novelburst
Chapter 699: 673: Do You Think It's Very Funny?
Chapter 699: 673: Do You Think It's Very Funny?
Chapter 699: Chapter 673: Do You Think It’s Very Funny?
“Meizi, do you really have to marry him?”
“My master said I have to get married this year, or I will bring misfortune to my parents and myself. I don’t have any other suitable candidate, he is the only one left.”
After Sister-in-law told her that Ma Lu was only with her so he could get a city Hukou after his transfer, Liu Mei’s expectations for this marriage dropped to zero.
“Do you believe everything your master says? What era is this? How can you still be superstitious?”
“I wavered before, but a few days ago my brother called me and told me my father got sick again…my foster father also got sick…even the dog at my foster dad’s house got sick.”
For the sake of her master’s prophecy, she had to bear with it and figured she would get married first, then think about it.
“If I remember correctly, you said the dog at your foster father’s house has been raised for more than ten years, right?” Xiao Qian was simply speechless; even a dying dog is being used as an excuse?
“Although he died of old age, why did he have to die when I broke up with my boyfriend? My master was right, my fate is too hard. It’s not only affecting my parents, it even caused the dog’s death.”
“As for your superstitious master, I will deal with her later…” Xiao Qian had long harbored resentment towards this so-called master. It was this Old Lady who led Liu Mei into this pit!
“Sister-in-law, what did you say?” Liu Mei didn’t hear it clearly.
“I said now that he’s here, let’s be good hosts.”
Xiao Qian knew that Liu Mei’s insistence on getting married had something to do with the psychological suggestion her master made. Her master used a method similar to Xiao Qian’s suggestion to Oliver James and implanted a notion into Liu Mei’s mind that if she didn’t get married, her family would be in trouble. And it so happened that something really happened to Liu Mei’s parents, which led Liu Mei to believe completely in her master’s words, and she was determined to get married to avert disaster for her family.
Fortune tellers often make ambiguous predictions, which make people feel that everything they say is true. They give a very long timeline for a probabilistic prophecy. For instance, her master said that if Liu Mei didn’t get married, her family would be unlucky. Liu Mei might not have initially believed this at first.
But exactly at that time, her family did experience some slight troubles. Even without the prophecy, illnesses would still occur, bones would still break, but because the prophecy was made beforehand, she felt it was especially accurate. This kind of phenomena is all decided by probability.
There’s also a related common occurrence that almost everyone has seen: the postpartum confinement.
Many people firmly believe that some traditional practices during the confinement period are good for women, such as not brushing teeth or taking baths. Among the elderly, these customs are passed down as incredible truth, regardless of how many doctors come out to explain otherwise.
During the postpartum period, estrogen levels rise, and some women develop pregnancy gingivitis. Not brushing teeth can lead to oral infections, gum atrophy and even tooth loss. Some women experience active sweat gland secretion and get puerperal infections because they didn’t bathe during confinement, yet many people still believe in these practices.
No matter how doctors and authorities try to explain, they cannot compete with the elderly’s prophetic truth: if you don’t listen, you’ll suffer when you get old. Sometimes, some women might wonder, ‘If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be sick, right?’ The elderly would say very seriously, ‘Wait until you get old and see!’
They would also confidently cite numerous examples, such as someone’s daughter-in-law who did this and that during the confinement, and how she ended up when she got old, and what happened a few years after she gave birth. Does it mean that if you don’t brush your teeth and wash your hair, you won’t develop a certain disease for the next several decades?
It sounds ridiculous to attribute a disease that someone develops decades later to a certain behavior during postpartum confinement decades ago, but this is indeed a true portrayal of many people’s mindset, which is similar to Liu Mei’s current mindset.
Liu Mei is one of the more open-minded girls Xiao Qian has met, with a straightforward and flexible personality. However, she is deeply burdened by her family and cares too much about her parents. Her master took advantage of this and used a threat similar to the postpartum confinement prophecy to scare Liu Mei. Convinced by this, the girl was going to marry a scumbag.
This mindset can be explained by what is called the “Barnum effect” in psychology. Simply put, if you want to believe in something, you will find all kinds of points to support your evidence. Even if it has nothing to do with the matter, it can still be linked to it. The more you believe, the more justified you feel.
To deal with Liu Mei’s “Barnum effect” induced by her teacher’s psychological suggestion, Xiao Qian decided to fight fire with fire, and she also made use of psychological suggestion. Xiao Qian, who has a doctorate in psychology (in her previous life), would not be defeated by an old fortune-teller, would she?
Xiao Qian already had a plan in her mind. She confidently walked towards the kitchen. When Liu Mei saw her heading to the kitchen, she jumped in fright and shouted.
“Sister-in-law, what are you doing!”Thanks to Yu Minglang’s tireless promotion, everyone around Xiaoqian knew that Boss Qian was a kitchen idiot.
Not only did this loud shout stop Xiao Qian in her tracks, but it also made Yellow-haired Aka, who was in the next room setting up an eavesdropping device, cover her ears.
Oh my, what a booming voice, it nearly blew out my ears!
“Sister-in-law, just tell me what you want to eat! Please don’t go into the kitchen!” Liu Mei said with a horrified face.
She had been deeply traumatized by Xiaoqian’s explosive use of the microwave oven.
“I’m going to make a pot of tea,” said Xiaoqian, who thought it would be a good psychological hint for Liu Mei.
“I’ll boil the water!”
“Why are you acting like Brother Lang? Overreacting, I’m not so inept as to not even be able to boil water. Don’t worry, I’ve thought through the entire process, no possibility for mistakes. I’ll first put the rock sugar, chrysanthemums, goji berries and dried longan in the jug. Then, I’ll put the glass jug in the microwave, and we can drink it in a few minutes!”
“… You just sit and wait, I’ll do it.”
Liu Mei pushed Xiao Qian back and went to the kitchen herself to fiddle around. Seriously, who taught her sister-in-law to use a microwave to make tea when there’s a kettle?
Xiao Qian felt quite wronged. She thought highly of herself, having tried many ways to make tea, she found this to be the safest and most convenient. Why was Liu Mei so disgusted with her?
Yellow-haired Aka, separated only by a wall, heard everything clearly through the eavesdropping device.
The boss called.
“How has she been recently?”
“Pretty good, I just moved here and plan to ‘accidentally’ meet her at school again tomorrow. I figure it won’t be too long before I infiltrate her little group.”
“Hmm, take care of her. I’ll transfer this month’s salary into your card.”
“Boss, I just heard something funny. Seems like Chen Xiaoqian can’t cook, haha, she uses a microwave to make tea! How cute!”
“… You think using a microwave to make tea is very funny?”
Why does the boss’s voice sound so cold? Yellow Hair suddenly had a bad premonition, and sure enough…
“I’ve decided to cut a week’s salary.”
“Why!!”
“Lose the attitude or I’ll dock next month’s salary too.”
Freaking capitalist! Aka gave the middle finger to the phone and spat silently.
Sine it wasn’t a video call, Aka didn’t see the boss put on gloves, open the microwave, and take out a ceramic cup containing steaming tea after hanging up.
“As if you wouldn’t use a microwave to make tea… should it be done with cold water…” The man squints his eyes, smelling the fragrance of the tea, and thinks of the Xiaoqian on the other side of the ocean with warmth filling his heart.