The night deepens, revealing a quiet and secluded alleyway.
The streetlight glows dimly, casting dancing shadows on the nearby trees, adding an air of mystery within the silence.
Suddenly, the serenity of the night is shattered by the "clack clack clack" of high heels hitting paving stones. A young woman walks hastily into the alley.
Under the streetlight, she's seen as a striking figure with long hair flowing over her shoulders, dressed in a light yellow dress.
Her name is Gu Xinrui, and she resides deep within this alley, inside a courtyard.
Tonight, the thirty-year-old Gu Xinrui once again came home from a failed blind date. Unable to face going home in her gloomy mood, she headed straight to the office.
Gu Xinrui is the chief editor at a magazine publishing company. She has worked there for a solid six years, burned the midnight oil and hardly took breaks. Like this evening, working late and returning late is a frequent occurrence.
One of the reasons she comes home late is that she’d rather stay busy at work than face her family situation. Every time she thinks about what’s going on at home, her brow deeply furrows.
After her younger sister’s failed marriage, she moved back home with her child. Her youngest sister, who is in university, constantly moans and groans about life, and her young teenage brother is still innocent to the ways of the world. Her mother, with a worried face, would incessantly nag, “Your younger sister brought her child home, and it's already a concern for me. Plus, everyone keeps saying that I am delaying you from getting married. Xinrui, please, find a good man and get married. If not, I just…feel so guilty!”
All these thoughts gave Gu Xinrui a crushing headache! Who doesn't want to get married early? But then, someone has to be willing to marry her!
Thinking about her predicament, Gu Xinrui's mind then replayed the evening's blind date.
When they first met, the thirty-two-year-old software engineer looked quite pleased with Gu Xinrui. After all, Gu seemed exceptionally attractive and appeared much younger than her actual age.
As the software engineer beamed at Gu's delicate face, he could barely contain his excitement, thinking he'd struck gold.
However, as the pair sat down and started to chat, the software engineer's smile slowly faded.
Gu Xinrui never hides her family’s actual situation from her potential matches. This has always been her principle when dealing with people.
Although her confidante, Yang Yuwei, repeatedly warned her not to speak her mind during the first blind date, because men are creatures that base their theories on their first impressions, she should let them recognize her virtue first, then gradually let them know about the heavy familial responsibilities she carries. By that time, they would have already developed feelings for her, so even if they objected to her familial conditions, they would be reluctant to let go.
But Gu Xinrui did not see it that way. She thought doing so equivocates to deceit which would eventually lead to men viewing her as chicken ribs – tasteless when eaten but a waste to throw away.
Gu Xinrui did not want to be like chicken ribs; therefore, she was going be frank.
“So, you have two younger sisters and one younger brother?" The software engineer gently stirred his coffee and asked slowly, adjusting his glasses.
Gu Xinrui nodded at him and calmly replied, "The youngest brother is in his first year of junior high school this year."
The engineer was somewhat surprised, "So, he would be about sixteen or seventeen years younger than you?"
Xinrui nodded, "Yes, sixteen years younger."
Actually, this type of awkward situation was not what Gu Xinrui wanted to face, but who made her parents firmly adhere to the male chauvinism, making them risk fines to have another child. They were dissatisfied even with three daughters, and insisted on having a son when they were over forty.
When Gu Xinrui's father just passed away, her younger brother was still in primary school. Xinrui, replacing her mother, attended her brother's parents' meeting. As a result, a clueless classmate shouted to her brother, "Gu Xinyan, your mother is here!" This left the unmarried Xinrui, flushed with embarrassment.
"And after you're married, you're also going to repay more than a million debts from your family?" The software engineer adjusted his glasses again, his face showing no trace of a smile.