Chapter 15 Blind Date

It's not a pleasant thing to say about changing one's spouse for marriage.

What's more, this was all done by the eldest son's family. As a stepmother, Xu Li would seem, at best, that the Ji family was not apologetic enough and was trying to make up for the eldest son's family; at worst, it would seem that she was criticizing her stepson's wife.

After thinking about it, it would be best if Lin Qiao didn't know that it was Ji Ze who was chosen. It was also good that they hadn't had time to discuss this matter in the past few days.

As long as the person is replaced quietly, this matter will have nothing to do with the boss's family in the future. She doesn't have to bother explaining, and Lin Qiao doesn't have to feel embarrassed about it.

As for the eldest brother's family, she really didn't want to care whether they were embarrassed or not.

Xu Li was afraid that Lin Qiao didn't understand what she meant. "I'm talking about getting married and living together. What do you think of the second child?"

With Lin Qiao's intelligence, if she knew that it was Ji Ze, she would definitely react quickly after hearing what she said.

Lin Qiao thought about it carefully, "Not bad, quite responsible."

If she was still a little unsure before because of her seniority and Ye Minshu's attitude, now that Xu Li talked to her about these things, she should have decided on Ji Duo.

Otherwise, even if Ji Ze disagrees, he can just find a way to cancel the engagement. Why does he have to replace him with his uncle?

As for Ye Minshu's dislike, either she thought it was shameful to have a younger sister like her, or she had introduced a partner to Ji Duo before.

Anyway, the other person is her sister-in-law, not her mother-in-law. She got married to escape from that home completely, not to have a good relationship with the other person.

At least if it were her at the beginning, she clearly didn't want to marry him, but still accompanied him back to his hometown and took care of him when he was sick. She couldn't have done better than Ji Duo.

This answer made Xu Li feel relieved, but she still confirmed it again: "What about your marriage?"

Xu Li had been very nice to Lin Qiao since she came to the Ji family. Judging from Xu Li's attitude, it didn't seem like she knew her son was unwilling and wanted to come to her to break off the engagement.

That means the old man has been discharged from the hospital, and the Ji family wants to put this matter on the agenda.

Lin Qiao thought about it and did not give a direct answer, "Can I talk to him?"

Xu Li was surprised to find that she would bring this up.

But even though the marriage was arranged by two families, it was the two of them who were going to live together, so it was understandable that she wanted to clarify some things before marriage.

Xu Li nodded, "Okay, you two can discuss this between yourselves."

Thinking that the Ji family was really unfair in this matter, he held Lin Qiao's hand again and said, "Don't worry, the family will not treat you badly. If the second brother does anything wrong in the future,

Just tell me where he is and I will help you deal with him."

"We didn't handle this properly, but word has gotten out and there's no better way to deal with it. We have to do it this way."

In the study room in the front yard, Grandpa Ji looked at his most proud youngest son with a complicated expression.

When he first decided to arrange a marriage for his children, he actually never considered the second child. Firstly, there was a generation difference between them, and secondly, the second child was nine years older than Qiao Qiao. Even if they were of the same generation, his age was not as suitable as Ozawa's.

Unexpectedly, after many twists and turns, the matter finally fell on the second brother.

Ji Duo had not expected that Ye Minshu would go to such lengths to prevent Ji Ze from marrying Lin Qiao. He just kept listening to what Old Man Ji said with a frown, without interrupting.

The calm expression of the man in the face of a huge crisis reminded the old man of the boss who had just been scolded by him until his face turned pale. What a difference.

The old man sighed deeply, "Before, someone introduced you to someone, but you didn't want to see them, and your family didn't force you. This time I don't want to force you to do anything either, but if this gets spread to other people, it's fine, at most they'll say that you two are broken up. But the one that got spread is Qiao Qiao, so does she still want to stay in our house in the future?"

Some things don't need to be explained too clearly, Ji Duo can understand them. He lowered his voice and said, "I took the initiative to arrange this marriage. I promised Lao Lin that I would take care of Qiao Qiao for the rest of her life. Second brother...just think of it as doing Dad a favor."

My old man had a bad temper and a tough heart all his life. Even though the wars were so fierce and the times he was demoted were so difficult, he never bowed his head to anyone.

But today he bowed his head in front of his youngest son. Not only did he have no choice, but he also felt really sorry for his son.

If Ji Duo marries Lin Qiao, this problem can indeed be solved. But he is just a younger brother, why should he help the eldest brother's family clean up the mess?

And this is because the old man knows that he has a broad mind. If someone is a little narrow-minded, he would probably think that he is pushing something that the old man's family doesn't want to him.

Ji Duo didn't think too much about it, and his expression remained calm. He didn't raise his eyes until the old man finished speaking, "I want to talk to her alone."

