When the topic of blind dates came up, Chen Xiaoxi immediately flew into a rage: "Fine, so Grandpa was indeed someone you invited."

Looking at his daughter's face, flushed with anger, Old Chen's initially firm attitude began to crumble in his heart.

He stiffened his neck, but his voice unconsciously weakened: "I...I'm doing this for your own good."

But when he met Chen Xiaoxi's red eyes, his heart clenched with pain—the little girl in his memory who always wore a bow and would snuggle in his arms was now stubbornly confronting him.

His Adam's apple bobbed, his heart filled with hesitation: had he really been right to stubbornly oppose it all these years?

Chen Xiaoxi hastily wiped away the tear stains on her cheeks, digging her nails deep into her palms to stop herself from shedding more tears.

She took a deep breath and tried to make her voice sound calm: "I don't want to talk to you about this right now. I've thought it through. Whether you agree or not, I'm going to be with Lu Qingzhou."

As she spoke, countless images related to Lu Qingzhou flashed through her mind. The time that her father had forcibly cut off now transformed into the determination in her eyes.

Looking at his daughter's resolute expression, Old Man Chen felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

Having raised Xiaoxi for over twenty years, he knew all too well the stubbornness in her bones.

If he were to forcefully stop her, he feared it would completely break his daughter's heart and even ruin his own relationship with Zhang Ruoshui, leaving him with nowhere to turn for help.

He slumped into a chair, his aged hands covering his face, his voice full of weariness: "In the end, it's all for nothing. I never thought that after so many years, after all this time, you would still end up together."

At that moment, he suddenly felt old, so old that he couldn't even control his daughter's future.

Chen Xiaoxi looked up abruptly, her eyes gleaming with surprise: "So, you agree?"

Her fingers trembled slightly, filled with both anticipation and fear of hearing a negative answer.

Old Chen gave a bitter laugh, his back hunched over like an old pine tree bent under the weight of its branches.

In this confrontation between father and daughter, he had already been utterly defeated.

He sighed softly, "That kid Lu Qingzhou really got off easy."

"I haven't agreed to him yet."

Chen Xiaoxi suddenly regained some of her playfulness and tilted her head to look at her father.

Tears still clung to her eyelashes, yet she had already begun to dream about the future.

Old Chen was taken aback, then breathed a sigh of relief.

This delicate balance made him feel a little better—after all, Zhang Ruoshui hadn't agreed to his request yet.

......