Chapter 125 Attending the Banquet: She Wanted to Write Something
So why is she here?
Yao Xiaoyu looked blankly at the bustling Li family birthday banquet, wanting to find a place where she wouldn't attract attention, but the wattage of the brass chandelier was so bright that she couldn't find any secluded corner at all.
In a group setting, being alone actually draws more attention. After rejecting the third man who tried to chat her up, Yao Xiaoyu resolutely joined the group of wealthy young women. The women were engrossed in their conversation and didn't notice the unfamiliar girl among them. Once Yao Xiaoyu chimed in with a few words, no one asked her name or background—
The fabric and cut of the clothes were of good quality, and the headdress was also in a fashionable style, so she must be a girl from a wealthy or noble family.
After Yao Xiaoyu integrated into the group of girls, she was finally able to avoid being approached by men, and breathed a sigh of relief.
She wasn't actually opposed to dating, but the men at the banquet didn't meet her requirements—not in terms of aesthetics, but something deeper—Yao Xiaoyu didn't intend to be any man's good wife, nor did she intend to get married, and she didn't want to have children.
Therefore, men who are serious about marriage are not suitable for her, because she does not intend to take on the responsibility of being a mother and become her son's bride; men who are not serious are even less suitable for her: she is certainly not the first woman beside him, and for Yao Xiaoyu's love interest, being clean is the most basic requirement.
A blank sheet of paper should be matched with another blank sheet of paper, and a newspaper with another newspaper; that's what it means to be a good match.
In addition, her romantic partner must be good-looking, well-educated, and share similar values. It would be even better if he could travel all over the country with her, be a skilled bodyguard, and take good care of her like a male mother.
Yao Xiaoyu isn't afraid of people saying she's too picky and wants to find a celestial being. After all, she's prepared to be single for life. Having a partner isn't bad, but without one, life goes on just the same.
Thank goodness we live in the Republican era, where women could remain single their entire lives... But there's really nothing to be thankful for. Every dynasty has women who defied the odds and didn't get married; it's just a matter of how much trouble they caused.
Yao Xiaoyu mentally reviewed her assets and prepared to go back and buy timber from Tao Jingu. She scolded herself for only thinking of this important matter now. As the great anthropologist said, "The weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons!"
Whether they are gossipy aunts and uncles who believe marriage is a matter of course, or pedantic old men who think it is the natural order for women to get married, Yao Xiaoyu believes they will soon learn to speak when something cold is pressed against their foreheads.
Besides, the one who called her the sun at eight or nine o'clock also said that to cultivate a civilized mind, one must first toughen a physique. Although her physical attributes are what they are, they can be manually improved through weapons!
Although she hasn't started menstruating yet and is still in a period of rapid growth and development, she'll probably need to switch to a gun that's more suitable for her body shape in the future. But isn't the reason she works so hard to earn money so that she can use her financial power in a critical moment? Wait, is it normal for her to be almost sixteen and still not have her period?
Yao Xiaoyu belatedly realized something, her face stiffened, and she mentally marked the matter of seeing a doctor, intending to ask about it as soon as she left the banquet hall. Meanwhile, the girls gathered in a group had already shifted their conversation to how much their families doted on them. They compared their clothes and jewelry, talked about how much effort their families had put into finding teachers of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and the dowry their parents had promised them...
When the topic turned to her, Yao Xiaoyu casually said a few words, and spent the rest of the time listening to the names of various objects, preparing to copy them into her resource library along with the banquet scale she had noted down that day—this was an important reason why Yao Xiaoyu came to the banquet: she lacked materials on high-profile banquets and could only bite the bullet and try her luck.
Yao Xiaoyu was extremely pampered when she was young, and Yao Daniu often took her around to show off. However, after she started school, Yao Daniu felt that studying was the most important thing. In addition, her studies were indeed very demanding, so she rarely went anywhere except for a few short trips.
In the old society, people were expected to stay at home and not go out. However, as dynasties fell into disarray and social customs declined, the atmosphere in the Republic of China became more open. Although women could not go out freely, it was not a problem for them to be taken to various social occasions by their elders when they reached marriageable age. Just as Western ladies of marriageable age would be taken to parties and dances, the East also had its own social venues.
To say nothing of the distant past, among the group of girls that Yao Xiaoyu had infiltrated, apart from a few who were engaged and a few who were clearly just there to broaden their horizons and eat and drink, many were actually there to find a match—it was only because of certain conventions that Yao Xiaoyu was able to enjoy a special kind of peace and quiet.
Zhou Chunhua wasn't good at these things. Yao Xiaoyu was supposed to be brought into a similar situation by Yao Daniu after graduation, and then be chosen by the elders of a suitable man of marriageable age. After finding out the details, both parties felt it was a good match, and the marriage was arranged.
Forget about free love; in this world, marriages have always been arranged by parents and matchmakers. Even with Yao Daniu's open-mindedness, at most Yao Xiaoyu would be allowed to secretly see her future husband before the engagement, but that was all. That's why most people now prefer to marry cousins, emphasizing the return of bloodlines, because at least they are familiar with each other, and the situation is somewhat guaranteed.
The old man who gave birth, the one who was beaten, the one who was kneaded; the wife who was married, the horse that was bought, whoever rides her, whoever beats her... This world is the most adept at exploiting women. In the absence of recognition of maternal lineage and the development of science, marriage between cousins is actually a relatively safe zone for women.
But this simply won't work.
