"Miss, how old are you?"
"Thirty-two."
"Can you accept someone younger?"
"What aspects are you referring to?"
"Age, miss. What else could I mean? Don't take me wrong, I saw your complexion looks yellowish, lips are purple, and there's a dark red spot in between your eyebrows. It seems like you might suffer from gynecological problems, and I happen to be an expert in that area. As long as you..."
At the foot of Shennong Valley, Su Wen was conversing with the sister-in-law of Li Village's most beautiful woman.
Thump.
There was a dull ache in his head, an old man with white hair gave a slap on Su Wen's head, "Brat, I told you to go down the mountain to get married, what the hell are you doing?"
"Master, I don't want to leave Shennong Valley, I want to stay here to look after you in your old age." Su Wen tearfully replied.
He was an orphan adopted by Su Wuwei twenty-five years ago. From childhood, he didn't know about his parents, even the name Su Wen was given by Su Wuwei.
And for these twenty-five years.
Su Wen not only learned the "Guigu Medical Art" of Shennong lineage but also learned something even Su Wuwei himself didn't master, the "Book of Life and Death," he was called the 'Hell's Lord' by the folks in the town.
"Look after me in my old age? Bullshit, lad! What you just said is nonsense, I am still full of vitality and don't need you to look after me! Besides, you have the Jiuyang Apocalyptic Vein, only by marrying a woman from the Lu family can you survive!" Su Wuwei spoke irritably, "Furthermore, isn't Lu Xuanyi your childhood sweetheart? Marrying her should also fulfil your teenage dream, shouldn't it?"
"I....."
Recollecting the sweet, innocent girl who stayed in Shennong Valley ten years ago, Su Wen's face slightly turned red.
Back then, Lu Xuanyi wouldn't only share odd and interesting stories from the city with Su Wen, but she would also often sleep leaning on his shoulder during her afternoon naps.
The deepest memory...
...was the day Lu Xuanyi left Shennong Valley when she earnestly claimed that when she grew up, she would marry Su Wen.
Thinking of this, Su Wen finally compromised, "Master, after curing the Nine Yang Endless Pulse, I will come back to visit you. "
"Bring a door-gift with you, this is the Red Truffle of Shennong Valley, each one can prolong your life for half a month," Su WuHui threw over a black cloth bag, "Always remember, you must marry a woman from the Lu Family."
On the day Su Wen left Shennong Valley...
...all the major families in the Nine Provinces received shocking news — Yan Wanye, descending to the mortal world.
"What? Yan Wanye is coming out of hibernation? Quick, prepare a dowry of 6 billion, I want to marry my daughter to him! To make an alliance with Yan Wanye is equivalent to climbing to the top of world!"
"Third Princess, the Sovereign has ordered that you must find Yan Wanye as quickly as possible, and marry him....."
"Sacred Lady, we implore you to come out from seclusion, our Kunlun ancient sect want to restore our former glory, the only way is to climb upon Yan Wanye!"
******
Three days later.
Nine Provinces, Jiangnan Province.
Jinling City.
Su Wen arrived at the Lu family residence, holding a somewhat wrinkled marriage certificate and a black cloth bag in his hands.
"Grandmother, I refuse to marry!"
In the Lu family villa, a young woman, in her prime, dressed in a white long dress and with her black hair pulled into a long ponytail, loftily declaimed, "I, Lu Xuanyi, have been the school’s beauty from the first year to the last in university! I founded Xuanyi Media just after I graduated from university, with a personal worth in the millions. Throughout all thirteen cities in Jiangnan province, I am a renowned phoenix woman! And now, you want me to marry some hillbilly who was raised in the mountains? This! Is! Impossible!"
Lu Xuanyi very decisively declared her position.
Looking at Lu Xuanyi, who had drastically changed and become somewhat alien to him compared to ten years ago, Su Wen was stunned. "Xuanyi, didn't you say back in Shennong Valley, when we were kids, that you'd marry me when we grew up?"
