Let's Marry You Off

"Here you go, all pretty and gorgeous!" Zhou Xiaohui commented as soon as she finished tucking the final long black strand of hair behind the ear of the young woman sitting in front of her.

"You know that I am completely capable of getting ready myself, right? I'm twenty-four now." The young woman stated with a little smile on her face which seemed to lift up the single dimple on her left cheek. Although she was naturally pretty, her exquisite features were more prominently defined using little make- up. Her natural black beast eyes were lined using an eye-liner which appeared to be little gems hidden under the coat of her long eyelashes. With a little blush on her round cheeks and lips coated in deep nude shade, her looks seemed to compliment her sweet and innocent personality.

"Twenty-four or forty, you will always be my little baby who ran around everywhere clutching my dresses from behind in her tiny, chubby hands asking me to dress you up like me," Xiaohui said as she kissed the side of her daughter's head while wrapping her arms around her from the back. At the same moment, she heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway of their mansion.

"The guests are here. I'm going down to greet them. I'll send your brother to escort you downstairs when it's time." She instructed her daughter one last time before moving downstairs hurriedly to join her husband.

The young woman looked at herself in the mirror. Clad in a baby pink knee-length dress with a cape overlay and floral lace design all over it matched with pink sandals, there was no doubt that she looked simply beautiful. Her hair was simply pinned up to one side as they fell in pretty waves around her face. However, the only thing wrong about the whole look was the smile that was absent from her pretty face. It was not that she was being forced into the arrangement because, in fact, it was she who had agreed to go through with an arranged marriage.

When her mother had casually asked about her thoughts on marriage one night during dinner a few weeks ago, Liu Rushi had contemplated carefully about her life decisions. Madam Liu, Zhou Xiaohui knew that her daughter had no one she was romantically involved with, which would've actually made her job easier. Alas! Her daughter no longer ran around behind boys after growing up. However, now that her daughter had begun her residency in one of the top hospitals of the country, Madam Liu felt it was time to take matters into her own hands.

She didn't want to be a grandma so soon. After all, she had just turned fifty in the first part of the year. All she wanted for her daughter was to enjoy the courtship period between a couple that she seemed to be missing in her life. And since her daughter had no interest in dating around, an arranged marriage was the next best thing.

Of course, she wouldn't force her daughter to go along with the first guy she sets her eye on or someone who she doesn't like. As long as they all could reach a consensus, it was all good with her.

Liu Rushi, at that time, had asked for some time before she could inform her decision. However, she reached no conclusion even after she had evaluated her future life plans. At that moment, she had turned towards the man who she shared all her secrets with, her father, Liu Shirong.

She could still remember that moment vividly before her eyes. She was lost in her thoughts that evening, gazing out at the cloudy sky when he'd arrived to sit next to her with two cups of coffee in his hands. In their family, only the father-daughter duo were coffee lovers. Rest all were tea fanatics, each one with their own preferences. He had sat there silently waiting for her to speak first which she did. She poured her heart out in front of him while Liu Shirong only gazed at his daughter who'd grown up before his eyes.

Her features were a stunning blend of his and his lovely wife's genes. Her black almond eyes topped with thick eyelashes were passed down from his wife who was of mixed descent. Her long, black wavy hair was almost identical to his own mother. However, the aura she possessed now was something she wasn't born with.

No one knew what the father-daughter duo had talked about, just that Liu Rushi had allowed her mother to find a prospective groom for her that night.

Xiaohui was elated and she couldn't wait for the next morning to arrive when she could officially begin her search. And it was no half-hearted search either. She contacted all her close friends, placed a request to their family priest's temple in scout for good families, and even explored online matrimonial websites.

Though she wanted her daughter to be wedded in a family at least as rich as they were, if there was a man with exceptional qualities to hold her daughter's daughter, she wouldn't hesitate either-even if he did not have the cash to easily throw around. After all, there was no guarantee that a rich man would always stand by his woman's side, loving and caring for her. Their family had enough luxury to feed their daughter and her family for the rest of their life but she knew her daughter wouldn't want that.

Independent as ever, she knew Liu Rushi didn't want to live off her own family. She had her own profession which was paying well and she would always share the financial burden in the household whenever the time arrives. That's why Zhou Xiaohui wasn't much fussy about the financial background.

Madam Liu's search had continued on for two weeks straight before she settled on the Wang family. That night after dinner, she danced around excitedly as she informed her husband and children of the results of the search. However, what she failed to notice was the look that was silently exchanged between the father-daughter duo when they heard the name of the Wang family.

'The Wang family!' Liu Rushi thought as her lips curled upwards.