novelraw Chapter 164 : The Previous Generation’s Rushuang Empress
Chapter 164 : The Previous Generation’s Rushuang Empress
Chapter 164: The Previous Generation’s Rushuang Empress
No wonder Mrs. Cheng still maintained herself so well at her age — she truly lived with clarity.
Now that her family was well-off, with no worries about food, clothing, or money, her top priority when it came to her daughter’s relationships was simple: was the guy handsome or not?
After all, it was just dating, not marriage.
A woman’s youth only lasted a few years, and since her family didn’t rely on her daughter’s marriage to climb social classes, naturally, dating should be about her own happiness and experience.
As for marriage, that was a matter for the future. At least, Mrs. Cheng never intended for her daughter to use marriage as a business alliance to maintain the family’s interests.
Of course, if her daughter wanted to find someone from a well-matched background, she wouldn’t object. If her daughter preferred someone she liked, she would also support that.
Although her family was considered a wealthy one in Jiangning City, with a large business, it was still somewhat different from the Yuan family.
The Yuan family had started to rise during Yuan Meng’s grandfather’s generation and had deep foundations, whereas her family’s wealth was newly made — just one generation. Their social and family connections were relatively simple, and there were no meddling elders interfering in her daughter’s marriage matters.
Mrs. Cheng was very open-minded about this. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have rejected the Yuan family’s proposal a few years ago.
And as a woman herself, she naturally understood her daughter’s thoughts. Who didn’t like handsome men when dating? The key was to make herself happy first. If she chose someone plain-looking, wouldn’t that just make someone else happy instead?
When one was poor, dating someone not handsome might make others happy — fine. But now that they were rich and still chose someone not handsome to make others happy, wouldn’t that make their wealth meaningless?
“How handsome is he? Do you have a photo? Let me see!” Mrs. Cheng said eagerly, her voice filled with excitement.
Her daughter was already grown — dating was a good thing, not some puppy love. Why would she oppose it?
Hearing this, Liu Rushuang quickly shook her head. “Mom, it’s not even close to that yet. There’s just someone around me for now… but his identity’s a little complicated.”
“Identity problem? A reformed convict? That won’t do. No matter how handsome he is, that’s a hard no!” Mrs. Cheng was momentarily stunned before waving her hand decisively.
Handsome was fine, but poor character was not. After all, one could always find another handsome guy, but a bad character wouldn’t change.
“No… what are you even thinking about!” Liu Rushuang said helplessly. What kind of wild leap of logic was that?
“He hasn’t been in prison? Then what kind of identity problem can he have?” Mrs. Cheng asked curiously.
After all, in her mind, unless someone had done time, what kind of problem could their identity pose? Her family didn’t have enemies. It wasn’t like those TV dramas where her daughter fell in love with the son of a family rival, right? That’d be too melodramatic.
“Uh… he might be a bit young,” Liu Rushuang said guiltily. After all, at her age, dating someone several years younger did feel a bit awkward.
It was strange — even in modern society, where “older woman, younger man” relationships weren’t rare, people still tended to favor the opposite.
No one would outright criticize it, but there would always be teasing.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Cheng frowned slightly, then cautiously asked, “Is he at least an adult?”
Liu Rushuang: ???
“What are you thinking, Mom? Of course he’s an adult! He’s in his senior year!”
Mrs. Cheng’s eyes lit up. “A college student? That’s great! College students are wonderful — simple, pure, and not yet tainted. You must date him!
You scared me for a second there. I thought you were dating a minor — that’d be illegal! Raising one for a few years would’ve been a better idea than that!”
Liu Rushuang:
Watching her mother ramble on, Liu Rushuang realized for the first time that her mother was far more open-minded than she was.
“Wait, Mom, why are you so fixated on whether he’s handsome or not? Shouldn’t parents usually say things like, ‘looks don’t matter, what’s important is that he’s dependable and capable’?” Liu Rushuang asked, genuinely puzzled.
Other mothers told their daughters that good looks were useless — why was hers the complete opposite?
