Li Huai thought about many things on the train.

She wanted to keep her son, but she was also thinking about Zhao Qinglan, whom she was about to meet.

Although he agreed to the blind date, Li Huai was not optimistic about his trip.

The idea that he was a benefactor, whom the group leader and others considered an advantage, was a misunderstanding in his view.

He had wondered what kind of woman Zhao Qinglan would be, but imagination is ultimately just an illusion.

Upon seeing the real person, his first reaction was surprise.

Zhao Qinglan was not only not bad-looking, but actually quite good-looking; otherwise, she wouldn't have caught the eye of Wang Dazhi, a city dweller who considered himself superior.

When Zhao Qinglan met Li Huai's gaze, she showed no shyness, but simply smiled.

Seeing Li Huai in his younger days, she was even a little excited.

Li Huai is still a handsome old man even though he's getting on in years; he was definitely even better looking when he was young.

With those thick eyebrows and big eyes, paired with that charming military uniform, he's incredibly dashing.

Seeing that the two had hit it off, Sui Wenjing secretly chuckled and quickly pulled her husband away, leaving the room to the two who were looking at each other.

"Hello, I'm Zhao Qinglan." Zhao Qinglan extended her hand gracefully.

Li Huai raised an eyebrow. Even if he was surprised, he shouldn't be worse than a female comrade. He reached out and the two shook hands lightly.

Without mentioning the matchmaking, Li Huai first raised a question that had been lingering in his mind.

"I don't think I've ever met you before, so how can you say I'm your benefactor?"

Before Li Huai arrived, Zhao Qinglan had already prepared her answer to this matter.

"Seeing you made me realize I was wrong. The person who saved me was in a similar situation to you. He was also named Li Huai, so when I heard Brother Aiguo mention him, I assumed you were the one who saved me," she explained with some apology.

Phew, it seems it really was a misunderstanding. I knew it, I don't remember doing it at all. Li Huai breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's alright, we understand now." Li Huai smiled.

“But we really are destined to meet. My benefactor is named Li Huai, and you are also named Li Huai,” Zhao Qinglan chuckled.

When the topic of fate came up, Li Huai suddenly remembered the purpose of his trip.

"Now that you know I'm not your benefactor, do you still want to be friends with me?" He believed that Zhao Qinglan's willingness was mainly due to the life-saving grace she had received.

“These two things don’t conflict, do they?” Zhao Qinglan countered.

Li Huaiyi chuckled. Indeed, it wasn't really a conflict.

After all, she had lived with Li Huai before, and although Li Huai was still young at the time, Zhao Qinglan knew his personality well.

In his previous life, Li Huai did have the opportunity to remarry, but he never considered it for the sake of his two sons.

It is evident that Li Huai did not have a strong desire to remarry.

If she wants to achieve her goal, she needs to be more proactive.

"Then I'll be frank. I have two sons, and they don't want me to remarry, so Comrade Zhao Qinglan, I'm very sorry," Li Huai said frankly.

Just as I expected.

Hearing Li Huai's answer, Zhao Qinglan was somewhat disappointed but not discouraged.

"You're a man, a soldier, taking care of two children. Isn't it difficult?" she asked, feigning curiosity.

"Of course it's not easy, but I don't want to disappoint my children." He wasn't very good at expressing himself, but he still loved his biological son very much.

"How old is your child?"

“One is six years old, and the other is three years old,” Li Huai answered honestly.

“I have a four-year-old daughter. Her father treats her very badly, but if I were to find her a stepfather right away, she might not be happy.”

Zhao Qinglan's words quickly bridged the gap between her and Li Huai.

Although the two who recently divorced had different reasons, they were indeed in the same boat in this respect.

"Then why did you come to me for a marriage proposal?" Li Huai asked, puzzled.

"Of course I want to consider my daughter's feelings. Maybe this is good for her in the short term, but in the long run, I think it would be better to find her another father."

Li Huai adopted a listening posture.

“I am a woman without a job, and I have no place to stay in my parents’ home. How am I supposed to live with my daughter? I want her to grow up in a healthy family. I don’t ask for wealth, I just want her to grow up safely.”

"And I also want her to have a father. A child without a father to protect her will face too many strange looks in the future. As long as it's good for my daughter, I'm willing to do it."

Zhao Qinglan's words were half true and half false. If the person who was willing to treat her daughter well was not Li Huai, she would rather raise her daughter alone.

She is not afraid of hardship, and she has no expectations of finding another man. She only wishes for her daughter to be safe and happy.

Li Huai was somewhat moved by what he heard.

Putting himself in their shoes, he would also be happy to find a new mother who is good to his sons.

Sometimes, a biological mother isn't necessarily good to her child; he thought of his ex-wife, Zhu Kexin.

"You're a good mother," Li Huai said with emotion.

Zhao Qinglan looked at him. "Although you are not my benefactor, I have heard from Brother Aiguo and the others that you are a good person. You are willing to remain unmarried for the sake of your children, so you are also a good father."

Being praised like this made the usually aloof Li Huai a little embarrassed.

"Actually, I'm not as good as you think."

"No one is perfect. Being able to do eight or nine out of ten things is already very good."

"So what do you mean by saying all this?" Li Huai looked at her.

“I want to find a father who is good to my daughter, and you probably also want to find a mother who is good to your son. I dare not say how well I can do it, but if we form a family, I will treat your son the same way I treat my daughter,” she said sincerely.

Zhao Qinglan's last sentence truly came from the bottom of her heart.

She will definitely treat Li Huai's sons Yan Sen and Yan Xun as her own.

Zhao Qinglan didn't make any absolute statements, which made Li Huai feel more credible.

My previous resolve to never remarry and that this was just a temporary arrangement has wavered.

Are we really being good to our sons who have never had a mother?

Stepmothers aren't necessarily all bad. He shouldn't be so afraid of a newborn child. Maybe he really should give it a try.

The two fortune tellers in the next room hadn't come out yet, and Sui Wenjing's smile widened.

"Look, they can get along well." Being able to get along well means there's a high chance they're both satisfied.

Li Aiguo was also quite happy; his old comrade-in-arms must be overjoyed to have brought the two of them together.

Little Duo looked at the happy adults with a blank expression, her little head full of questions.

Her mother told her that she might be going to have a new father. Is it that uncle from earlier?

Wang Dazhi, Xiaoduo's biological father, was not good to her at all, so Xiaoduo didn't really have deep feelings for him.

Xiaoduo felt a mix of fear and curiosity about her new father.

She's happy to go anywhere as long as she's with her mother.

Seeing Li Huai hesitate, Zhao Qinglan pressed on.

“I’m a pretty good cook, and I’m also skilled at sewing and doing housework. I can help you take care of the children and manage the household, so you can work with more peace of mind.”

Oh no, I'm even more tempted now!

This woman was almost like a magician; the more he listened to her talk, the more he felt it was a good idea to remarry her.

The scales in my heart slowly began to tip.