If she didn't refuse, there would still be hope. Old Master Ji breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, it's your business, you two can discuss it."

So ten minutes later, the old man gave the study to the two young men and went to the living room.

This was considered a formal blind date between the two. Xu Li was worried and quietly called her son aside. "We are sorry for this. If you don't want to, go talk to your dad. Don't scare the girl. She has no relatives here and can't stand your bullying."

Ji Duo just raised his eyelids as she said, "How can you say you are not her relatives? Didn't Dad say that you are her relatives?"

From the tone, it seems that he still has some temper, and he is not so calm as to accept everything.

Xu Li took longer to digest the situation than him, and finally she had changed her mind. After all, if she didn't marry Lin Qiao, their second son would most likely remain single.

She patted her son on the back and said, "Then marry her and we will be a real family."

Seeing that Ji Duo seemed to have something else to say, he urged him again: "Hurry up, you are almost thirty years old, and you still ask the young lady to wait for you."

After everyone left, she let out a long sigh, "What's going on? Fortunately, Qiao Qiao doesn't know."

"That girl really doesn't know?" Old Master Ji confirmed with his wife in a low voice.

Xu Li nodded: "They probably don't know. I guess when we suddenly stopped believing, they thought we had changed our minds and never told the children about it. The old lady has been making a lot of noise these days, and we didn't talk to her in detail, but it's also possible that I didn't notice it."

"Don't worry about whether she knows or not. Since she didn't say anything, let's just pretend it didn't happen, so as to avoid embarrassment when we meet."

The most difficult problem seems to be solved, and the next one is the culprit.

The old man glanced in the direction of the study and sneered, "There's no need to notify the boss. Don't they think I'm meddling in their family affairs? They don't need to take care of the Ji family's affairs. My old bones can't afford to bother."

He paused here and asked Xu Li, "How much money is left at home?"

The topic changed so quickly that Xu Li was stunned for a moment before giving a number.

"Doesn't the eldest son's wife always say that I'm partial to him?" The old man looked at his wife, "This time I'm going to give more to the second son and Qiao Qiao. Who will have the nerve to say that?"

Mr. Ji's study is located in the east room of the front yard. Through the window, you can just see the fruit trees and swings in the yard.

When Ji Duo walked in, Lin Qiao was already sitting at the table, admiring a calligraphy work on the wall, with no emotion visible on his face.

This calmness is exactly the same as when they first met. It's just that she was Ozawa's childhood sweetheart at that time, but now she has become his.

Ji Duo pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him without much greeting. "What do you think about this?"

If it were someone else, they would probably chat a few words about calligraphy, either to lighten the mood and make the other person relax, or to hide their intentions and make the other person even more nervous.

No matter which one, it's all for the sake of controlling the rhythm of the conversation. He was the only one who got straight to the point right away, with a completely businesslike attitude.

But this was consistent with Lin Qiao's impression of him. Lin Qiao smiled and said, "I want to confirm first, you don't have a partner, right? Someone you like counts."

When Ji Duo heard this, he immediately remembered what happened in the hospital that day, and his eyes suddenly became deep as he looked at Lin Qiao.

He wondered if Lin Qiao knew something, but he couldn't see it from her face.

The reason why Lin Qiao asked this was indeed related to Ye Minshu, but it was a little different from what he thought.

Although her friend didn't say that the male protagonist has a girlfriend, Lin Qiao is not the type to be a mistress. If the marriage partner is Ji Ze, she will have to reconsider.

After all, she came to the male protagonist to fulfill the marriage contract because she knew that the male protagonist needed to exchange marriage for career, and the interests of both parties were consistent, and marriage could solve each other's problems the fastest. The male protagonist already had a partner and was unwilling to marry him, so could she force the male protagonist to marry him?

Seeing that Ji Duo didn't say anything, Lin Qiao thought he had said something right, "You wouldn't really..."

"No, you can rest assured about that." Ji Duo interrupted her directly.

However, she would ask these questions, obviously she had no objection to this marriage. Ji Duo crossed his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly, "Let me tell you about my situation. Ji Duo, male, 27 years old, a party member, currently serving as a regiment commander in the Yandu Military Region, no marriage history, no medical history..."

Lin Qiao seemed to be fine at first, but after hearing the latter part, he really wanted to complain.

What is a male party member? Brother, are you on a blind date or applying for a job?

And the serious posture you have, the sharp look in your eyes, people would believe you if you were in a war room meeting...

Lin Qiao complained in his heart, but he still listened carefully to the end and even nodded from time to time, as if he was a little warrior listening to the leader's instructions.

Ji Duo was so impressed by her that he simply stopped talking and handed over a carbon copy.

He was not Ji Ze. He was still young and vigorous. He could let his mother make trouble and bring trouble to the whole family if he didn't want to. The reason why I wanted to talk to Lin Qiao was to see what Lin Qiao thought and to give Lin Qiao some reassurance.

