No way~ Your future daughter-in-law got into a traffic accident.
“I’m not coming back this year? I’ll bring her to see you guys during summer break.”
“Really, why would I lie to you?”
Qiu Ye turned on the camera and aimed the screen at Bai Yao, who was lying in bed.
Bai Yao froze for a moment, then quickly put on a shy yet gentle smile, squeezing her voice sweetly.
“Hello, Auntie~”
Her smile was naturally infectious, and with the System’s enhanced “Angel-like Smile,” even though she looked a bit nervous and haggard from the hospital stay, her sweetness reached straight into people’s hearts.
That one greeting had her future mother-in-law grinning from ear to ear.
“Oh my~ How did you get into a traffic accident? You need to watch where you’re going more often. And Qiu Ye, you should’ve been looking out for her~”
The auntie was a bit stocky, but her face was kind and gentle—the type of warm-hearted middle-aged woman you’d see on any street corner.
Bai Yao was nervous, instinctively fiddling with her bangs so she wouldn’t look too worn out after so many days in the hospital and leave a bad impression on the auntie.
Qiu Ye leaned in, appearing on the video call together with Bai Yao, and playfully slung an arm around her shoulder.
“See? Why would I lie to you?”
The auntie shot Qiu Ye a glare and asked with concern.
“When can Yaoyao be discharged? Did anything get hurt?”
“Yaoyao?”
Bai Yao still wasn’t used to such an affectionate nickname, even though Qiu Ye occasionally called her that too.
“Mainly a fractured calf—she’s been doing rehab training these past couple days. Her pelvis also cracked. She could only lie flat before, but now she can sit up for a bit.”
Knowing Bai Yao had thin skin and was shy, Qiu Ye answered on her behalf.
“She can be discharged in two months.”
Bai Yao’s cheeks flushed a faint pink.
She looked every bit the quiet, gentle good girl, and the auntie couldn’t help but adore her more with every glance.
“Yaoyao, what does your family do?”
“Well… I don’t know about my dad, but my mom works as a waitress.”
“After you two get married, how about Auntie buys you a house? Oh~ Family isn’t doing too well? That’s fine, that’s fine. After you two marry, Auntie will buy you a house, alright?”
Bai Yao didn’t know whether she should accept and looked at Qiu Ye with uncertainty.
Comparatively speaking, her family really wasn’t as well-off as Qiu Ye’s, right?
After all, her whole family still lived in a rented apartment in the county town.
But considering what the System had said about the future, her family could probably only manage to scrape together enough for an apartment in the county.
“Any siblings? Which city is your hometown? How are your parents’ relationship?”
“Mom, are you running a background check?”
Qiu Ye promptly cut off the auntie’s questioning and stepped a few paces away with the phone to spare Bai Yao any awkwardness.
A moment later, he hung up the video call and returned to Bai Yao’s side.
He looked helpless.
“My mom’s just a bit chatty.”
“Yeah.”
“Street-corner aunties are all like that.”
Bai Yao asked curiously.
“Is the auntie easy to get along with?”
“She’s alright, I guess? Just a bit too controlling.”
His mother had bought some New Year decorations and, after only a couple exchanges with Qiu Ye, called him over to help.
“You’re tall—hang these up.”
“Coming!”
This New Year’s Eve would be spent in the inpatient department.
To avoid any hassle later, his mother had specifically bought magnetic “fortune” characters, decorative stickers, and couplets for the New Year, so they’d be easy to take down afterward.
Qiu Ye placed a cartoon plush horse zodiac ornament on the nightstand and hung some New Year decorations around the room.
Though the total cost was under ninety bucks, the cold, sterile hospital room finally had a bit of festive atmosphere.
Leaving before the New Year wasn’t entirely out of the question, but his mother was worried Bai Yao wouldn’t recover well, so she followed the doctor’s advice.
“First time spending New Year in a hospital.”
His mother mumbled as she sat at the head of the bed, casually stroking her daughter’s silky long hair.
Bai Yao instinctively flinched.
“Cousin should be engaged by now, right?”
“Yeah, got engaged a few days ago. Your dad went to help out.”
“Do you have a photo of my new cousin-in-law?”
His mother scrolled through relatives’ Moments on her phone and quickly found photos of the engagement banquet with her cousin and his fiancée.
Bai Yao leaned in to look.
In the photo, her cousin Lin Zhicheng wore a sharp, ornate suit with gold trim and had even put on light makeup to cover up his rough skin—so handsome she almost didn’t recognize him.
His fiancée, meanwhile, wore a form-fitting red dress, standing gracefully beside him with a rather deep neckline.
“Pretty, isn’t she?” his mother asked with a smile.
“Yeah, and her dress is nice too.”
Qiu Ye craned his neck curiously, wanting to see, so Bai Yao turned the screen toward him.
“She is good-looking. Your cousin’s pretty handsome too, huh?”
“Right? When I picked him up at the airport before, he didn’t even want to go to the blind date.”
Bai Yao had even been indignant on her cousin’s behalf back then, and now he’d gone and gotten engaged.
“He got engaged just a few months later. Is my new cousin-in-law going abroad with him too?”
“Seems like she’s already applying for a visa.”
Bai Yao reclined half-sitting against the hospital bed.
His mother sat at the left headboard, Qiu Ye on a stool to the right, and the three chatted and laughed in harmonious company.
“Auntie, I heard her cousin’s bride price cost over a million?”
“Who normally charges that much? People would call that selling off your daughter.”
His mother remarked in amazement too.
“Her cousin’s whole family is abroad, and they’re rich enough to take her abroad too—that’s why the bride price is so high, right?”
“I heard the normal ratio of bride price to dowry is one to one?”
Bai Yao chimed in.
“Normally, yes.”
Qiu Ye quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
His family was decently off, but definitely not at the level of spending a million to marry a wife.
He probed cautiously.
“So when Bai Yao gets married in the future, how much bride price would you want?”
“I could only give maybe a hundred or two hundred thousand?”
No sooner had his mother spoken than she looked at Bai Yao’s pretty little face.
She paused for a moment before realizing—it still came down to what Bai Yao wanted.
Her mood dropped considerably.
Before, she’d fretted over her son getting married—buying a house, paying bride price.
Now, her son had become her daughter.
The money spent was less, true, but she’d become water poured out all the same.
“Better for you to marry close to home in the future.”
“Mom… I haven’t even thought about a romantic relationship, let alone marriage.”
Bai Yao emphasized with a guilty conscience.
‘Oh no! Qiu Ye is from Dongbei! That’s so far away!’
Qiu Ye could see what Bai Yao’s mother was feeling down about and smiled reassuringly.
“These days, sons and daughters are the same. Even if Bai Yao were still a guy, wouldn’t he have to live elsewhere after getting married? Besides, they say daughters are more filial.”
“Oh, Auntie, didn’t you buy clothes for Bai Yao? It’s almost New Year—why not have her try them on? If they don’t fit, we can still return them before the holiday.”
His mother frowned slightly at Bai Yao.
“You want to try them?”
She was still worried Bai Yao wouldn’t accept cross-dressing.
“Sure, let’s try.”
Bai Yao carefully began to get up from bed, and his mother quickly moved to support her, helping her into the bathroom.
The bathroom door closed, but Qiu Ye could still clearly hear their conversation from outside.
“Mom, I can do it myself.”
“With your leg like this, how are you going to put on pants? Why are you shy with me?”
“Try on the underwear too. You’re this grown now, why are you still acting like a kid?”
“Mom!”