Chapter 181: Are You That Fragile?

However, he was not even as good as Shen Lan back in the day; Shen Lan, as a swindler, at least had decent acting skills and did not make the Si Family feel uncomfortable.

Si Rong heard what Xu Hu said to Jiang Zhi.

At that time, she had returned to the second-floor room to get the little tiger plush toy for Juzi.

"Jiang Zhi, I never imagined your family background was so good before; your uncle is actually a Deputy Army Commander in the military district. I'm not good enough for you. Should I just leave?"

Si Rong:...

She did not hear clearly how Jiang Zhi replied, but by the time dinner was approaching, it was evident that some conflict had occurred between the two, and their interaction seemed unnatural.

Moreover, Xu Hu had not left at all.

Instead, he was very eagerly trying to curry favor with her.

He kept calling her "Auntie" this and "Auntie" that, but Si Rong did not enjoy hearing it; perhaps she was too picky, but she felt that the title of "Auntie" became unpleasant once it came out of Xu Hu's mouth.

Si Rong had an intuition that Jiang Cheng would not be satisfied with this boyfriend Jiang Zhi had found.

Sure enough, Jiang Cheng's face darkened the moment he returned and saw Xu Hu.

Just a second before, he had clearly been smiling while looking at Si Rong.

This change of expression seemed to make the atmosphere turn cold for a moment.

At the dinner table, Jiang Zhi attempted to share some interesting stories from school to ease the atmosphere, even mentioning that she and Xu Hu met in the school cafeteria.

Xu Hu worked part-time in the school cafeteria; he received no wages, only working during the meal rush, and was provided with three meals a day.

Every time Jiang Zhi went, he would serve her extra food.

And so, after some back and forth, the two got to know each other.

It was a very beautiful, youthful romantic flutter; after hearing this, Jiang Cheng's gaze landed on Si Rong's face.

Si Rong:...

She looked back at him indifferently. What was wrong? She and Shen Lan had indeed met the same way back then.

One could only say that this world was just like a giant storybook.

The repetition rate was so high.

She looked back at him calmly; brave people are the first to enjoy the world and beautiful women.

Who told you to be so arrogant back then?

Even confessing your love was a beat slower than others, and after going in circles, you didn't manage to get a wife until you were over forty.

And that was only after cutting in line for a blind date on the street.

But Si Rong knew that Jiang Cheng likely felt the same way she did—that Xu Hu was not very suitable for their Jiang Zhi.

In the evening, Wu Ma was playing with the two children downstairs, while Si Rong and Jiang Cheng lay on the bed, enjoying some rare time alone.

"Unhappy?"

Si Rong grabbed his hand, not allowing him to press it against her ample conscience.

It seemed even fuller after feeding the child.

Jiang Cheng gave a muffled hum.

Si Rong expressed her understanding, "It's just like when you carefully raise a potted flower, pouring in years of effort with water and fertilizer, but one day, some yellow-haired punk suddenly kills his way in, not only wanting to pick your flower but also planning to carry off the whole pot. It's normal to be unhappy."

She had a basis for describing Xu Hu as a "yellow-haired punk"; Xu Hu had likely been malnourished since childhood, so his hair color was as withered and yellow as wheat.

He was, however, still quite handsome.

"What I'm angry about isn't that someone is carrying off my flower, but that that person definitely won't be able to take good care of my flower in the future."

Si Rong felt a bit heartbroken hearing this.

Was this not exactly what her parents thought when she insisted on marrying Shen Lan back then?

But people are just like that; if they set their minds on a path, even if others tell them it is the wrong one, those with stubborn personalities will still walk it without looking back, refusing to turn around until they hit the south wall.

Of course, she did not want Jiang Zhi to follow in her footsteps.

The couple talked for a long time. Si Rong noticed that Jiang Cheng's mood was very low, and he would occasionally hesitate to speak, but she did not think too deeply into it, assuming it was just because he was overly worried about Xiao Zhi.

The next day, Si Rong decided to do something; if she tried her best and still could not change Jiang Zhi's mind, then she could only wish her well.

Her idea was to tell Jiang Zhi the story of her own past.

But she could not bring it up herself; that would be a bit too much like a lecture, and children all have a rebellious streak.

She found Ming Zi and brought her to the house, while Xu Hu was dragged off to climb a mountain by Jiang Cheng under the guise of taking him to see Huaiyang.

It was the highest mountain in Huaiyang, at that.

Looking at the stone mountain towering into the clouds before him, Xu Hu felt his legs go weak, but thinking that Jiang Zhi's uncle, an old man of over forty, could climb it, he, a young man, naturally had nothing to fear.

As a result, by the time he was halfway up, he was exhausted like a dog, while this so-called "old man of over forty" still had a vigorous pace and did not feel the slightest bit tired.

In order to leave a good impression in front of Jiang Cheng, he could only bite the bullet and continue climbing upward.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zhi was immersed in the past events regarding her aunt that Ming Zi had "inadvertently" brought up.

Often, people are lost in the situation while the bystander sees clearly.

Listening to the story of her aunt's youth, Jiang Zhi could not help but say, "If my uncle had confessed directly to my aunt back then, wouldn't the whole thing with Shen Lan have been avoided?"

"My uncle and aunt really wasted so many years in vain!"

Ming Zi nodded, "Who's to say they didn't? Do you know what the most important thing is? Love and marriage are two different things."

"Why are they two different things?" Jiang Zhi was a bit confused, "Doesn't everyone enter marriage because they have love first?"

"Love is a matter between two people; as long as there is love in your hearts, it can be very romantic. But marriage is the collision of two families, and the values formed by your past experiences will also collide, not to mention the elderly, children, and the daily necessities of life."

"Take your aunt, for example. When she married down to that Shen Lan back then, she was bullied no end by that dead old woman, Shen Mu, simply because the family backgrounds were vastly different, and that family didn't understand your aunt's worth."

Jiang Zhi was silent for a moment, "Auntie Ming, did my aunt ask you to persuade me? Does she not approve of me being with Xu Hu?"

"Yes." Ming Zi glanced at Si Rong in the distance, who was feeding the child, "She didn't hesitate to let me tear open the scars of her youth for you to see, simply because we both hope you can be happy."

"Thank you, Auntie Ming. I will seriously consider it."

But Jiang Zhi thought, Xu Hu was not necessarily the same kind of person as Shen Lan.

After all, villains who harbor evil intentions like Shen Lan were a tiny minority in reality, and besides, Xu Hu loved her very much.

He had suddenly become a bit awkward only because he saw her uncle and became a bit insecure.

In this world, how many men would not feel insecure in front of her uncle?

When Xu Hu returned, he felt as if he had lost half his life; although he came from a poverty-stricken mountain area like Daliang Shan, because he was the only boy in the family since childhood and his five older sisters had taken good care of him, he rarely did farm work, so his physical stamina naturally could not compare to Jiang Cheng, who had been a soldier for many years.

"How did you get so exhausted just from climbing a mountain?"

Jiang Zhi, feeling somewhat speechless, washed two towels, handing one to her uncle and the other to Xu Hu.

Before Xu Hu could even reply, he heard Jiang Cheng say, "The young man is a bit weak; if he were a soldier under my command, he wouldn't even think about eating dinner."

Jiang Zhi had always felt her uncle's words made sense, and upon hearing this, she deeply agreed, "I never noticed before, you're this weak?"

Xu Hu:...