Not really understanding, Si Jin carried on with his porridge.

His expression incomprehensible, Jiang Yeqian asked with difficulty, "Troublesome… husband?"

​​

Qi Qingyao shrugged her shoulders and replied calmly, "How can a husband not be? If I had a man ordering me around every day, I wouldn't be able to f*cking take it. It's hard to know now, but I might even need to help him wash their feet! Every day I'd have to worry about what he wants to eat, what he wants to wear, it will be as if I'm his caretaker."

"Is that how marriages work?" Although he had never been married and did not know much about how marriages functioned, Jiang Yeqian felt that this woman's thinking was rather odd… The moment they were of age, most ladies wanted to get married and settle down in their own home as soon as possible. Not her, however…

"How else could they work?" Qi Qingyao began monologuing as she ate some pickled vegetables. "In my case, I definitely wouldn't be able to get married to someone who has never been married before themselves. Also, no one wants to get married to a woman who already has three kids."

Si Jin frowned.

Jiang Yeqian wasn't convinced. "What if there is?"

"Impossible. No one's a fool," Qi Qingyao replied decisively.

Jiang Yeqian was about to say something when Qi Qingyao began her analysis seriously.

"There are a few scenarios. First, he would be a single man who has never been married before. He would be poor but would love me very much and be willing to accept me. Unfortunately, I have three children and if his parents are alive and well, they definitely would not approve of us, and they especially wouldn't approve of me. I'd occasionally be looked down on by his parents. See, when I had kids out of wedlock, I knew it would be a setback. In this case, I wouldn't be able to accept him if he was too poor. That's not because I love money, but because he wouldn't be able to help raise my three children. As for me, I don't have much interest in helping the poor... I'm a middle-class person anyway, so why shouldn't I look for someone who's on par with me? For those who are on par with me, however, they are all f*cking married already! Who would want a widow with three kids?

"The second scenario, he would be a single man who has never been married before too. He would have money and would go crazy for love, only wanting to marry me and have me only. His house would be as big as Heir Pei's residence and his parents wouldn't be living together with us, plus they also don't meet as often so I wouldn't need to take anyone's condescension. This is good, but is it realistic? He'll probably keep wondering how I was able to have three children out of wedlock, and then be afraid that I'll cheat on him with other men after we're married.

"The third, he would have a wife and a few concubines. He would have money, likes me, and wouldn't mind that I have three kids. He would be willing to marry me but I could only be his concubine. I wouldn't get married to him if this was the case. I have no interest in becoming someone's concubine!

"With these conditions, who do you think would even want to marry me?"

She threw out a slew of her theories.

Her speech confused Jiang Yeqian.

He looked at her, expression puzzled.

How much thinking had this woman done on this topic?

He had only asked her one question, but her mind and monopoly took him on a thousand turns.

Noticing the blankness on both Si Jin's and Jiang Yeqian's faces, Qi Qingyao smiled and patted their shoulders.

"Brothers, there is happiness in being single, and a single rich old lady is the happiest person of all!"

...

Dabao and Erniu were focused on eating, but Xiaobao had been listening to his mother as he chewed, his little mind falling into deep and confusing contemplation.

'Are the three of us… a burden to mother?

'Mother can't get married because of the three of us.

'Even if she did marry, she said could only become someone's concubine.'

Xiaobao had never thought that he was unnecessary before, but he suddenly felt like he, Dabao, and Erniu were all burdens now. Their births had obstructed their mother from pursuing a better life and it was because of them that their mother was hated by the old Qi family. It was because of them that their mother could not marry. It was because of them that their mother would have to be an old maid for the rest of her life...

Xiaobao looked at Qi Qingyao. She was all smiles, but he was worried.