Mrs. Cheng pursed her lips, leaned elegantly against the sofa, her posture full of grace, and said with a smile, “You’re my daughter, and you inherited my looks. You’re this pretty — wouldn’t it be a waste not to find a handsome one?
Let me tell you, you must find a good-looking husband. Otherwise, imagine waking up one day, turning over, and seeing a face too ugly to bear — wouldn’t that ruin your whole day?
If he’s handsome, even if you argue sometimes, it won’t last long. That’s experience talking, understand?”
Clap clap clap.
Liu Rushuang clapped while shaking her head. “You really make sense, Mom. But… Dad looks pretty average, doesn’t he?”
“Nonsense! Are you doubting your mother’s taste? Your dad’s just put on weight with age. When he was young, he was the most handsome guy for miles! Why else would I have fallen for him?
And besides, if your dad were average-looking, do you think you’d look like this? Especially those eyes — you got them from your father. He had big, bright eyes.” Mrs. Cheng tapped her daughter’s forehead as she lectured her.
Her proudest accomplishment in life was marrying a good-looking man. Back then, her mother — Liu Rushuang’s grandmother — had told her to find someone dependable, that good looks didn’t matter. But what happened? She chose a handsome one.
A couple of years later, her husband’s business started thriving, growing bigger and bigger. When she went back to her family home, those relatives who once tried to lecture her wouldn’t even dare raise their voices around her.
And now her daughter was doubting her judgment? Absolutely not!
“Alright, alright, you’re right, Mom. I was wrong, okay?” Liu Rushuang shook her head quickly.
Sure enough, the only person who could put down the Rushuang Empress — was the previous generation’s Rushuang Empress. She was completely unarguable.
“And look at you! What are you even wearing? People thirty years ago dressed better than this,” Mrs. Cheng said, pointing disdainfully at her daughter’s oversized T-shirt.
Today, since Liu Rushuang was just visiting home, she wore a loose T-shirt and jeans — as plain as could be.
“I just threw something on! Besides, you’re saying you dressed better thirty years ago? Come on, I don’t believe that!” Liu Rushuang retorted, unconvinced.
She had faith in her own fashion sense. She didn’t dress provocatively, but everything she wore fit her perfectly. Even her simple outfit today couldn’t possibly be worse than thirty years ago!
Mrs. Cheng let out a cold laugh, then grabbed her daughter’s hand and dragged her into her bedroom. After rummaging through the closet for a while, she finally pulled out a box from the bottom.
“See for yourself! These are what your mom wore before marriage. Tell me these aren’t better than what you wear now,” she said, opening the box.
At first, Liu Rushuang wasn’t impressed — until her mother pulled out a black halter-back dress.
“You… you wore something this revealing when you were young?”
That thing hooked around the neck, exposed the entire back, was extremely short — and could easily cause a wardrobe malfunction!
“What did you think? Back then, I wore spaghetti straps, mini skirts, and low-rise jeans. I don’t know what happened to you — you dress like a barrel, all up and down the same width. It’s dull to death,” Mrs. Cheng teased.
Liu Rushuang’s lips twitched as she tugged at her loose shirt and muttered softly,
“I—it’s called oversized.”
“Over what? We’re not poor — you can buy nice clothes. You never dress with any finesse. Don’t go shopping with me anymore, you’ll embarrass me!” Mrs. Cheng said, clearly exasperated.
As Liu Rushuang flipped through her mother’s old clothes, she couldn’t help but mutter, “Aren’t these too short? Too revealing?”
Mrs. Cheng replied, “What’s short about it? What’s revealing? You’re young and have a good figure — if you don’t show it now, are you planning to flaunt your wrinkles later? How can you be this old-fashioned at your age? So rustic!
Tell you what, if you really don’t know how to dress, just take these. Try them on. You and that college guy aren’t official yet, right? Wear these, and he’ll be yours. Trust your mom — I’m never wrong!”
Liu Rushuang:
The older generation — conservative in thought, bold in action.
The younger generation — open-minded in thought, conservative in action.