Seeing her daughter's expression of impressed admiration and sweet smile at the mention of Laixi, Mei's mother feigned a casual tone and said, "Aunt Zheng was just here. She said Laixi is having a hard time running his business at the market all by himself, so much so that he can't even eat properly. His parents are thinking of helping him find a wife..."
Liu Xiaomei froze. She was so stunned that she didn't even hear the rest of what her mother said. A wave of unease washed over her. 'Is Laixi getting engaged?'
Her mind involuntarily conjured an image of a pretty young wife helping greet customers in Laixi's shop. The wife would then call out to a busy Laixi, "Laixi, time to eat!" And Laixi would happily trot over with a grin, asking what was for lunch.
Lost in this thought, she said dejectedly, "It'd be good for him to get a wife. It's quite sad for him to be all alone over there." As she spoke, she aimlessly stirred the vegetables in the wok, her earlier deftness gone.
