Why Is the Wealthy Young Lady O Like That? - Chapter 2

—What is it like to marry young?

On the way back, Xu Siran suddenly came across this push notification. In the past, her recommendation page had always been filled, according to the algorithm and big data, with all kinds of study questions, thesis discussions, thoughts on books, or posts about little animals and food.

This was the first time she had ever been recommended a post about marriage and romance.

Perhaps it was because the words “marriage alliance” still lingered in her mind at this very moment and refused to go away. She put on her earphones, turned up the music, and tapped into the highly liked topic post.

The first thing she saw was the long answer with the most likes.

[Marriage Is the Grave of Love: I think I should have enough experience to answer this question. I got married at twenty-two, right after graduating from university. My marriage partner was my childhood sweetheart, someone I grew up with.

Because my school and major were both decent, and the prospects for my field were pretty good too, I was able to get a monthly salary of eighteen thousand as soon as I graduated. After I was promoted at twenty-three, my salary reached around thirty thousand. But because of all kinds of things in my marriage, I resigned. I even ended up owing a lot of debt… I don’t want to think back on that period, nor do I want to look back at it.

In short, as someone who has been through it, I advise everyone never to step into marriage too early. Marriage will wear a person down into a white birch tree covered in “scar”-like patterns.]

Xu Siran pursed her lips as she read. It was written so bitterly. That person had stepped into marriage at twenty-two, while she was now twenty… She had just reached the legal age to get a marriage certificate, and she was already going to the Civil Affairs Bureau. This was really… so annoying.

[Dating History 100: Marriage is a pile of shi disguised as chocolate. Do not be fooled by its delicious-looking exterior!!!]

[Little A Happy Family: Actually, it’s okay? I got married at twenty-three, and I’m forty now. I’d say I’m pretty happy. But whether it’s good or not still depends on your own thoughts.]

[Very Busy Sleeping: I got married at twenty-two. I guess it could be considered a marriage alliance too. The other party was also a playmate I grew up with. After marriage, we each did our own thing. Not good, not bad. For reference only.]

[Evil Flying Cockroach: Shocking first release. Marriage rates are so low these days, and even with artificial external gestation pod technology already widespread, the birth rate still hasn’t recovered. I didn’t expect there to be so many people in the comments who married young.]

……

For some reason, by the end, this post seemed to have gone off-topic. Everyone’s attention had shifted to today’s alarmingly low marriage rate. The style of the comments changed abruptly; some people were arguing, and many others were replying as if they had read the question but answered something completely unrelated.

After scrolling through it all, it was not as if she had gained nothing. The point that marriage was the grave of love had been given even stronger proof, and so many unfortunate examples of early marriage also deepened her gloom.

But in truth, she herself had never particularly longed for marriage. Back when she was in Hewan Village, there were many divorced elderly people who lived alone.

In summer, they would sit at the village entrance to cool off, and whenever they had nothing to do, they would talk about how ignorant they had been when they got married, how much they had yearned for love before marriage, and how much suffering they had endured after marriage.

Her grandmother had been the same. She had divorced very early and had told Xu Siran since childhood that she had to study hard and go to a farther, wider place. She said relying on anyone was no good, and in this world, only by relying on oneself could one obtain a free world of one’s own.

The taxi arrived at its destination and stopped in front of the community gate. Xu Siran took off her earphones, got out of the car, climbed the stairs back to her rental apartment, and pushed open the door. What entered her eyes was a stretch of green outside the living room’s floor-to-ceiling window.

This was the apartment she rented near school. It was in an old residential community, but it was very clean and comfortable. It was on the third floor, with two bedrooms and one living room. She had converted the other bedroom into a study. On weekends, she was basically here most of the time.

Because she was not really in the mood to eat, after coming back and finishing her group assignment, she simply cooked herself instant noodles with an egg and settled lunch that way.

After washing up briefly, she planned to take an afternoon nap. She had only just put down her phone when the ringtone sounded again.

