Super Leftover Woman

  After several days of traveling by boat and carriage, I finally returned to the bustling metropolis where people rubbed shoulders with each other.

  The June sky was scorching hot, so hot that the residual heat of the sun seemed to be able to boil water. But even hotter weather couldn't stop her footsteps from returning home.

  After getting off the car, Qiao Yunxue stopped in front of a gallery. She quietly observed the busy people inside.

  The sunset stretched her shadow diagonally across the ground, like a splash-ink landscape painting.

  "Cries of astonishment came from inside...". Her mother rushed out quickly and wrapped her arms around her.

  "Dad, Mom, I'm back," she said, her lips slowly curving upwards, and for the first time, she didn't look like a prodigal daughter, but a well-behaved one.

  Her mother Xia Xinqin hugged her daughter tightly and wouldn't let go. But her father quietly pulled her suitcase inside.

  "Mom, I'm fine!" She smiled sincerely, struggled free from her mother, and twirled around to show off, "Not fat or thin, not tall or short, not beautiful or ugly, lovable at first sight."

  Xia Xinqin burst out laughing and immediately ordered: "There's a happy event at home today, close up early."

  "No, mom. It's completely normal for me to come back." Qiao Yunxue quickly ran off, straightening the guest's disordered oil painting, "Mom, I'm here to help you."

  Seeing that their daughter was fine, Old Man and Woman Qiao secretly let out a sigh of relief and exchanged a glance.

  Business as usual.

  "Yunxue, come back and rest for a while! Although we are not rich, we don't need you to make money urgently." - Father Qiao Chengkang

  "Dad, I've already rested for a year." Qiao Yunxue didn't stop the work in her hands, "Dad, I will go find a job."

  "Go find a job......" Qiao Chengkang and Xia Xinqin exchanged a similar glance, silently shaking their heads.

  "Dad, Mom, I've studied business management for so many years, it can't go to waste." Qiao Yunxue said, "I need to find a job as soon as possible."

  Qiao Chengkang's face was deep in thought: "The gallery business has been getting better and better over the past year, so why don't Yunxue just stay at home and help out? This gallery will eventually be passed down to Yunxue anyway. Your mom and I are both old, it would make us feel more at ease if you started taking over earlier. We still remember when Yunxue wanted to become a painter!"

  Qiao Yunxue suddenly stopped what she was doing and looked at her parents calmly: "Dad, Mom, I know you're worried about me and don't want me to run into that man in the business world. But please rest assured, I've already let go of him. It wasn't my fault to begin with, so why should I be the one avoiding him? I came back to live a normal life!"

  They exchanged a glance, and Old Qiao let out a long sigh of relief, his face beaming with joy, as he hastened to express his agreement: "That's great. That's great."

  Xia Xinqin mentioned: "Your aunt has come many times, always asking when you will return."

  Just then, the door was pushed open.

  Xia Xinqin burst out laughing: "Just mentioning Cao Cao, and here he comes. Yunxue, your aunt is here."

  No, it's been a long time since I've seen my aunt. Qiao Yunxue didn't even have time to speak before her aunt laughed happily: "Yunxue, you're finally back! Auntie is going to introduce you to some potential partners! I have several good ones here, they look good and their jobs are good too. I'll go contact them now."

  "Auntie, sit down! I'm in no hurry." She quickly brought over a stool for her to take a seat.

  "Hurry up! What's not urgent?! All of us, seven aunts and eight elder sisters, are all anxious!" Glaring at her, Auntie hastily calculated with her, "Yunxue will be 28 in just one more month, and by virtual age, she'll be 29. Once you're past 29, you'll be 30! Yunxue, do you think you can still afford to wait slowly for free love and marriage?"

  Thirty?

  Qiao Yunxue was stunned. How could she not have realized that she had inadvertently become a super leftover woman?

  She suddenly smiled faintly: "Then thank you, Auntie."