Zhang Susu's cheeks were flushed like a ripe apple. She said somewhat shyly, "Who knew your dad would say he didn't want the prize money, and only wanted me to be his girlfriend after I won first place."
Hearing this, Jiang Youli's face was full of disbelief. "What?! Dad used to be so direct back then? If it were any other girl, hearing dad say that would definitely make her think he was a frivolous creep!"
Zhang Susu nodded gently. "Yeah... indeed, the things your dad said back then really scared me."
Jiang Youli hurriedly pressed on, "Then Mom, did you reject Dad right then?"
A trace of awkwardness appeared on Zhang Susu's face, and she said, slightly embarrassed, "No... I didn't reject him. After all, I had some favorable impressions of your dad too. Even though his clothes and style at school back then were very tacky, I could tell at a glance that he was actually very handsome. If he dressed up a bit, he would absolutely have no problem being the campus idol."
Jiang Youli suddenly realized, "So that's how it is, Mom, you're a total sucker for good looks too!"
Zhang Susu didn't deny it. "If given the choice, who wouldn't want to date someone good-looking?"
Jiang Youli suddenly thought of something. "Wait, I just thought of a point... For Dad to bring that up, doesn't that mean he had his eyes on you long before that, Mom!"
"After we got married, I was indeed curious and asked your dad why he made that request back then. Your dad directly admitted that he had known me for a long time and already had a crush on me, but he never expected me to approach him first." Zhang Susu grew more embarrassed as she spoke, her hands awkwardly rubbing back and forth over the clothes she had carefully selected for Jiang Youli, almost wrinkling the previously ironed garments.
Damn!
This was so sweet it could kill!
Jiang Youli was about to turn into the ultimate shipper of her beautiful mom and handsome dad!
Zhang Susu continued, "Since I participated in this amateur makeover competition, I naturally intended to go all out to win first place... But if I won first place, I would have to be your dad's girlfriend..."
"So as long as you agreed, my dad would know that you liked him too, right?" After Jiang Youli finished speaking, she smiled slyly. "Then you and Dad were mutually pursuing each other."
Jiang Youli felt her girlish heart overflowing as she listened.
She rarely got caught up in romantic love between men and women. Even regarding her feelings for Qi Huan, at first, she was just greedy for his handsome face, and later as her feelings deepened, she went a step further and lusted after his body.
But compared to the love story of her beautiful mom and handsome dad, hers really paled in comparison!
Zhang Susu found the memory quite amusing. "I later asked him, what if I had lost the competition?"
"What did my dad say?" Jiang Youli blinked, looking forward to the answer.
Zhang Susu smiled and said, "He just said that as long as I agreed, he wouldn't let me lose. First, he believed in my aesthetics and ability, and second, he believed in his own looks."
Jiang Youli slapped her thigh. "Good heavens, Dad! What clear logic! So Mom, did you win in the end?"
Zhang Susu nodded and said, "I won, I took first place. And your dad's appearance after the makeover directly made the entire competition venue boil over. The next day, it blew up the campus forum, and he was voted the new campus idol."
"Later, when girls confessed to him, he would directly say he had a girlfriend, and that it was me, the one in charge of doing his makeover for the amateur makeover competition." Remembering this memory, Zhang Susu's heart still felt sweet.
"At that time, your dad was already a senior, and I was only a freshman. So not long after we started dating, your dad graduated. Your dad majored in computer science. After graduating, he went abroad to study foreign internet technology. When he came back, he directly opened the current Green Sprout Technology in Beijing. Meanwhile, I continued studying at the university. After graduating, I also went abroad for further studies for two years. Upon returning to China, with the support of my family, I opened a studio specializing in fashion design."
"During this period, although we spent less time together and more time apart, we always insisted on being together, and successfully got married."
"Then Mom, why aren't you continuing with your fashion design now?" Jiang Youli asked curiously.
Zhang Susu looked up and glanced around the room, which had been decorated in pink in advance for her daughter. The smile in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a faint trace of sorrow.
"Because for a long time after your dad and I got married, we couldn't have a child. Your grandfather thought it was because I was always working overtime at the studio, busy with work and under a lot of pressure, so he suggested I rest at home and take care of my health."
The envy on Jiang Youli's face quickly turned into regret. So that was it. For the sake of children, women always had to make huge sacrifices.
Zhang Susu lowered her eyes. "Your dad respected my opinion very much. He said that if I really liked this job, there was no need to force myself to give it up for a child."
"But the more your dad respected me, the more guilty I felt. At that time, I was almost thirty-five years old, and I did want to have a child of our own. So I listened to your grandfather and stayed at home to take care of my health."
"But I didn't expect that even after recuperating at home and preparing for pregnancy, my belly still showed no signs of movement for two years."
"I actually knew that your dad secretly went to the hospital to get himself checked, and his results were completely fine. But your dad didn't make me go to the hospital for a check-up. He just said it wasn't our time yet, told me to relax, and said the child would naturally come when fate arrived."
"Later, I was the one who took the initiative to go to the hospital for an examination. It turned out it really was my problem—a uterine anomaly, a septate uterus. After discussing it with your dad, I had surgery to restore the shape of my uterus. After resting for half a year, we tried to conceive again, but unexpectedly, I still couldn't get pregnant."
"To be honest, I was under a lot of pressure at that time, and I felt terrible. I knew your grandfather must have been pressuring your dad constantly, so I was already prepared to divorce your dad. I didn't expect your dad to firmly disagree. He even told your grandfather that his second brother already had three children, which was enough to carry on the family line, and that he was willing to hand the company over to his second brother to manage."
Hearing this, Jiang Youli was deeply touched. How many men in the world could be like her handsome dad, truly loving a woman enough to give up having children?
Unless there was a problem with their own bodies and they truly couldn't have any.
And there were even those who pretended not to care on the surface, but actually found other women outside to have children for them, and then brought the illegitimate children back once they were older.
"I don't know if I saved the universe in my past life or what, to be able to get the love of a man like your dad." Speaking of this, Zhang Susu's eyes unconsciously turned red. "I admit I'm selfish. I love your dad, so since he chose to endure the criticism from his family and the outside world, not divorcing me and not having children, I still clung to him. I still wanted to be his wife until we grew old and died."
"Before you returned to the Jiang family, there wasn't a single day where I didn't feel like I had let your dad down, making him stay with a physically defective me and unable to have his own child..."
Jiang Youli sat down next to her beautiful mother, her eyes serious as she said, Mom, if you really want to have a child of your own with Dad, I can...