This time, it was a call from her Omega mother. “Hello, Siran.”

“Mom.”

“Mm. Did you receive a call from the Ni family?”

At the mention of this matter, Xu Siran’s drowsiness instantly vanished. She tightened her grip on her phone and said, “…I did.”

On the other end of the call, Qin Shan smiled. “Did Miss Ni tell you when to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get your certificate?”

Xu Siran’s voice was very dull. “She did. Three this afternoon.”

Qin Shan seemed not to notice her gloomy tone and continued, “Then in a while, Mom will send someone over to do your makeup and help you change into something pretty.”

Xu Siran still said gloomily, “…I have a white shirt here.”

There seemed to be something going on over there, and Qin Shan spoke a little faster. “That is the Ni family’s eldest young lady. The clothes you usually wear are fine for school, but at this kind of formal occasion, they would be somewhat improper. Be good. Mom still has something to do, so I’ll hang up first.”

The call ended. Xu Siran was no longer sleepy at all. The dark cloud above her head had begun raining.

She rarely wore makeup. She could not say she hated it; she was simply not used to it, and she also felt that comfort was enough. The last time she had been surrounded by a styling team was during the banquet her family held at Spring Festival. Looking at herself in the mirror, she had felt very unfamiliar. Looking at the people at the banquet, cups clinking and conversations flowing, she had also felt strange and unfamiliar.

Because at times like that, people put on another mask.

She was not used to those kinds of occasions. She was often detached and out of place, and because of that, the members of the family had labeled her wooden and dull. Apart from that, during the first year after she was acknowledged by the Xu family, she discovered—

She did not fit in with this place. She was like an ordinary plastic button suddenly sewn onto a gorgeous robe, glaringly out of place in a different way.

For example, she ate a little faster and also had a slightly larger appetite. Because of this, both of her mothers had mentioned several times that she should change it. They felt it did not conform to etiquette and was unsightly.

But when she had lived with her grandmother in Hewan Village, there had been many things to do every day. She did not have that much time to chew slowly and savor her food. If she did a little more, her grandmother could do a little less. As for eating more, that was also because there was a lot of work to do and she burned through energy too quickly. If she did not eat a little more, she would be too hungry to sleep at night. Slowly, it became a habit.

Another example was that when she had first returned to the capital, she had been very thin, and her skin had also been tanned to a light wheat color. The family members around her age had whispered about her behind her back, thinking she was crude and unbearable. But they did not know that in summer, she had needed to go down into the fields, transplanting rice seedlings under the scorching sun, and she usually had no sunscreen or protection of any kind.

Because they had grown up in different environments, it had created differences in their interests and hobbies, as well as their behavior and manners. The family members her age knew horseback riding, archery, skiing, bowling, and so on. She did not know any of them, so they thought she was clumsy, boring, and dull, while they clustered around Xu Buran, who was good at everything, like stars surrounding the moon.

But she did not think she was stupid, nor did she think those things were her flaws. Because she had grown up in the countryside, shaped by the scorching sun, high mountains, wheat fields, mountain streams, and every other thing that had flowed through her life. She had worked hard and studied diligently, taking the exam from a poor and remote place all the way into the best university in the country. She had also won a generous scholarship with her score as the top scorer in the city.

She was proud of herself. If Grandma were still here, she would definitely be proud of her too.

…But!! She indeed did not fit into the wealthy family world. That was why, when she heard that the Ni family had chosen her, she had been so shocked, as if struck by lightning.

After hearing her mother explain that it had been decided based on birth character compatibility, she was even more shocked.

In the new era, there were actually still people who believed in… Just as she was about to use the fact that this was now a scientific society and materialism to refute her mother, she suddenly remembered that the elders in their own family were actually rather superstitious too. On every important day, they would worship very devoutly, and during New Year, they would even go to the temple and spend a large sum to compete for the first incense stick.

And so, she was rendered speechless. Added to the fact that refusing was useless and objecting was ineffective, she could only accept, in frustration, that the burden of this marriage alliance had fallen onto her shoulders.

