"izi, do you really have to marry him?"
"My master said I have to get married this year, otherwise my father, mother, and I will all have bad luck. Right now, I don’t have anyone suitable, so he’s the only one left."
After her sister-in-law told her that Ma Lv was only with her for a city residence permit after his career change, Liui’s expectations for this marriage dropped to zero.
"Do you really believe everything your master says? What age are we in, and you’re still superstitious about this?"
"I wavered before, but a few days ago, my brother called and told my dad is sick again...my adoptive father is also sick...even the dog at my adoptive father’s ho is sick."
Because of that master’s prophecy, she decided to grit her teeth and endure, thinking she should just get married first.
"If I rember correctly, didn’t you say the dog at your adoptive father’s house is over ten years old?" Qian was speechless, blaming it on the dog’s death?
"Even though it died of old age, why did it have to die just when I broke up? My master is right; my fate is too harsh. I not only jinxed my parents but even the dog wasn’t spared."
"I’ll deal with that superstitious master of yours later..." Qian had held a grudge against this so-called master for a long ti; it was that old lady who had led Liui astray!
"Sister-in-law, what did you say?" Liui didn’t hear clearly.
"I said since he’s here, we should entertain him well."
Qian knew that Liui’s current persistence to get married was related to the psychological suggestion given by her master. Her master had used a suggestion similar to how she had been influenced regarding Ye Daqian, suggesting that if Liui didn’t get married, her family would face misfortune. Coincidentally, Liui’s parents did have so incidents, making her firmly believe her master’s words and resolute to marry to ward off bad luck for her family.
Fortune tellers often speak ambiguously, making people feel their words are true, giving long tifras and probabilistic predictions. For instance, when her master said if Liui didn’t marry, her family would have bad luck, Liui initially didn’t believe it.
But coincidentally, her family had minor issues then. Even without the prediction, sickness would still occur, and bones would still break if they were going to. Just because of the prior prediction, she felt it was very accurate, and this phenonon is determined by probability.
There’s also a nearly universal phenonon related to this, called the postpartum confinent.
Many firmly believe in certain traditional customs during postpartum periods, like not brushing teeth or bathing. These habits have been mythologized through generations, and no matter how many doctors co forward to explain, it’s useless.
During postpartum, estrogen levels rise, leading to pregnancy gingivitis for so mothers. Not brushing teeth can cause oral infections, gum recession, or even tooth loss. So, due to active sweat gland secretion, develop puerperal infections by not showering during confinent, yet many still believe in these.
No matter how doctors and authorities try to educate, they can’t trump a similar proverbial wisdom from elders: disobey, and you’ll suffer when you’re old. Sotis so new mothers doubt, saying they didn’t get sick even though they didn’t follow these customs? Elderly will seriously say, "Just wait until you’re old to see!"
They’ll confidently cite nurous examples of a certain family’s daughter-in-law having issues during postpartum and having so illness years after childbirth — even though not brushing or washing hair wouldn’t affect so disease decades later, it sounds laughable, but this truly reflects many people’s psychology, similar to Liui’s current mindset.
Liui was one of the most open-minded girls Qian had seen, straightforward, bright, and adaptable, but her bond with her family was too deep, caring too much about her parents. Her master caught onto this, leaving a postpartum-like prophecy threat to scare Liui, and the child believed it, insisting on marrying a scumbag.
Psychologically speaking, this is explained by what’s known as the "Barnum effect": once soone believes sothing, they’ll find all sorts of argunts to support their evidence, even if unrelated, leading to greater belief, and the more they believe, the more they feel justified!
To combat Liui’s current "Barnum effect" caused by her master’s psychological suggestion, Qian decided to fight fire with fire, using psychological suggestion. She didn’t believe for one second that her Ph.D. in psychology (her highest degree in a past life) couldn’t outsmart an old fortune-telling fraud!
Qian already had a plan. Brimming with confidence, she walked toward the kitchen. Seeing her heading to the kitchen, Liui, startled, shouted.
"Sister-in-law, what are you doing!"
Thanks to Yu Minglang’s relentless promotion, everyone around Qian knew Qian couldn’t cook to save her life.
This shout not only stopped Qian in her tracks but also had Huangmao Aka next door, who was connecting a listening device, covering his ears.
Goodness, why such a loud voice, almost burst his eardrums!
"Sister-in-law, tell what you want to eat! Just don’t go into the kitchen!" Liui said, horrified.
She had a severe shadow over Qian’s explosive microwave mishap.
"I’m just going to make so tea." This was the tool Qian had thought of to psychologically suggest sothing to Liui.
"I’ll boil the water!"
"Why are you acting like your Lang, making such a fuss? I can at least boil water. Don’t worry, I have the process all mapped out, and nothing will go wrong. I’ll put rock sugar, chrysanthemum, goji berries, and dried longan in the pot, then put the glass pot in the microwave, and in a few minutes, we’ll have tea!"
"...Just sit and wait, I’ll do it."
Liui pushed Qian back and went to the kitchen herself, exasperated with her sister-in-law. There’s a kettle, so why use a microwave to make tea? Who taught her this skill?
Qian felt quite aggrieved. She thought she was doing quite well, having tried many ways to make tea, finding this one the safest and most convenient. Why was Liui so dismissive of her?
Next door, Huangmao Aka heard everything clearly through the listening device.
The boss’s call ca through.
"How’s she doing lately?"
"She’s doing well. I just moved in and plan to have a ’chance encounter’ with her at school tomorrow; it shouldn’t take long to join her little group."
"Hmm, take good care of her. I’ll transfer this month’s salary to your account."
"Boss, I just heard sothing funny. Chen Xiaoqian apparently can’t cook, she even uses a microwave to make tea, hahaha! So cute!"
"...And you find it funny using a microwave for tea?"
Eh, why did the boss’s voice suddenly turn so cold? Huangmao had a bad feeling, and sure enough...
"I’ve decided to dock a week’s pay for you."
"Why!!"
"If you keep nagging, next month’s will be docked too."
Starting with F and ending with K, these damned capitalists! Aka raised his middle finger and silently spat at the phone.
This wasn’t a video call, so Aka didn’t see the boss, after hanging up, putting on gloves, opening the microwave, and taking out a ceramic cup with hot steaming tea inside.
"If you don’t use a microwave for tea, are you supposed to use cold water..." The man squinted, sniffing the tea aroma, thinking about Qian across the ocean, feeling a warm sensation in his heart.
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