Lin Jiangshi was initially annoyed by the three fried eggs, but upon hearing this, her anger immediately dissipated.

Are you serious?

"Of course it's true. I have to leave early on the seventh day of the new year. But the work period is not long. I estimate there will be work for two or three months."

Speaking of this, Xia Huomiao couldn't help but feel proud.

"Four hundred cash a month, even if we work for two months, we'll still have eight hundred cash." Lin Jiangshi was genuinely happy. "How many people do they need? Can we take them with us?"

"That probably won't work, but my mother said that if I do well this time, I'll definitely have work to do in the future." Xia Huomiao first painted a rosy picture for Lin Jiangshi, without telling the truth.

The Xia clan has many members, but limited spots, so there will definitely be many people who can't go. If people find out that she, a married woman, brought her husband's family to take up a spot in the Xia clan and make money, then she and her family will become targets. How will they be able to stand up in the village in the future?

Xia Huomiao would never allow her family to be subjected to injustice for the sake of some immediate gain.

*

Night had already fallen when I left the Jin family's house.

Xia Chunmei thought Baili Xiao had left, but she didn't expect him to still be waiting in the carriage outside.

"Please send it back to my new home."

Xia Chunmei politely declined the escort from the Jin family and asked Baili Xiao to escort her instead.

When they arrived at the new house, it was just Xia Chunmei and Baili Xiao again.

Xia Chunmei said, "Let's talk."

Baili Xiao nodded slightly, appearing to be listening attentively.

"We've only met a few times, and there's nothing between us..."

Before Xia Chunmei could finish speaking, Baili Xiao interrupted her: "Feelings can be cultivated."

Xia Chunmei was taken aback, then laughed and said, "So you mean you want to develop feelings for me?"

"Of course I'd love to. You're quite good."

An orphan girl whose father died and whose mother remarried, raising several younger sisters, managed to live a prosperous life. In Baili Xiao's eyes, Xia Chunmei was exceptional, surpassing millions of men in the world.

"Thank you for the compliment. I think you're pretty good too; at least your looks are to my liking," Xia Chunmei said. "But I still don't think we're a good match."

Baili Xiao's previous words were indeed very nice, and judging from the current situation, he does seem to respect me.

As he said, he could have used his power to oppress others and taken the child, but he didn't. Instead, he was willing to let a village girl become his legal wife for the sake of the child.

This shows how much he values ​​his child and also reflects his self-appreciation.

However, there is a difference between appreciation and love. When building a family, a little appreciation alone is not enough.

It wasn't that Xia Chunmei looked down on herself, but rather that marriage truly requires a match between people of similar social standing.

She didn't think she could be on the same wavelength as an ancient man, and she really couldn't accept competing with another woman for a cucumber.

so……

"I can marry you for the sake of the child, but it will be a sham marriage. If we meet someone more suitable in the future, we can divorce and find someone else."

Or, once the child is born, we can get a divorce directly, but you can't take the child with you. Your family is of high status, and there's no guarantee there won't be disputes over legitimacy and illegitimate children, so you can't take the child with you.

The child should stay with me. We'll tell him the truth later, and I believe he'll understand.

“I’ve said it before, I am the child’s father, and you are the child’s only mother. I will not marry anyone else, nor will I take a concubine, so there will be no dispute between the legitimate and illegitimate children. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Xia Chunmei smiled and said, "The future is long, who knows what will happen? If you agree, we can draw up an agreement to raise this child together temporarily, and give him a legitimate opportunity first."

Baili Xiao looked at Xia Chunmei with his deep eyes and said "okay" almost without hesitation.

What use is this agreement to him? If he really wants to take her and the child, what can she do?

Ultimately, the child's mother still didn't believe him, but that's okay, he'll make her believe.

Xia Chunmei understood that if Baili Xiao really wanted to use force, the written agreement wouldn't work, but she still wanted to put her mind at ease.

"Then I'll go to your house tomorrow to propose marriage, and we'll get the wedding done as soon as possible. Are there any customs or traditions in your area?"

"There's no need for formalities or a big celebration. Just invite some close relatives and friends for a meal, and that'll be enough. It's not necessary to make a big deal out of a fake marriage. As long as everyone knows we're husband and wife, that's fine."

"This is too unfair to you."

"I don't feel wronged at all." Xia Chunmei really didn't feel wronged. Since it wasn't real, she didn't have any expectations, so there was no question of feeling wronged.

"However, we will have to temporarily move out of the village at the beginning of next month."

Your stomach doesn't lie.

In about two months, her belly will start to show. Even if they get married right away, what will people think if she's five months pregnant in two months?

?

In this matter, Xia Chunmei is the victim, but others do not know this and will not believe it. They will only think that Xia Chunmei got together with Baili Xiao before she even broke off her engagement with the Fan family.

In this way, both Xia Chunmei and Baili Xiao will be stigmatized, and the birth of their child will also be tainted.

Their fake marriage would be meaningless.

So they still need to leave the village for a while, since they don't lack houses now anyway.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing we need to agree on beforehand. We are husband and wife in name only, but you can't interfere with my career."

In this era, the prevailing view was that a woman's virtue lay in her lack of talent, and Xia Chunmei was worried that he would oppose her pursuing her career.

"You can do what you like, and you can also tell me if you need help."

Xia Chunmei was surprised by Baili Xiao's attitude.

"And your family..."

"Don't worry, they won't come to bother you." Baili Xiao didn't want to have anything to do with the profit-driven Baili family.

Even if this is a real wedding, he doesn't plan to invite them, and it would be best if they never had any contact with each other again.