"Ha, Su Wen, don't you think it's time to wake up? Can you take the words of a child seriously? How old are you now? I made an unguarded joke when I was young, but you're still clinging onto it?"
Lu Xuanyi glanced at Su Wen from her superior position. "Wake up, Su Wen! We don't belong to the same world!"
"I was born and raised in the city, feasting on delicacies and dressed in silks and satins while you were born in the mountains, planting crops and raising poultry."
"My one meal can consume an entire year of your crop yield, and the cost of a bag I buy is an astronomical sum that you could hardly achieve in several lifetimes. And now you expect me to marry you just because of a verbal promise? I have four words for you: Dream! On!"
"I'm not only relying on a verbal promise, but also this ..." Taking a deep breath, Su Wen took out the marriage certificate Su Wuwei gave him.
On it was written ten words: "Su Wen and Lu Xuanyi, united in the oath of mandarin ducks."
"A… Marriage certificate? Why is my marriage certificate in his hands?"
Lu Xuanyi, with a panicked face, asked the old woman in the Tang suit sitting on the high seat.
"Xuanyi, your grandfather owed a debt of gratitude to the master of Su Wen in the past. When your grandfather passed away, he gave your marriage letter to Shennong Valley," explained the elderly woman dressed in traditional Tang attire.
"How could grandpa play matchmaker recklessly?" Lu Xuanyi stamped her foot in fury. Once she had cooled off, she snatched the marriage letter and tossed it into the trash bin saying, "Su Wen, what does it matter even if you have my marriage letter? What era are we living in now? Who still practices betrothing at birth? Follow the vows of this marriage letter?"
"Let me be clear, I, Lu Xuanyi, will not marry you!"
"I was born a phoenix in the city, while you are just a pheasant in the mountains!"
"How can a pheasant ever be a match for a phoenix?"
"Lu Xuanyi, aren't you being too harsh?" Suddenly, a short-haired woman sitting in a wheelchair in the Lu family villa spoke up. She picked up the marriage letter from the bin, defending Su Wen, "Everyone is born equal. On what grounds do you look down on Su Wen? Just because he was raised in the mountains? Don't forget, all the food and fruits we consume come from the hard work of the farmers in the mountains! Without them, you would have starved!”
As she finished, she handed the slightly crumpled marriage letter back to Su Wen, "Don't take my cousin's words to heart. The fact that you dared to make a life outside the mountain already makes you remarkable."
In front of him was an exceedingly beautiful woman, her face like a silver platter and eyes like almonds. She outrivaled Lu Xuanyi in both looks and figure. Wearing a shirt with a white base and flowers, she sat there, dignified and noble, quietly elegant, as though devoid of any worldly concerns, too beautiful for words.
During his years in the Shennong Valley, Su Wen had never seen such a stunning beauty.
"Oh, Lu Wanfeng! You, a waste of the Lu family, dare to lecture me?"
"Have you forgotten that your survival to this day is all thanks to me? Without my presence, why would Doctor Dong treat a cripple like you?"
"In front of me!"
"You had better adjust your attitude! Or else, I will have Dr. Dong stop your medication right now, and let you..."
As she was saying this, suddenly, Lu Xuanyi thought of something. With a sly smile, she said, "Lu Wanfeng, since you think so highly of Su Wen, why don't you marry him for me?"
"After all, you're a cripple who can only spend her life in a wheelchair. Isn't it fitting for you to marry a hillbilly from the countryside?"
"After all, there isn't a single man in Jinling City who wants to marry a burden like you."
Lu Xuanyi's words were meant to anger Lu Wanfeng, but Lu Wanfeng instead took them seriously, "Fine, if you want me to marry him, then I will!"
"People of the Lu family should understand what it means to be grateful!"
"Grandpa owed a debt of gratitude to Su Wen's master. Since you're not willing to repay this debt by being his wife, then I will take on this responsibility!"
As she was speaking, Lu Wanfeng glanced ardently at Su Wen and sincerely asked, "Su Wen, will you marry me?"
...