At twelve-fifty, dark clouds covered the sun. Not long after, a sunshower began to fall.

Xu Siran sat in her study, reading and studying by herself. Because she wanted to secure a recommendation for graduate school, and foreign language scores carried a very high requirement among the exemption recommendation reference indicators, she would set aside time every week to study.

Her foreign language grades were relatively average. During the college entrance examination, it had been precisely because her foreign language score dragged her down that she missed becoming the provincial top scorer by just one point.

But she had not studied for long before the doorbell rang.

She closed her book and walked toward the living room. Looking out through the smart video doorbell, she saw that it was the styling team carrying makeup bags, and only then did she open the door.

“Hello, are you Miss Xu?” asked the makeup artist, whose hair had red and blue highlights.

Xu Siran said politely, “Yes.”

“Okay. We were sent by Mrs. Xu to do your makeup. Is now convenient for you?”

“It is. Please come in.”

After the makeup artist’s assistant entered the apartment and saw the warm furnishings inside, she quietly wowed in her heart. From the outside, she could never have imagined that the inside would look like this. It was very cozy, like stepping through a green forest after the rain and accidentally entering a fairy-tale world.

“Would you like something to drink?” Xu Siran said. “I have yogurt, drinks, tea, and plain water at home.”

She had experienced this a few times before, so she naturally knew makeup would take quite some time. After hearing the two of them answer, she took sparkling drinks out of the fridge for them.

For the next hour, she was very cooperative the whole time. Only when she heard the makeup artist praise her would she blink a little shyly.

After everything was done, she stood in front of the mirror and looked at her face. Because it was a relatively natural light makeup look, it was not that strange. Looking at herself, she still looked quite… like herself.

As for the clothes, it was actually just a white shirt. It was only that compared with the one she had bought herself, this one was probably much more expensive, and the style was also a little prettier.

“Miss Xu has such good skin, and all your features are beautiful. Just a few simple touches are already stunning,” the makeup artist said sincerely.

Faced with such praise, Xu Siran was still a little shy. She curved her lips, and when she smiled, two pear dimples appeared. “Thank you.”

It was almost time. After seeing them off, Xu Siran went back into the apartment, picked up the smart bracelet she had forgotten, and then hailed a car to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

There was a bit of traffic on the way there, so when she arrived, it was two-twenty.

This time was neither early nor late, just right. Her mother had sent her a message earlier to remind her that she should go there early. It would be best if she arrived before two. Xu Siran felt that arriving that early was a little exaggerated, so she could not help asking why. Her mother replied—

[Only then will it seem solemn and cherished.]

[Besides, Miss Ni doesn’t like it when others are late.]

She knew she should arrive early for important matters, so she had initially planned to get there half an hour early. She had not expected her mother to directly make her wait there more than an hour in advance. But in reality, the Civil Affairs Bureau only opened at two-thirty.

And so she thought, a little gloomily… Even if Miss Ni did not like tardiness, there was no need to arrive this early.

Now that she was here, there was basically no one around. The rain had already stopped. She stood alone beneath a jacaranda tree, watching the cars passing endlessly along the main road.

It was June, and the jacaranda blossoms were in full bloom. Facing a whole tree filled with blooming flowers, Xu Siran was in no mood at all to enjoy the scenery. She really… really did not want this marriage alliance. Countless thoughts of turning around and leaving rose from the depths of her mind, only for her to poke each one apart.

After a few minutes, still no one entered the Civil Affairs Bureau. Instead, two people came out from inside.

The two of them had different expressions. The woman walking on the right, dressed in red, looked happy, while the woman on the left, dressed in a black dress, did not have much of an expression. She looked very cold.

When they passed by this side and came closer, Xu Siran heard the woman in red say, “This is great. I’ve endured you for so long. We’re finally divorced, and I finally don’t have to endure it anymore.”

“…Did you only find out I was a beta after marrying me?” the woman in the black dress said.

