Han Jing shook her head. “They don’t think like that. In their way of thinking, girls can’t earn any money. But they know that university students have a good reputation, and with my status as a student, I can marry a rich man. They’re afraid that I’ll be too old when I graduate and it won’t be easy to find someone.
“One of my neighbors… is quite rich and wants to marry me!”
Li Qinglang: “…”
He had met all sorts of odd people before. After all, he had a hard life when he was young. So, although Li Qinglang could not understand their way of thinking, he did not pursue the matter further or ask any more questions.
Han Jing was very calm. If she said so, that meant that she really had no other solution. He could not solve her family’s issues with a few simple words.
“Since… your parents want you to marry someone, if you’re together with me, won’t they be even more insistent that you get married? Also, didn’t you say they think education is useless and labor is glorious? Then… will they like a boyfriend like me?”
Han Jing said, “They despise people like you, but they like money!”
Li Qinglang: “…”
“Like I said, they might despise rich people and think that laborers are the most glorious. But they love money. Your family background is clearly better than that of the man they found for me. If I’m with a boyfriend like you, that will be even more hopeful.
“During this period, as long as I give them some money, they will think I will have a bright future with you. Then I will say it’s not so easy to marry into a noble family and I need time and so on. I’m sure I can drag it out for some time.
“As long as I can graduate, I will be able to earn enough to support myself. Then I will have much more freedom. I can even go to another city to work. That way, they can’t find me. They can’t afford to travel anyway and can’t bear to spend the money.”
Li Qinglang: “…”
“Meanwhile, I mainly need to focus on my studies and my internship. I’m worried that if they make trouble in school, I won’t be able to graduate. Then all my years of hard work will go to waste. My older brother and sisters paid such a huge price for my current education. I must not abandon it like that.
“In the future, I will earn money to pay them back! So I can’t accept either getting married or having my studies affected in some way that prevents me from graduating. I have to wait until I graduate.”
Li Qinglang asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Han Jing said, “You just have to acknowledge me as your girlfriend. I won’t trouble you unnecessarily. Don’t worry about that.
“But I will certainly need you to pay a visit to my hometown so they can see you and all the neighbors can meet you. No one in my village has married very well. If you go, it will definitely invite a lot of envy and satisfy my parents’ vanity. They probably won’t force me to marry anyone else after that.”
Li Qinglang understood.
He looked at this girl. She was really very pretty, logical, and beautiful.
He suddenly laughed. “You’re very frank!”
After all, she was here for a matchmaking session. She had a chance of marrying him, especially since he had made a promise like that to her.
Now she frankly told him all the bad things about her own family and had not hidden anything. She had not even tried to cover up any of her parents’ faults.
A girl like her was really rare.
Then Han Jing said, “I’m not really going to treat you like a real boyfriend. What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
Li Qinglang: “…”
Why did he feel a little hurt?
