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Miao Peiqin, tears streaming down her face, recounted how she and Sisi's adoptive father, Qian Guozhong, had invested in a friend's business, only to find out that the man was a swindler who not only conned them out of their hard-earned savings, but also left them with millions in high-interest debt.
Sisi's adoptive mother, Miao Peiqin, was an elementary school teacher with a sharp tongue but a soft heart—a woman whose bark was worse than her bite, whose greatest pleasures were saving money and raiding her husband's private stash.
Her adoptive father, Qian Guozhong, was an engineer, a thoroughly nice guy famous within dozens of miles for being afraid of his wife.
Logically, these two people, who had lived a safe life for most of their existence, had no reason to invest all their savings at this time.
Before Sisi could express her doubts, Miao Peiqin preempted her, "It's all your dad's fault, he insisted that his friend was honest and reliable. You're getting older and will someday get married; you must have some decent dowry to avoid being bullied by your in-laws! And there's your brother, who will be going to college in another year, and money will be needed everywhere."
As she spoke, Miao Peiqin nudged Qian Guozhong's arm, and upon receiving his wife's cue, he also awkwardly tried to explain to Sisi, "Sisi, it's my fault! I truly believed that friend was sincerely honest. I wanted to take this opportunity to save some dowry for you!"
Sisi had lived in this home for twenty years and, though she had known she wasn't their biological child since she was sensible, she had a great relationship with them.
Even after her parents had their own son, they never treated her unfairly, on the contrary, they were especially strict with her brother, often comparing him unfavorably to her.
Faced with such a considerable difficulty at home, Sisi's first reaction was to ask how she could help.
She knew Miao Peiqin's character well: she wouldn't share the family's difficulties with the children unless it was absolutely necessary.
Miao Peiqin knew her daughter was obedient and sensible, but she hadn't expected the girl to be so composed. The carefully planned speech she had in mind was suddenly hard to articulate, and at the crucial moment, it was still Qian Guozhong who cleared his throat to remind her...
"Marrying?" The senior who had been stood up by Sisi had set her heart on being angry with Sisi, so when Sisi looked for her online, she pretended not to be there, but two seconds after Sisi left a message saying she was getting married, the senior couldn't keep up the act and burst out like fire on her behind, sending a shocked emoji.
Upon finding out that Sisi wasn't just teasing her in the middle of the night, the senior then indoctrinated Sisi with the notion that her fiancé was neither old nor ugly.
Although the senior analyzed that Sisi, being a tech geek, couldn't find a boyfriend in a college full of handsome men and would have an even harder time finding a boyfriend after starting work, likely ending up as an "older leftover woman," she still advised Sisi not to rush into marriage to avoid endless troubles, especially... with a man whose face she hadn't even seen.
But Sisi thought much more simply.
She owed her adoptive parents for their kindness, and she believed even more that they would not harm her!
The night before the wedding, at Miao Peiqin's request, she returned home to stay, only to wake up already in the makeup room of the wedding venue.
However, she had anticipated that her betrothed might be old and ugly, possibly lacking in certain abilities, but she had never imagined that the man who would appear at the wedding would be the same ruffian who had harassed her that night!
Now, as he held her in his arms in front of the gathered crowd, he thankfully didn't do anything shameful to her, but he did use disgraceful words to tease her, making her for the first time consider the thought of fleeing the marriage.
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