand.

The mammy was very satisfied. She held Hu Yiming’s hand and walked away.

Only then did Zhao Meijuan come out of the room. She came to Old Madam Ma and asked, “Grandma, is Zhao Meilan definitely going to marry that retard?”

“Of course. We’re taking the dowry from the Hu clan, and we’re not calling off the engagement with the He clan. Don’t worry. I have everything planned out. All you need to do is to wait patiently to become Mrs. He and live a life of luxury and wealth.”

“Thank you, Grandma. I know that Grandma wants the best for me, and I promise I will be filial to you next time.”

Zhao Meijuan blushed shyly.

She touched her stomach, which was still flat at the moment.

When she married into the He clan, she would become the well-respected Mrs. He.

She wouldn’t need to worry about not having pretty clothes or jewelry anymore.

Everyone, including Zhao Chuchu, would only feel jealousy and envy toward her.

When Zhao Meijuan thought about this, she felt rather proud.

But she didn’t know that Zhao Chuchu wasn’t jealous of her at all upon hearing about the engagement. Instead, after hearing from Xie Heng about what kind of person the young master of the He clan was, she wanted to clap her hands and cheer.

“You know what this is? A bitch and a dog—a perfect pair! I hope they will last till the end of time.”

Although the way Zhao Chuchu put it was rather vulgar, Xie Heng smiled and said, “Hu Yiming is intellectually disabled, but marrying him would still be way better than marrying the young master of the He clan.”

“Yup, that’s what I told Zhao Meilan. If she thinks that Hu Yiming is not bad, marrying Hu Yiming would actually be a good choice. Hu Yiming probably had good parents. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to raise such a well-behaved child.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yup, of course. I have excellent eyes. For example, you...”