Liu Xia has been applying a lot of eye drops to Chen Wei these past two days, and today she even deliberately wore a short top, revealing her bruised arms to Chen Wei.

At that moment, Chen Wei was immersed in Liu Xia's care and attention, and was so flattered by her that he felt like he was floating on air. Suddenly, he noticed the glaring bruise on her arm and his eyes widened. He immediately reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Liu Xia looked down and, in a panic, reached behind her back, trying to hide her hands behind her back.

How could Chen Wei allow it?

"Xiaoxia, what happened to your hand?"

Seeing that she couldn't break free, Liu Xia immediately lowered her head, and when she raised her head again, her eyes were a little red: "...I got it by accident, don't worry, it'll be fine soon."

She forced a smile, and Chen Wei found the smile increasingly irritating. How could he not see through her forced smile? His heart clenched instantly.

"I'm not stupid, how could I have gotten myself into this state by accident? Was it your brother? If it was him, I'll go find him right now!"

He was about to leave when Liu Xia quickly grabbed him, shaking her head frantically, "It's really nothing..."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. After all, she was only in her early thirties. Although her face had become rough from years of working in the fields to earn work points in the countryside, it had improved a lot and become much fairer and smoother in the few months since she returned to the city. Moreover, Chen Wei was now completely focused on her, and the scene before her immediately aroused her protective instincts.

"It must be that bastard brother of yours. You're his own sister, and now that you're in trouble and have come home to stay for a few months, he can't stand it? What kind of brother is he?"

Liu Xia silently pulled her sleeves down, but the dress was too short, and no matter how she pulled it down, a little bit would still be exposed.

“My brother has it tough too. The three of us are just a burden. Nobody wants us. We’re lucky he’s still willing to give us a bite to eat.”

"How could that be, Xiaoxia? How could no one want you? How could you be a burden?"

"But--"

"I've asked my mom to come and propose marriage tomorrow. If you marry me, I'll cherish you like a treasure!"

Liu Xia seemed startled by his words, stunned for a long while in disbelief, "But..."

"No buts. I told you I'm serious about you. Actually, I already told my mom last night to prepare things for the marriage proposal, but I thought it would take some time to prepare these things. I want to give you the best."

But I can't wait any longer. Xiaoxia, you're not happy in that house either. Don't worry, if I marry you, I promise I'll treat you well for the rest of my life.

Chen Wei made a solemn vow, almost swearing to the heavens, that he would treat Xiaoxia well from now on and would never let her be unhappy in the slightest.

He made many promises to himself, but Liu Xia remained silent, her eyes brimming with tears, filled with surprise and adoration. Chen Wei almost disregarded everything and wanted to hug her in the street. He had always known that Xiaoxia and he were mutually in love, but she had too many things to consider—her family, her two children—which was why she had always been reserved.

But silly girl, if she didn't love him, why would she make him breakfast every morning? If she didn't love him, why would she care about his food, clothing, shelter, and transportation? If she didn't love him, why would her eyes always be so bright and filled with adoration when she looked at him?

Every time Chen Wei saw the look in her eyes, his bones would melt.

"Just say yes, have pity on me. I want to marry you. As for your parents, I'll talk to them."

Liu Xia lowered her head and considered for a long time before finally nodding, "Okay."

After she nodded, she immediately gazed deeply into Chen Wei's eyes. Chen Wei reached out and secretly grasped her wrist, his eyes almost disappearing from his smile.

If it weren't for the fear of guards passing by on the street, and the fear of being laughed at if word got out, Chen Wei would definitely have held her in his arms, even though they were both so old, acting like seventeen or eighteen-year-old young men.

"Leave everything to me, and tell me you're coming home."

"Then I'll wait for you."

The two lingered at the intersection for a long time, reluctant to part. It was only when Liu Xia noticed that it was getting late and gave him a reproachful glare that Chen Wei finally ran home.

He had just left when Liu Xia composed herself, looked up at the sky, and blinked. It hurt terribly; she had pinched her lower back hard to squeeze out tears, and it was probably bruised.

After acting alongside Chen Wei for several days, I finally saw a glimmer of hope.

The marks on her wrists were indeed inflicted by her family. Her mother said she was useless, that she had slept with a man but couldn't hold onto his heart, and that she still wanted to stay at home.

"...Mom, I didn't sleep with him."

"Come on, if you don't sleep with him, who would want you? You're so shameless, how come you're not capable of getting married yourself!"

The two children looked up at her with red eyes. Liu Xia didn't want to argue with her anymore. No matter how much she argued, it would be the same. She didn't want to explain anymore either. She just reached out and covered the two children's ears.

The woman next to her rolled her eyes. "How about I buy you a box of face cream? You can learn some kung fu to hook up with him. Since you've already gone all out, you might as well go all out."

After saying that, she covered her mouth and laughed. Her own mother was also laughing, and the two of them looked at her as if she were a lowly, worn-out shoe.

Liu Xia stared silently at the ceiling, wiping away her tears as they fell. She couldn't stay in this house any longer; even if she could endure it, her two children couldn't.

Chen Wei walked upstairs with lightning speed, and people who brushed past him in the stairwell raised their eyebrows when they saw that he looked like he was about to have a good thing happen.

"Ah Wei, are we going to have a banquet this time?"

"Okay, okay, I'll invite you all over for a drink later."

He immediately went home after saying that, and the neighbor stopped to watch his disappearing figure.

"They're really getting married? Yang Chunhua agreed? That's so fast!"

"How fast? Some people get married after just one meeting introduced by a matchmaker, but this situation has probably been going on for a long time."

"Aren't you ashamed? You're getting married for the second time and you're still having a wedding banquet."

When Chen Wei pushed open the door, he didn't notice the cold stove and empty pots at home. It was rare for him to be sitting at the table doing his homework today, and his mother was sitting in a chair, staring at him coldly with piercing eyes.

"Mom, how much stuff have you prepared? If not, don't worry about it. We'll find a matchmaker to come tomorrow. If not, I'll have to ask the factory for leave tonight."

Almost forgot the most important thing. After saying that, she was about to turn around and go to the factory when Yang Chunhua grabbed a cup from the table and smashed it directly at the door. With a loud bang, Chen Wei was so frightened that he froze on the spot.

The flying porcelain almost cut him. Chen Wei quickly looked at his mother and noticed that her face was ashen.

"...What's wrong with Mom? What happened?"

"Wei, I don't agree to you marrying her. This woman is not good enough for you!"