Chapter 7: Orphan

Auntie Wu also lost her patience. She set her teacup down on the table and asked Li Manjun

"Girl, tell Auntie the truth, what kind of person are you actually looking for!"

Li Manjun put down the photo as well and confessed, "To be honest, I’m not really in a position to look for a partner right now."

As soon as these words left her mouth, Auntie Wu looked at her and shook her head repeatedly.

Li Manjun’s hair stood on end instantly; she had a bad premonition.

A cold breeze blew from behind her. Wang Xiaojuan took off her rubber slipper and swung it toward her, "You brat, say that again!"

Li Manjun scrambled to her feet and dashed into the courtyard in one stride, narrowly dodging the slipper flying toward her side.

With a "bang," the slipper slammed into the door panel, the thick, hard plastic heel leaving a shallow dent in the wood.

Li Manjun swallowed hard, thinking to herself that this was definitely her biological mother—no one else would be this ruthless. She was truly trying to beat her to death.

Wang Xiaojuan stood on one leg under the eaves, her face dark as she pressed, "Speak! What kind of person are you looking for!"

Li Manjun glanced at the dent in the door, testing the edge of death. "You really want me to say it?"

"Speak!" Wang Xiaojuan demanded, hands on her hips, her voice full of vigor.

Li Manjun thought, *You asked for this.* She opened her mouth and said, "I want someone who looks decent, has a car and a house, whose parents are both deceased, and it would be even better if they were from the city."

Before Li Manjun could finish, she saw her mother’s temple throb and bulge. Just as she turned to flee for her life, Auntie Wu suddenly clapped her knees and cried out, "Oh my!"

"Xiaojuan, wait, wait a second." Auntie Wu grabbed her furious old friend and nodded vigorously at her. "There is, there is!"

"Don't stop me! See if I don't beat this infuriating, unfilial daughter to death today!" Wang Xiaojuan instinctively tried to break free, but when she heard Auntie Wu say there was someone, she paused. "What do you mean, there is?"

Auntie Wu looked at Li Manjun, who had retreated to the doorway, ready to bolt at any moment. "What she asked for—there is, there really is!"

Wang Xiaojuan didn't want to think about anything else now. As long as her daughter was willing to go on a blind date, she didn't mind if he was an orphan. She signaled for Auntie Wu to explain.

Clinging to the doorframe, Li Manjun couldn't help but prick up her ears. She didn't believe there was actually a guy who fit her "ideal criteria" so perfectly.

Seeing the mother and daughter quiet down, Auntie Wu wiped the nervous sweat from her forehead and dug into her pocket for a long time, pulling out a brand-new photo.

It was clearly taken and mailed over just these past few days.

"This one, Zhao Yong. He’s the right age, a twenty-five-year-old young man. He’s an orphan. His parents left him a house in the city. If a bicycle counts as a car, then he perfectly meets Manjun’s criteria."

There was no mention of a job, which meant he either didn't have one or worked odd jobs.

Aside from his looks and the house in the city, everything else was far worse than the previous candidates.

Wang Xiaojuan wasn't very satisfied, but she just wanted to see her infuriating daughter get stumped. Now Li Manjun would have nothing to say, since everything was found exactly according to her conditions.

Wang Xiaojuan crossed her arms and looked triumphantly at Li Manjun, who was still clinging to the doorframe. "Come, take a look."

"It’s only because of your Auntie Wu. If it were anyone else, who could find a partner who fits your criteria so perfectly?"

In truth, Wang Xiaojuan wanted to add that if it were Auntie Zhang or Auntie Zhao, they would have walked away long ago.

Wang Xiaojuan expected her daughter to turn and run, and she was just about to let out three peals of laughter when, to her utter shock, Li Manjun ran back with a look of pleasant surprise.

Passing the stray slipper, she even picked it up. "Mom, your shoe."

She turned and pulled Auntie Wu to sit back down, picking up the photo to look at it.

In the brand-new color photo was a young man with regular features, a tall build, and an expressionless face.

He was wearing a white shirt provided by the photo studio that didn't fit him well; the buttons on his chest were pulled tight, and the pin holding the fabric together from the inside was visible.

"Was he forced into this?" Li Manjun even had the mood to joke. "This 'forced to work' look is kind of interesting."

Seeing her reaction, Auntie Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile

"My aunt in the city mailed this to me. She said he’s the young man who lives upstairs from her. He helps her out a lot. He’s been an orphan since he was little, poor thing. Now that he’s of age and has no one to look after him, she dragged him to the photo studio to take a picture and sent it to me, asking me to help him look."

"She said if I found someone suitable, I should introduce them. He has no requirements, as long as the girl has good character and doesn't mind his situation."

Wang Xiaojuan became interested too. After putting her slipper back on, she pulled the stool back and sat down to ask

"What happened to his parents? Having a house in the city means they must have been workers at a big factory at least."

Did they die from a work-related injury?

Auntie Wu sighed. "Hard life, that. His parents were originally a university professor and a high school teacher... Someone who grew up in the city their whole life couldn't handle that kind of hardship. His father fell into a deep depression and passed away when the boy was four."

"Not two years later, his mother died of grief as well, leaving behind a six-year-old child. None of the relatives dared to take him in. Such a small child, I don't even know how he grew up."

"Later, when things got better, their house in the city was returned to them, and he came to Rongcheng."

Wang Xiaojuan’s eyes were already brimming with tears. She sighed, "This child has had such a bitter life."

Looking at Zhao Yong’s photo again, she viewed it through a filter of maternal love, finding that his expressionless, stern face now seemed to radiate strength and resilience.

Li Manjun twitched the corner of her mouth, took the photo from her mother’s hand, and admired it carefully again. Not bad, it was the "tough guy" type she liked.

"Auntie Wu, when are we going into the city?" Li Manjun asked proactively.

If the conditions were this perfect, meeting him was worth it. She could even save on the bus fare. Once she saw the guy, she could spend the rest of the time wandering around the city to see if there were any business opportunities.

Compared to men, making money was Li Manjun’s top priority!

Wang Xiaojuan wasn't even prepared for Li Manjun’s reaction. She watched eagerly as Auntie Wu arranged to go into the city the day after the Dragon Boat Festival. After finishing lunch and seeing her off, she hurriedly ran back to confirm with Li Manjun.

"Are you for real?"

Li Manjun replied with an "mm" while clearing the dishes. "Of course I'm for real. Mom, my pockets are cleaner than my face. You’ll help me pay for the bus ticket, right?"

Wang Xiaojuan gave her a slap on the backside in annoyance. "Don't always be thinking about your meager salary. When you get married in the future, I’ll have to prepare a dowry for you. I might even have to pay out of my own pocket!"

"Hehe, that would be great~" Li Manjun said with a cheeky grin.

Wang Xiaojuan couldn't stay mad at her smile. She turned, went into the house, took out a blue banknote, and shoved it into Li Manjun’s hand.

"One hundred yuan?" Li Manjun realized her mother might have gone crazy.

Wang Xiaojuan pushed her out the door, telling her to go buy some decent clothes so she wouldn't lose face for her later.

If Li Manjun had known blind dates had this benefit, she would have gone on a hundred of them already!

The touching moment lasted less than half a second before Wang Xiaojuan chased after her to warn: "Bring the change back to me!"