1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

Grandma Xu said somewhat angrily, "Back then, Ahui wanted Wanwan to have the Xu surname and came back to ask you for help, but you didn't. Now that Wanwan is so outstanding, she regrets it? Serves her right!"

Grandpa Xu: "..."

Seeing that he didn't speak, Grandma Xu knew that he really regretted it. She snorted coldly, "Now Wanwan is good-looking and has a good personality. At least she has a conscience and a bottom line. She is also quite capable. We could see that when she was abroad. It's just that she was still young then, and the environment has delayed her in the past few years since she came back. Otherwise, if we had used the Xu family's capital to invest in her, Wanwan would definitely have been able to expand the family business."

"You figured it out, and that old man from the Qiao family definitely figured it out too. You want Wanwan to take your surname, Xu, at this point? Dream on!"

Grandpa Xu: "..."

After holding back her anger for a while, she finally snapped, "You old hag, are you deliberately trying to provoke me? What era were we living in? When the Qiao family was powerful and the situation was still unclear, we went to Old Man Qiao and told him our granddaughter wanted to take the Xu surname. Did you think he would agree?"

Grandma Xu pursed her lips and remained silent.

Indeed, the Xu family is powerful, but the Qiao family is no less so. They just spent a lot of their wealth on wars, but they still have troops and power. Their marriage alliance with the Qiao family was a way of seeking protection. It's no wonder the Qiao family would agree to let their newborn granddaughter take the surname Xu.

Grandma Xu glanced at Grandpa Xu, then lay down on the bed. "Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. No matter what, Wanwan is still my granddaughter, and she will take care of me for the rest of her life. What does it matter what her surname is? She won't take my surname anyway."

Grandpa Xu: "..."

After a long silence, Grandpa Xu's mind started working again. He nudged his wife beside him, "Hey, what do you think about letting one of Wanwan's future children take our surname?"

Grandma Xu didn't even look at him. "Even if she takes her mother's surname, it'll be Qiao, like Wanwan's. She wouldn't take your surname, her grandfather's, would she?"

Grandpa Xu: "..."

"You're just trying to drive me crazy!"

The elderly couple stopped talking, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.

The next day was Qiao Wanqing and Lu Mingzhou's wedding. In this era, everything was kept simple. Since they had already registered their marriage, there was no wedding ceremony this time. Qiao Wanqing and Lu Mingzhou changed into new clothes and went directly to the state-run restaurant with their families.

Not long after they arrived, everyone was there. There were three tables in total: relatives from the Xu and Qiao families, a few friends from Beichuan City, relatives from the Lu family, several of Lu Mingzhou's comrades-in-arms, and one of Qiao Wanqing's best friends, the one who used to live next door to her in the research institute's family compound, named Zhang Wanting.

The wedding was simple, but Qiao Wanqing and Lu Mingzhou were very happy. Lu's parents were also overjoyed. Although Uncle Xu did not show any disgust, he was not particularly enthusiastic either.

Looking at Qiao Wanqing in her red dress, Xu Yanran felt a little smug.

Although this report didn't actually send Qiao Wanqing to Bai Zhengxiong, nor did it get her father a promotion or a raise, it did manage to make Qiao Wanqing desperately marry Lu Mingzhou, which is fine too.

Lu Mingzhou's personal achievements are indeed outstanding, but his poor family background is a fact. His family background is not in the same class as theirs at all. Marrying him would mean falling from grace instantly.

When she was considering her future husband, she had paid attention to Lu Mingzhou. She liked his future prospects, but she was not satisfied with him as a person. She was not even that satisfied with Chen Jin, let alone Lu Mingzhou. He was only fit to be a backup option.

If she doesn't have a good option in the future, and Lu Mingzhou is good enough to pamper her and listen to her every whim, she might consider it.

But she never expected that Lu Mingzhou would marry Qiao Wanqing under those circumstances. Although she didn't care about this man, Xu Yanran still felt that something she had wanted had been taken away, and she was very unhappy!

But now, she felt much better because she knew that her uncle had a stronger connection, and Qiao Wanqing had no chance at all.

She smiled and raised her wine glass to Qiao Wanqing, who came over to toast her, saying, "Cousin, happy marriage! May you have a baby soon!"

It's best to get pregnant immediately, have two children in three years. The more children she has, the less valuable she becomes. Even if she regrets it and divorces him later, no good family will want her.

As a childhood rival, Qiao Wanqing could guess what Xu Yanran was thinking without any explanation. She smiled and clinked glasses with her. She glanced at her uncle Xu Wei, who had a somewhat cold expression, and knew why he was being so indifferent, but she pretended not to notice and continued to toast him respectfully.

After the banquet, Zhang Wanting pulled Qiao Wanqing aside to talk. Her eyes were red. "Wanwan, I was away on a business trip and just got back. I heard you got married. It was so sudden... How are you doing?" Zhang Wanting was a typical girl raised in a literary family. She was quiet and gentle, with a scholarly air about her.

Qiao Wanqing smiled and held her hand, "I'm doing pretty well! I chose my own partner, and I'm so happy to have married him!"

Zhang Wanting opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. How could someone from the Qiao family, of such a high level, be happy marrying someone like Lu Mingzhou?

No matter how capable Lu Mingzhou is, he can't change the fact that his family has a heavy burden. How will Wanwan, a rich girl, get along with her mothers-in-law in the future?

Some of her girlfriends married ordinary people. If they were reasonable, it was fine, but if they were unreasonable, it was like a scholar encountering a soldier—no matter how reasonable they were, they couldn't reason with them, and their lives were a mess. Would Wanwan have to live that kind of life in the future? She didn't even dare to think about it.

Seeing that she was still full of worry, Qiao Wanqing comforted her, "Tingting, you have to live your own life. Only you know whether it's good or bad. Sometimes, no matter how glamorous things seem on the surface, it can't change the pain inside. Don't put all your hopes for happiness on your husband's family. Don't think that marrying into a rich family will bring happiness, or that marrying into an ordinary family will inevitably lead to unhappiness. It's just a matter of probability. I have the ability to bear the consequences of my choices, so I chose what I like. Don't worry about me."

Qiao Wanqing has everything: a solid foundation, strong abilities, and an understanding of future opportunities. Under these circumstances, she has no need to wrong herself. She will not wrong herself by marrying a rich and powerful man she doesn't like, nor will she wrong herself by suffering in the Lu family. If life in the Lu family is not good, she will run away!

Besides, with her family background completely overwhelming her, wouldn't she fight back if anyone dared to bully her?

Zhang Wanting nodded, looked at Qiao Wanqing, hesitated for a long while, and then asked, "You... don't like Chen Jin anymore?"

Qiao Wanqing raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I've never liked him. Our two families are on good terms, and my grandfather knows him well. If I liked him, we would have been engaged long ago."