Wealthy Beauty in the 60s-Chapter 185 - 184: The Heart of the Family

Gao Jiaxing wanted to say it was not early at all; he was eager for Xia Xiao to marry him right away. However, he also knew that discussing marriage wasn’t something that could be rushed.

In the living room, Li Wenjuan was asking Mrs. Xia, "Mom, what do you think of that young man? Is he acceptable?"

Mrs. Xia replied, "He’s a great lad, handsome and hardworking, diligent in his duties, and can even box. Your dad and I saw him this morning, and he genuinely knows his stuff. Xiaoxiao has a good eye for people."

As Mrs. Xia spoke, she gave a thumbs up, and Old Man Xia scoffed, "Once your mother sees the young man’s face, everything else about him seems perfect. How could she be unsatisfied?"

"What are you talking about? The young man is indeed good-looking," Mrs. Xia glared at Old Man Xia.

Xia Weiguo said, "It’s just that their home is so far away. I don’t know if Xiaoxiao will still be able to return to the city once she marries over there. What will we do if she can’t come back? It’s such a long journey, and we could only see her once a year."

Li Wenjuan also joined in, "Right, it’s not easy to see each other a few times in several years, with the mountains and long roads. It’s expensive and inconvenient to make the trip."

Xia Weiguo continued, "What if she is bullied over there? What could we do then?"

Xia Chunrong nodded, "Indeed, if she gets bullied by her in-laws in the future, it’ll be tough to help her from so far away."

Mrs. Xia said, "What can we do? Xiaoxiao has set her heart on him. Besides, she’s so young going over there; they’ll take care of her and protect her. They even saved her life. This young man is not bad; he’s not inferior to city folks. He’s a high school student, and his grades are quite good, Xiaoxiao says. It’s just that he encountered the cancellation of the university entrance exam; otherwise, he’d be a university student by now."

It was then that Old Man Xia spoke up, "Although I’m not completely satisfied, I can’t find anything particularly unsatisfying about this young man either. Having a high school education means he’s well-read. As long as he’s capable, there should be no problem in supporting a family. Xiaoxiao knows how to manage household affairs. If the young couple can work together, they’ll have nothing to worry about for a good life. You all shouldn’t worry too much. Don’t be too rigid and split them up, lest you hurt Xiaoxiao’s heart. Besides, Xiaoxiao isn’t in the city after all; her household registration is still with the production team. We can only hope she’ll be happy over there, what else can we do?"

After the remarks from Mrs. Xia and Old Man Xia, Xia Weiguo, Li Wenjuan, and Xia Chunrong all fell silent. Without Xiaoxiao by their side, there were many things they couldn’t decide or arrange.

In their hearts, naturally, they hoped that Xiaoxiao could find someone from the same city, someone closer to them. But since Xiaoxiao chose someone from the production team, they couldn’t object. Moreover, they had met Gao Jiaxing, who was well-matched with Xiaoxiao. There seemed to be nothing wrong to pick on the surface. What else could they do?

By the time Xiaoxiao and Gao Jiaxing had finished washing the quilt covers and sheets and returned to the living room, Xia Weiguo and Li Wenjuan had already finished their breakfast.

Gao Jiaxing immediately sensed a change in Xia Weiguo and Li Wenjuan’s attitude. They had been stiff before, and their smiles were somewhat forced. Now, their smiles were much more genuine.

Xia Xiao understood, perhaps her parents had talked with her grandparents. Realizing that her parents hoped for her well-being over there, they quickly accepted Gao Jiaxing. Xia Xiao felt a mixture of sourness and deep emotion in her heart.

"Sister, take Brother Gao to send a telegram to our family, then take him out for a stroll," Xia Xiao said to Xia Chunrong.

Xia Chunrong nodded and said to Gao Jiaxing, "Let’s go, let’s take a walk."

Gao Jiaxing nodded. He had the same idea about sending a telegram home.

"I want to go too! I want to go, I want to go..." Xia Jing, Xia Hong, Xia Lin, and Xia Xiang all chimed in at once.

Xia Xiao said, "Sister, you just got back. Don’t you all want to spend time with her?"

Xia Jing, Xia Hong, Xia Lin, and Xia Xiang looked at Xia Xiao. Xia Jing asked, "Big sister, aren’t you going?"

Xia Xiao shook her head, "I’m not going. I’ll stay at home."

"Then we won’t go either." They all nodded in agreement.

Xia Chunrong and Gao Jiaxing went out. At that moment, Xia Xiao saw the sun coming out and directed her younger sisters to take the quilts outside to air them.

Li Wenjuan said, "Big sister, take a seat."

Xia Xiao sat down beside her parents. Li Wenjuan said, "Big sister, talk to mom about it, otherwise, she’ll remain uneasy."

Xia Xiao finally spoke, "I chose Gao Jiaxing because I think he’s reliable. He treats me well and takes good care of me. I feel secure with him."

Xia Xiao paused before continuing, "And his family, his father is our production team’s leader, a man of integrity. His mother helps cook in the cafeteria and has a bright personality. When I was with the production team, it was mostly his mother protecting me. The people in his family are easy to get along with, and his eldest brother has a good temperament. There are a few sisters who are married, and two are quite nice. It’s just the youngest sister who has broken off relations with their parents over her in-laws’ affairs."

"How did they break off relations?" asked Li Wenjuan.

"It’s their family business, and I shouldn’t talk too much about it. However, as parents and grandparents, you’re not outsiders. I’ll tell you privately. His third sister is quite selfish. Her brother-in-law’s factory had a position for a son-in-law, and she wanted her eldest brother to take it. He didn’t want to, and neither did their family. They fought over this and fell out. Later, she introduced her second cousin to become the son-in-law, and now his uncle’s family, including his grandmother, have moved to the county."

"That really isn’t right," Li Wenjuan commented, and neither Old Man Xia nor Mrs. Xia nor Xia Weiguo said anything.

Xia Xiao continued, "Actually, when I was there, I fancied a guy who was really handsome and a soldier. His mother was the women’s director and kept causing me trouble. When he was pursuing me, I even considered being with him, but his mother interfered so much that I grew tired of it and let it go."

"That kind of family is not worth considering. If the mother-in-law isn’t favorable, the marriage would be difficult," Li Wenjuan remarked.

Mrs. Xia also nodded, "Right, no matter how good the man is, if the mother-in-law isn’t good, you can’t marry in. The character for ’filial piety’ is bigger than the sky, and a mother-in-law is the ’sky above your head.’ If she’s tough, a daughter-in-law can hardly have a good life. Isn’t there a saying, ’It takes ten years for a daughter-in-law to become a mother-in-law’? It shows the hardship in just the word ’endure.’"

Mrs. Xia knew the hardship of living with a tough mother-in-law herself. In the past, her husband’s mother was difficult, and though she was not satisfied with Mrs. Xia, her father-in-law was good and managed to keep the mother-in-law in check. But even so, Mrs. Xia had her fair share of trouble caused by her. Fortunately, the mother-in-law passed away before her husband, or else Mrs. Xia would have suffered even more.

Having experienced the hardships of being a daughter-in-law, and having had her grievances with her own mother-in-law in the past, Mrs. Xia did not interfere too much when she became a mother-in-law herself.

Old Man Xia stayed silent, as did Xia Weiguo.

This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