"But a woman always needs a place to settle down. Women are gentle and don't need to be so strong. If you marry a husband who is not short of money, you won't have to work so hard in the future. You can stay at home, drink tea, and admire flowers. If you are bored, you can have your maid accompany you to the estate."
Su Anjiang almost called out his name.
“A husband who doesn’t lack money? Who is that? If there were such a person willing to marry me, I would marry him immediately. Brother Su, don’t joke around. Rich people aren’t blind. Why would they marry an old woman like me?”
Yan Xia was almost amused by him.
As they spoke, the two had already reached the entrance of the Fish Leap Restaurant.
Smelling the aroma of sweet and sour fish wafting from the restaurant, Yan Xia quickened her pace and entered first, completely unaware of Su Anjiang's expression behind her.
"Waiter, do you have a private room?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Oh, isn't this Manager Yan? Please come in. There are private rooms on the second floor. Please follow me."
Before the waiter could speak, the manager of Yuyue Restaurant recognized her first.
He immediately and attentively invited Yan Xia to go upstairs.
"Come on, Brother Su, what are you standing there for? Let's eat."
As Yan Xia stepped onto the steps, she found Su Anjiang still standing there dumbfounded at the door.
"Oh, here you are."
When Yan Xia called out, Su Anjiang finally came to his senses and entered the restaurant. He followed Yan Xia to a private room on the second floor.
The private room can seat four or five people; it's quite spacious and has no door, instead being hidden by a wooden beaded curtain.
"Shopkeeper, a plate of sweet and sour fish, and some boiled fish fillets, um... fish ball soup too, and..."
Yan Xia had eaten at Yu Yue Restaurant two or three times already, and was very familiar with the restaurant's dishes. Before the manager could bring her the menu, she recited the names of the dishes herself.
We ordered six dishes.
Add a fish ball soup.
The portions at the restaurant are quite large; three dishes would actually be enough for two people.
Su Anjiang didn't stop him. When he went out to eat, he would order a whole table full of food. If he couldn't finish it, he would just leave it at that, since he had plenty of money anyway.
"Shopkeeper, please get me a menu. Brother Su, why don't you order a few dishes too?"
After Yan Xia finished ordering, she realized she had overlooked Su Anjiang. Feeling a little embarrassed, she asked the restaurant manager for a menu so Su Anjiang could order a few more dishes.
"It's alright. The dishes you like are the same ones I like too. That's all, this is all the shopkeeper has."
"Yes, yes, I'll make it for you right away."
The innkeeper poured the two of them a cup of tea and then went downstairs. Su Anjiang took a sip of tea, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
"Xia Xia..."
He mustered his courage and called out Yan Xia's nickname, his voice trembling slightly.
"What's wrong, Brother Su? Do you need to use the restroom?"
Yan Xia was in a daze when she looked up and saw Su Anjiang across from her looking nervous, with beads of sweat on his forehead, his hands gripping the teacup tightly. She assumed he had an upset stomach and wanted to have diarrhea but was too embarrassed to say so.
"Uh, no..."
Su Anjiang was stunned by what Yan Xia said.
"What I really want to say is, what do you think of me? I'm thirty-five, my wife died young, I have a son and a daughter. My son is 20 and married, my grandson is four, and my daughter married into a neighboring county two years ago. My family owns several pharmacies and three grain shops. I'm struggling because the family business is so large and there's no one to manage it."
Even if Yan Xia was naive, she understood what he meant.
Is she planning to marry me as her second wife?
Her eyes twitched slightly. Although Su Anjiang was only 35, he looked old enough to be her father. As someone who was obsessed with good looks, Yan Xia really couldn't accept it. She wished she could run away on the spot.
But before the dishes were even served, she had already incurred such a great favor from Brother Su.
Why....
As expected, free things are the most expensive.
I should have known better than to accept that tea.
"I think you're a really good person, Brother Su. I wish I could be your younger sister. You don't know, my real brother would love to sell me off, eat my flesh and gnaw on my bones. Maybe you were my real brother in a past life."
Yan Xia pretended to be stupid, referring to herself as her dear younger sister and her dear older brother.
They just wanted to avoid suspicion.
"Xia, you support a large family and run two shops. Why don't you marry me? I'll bring you home in a grand sedan chair. Don't worry, my children are gentle and will never mistreat you. They'll treat you like their own mother. You won't have to work so hard anymore. You can stay home every day, playing with birds and admiring flowers—wouldn't that be wonderful? If you miss your children, you can bring them to our house, even if they only stay for ten days or half a month. Once you're married, I'll give you all my private property to manage, guaranteeing you a life of luxury..."
But Su Anjiang insisted on speaking out clearly.
If Yan Xia had just transmigrated, she might have been slightly tempted, after all, someone who could spend hundreds of taels on a pot of tea must have a net worth of at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.
She wouldn't even feel a pang of regret if she threw money into the water from now on.
But now she can earn money herself, and she also has nearly 10,000 taels of savings in her space.
She still can't understand why she married an old man.
Be a stepmother?
Forget it.
and.....
Yan Xia looked at Su Anjiang in front of her; he was already so old.
I don't know if I'm still capable in that area.
She had no sexual happiness after marriage; she lived like a widow.
Just as she was hesitating about how to refuse, the waiter brought up the fish ball soup.
The fish at Yuyue Restaurant are all freshly killed, but the fish balls are not. The fish meat is pounded into a paste in advance, then rolled into balls, cooked and kept in the pot. When a customer orders the soup, a new pot is heated up, some seasonings are sprinkled on it, a few slices of seasonal vegetables are blanched, and it is ready to serve.
The waiter was very attentive, serving each of them a bowl before going downstairs.
Yan Xia picked up the bowl and ate it all in no time.
A new plan came to mind.
How can I refuse Su Anjiang without offending him?
“Oh, Brother Su, there are some things I find hard to say, but I don’t want to disappoint you. My body is failing me. I was injured during childbirth, and the doctor said I can’t have sex with my husband anymore. I don’t want to hold you back. Here, I’ll offer you this cup of tea. From now on, you’ll be my brother. I’ll pretend you never said anything today, and please don’t bring it up again. Thank you for helping me find a midwife. From now on, you can call me sister. Even if we can’t be husband and wife, we can still be siblings.”
Yan Xia picked up her teacup and touched it to Su Anjiang, ignoring his reaction, and finished her tea on her own.
Then the dishes slowly started to arrive.
She ate heartily, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
Su Anjiang sat there dumbfounded, lost in thought.
They cannot have marital relations...
He's not a monk, is he just a housewife to look at? It has to be said that Yan Xia's words hit him right where it hurts.
Su Anjiang had been holding back his feelings for a long time because his wife died young. If he could only sleep with his beloved at night and couldn't do anything else, then he might as well not get married.
He ate the meal as if his soul had left his body; it tasted like nothing at all.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