Yao Xiaoyu noted this down. While listening to the girls chat, her gaze drifted to the center of the banquet, where men in long gowns and suits dominated. Among them were many young faces. Although women were also present, they were mostly used as supporting characters, and very few were actually noticed.
That's where business is discussed.
Looking at the soft, innocent, romantic face beside her, pointing to a young man in the middle who was her brother and proudly saying he would support her in the future, Yao Xiaoyu suddenly felt like writing something.
The birthday party for the three Li sisters went very smoothly. There were no scenes like slapping or splashing red wine as in the novel. Yao Xiaoyu went over and chatted with the three sisters for a while in the second half of the party. There were no disturbances or slaps. On the way back, they took a rickshaw arranged by the company and arrived home safely.
If there was any interesting side story, it was that several young ladies thought she had a good personality and secretly asked her if she was married, wanting to introduce her to their families. Yao Xiaoyu shook her head at all of them, which made them very disappointed.
When Yao Xiaoyu got home, she rushed upstairs, took out the dagger from her waist, changed into some light clothes, and then went downstairs to have Wenrou and Zhou Chunhua remove her jewelry. The glittering jewelry meant that the process was complicated, and Yao Xiaoyu, who was trying to avoid washing and cutting her hair, simply didn't have the patience for it.
This is also why she dislikes banquets—the styling and makeup often take several hours. Yao Xiaoyu admits the importance of appearance, but she really can't handle it!
In novels, if a CEO wants to sleep with the female lead, he has to first remove her fleece pants, cotton pants, wool pants, and thermal underwear, and even remove the cotton covers from her snow boots. Yao Xiaoyu wants to have a good night's sleep, but the steps are no simpler than the CEO husking corn. The only good thing is that she doesn't have to do this job, otherwise she would really use scissors to perform a mass excision of useless accessory tissues on herself!
After the hairpins, hair ornaments, hairpins, hair sticks, hair ornaments, and other decorative items were removed, Yao Xiaoyu had finished her nap. Her gentle eyes and brows were as soft as her name, and she looked warm under the kerosene lamp. The box next to her was full.
The Li sisters were wealthy and powerful. Yao Xiaoyu's clothes and jewelry were all under their control. This box contained gold, silver and gemstones, and the price was not low.
Yao Xiaoyu closed the box she had tidied up, tied her hair up with a strip of cloth, and was about to open the courtyard gate to have a late-night snack when Wenrou rushed over from behind and forced her to put a hat on her head to cover her hair, which was scattered in a five-pointed star shape. Yao Xiaoyu felt uncomfortable, but seeing Wenrou's worried look, she didn't take it off.
"Give me a bowl of braised pork and fried tofu."
Yao Xiaoyu said to the vendor carrying the load, and Tao Xiaoxiao had already walked to her side to protect her. Modern human traffickers drive vans to snatch children, and the human traffickers of this era are no less formidable. They can grab a person and cover their mouth, and in the blink of an eye, they may be separated by death.
Yao Xiaoyu was almost taken away like that before. If Tao Xiaoxiao hadn't kicked those people against the wall, she might have ended up in a remote mountain valley. However, those people didn't have a good ending either. They died after staying at the Stinky Foot Patrol for two days. Some busybodies invited a Western doctor, who said it was a ruptured corpus luteum. On the other hand, a batch of abducted children were found.
"Alright, there's also braised pig's head in the alley over there, and wontons are around the corner. Do you want some zongzi (sticky rice dumplings)?"
The vendor skillfully prepared the ingredients, his mouth never stopping. The two young girls from the Yao family were well-known wealthy people in the area. They could earn a lot of money just by running errands. The stalls in Shanghai had all been divided into different locations. Apart from the newcomers coming and going, it was just the same old people. The vendor knew where to find other food.
"Give me a few meat dumplings, three servings of wontons, and braised pork without the fat. Pick out some of the ears and lean meat, and buy the rest as you see fit."
Yao Xiaoyu was indeed tempted. She took out some silver coins and brought Xiaoxiao's share with her. The vendor beamed, piled up his carrying pole on the ground, and ran off. Yao Xiaoyu ate fried tofu and made a bet with herself in her heart on how long it would take for the vendor to come back.
Braised pork offal with fried tofu is a local specialty snack. The so-called braised pork offal is actually just hot salt water with Sichuan peppercorns, served with a few vegetarian meatballs made from vermicelli. The taste is so-so, but it is indeed refreshing to eat.
The vendor was indeed in a hurry to make money. Yao Xiaoyu had just finished the last sip of the braised pork soup when he came over, panting. Yao Xiaoyu took the food, closed the door, and casually gave Wenrou and Zhou Chunhua each a meat dumpling. She and Tao Xiaoxiao slowly filled their stomachs, rinsed their mouths, and went upstairs.
Yao Xiaoyu was originally very sleepy, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter what she did while lying in bed. After counting the thousand sheep three times, she resigned herself to her fate, got up, turned the kerosene lamp to its brightest setting, and wrote furiously. By the time she stopped writing, it was already broad daylight.
"We'll talk about the copying later when I wake up. If you don't cooperate, I'll just knock myself out!"
Yao Xiaoyu shook her aching hands and threatened herself. This time, her brain cooperated, and the moment she lay down on the bed, she fell asleep.
A week later, the New World newspaper published a short story on the theme of real and fake heiresses, written under the pseudonym "The Ambitious One".
That same afternoon, Ye Junshu disembarked with his suitcase and returned to Shanghai.
-----------------------
Author's note: Thank goodness, I almost forgot about the male lead again.
————
————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
