Chapter 1672 - 947: Caught in One’s Own Trap

Chapter 1672: Chapter 947: Caught in One’s Own Trap

In a semi-detached villa on Qinghai Road, a middle-aged man in his forties sat on the sofa, his plump hand holding a stack of photos that he examined one by one, occasionally making a couple of marks on the back.

Standing beside him was a fair-skinned man in his thirties, chiming in from time to time.

"Dad, are you seriously going to get me a stepmother who’s as old as I am?" With his questioning voice, the photos in the man’s hand were snatched away in one go.

"Missy!"

"Rip, rip, rip..." In the blink of an eye, the stack of photos turned into a pile of paper scraps.

"This kid..." The man smiled helplessly and looked at the young woman sitting opposite him, fuming. "Xiao Ying, once you get married, won’t Dad be all alone?"

The woman called Xiao Ying was none other than Yao Meiyin.

"Just because I get married I can’t live with you anymore? Hmph, have you forgotten why Lin Xue Ni got together with you in the first place? I think you’ve just forgotten the pain as soon as the scar healed."

Mr. Yao waved at the man standing beside him, and the man quickly disappeared out the door. Mr. Yao shifted over to his daughter, affectionately patting her head. "Silly girl, even if you’re willing to live with Dad, your husband may not be. Dad doesn’t want to become the executioner of his daughter’s marriage.

Xiao Ying, Dad solemnly promises you, this time I’ll definitely pick someone with good character. Absolutely, absolutely won’t misjudge again."

"Tch!" Yao Meiyin rolled her eyes at him. "You can tell a person’s character just from photos? Dad, do you take me for an idiot?

You men are all like this. Even when you’re eighty you’re still thinking about finding an eighteen-year-old. Don’t you ever stop to think what exactly an eighteen-year-old girl wants from an eighty-year-old geezer?

And another thing, Yao Sanbao is the name Grandpa gave you, but now you go and change it to some Yao Qianyi. You clearly didn’t even finish junior high, yet you just had to buy some fake college diploma. Dad, tell me, all this that you’re doing, is it really just to find someone with good character? Do you dare look me in the eye and tell the truth?"

"Xiao Ying, even with good character, she still can’t be ugly, right? With Dad’s status today, if I found some haggard old woman, I couldn’t even take her out in public, could I?"

"I never said you couldn’t find a woman, but why do you have to get married?" Yao Meiyin let out a long sigh. "Or is it that you think I’ve lived too long already?"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Yao Sanbao glared at his daughter. "Xiao Ying, when your mom passed away, Dad promised that before you became an adult, I would absolutely not find you a stepmother. On that point, Dad has kept his word.

Xiao Ying, Dad is already fifty. At this age, I want to settle down and have a real home. But if there isn’t that one piece of marriage paper, do you think a decent woman would be willing to be with Dad? And why do you think I set the age range between twenty-eight and thirty-two? Have you ever thought about that?"

Yao Meiyin thought for a moment. "Women in that age range can’t stand the pressure around them and are in a hurry to get married. At the same time, women in that age range are still healthy, can take care of you, and can have children. Am I right?"

Yao Sanbao nodded. "Aside from the having-children part, everything else is right. Xiao Ying, having you as my daughter is enough for Dad."

The look on Yao Meiyin’s face finally softened. "Dad, then why did you change your name to Yao Qianyi? I really don’t get it. You’re just looking for a wife, is it really necessary to change your name too? Honestly, when I look at the news about ’Yao Qianyi’ in the paper now, I don’t feel like they’re talking about my dad at all."

"Sigh, didn’t you see Dad’s criteria for a wife clearly says a university degree or above? Dad wants to marry a woman who’s knowledgeable, cultivated, and pretty. And women like that are bound to have a bit of a romantic streak.

But look at Dad—my looks are still passably handsome, but with how fat I’ve gotten, if I don’t make up for it from other angles, how would that kind of woman ever willingly be with me?"

"No, Dad..." Yao Meiyin looked, conflicted, at her chubby old man. "You really think those women are stupid? You change your name and get a fake degree, and they’ll just fall for it?"

"Real rich men with degrees and refinement aren’t that easy to find. What Dad’s doing is just catering to their tastes, that’s all. You really think they’re stupid?"

Yao Meiyin mulled it over a bit, then nodded. "True enough. People are all like that—clearly marrying for money, yet they just can’t stand others saying they married some nouveau riche with cash. Mm, fake degrees and fake names can at least dress things up a little. Fine, Comrade Yao Sanbao, you pass."

"You kid, Dad’s spoiled you rotten." Yao Sanbao poked his daughter’s forehead. "Look at how you were just now, all huffing and puffing, with Liu Tong still here—you really don’t give Dad any face at all."