Chapter 67 Second Aunt

Yu Yuchu half-jokingly said, "Taking a step back, if you immediately found a girlfriend, all these problems would be solved instantly."

Yu Yuchu flashed a cheeky, playful smile.

Huo Fuzhu adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, smiling effortlessly and with absolute composure. "By that time, I might be free from the annoyance of matchmaking, but Ms. Yu would be the one in deep trouble."

Given Yu Yuchu's thorough understanding of Ms. Li Guifang, when it came to efficiency in finding her matchmaking candidates, her mother was bound to be unrivaled.

Otherwise, her mother wouldn't have found Huo Fuzhu so quickly after she parted ways with Shen Wang.

"Thank you for the trouble today."

"It was just on the way, hardly any trouble at all."

Yu Yuchu didn't want to owe him a favor. "By the way, did you have anything specific to take care of by coming back? If there's anything I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask."

Huo Fuzhu pushed up his glasses again. "Just some paperwork that requires me to appear in person for stamps and such. I appreciate your kind thought, thank you."

"It's nothing really."

In the blink of an eye, they reached their destination.

After bidding farewell to Huo Fuzhu, Yu Yuchu pulled her luggage and walked into her family home.

It was the very same familiar scent, one that instantly pulled Yu Yuchu back into her childhood memories.

She saw her father sitting right there in his wheelchair in the living room.

He must have known she was coming home, as he had her mother place him in the wheelchair to wait for her before her mother left for her classes.

The television was playing at a very high volume. Her father was nodding off in his wheelchair, holding an unfinished piece of knitting work in his hands. A ball of yarn had rolled onto the floor, with winding, tangled threads spreading out all around him.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, he instantly snapped awake and looked toward the entrance.

Seeing her father, who had been waiting for her all afternoon in the living room, Yu Yuchu felt tears well up in her eyes instantly.

"Chuchu is back? Are you tired? Come on over and sit down to rest, your mom will be back soon."

Yu Yuchu lowered her head, using her hair to shield her face, then turned sideways as if taking off her shoes, secretly wiping away the remaining tears with her hand.

"Dad, I'm not tired. We're going out for a banquet later. Do you want to sleep a bit longer?"

"No need for sleep anymore, come on over and sit."

Yu Yuchu walked toward the sofa.

Her father was always a man of few words, but that didn't mean he didn't care about her.

As soon as Yu Yuchu settled down, she heard her father's voice.

"Yuchu, you've met little Huo, haven't you?"

Yu Yuchu nodded.

So her parents knew about this all along.

"Don't just follow your mom's arrangements on this matter. You young people have your own ideas. If you don't like someone, you just don't like them, there's no need to worry about saving face."

Yu Yuchu responded in a low voice, looking deep in thought.

In fact, she had never planned to follow the path her mother had mapped out for her anyway.

Seeing Yu Yuchu like this, Yu's father assumed she was in a bad mood, but not knowing how to comfort her, he simply opened his mouth to speak and then gave up.

"Dad, I'll go peel an apple for you."

Yu Yuchu started walking toward the kitchen, but then she heard the front door bang open.

Followed closely by her mother's bright, ringing voice.

"Chuchu! You're back!"

Yu Yuchu turned back to look. Her mother, usually so understated, was wearing a brightly colored jacket today, her hair meticulously groomed, and her face glowing with radiance.

She didn't look like someone who had been tormented by the students at school at all.

"Mom, you're in a great mood today."

Yu Yuchu took out a fruit knife, preparing to peel the apple.

"Oh my, of course your mother is happy now that you're back."

Li Guifang stepped forward to stop Yu Yuchu's motion.

"Who eats fruit now! We're heading out to the banquet right away, don't eat, stop eating."

Yu Yuchu helplessly put down the fruit knife.

"Why are you in such a rush?"

There were only a few restaurants in the county town, and Yu Yuchu had grown almost sick of their flavors since she was a child.

Everyone knew deep down that hosting these banquets was merely a pretext to collect cash gifts from various families.

Li Guifang didn't answer. She briefly looked Yu Yuchu up and down before nodding.

"If we walk over now, it will be just about time for the banquet to start. The timing is perfect, how is that being in a rush?"

With a bustling energy, she wheeled Yu's father out the door.

Seeing her mother act this way, Yu Yuchu had a pretty good guess in her heart.

She feared that her second aunt, whom her mother detested the most, had returned.

Sure enough, looking at the smiling second aunt standing before her, Yu Yuchu let out an imperceptible sigh.

Her second aunt had a stellar son who took the college entrance examination right around the same time as Yu Yuchu and was also working in Beijing, alongside a straight-A daughter who consistently ranked near the top of her school year.

The aunt constantly bragged about her two children to everyone she met.

The reason Li Guifang was at odds with her was because Yu Yuchu's college entrance examination score had been slightly higher than her second aunt's precious son, prompting the second aunt to sneer on the sidelines that it was merely a liberal arts major.

Graduating wouldn't make it easy to find a job either.

Major tech companies wouldn't even want them, and so on.

It used to make Li Guifang jump with anger on the sidelines, unable to find the right words to retort.

Ever since then, whenever the two of them met, they were bound to clash like sharp points against needles, with passive-aggressive remarks pouring out endlessly.

"Oh, isn't this Shufen?"

Li Guifang stepped in front of Yu Yuchu. "Why aren't you at home tending to your daughter's studies instead of running out to attend a banquet?"

Li Shufen was not to be outdone. "My daughter is extremely sensible, I don't need to worry about her studies at all." Li Shufen swept a glance over Yu Yuchu. "Unlike you, you'd better properly arrange a job for your daughter."

At this point, she suddenly paused, as if remembering something.

"Oh, look at my memory. Aren't you recently in such a rush to find a matchmaking partner for Yuchu? That's right, once she's married off, why bother looking for a job? Serving a husband and educating children for someone else isn't a bad option either."

"And didn't you find the older brother of one of your students? Being in such a rush to find a local guy, you must truly be terrified that Yuchu won't be able to get married."

Knowing that Yu Yuchu had already passed her probation and secured her position, Li Guifang was filled with absolute confidence. "You don't need to busy yourself with unasked-for worry; Yuchu naturally has a job."

"Besides, young people nowadays advocate for free love. I merely gave Yuchu a choice, and rejecting it was entirely Chuchu's own business."

"I'm afraid your child doesn't even have a choice, which is why you're talking like this."

Li Shufen's expression twisted.

"My son is still young, and his career is still on the rise. Why would he be in a rush to date?"

This remark struck right at the chord of Yu Yuchu's heart.

What was her own mother in such a rush for anyway? Her career was far more important.

Yu Yuchu's nonchalant expression, however, was caught by Li Shufen as a vulnerability.

"Look, even your family's Chuchu completely agrees with my point of view."

Li Shufen feigned intimacy as she reached out to grab Yu Yuchu's hand. The moment her stiff fingers touched Yu Yuchu's skin, goosebumps broke out all over her body.

"If you encounter any difficulties at work, just ask your older cousin. We're all family, whatever help is needed will be provided."

How would he help? By kicking her when she was down?

Yu Yuchu kept a blank face. "Second Aunt, you've got it all wrong. Our career paths are completely different; how could my older cousin help me solve difficulties?"

"Second Aunt doesn't need to worry, my work is going very smoothly, and I'm just waiting to go back and check in for work after these few days pass."

Yu Yuchu effortlessly brushed Li Shufen's hand away.