The two sisters' aesthetic sense had long been spoiled by their family, and they wouldn't be picky about the appearance of strangers.

But now, choosing a husband to spend the rest of your life with requires utmost caution.

Good looks alone are not enough; a good character is also essential, and one cannot have too many flaws. With all these factors combined, finding a suitable person becomes extremely difficult.

They first went to several places that students from Jiangnan liked the most, only to find that those people were all eloquent, but they were talking about empty and boring things.

It's really not interesting.

If they don't even want to get to know each other, how can they possibly understand each other?

As for a loving and supportive marriage, that's even more impossible...

Even though the two of them looked around very quickly, by the time they left the last place, the sun was already setting, and there was a large expanse of beautiful sunset clouds on the horizon.

If this happened in modern times, it would likely prompt many people to take out their phones to take pictures.

Shen Xingmian couldn't help but take a few more glances, lingering in the beautiful scenery for a while. When she came to her senses, she found her sister staring blankly in one direction.

Following her gaze, one could see a young man squatting by the roadside, coaxing a little girl, with a very pleasant smile on his face.

The little girl still had tears on her face, and next to her was a small stall selling sugar figurines.

She roughly guessed what was going on, but she didn't quite understand why her sister kept staring at the two people.

After waiting a while longer, seeing that her sister still didn't react, Shen Xingmian couldn't help but poke her and asked curiously, "Sister, what are you looking at?"

Shen Xingyan suddenly snapped out of her daze, took a step back, and patted her chest, saying, "Thank goodness, little sister! I think I've fallen for a father figure. Let's go, let's go, this is going to be the death of me!"

Before Shen Xingmian could react, she grabbed her sister and quickly made their escape.

Upon hearing this, Shen Xingmian couldn't help but turn around and glance at the man, memorizing his appearance.

She was still a little unwilling to give up. Her sister had finally found someone she liked, what if the child wasn't his and was just a relative's?

Wouldn't that give us a chance?

After turning a corner, Shen Xingmian quickly called out, "Wait a minute, we've been looking all day, and you finally found one you like. Are you really just going to run away like this?"

Shen Xingyan stared at her blankly, then hesitated and said, "But... he already has a child, and he seems to love the child very much. I can't take away what he loves."

"Oh, silly sister, he might not be that child's father. Let's sneak up behind him and listen carefully. See if the child calls him 'Dad' or 'Uncle' or 'Uncle'. If it's the latter two, then you can make your move!"

Shen Xingyan's eyes slowly brightened. She was usually not very disciplined, but she would never touch another woman's husband.

She has her own principles when it comes to this.

So when I realized I had some feelings for him, I ran away as fast as I could, thinking that as long as we didn't see each other again, this slight flutter of the heart would be forgotten quickly. I didn't even think about any other possibilities.

After listening to her sister's explanation, she realized that since she liked someone, she could still try to win her over.

If conditions permit.

The two girls quietly followed the adult and the child until they saw them turn into a courtyard, from which came the little girl's aggrieved complaint—

"Mommy, Uncle is mean, he won't buy Yao'er candy, boohoo."

"You keep complaining about your toothache and blaming your uncle for not buying you candy. What, you're not afraid of the pain anymore?"

The little girl then remembered the pain in her tooth, and shrank back in fright, quickly saying, "No more, no more, Yao'er won't eat candy anymore, please don't let my tooth hurt, boohoo."

The little girl was so frightened by her mother's words that she went from pretending to crying to crying for real. Her uncle, who was standing next to her, quickly picked her up and patiently comforted her.

Shen Xingmian thought this person was not bad. Although adults usually don't argue with children, it was rare to see someone who had already coaxed the child all the way outside and then had been slandered and wronged by the child at home without getting angry.

Such patience is truly rare.

Judging from the expression on her face, she seemed quite satisfied.

They planned to observe the family a little longer. The family's circumstances were ordinary, but the siblings were good-looking and had good character, so they were a good choice.

That older sister was very skilled at working; she moved very quickly, and soon the aroma of food filled the kitchen.

The brother-in-law also came back pushing his small cart. It's clear they know each other very well, which is why everything went just right.

Shen Xingmian had her sister take her to the rooftop, where they squatted down to eavesdrop.

She knew it was immoral, but the current situation presented the best opportunity to understand the person's true nature, and neither of them wanted to miss it.

At worst, we can help this family more in the future and make their lives better.

What she heard next made Shen Xingmian suspect that the world was made up of countless coincidences, because she heard the person say—

"Sister and brother-in-law, I want to go to the North."

His words were like a thunderclap out of nowhere; his sister immediately put down her chopsticks and asked anxiously:

"Why do you suddenly want to go there? It's far and cold. If you go, when will we see each other again? No, I won't agree! Your brother-in-law won't agree either. Yao'er can't bear to part with you."

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

“After my parents passed away, my sister supported me through so many years of schooling, but as you all know, the imperial court… is not worth serving. So I want to go to the northern border to see if there is anything I can do.”

His sister stopped talking and just silently shed tears.

The brother-in-law hugged his wife comfortingly before encouraging her, "Go ahead, a man's ambition lies in all directions, we can't hold you back. But the journey is too far, so you need to make more preparations. It's best to go with a caravan or a security escort agency, and you must not set off alone."

The man nodded, his voice somewhat muffled:

"Brother-in-law, please take care. I don't know when I'll be back. Once I'm better, I'll bring you over to see the snowy scenery there."

The older sister, who had been somewhat worried, burst out laughing after hearing what her younger brother said.

"Alright, don't even think about dragging us along to a place that's freezing cold. If Yao'er gets there, she'll be so cold she won't be able to walk."

She wiped away her tears: "I knew you would want to go after hearing about General Shen. I even prepared travel expenses for you, but now that you've told me, I still feel very sad."

Hua Zhang, you're a good student, but they might value military officers more over there, so things might not turn out the way you want. If it doesn't work out, come back. As long as you're safe and sound, that's all that matters.

He Huazhang nodded silently. His parents had passed away early, and he had relied on his sister since childhood. How could he bear to part with them?

However, he would probably regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't go to the North.