Strategy to Tame My Dimwitted Older Sister A - Chapter 25

Moreover, Chu Nanqiao wasn’t like Li Ai, who had a naturally strong and assertive personality. At first glance, Chu Nanqiao seemed delicate and soft, the type who would be completely outmatched if she ever married a scummy alpha who looked down on her.

Even though Chu Nanqiao had stabbed her with a knife in their past life and Bai Xia still didn’t understand why things had suddenly turned out that way before that, Chu Nanqiao had genuinely been good to her. Worried that she might be taken advantage of by her company as a fresh graduate, Chu Nanqiao had actively stood up for her. Concerned that she wouldn’t find a decent job, Chu Nanqiao had even helped her with introductions. For a long time after entering society, Bai Xia had been in a constant state of anxiety, and it was Chu Nanqiao who had been there to counsel her through it.

One could say that if it hadn’t been for Chu Nanqiao back then, Bai Xia might very well have ended up with depression.

Because of this, Bai Xia couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Carefully, she probed, “Well, in that case… Xiaoxiao, I have a question for you. Given your family’s frequent dealings with other influential families, do wealthy heirs like Xu Mo usually end up in arranged marriages with people they don’t like?”

Xiaoxiao didn’t even need to think before nodding. “Absolutely. You gain some, you lose some. They’ve enjoyed all the privileges their families have provided since childhood. Without their families, they’d have nothing. People can’t be too greedy, if you try to have everything, you’ll end up with nothing. Besides, arranged marriages aren’t necessarily all bad for them. It’s more like a mix of pros and cons, it just depends on how they choose to handle it.”

Bai Xia was quite interested in the gossip surrounding wealthy families. Maybe it was because, as an ordinary person, she could never access that world, so she couldn’t help but feel a sense of fascination. Add to that humanity’s inherent love for gossip, an unchangeable nature and she couldn’t help but approach the topic with a spectator’s curiosity.

“Then, what if they already have someone they like? Would they eventually be forced to separate?” Bai Xia was genuinely curious.

Xiaoxiao thought for a moment. “Not always. It depends on the circumstances, and the family’s power plays a big role. Some families are so influential that they don’t need arranged marriages to secure their status, so they don’t have to sacrifice their children for the family’s benefit. But for weaker families, there’s no way around it. Even if they don’t want an arranged marriage and just want to focus on their own business, if the other side applies pressure like cutting off all your business channels you’ll have no choice but to comply. It sounds cruel, but that’s the reality. There’s no escaping it.”

Bai Xia understood the words, but she couldn’t truly grasp the feeling. As an outsider, some things were impossible to empathize with. In her past life, she had disliked blind dates but hadn’t outright rejected them she just didn’t like the idea of being set up. Later, after spending time together and getting to know the other person, she had found it tolerable. But honestly, the feeling had still been unpleasant. The reason she hadn’t resented it too much was probably because her mother had been lenient, never truly forcing her into anything just worrying on her behalf.

Looking back now, if she’d had a different kind of parent, one who insisted she get married right after graduation, practically demanding grandchildren immediately that would have been terrifying.

Precisely because of this, she found it even harder to understand the sense of coercion others felt. To her, it didn’t seem like a big deal, there was always the thought that, at worst, they could just divorce later. But the reality was, while divorce was easy for alphas, it wasn’t the same for omegas. A lifelong mark was already a significant physical trauma for an omega, and divorce would mean subjecting that body to a second round of harm. Humans are inherently fragile; no matter how strong the body, it can’t endure repeated damage.

So, to some extent, arranged marriages were the least harmful and most advantageous for alphas. The ones who suffered the most, potentially trapped for life, were the omegas.

“What about you? Will you also end up in an arranged marriage with some young omega from another family like Xu Mo?” Bai Xia asked curiously.

This was something Cheng Xi hadn’t really considered. Mainly because her family wasn’t part of the elite. While society had become much more open-minded and no longer strictly insisted on marriages of equal social status as in the past, for wealthy families, matching social standing was still the top priority. It was a harsh reality they couldn’t deny.

“My parents don’t meddle in these things. They’re too busy with work no time to bother with me,” Cheng Xi said. “Last semester, I told them I wanted to start dating. Guess what they said?”

Bai Xia thought for a moment. “Something like, ‘Go ahead, it’s no big deal. Why even report this to us? Do you need us to hire a media outlet for live coverage?'”

“Exactly! Xia Xia, did you install a camera in my house or something?”

“I’ve never even been to your place. How could I?”

Cheng Xi realized that was true. “Yeah, that’s exactly how they reacted, didn’t even bat an eye. So, then I asked them, ‘If you don’t care about my love life, what if I can’t find an omega to marry later?’ Guess their response?”