“So what if I knew before? Back then, the two of us loved each other and thought we could overcome anything. But once enough time passed, every flaw was exposed. Your personality is bland, and you’re a beta too. Usually that’s one thing, but during special periods, I ￥%@#(*&……”

Xu Siran’s ears automatically blocked out the words that followed. Bland personality, beta, special period—those three terms made her think of herself.

Because she was getting married, during these three days, her two mothers had already told her a great many things about the Ni family’s eldest young lady, Ni Jia, using them to remind her to watch her words and actions when interacting with the other party, so as to avoid causing the other party’s impatience and annoyance.

And just like that, she learned that the Ni family’s eldest young lady was an Omega, and an S-class Omega at that.

The quarrel between the two people beside her was still continuing. Because they no longer had to endure anything, they simply stopped walking and laid everything out while questioning each other. Thus, Xu Siran inevitably heard—

“After all that talking, you say my personality is cold and my temper is bad. You say I don’t earn enough money for you to spend. But actually, the most fatal thing is that I’m a beta, right?”

“Anyway, I’ve really had enough of suffering alone through my special periods. Let’s leave it at that.”

Most people differentiated at around eighteen. Xu Siran had differentiated into a beta the year she turned eighteen. She had no pheromones and could not sense any pheromones either.

When she had just entered university, many people began campus romances. All three of Xu Siran’s roommates were not single. One of them, seeing that Xu Siran remained completely unmoved, had asked her what her ideal type was like.

Although she did not long for marriage much… if there truly would be someone who entered her life, then as a beta, she hoped the other person would also be a beta.

She had no particular opinion about beta relationships with other Omegas or alphas. She simply felt that because she herself had no pheromones, could not sense pheromones, and had no way to provide any pheromone soothing, she did not want that point to become a source of trouble for the other person.

So!

She wanted this marriage alliance even less!!!

The Ni family’s eldest young lady was an S-class Omega. And according to what her good friend Qinghe said, the other party’s every word and action was a model for high society. Her personality was strict, old-fashioned, and cold, and she was even… the disciplinarian who wielded the family rod against the younger generation.

And she… She did not even fit in with the Xu family. Her every word and action did not conform to any so-called elegant standard, and she did not understand the open and hidden rules among upper-class families at all.

They were simply one south and one north, ten thousand miles apart.

Why had they just so happened to choose her?!

Because she was pondering such an incomprehensible matter, Xu Siran did not even notice that the two people arguing nearby had already left, or that a low-key yet luxurious black car had stopped across from her and lowered its window slightly.

Xu Siran was completely unaware of this. She sat on the bench under the tree, sometimes looking at the broken shadows on the ground, sometimes looking at the jacaranda blossoms in the tree, like a little bird who could gaze upon both earth and sky.

It was not until a jacaranda blossom swaying in the wind fell and happened to land on Xu Siran’s shoulder that she finally withdrew from her thoughts. She instinctively reached out to take it, but a shadow like a cloud covered her.

She looked up and saw a face that struck the eyes with overwhelming impact.

The person before her had long hair cascading behind her like black cloud-silk. Her extremely perfect and beautiful peach-blossom eyes were hidden behind a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. On the right side of her elegant, high-bridged nose was a very faint mole near the tip. She was clearly standing beside the flower arch at the Civil Affairs Bureau, yet she forcibly made it impossible for anyone to see any of the flowers. Her lips were like a touch of rouge, and her beauty was beyond compare.

Caught off guard by such a face, Xu Siran froze, her mind wavering for a moment.

After their eyes met for several seconds, she sprang to her feet like a floundering fish, and then threw the opening line her mother had repeatedly told her to memorize straight to the back of her mind—

The weather is really nice today. It’s a good day. Sister, this is our first meeting. I’m Siran.

Instead, she said, “…Hello, Miss Ni.”

Because wealthy families cared about status and seniority, her tongue had almost slipped, nearly turning it into Eldest Young Lady Ni.