Lin Qiao thought it was a military officer's ID card, party ticket or something like that, and was about to take it with both hands to show respect, when he found out it was actually a passbook.

Ji Duo placed the things directly in front of her. "I currently enjoy regimental level treatment, with a monthly salary of 176.4 yuan, as well as meat coupons, cloth coupons, and industrial coupons. I usually eat and live in the army, and the rest is all here. If you need it, just take it from there."

Unexpectedly, a passbook was given on a blind date. Lin Qiao took back his previous thought.

This man does know how to go on blind dates. At least ten thousand sweet words and solemn promises are not as real and sincere as this passbook.

That’s why it is said that a salary card is the best dowry for a man. No matter whether it is spent or enough, the first thing is that the other party is willing to hand it over, which is an attitude of trust.

Lin Qiao was still thinking about how to discuss this cooperation with the other party, when the other party took out his passbook, and it seemed that he had already thought of it.

He just came out of the study, and maybe he had already talked to the old man. As long as he married Lin Qiao as agreed, the old man would support him to return to the local area to do business.

Since the other party was sincere enough, Lin Qiao had to express his attitude. "You all know my situation, so I won't say more. After marriage, I will find a job and prepare for college entrance examination. I will not hold you back or interfere with you. If you

If there is something that is not understood by others and you need my help, I will stand by your side unconditionally..."

In the early 1980s, anyone who gave up his stable job and insisted on going into business would be laughed at.

What's more, Ji Duo's job is not a stable job at all, but a golden rice bowl that seems to have a bright future.

Ji Duo listened, but he remembered that when he entered the study just now, the old man also confirmed with him: "You don't like men, or it's not okay?"

He interrupted Lin Qiao and asked, "What is it about me that people don't understand that I need your help with?"

"No?" Lin Qiao paused, always feeling that the man's tone was not very good when he said this.

Thinking about their current relationship, it would be impossible for the other party to tell her if there was anything wrong, she immediately changed her words, "Then you can come to me if you have any problems in the future. I just want to tell you that we are one. No matter what happens, I will stand by you unconditionally."

He didn't know how much of this was true or false, but she hadn't said it clearly yet, so he didn't want to press her for an explanation.

For the first time, Ji Duo felt that the nine-year age difference might be a problem for communication in the future. But since they were going to get married soon, they could only adjust slowly in the future.

He skipped the subject and asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

"That's all." Lin Qiao didn't have high expectations for his partners. "What about you? Is there anything else you want to say?"

Ji Duo is gone too.

Lin Qiao is a smart person who knows what he wants. There will be no problem with the general direction. Since there is no problem with the general direction, the rest are just details and there is no need to rush at this moment.

Seeing that the man didn't say anything, Lin Qiao stood up and took the initiative to extend his hand, "Happy cooperation."

Because she worked a lot, her hands were not well maintained, and there was even a thin layer of lint on her fingertips, but her hands were beautiful, with slender fingertips and plump nails that were neatly trimmed and rounded, with a faint pink hue.

Ji Duo glanced over it and asked, "You call this cooperation?"

"Doesn't it sound good?"

Seeing that he didn't move, Lin Qiao was about to withdraw her hand when a warm big hand gently squeezed her fingertips.

"Not really." Ji Duo let go of her hand as soon as he touched it, and said in a calm voice, "It's a pleasure to work with you."

In the final analysis, a marriage without love is just a partnership, which is actually no different from cooperation.

After talking about this, the two reached a consensus. The remaining matters, such as preparing for the marriage, would be discussed with Ji's son Xu Li.

The clock struck nearly one and Aunt Zhang outside had actually prepared dinner, but no one was in the mood to eat yet.

Seeing the two people coming out, Xu Li first glanced at her son's face, but still had that cold face that showed nothing, so she looked at Lin Qiao again.

Lin Qiao smiled and said, "Sorry to have kept you and Master Ji waiting for so long. I'll go back and put some things away and come back."

Calling him "Grandpa Ji" at this time always makes people feel a little awkward. But judging from her attitude, the two of them should not have broken up the discussion.

As long as the negotiations didn't break down, it's OK. The way you address each other isn't important. It's not too late to change it after you get married.

Xu Li smiled and nodded, "Don't worry." Just as she was about to look away, she felt something was wrong and turned around to take a closer look at what was in Lin Qiao's hand.

"Did you go back to the house just to get this?" she asked her son in a low voice.

Lin Qiao's pockets were too small to hold the passbook today, so she could only hold it in her hands. But since Ji Duo had given it to her, she wasn't afraid of others knowing.

Xu Li was speechless for a moment.

She was worried that her son would be unwilling and scare the girl. But he just handed over his passbook directly...