Bai Xia ventured, “Did they tell you to marry into another family?”

Cheng Xi’s expression said it all. “Yep. They said if I couldn’t marry an omega, they’d save up some money for me to be a live-in son-in-law, then start over with a new kid. Xia Xia, tell me, am I even their biological child?”

Bai Xia replied, “That’s exactly how biological parents would act. If they didn’t do that, then you should start questioning whether you’re really theirs.”

That made so much sense Cheng Xi was momentarily speechless.

They chatted a while longer until it was nearly six. Cheng Xi got ready to go out for food and asked if Bai Xia wanted to join. Bai Xia declined, only asking her to bring something back.

It wasn’t that Bai Xia was too lazy to go out she just wasn’t in the mood today. Ever since hearing those words from Cheng Xi, one thought had been lingering in her mind: the issue of Chu Nanqiao’s future arranged marriage.

In her previous life, after leaving school, she had been constantly busy with work and never paid attention to which alphas Chu Nanqiao might have liked. After all, she had once received kindness from Chu Nanqiao, and as a person, one should know how to be grateful. Now that she had been reborn, if she knew which alpha Chu Nanqiao liked, she could help advise her in advance and filter out some scumbags along the way. But the problem now was, she had been too absorbed in work back then and completely overlooked these things, leaving her unable to help even if she wanted to.

She truly couldn’t bear the thought of Chu Nanqiao marrying someone she didn’t love in the future. What if that person turned out to be a jerk? Would Chu Nanqiao end up crying herself to sleep every day?!

The more Bai Xia thought about it, the more she felt this couldn’t be allowed. She needed to find out if Chu Nanqiao had any alphas she liked and then discreetly probe the situation. If the other person turned out to be trash, she would make sure that scumbag debuted at school in the center position.

But another issue arose. As the saying went, most members of wealthy families couldn’t escape the fate of arranged marriages, especially if their family’s influence was relatively weak. However, the Chu family wasn’t weak, and Chu Nanqiao’s parents seemed to dote on her. In that case, would Chu Nanqiao still need an arranged marriage in the future?

Bai Xia didn’t know the answer. In her past life, she had visited Chu Nanqiao’s home invited by Chu Nanqiao herself but she never heard Chu Nanqiao’s parents discuss her marriage. This likely meant they wanted to leave the decision entirely to Chu Nanqiao. If so, who she married would depend entirely on her own preferences.

For some reason, Bai Xia felt a little relieved. She lowered her head to check her WeChat messages, 999+ unread but none of them were from Chu Nanqiao.

Still mad, huh!

Wait, no, it wasn’t just about being mad. After adding her on WeChat, Chu Nanqiao had never sent her a single message. Thinking about it that way, it was kind of shameless.

Bai Xia dismissed that thought and reconsidered why Chu Nanqiao had gotten angry over those words. Just as she was pondering, her phone vibrated.

She picked it up, it was a message from Chu Nanqiao.

[If you don’t apologize, I will never forgive you. [Hamster-style anger jpg.]]

The sticker was kind of cute, matching Chu Nanqiao’s angry demeanor quite well.

Wait, why should she apologize?

Had she said something wrong?

No, she hadn’t.

So why did she need to apologize?

Bai Xia quickly typed back.

[What exactly did I say wrong? [Scratching head jpg.]]

After sending the message, Chu Nanqiao went silent again. Bai Xia really couldn’t figure out which part of her words had been problematic weren’t they all just normal polite remarks?

After waiting for a while, just as Bai Xia was about to send another message to ask, Chu Nanqiao sent over a few more stickers, all hamster-style anger.

Hands on hips, biting lips, throwing things, flipping tables everything was there. Bai Xia had no idea where Chu Nanqiao had gotten so many of these stickers.

She replied: [Junior, I really don’t know. Just tell me which part was wrong, and I’ll apologize right away, okay?]

Chu Nanqiao immediately typed back: [Not even knowing what you did wrong and needing someone else to tell you that in itself is already outrageous!]

Hmm… That actually made sense.

But the problem was, she wasn’t wrong at all!!!

If she wasn’t wrong, why should she apologize? She wasn’t an idiot!

[If you don’t tell me, I genuinely wouldn’t know what I said was wrong. Or are you just picking a fight on purpose? (confused.jpg).]

Chu Nanqiao lay on her dorm bed, pounding the mattress in frustration. Worried about disturbing her roommate with the noise, she even cushioned the blows with a pillow. She had never encountered such a dense alpha before, how could they not see something so obvious? She was absolutely fuming, ahhhhh!

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