The Leftover Women's Guide

Introduction

Ten years ago, I was naive to the point of being foolish. One man left, and before I even had time to grieve, another one was already waiting at the door with flowers in hand.

Five years ago, I was just a junior employee. A man left me, and I felt a little melancholy. But then I was happy again. Luckily, he hadn't ruined my life. What does love matter? My career is the most important thing.

Three years ago, I had achieved some success in my career when a man left me. It felt like a bolt from the blue. I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me, why I could never keep him. I went home and watched Sex and the City extensively, and started talking about being single all the time.

Now—when I take my parents to visit relatives and friends during the Spring Festival, they complain. It's not because the car isn't good enough, or the gifts aren't presentable enough, it's just because their daughter is still unmarried, which is embarrassing.

Even the supportive family and friends who have been cheering me on for so many years are starting to despair. Their only advice is to just settle for someone. But at this point, is it really worth settling?

Sigh, the troubles of single women are higher than mountains and deeper than the sea—

Chapter 1

Qian Duoduo had a rather depressing New Year.

She worked hard all year, and the company did not treat her badly. She also did not treat herself badly. She also wanted to show her filial piety by taking her parents on a trip abroad. Unexpectedly, her mother refused outright and then began to bombard her with complaints, almost dragging her out to be displayed in the street.

In fact, she felt that if public humiliation wasn't so shameful, her mother would have done the same. The only thing more shameful than having a daughter who was almost thirty and still unmarried was letting the whole world know that she had a daughter who was almost thirty and still unmarried. Her mother would never do something so self-humiliating.

To fully express her dissatisfaction, Qian's mother adopted a blatant disregard for her punishment throughout the New Year period, which also affected Qian's father, making his Lunar New Year a time of constant anxiety.

Please, she's almost thirty and still single. She's under a lot of pressure, okay?

Qian Duoduo felt very wronged, and this feeling of being wronged was like the foam of beer after being shaken violently, which would burst out uncontrollably once the bottle was opened.

Why did she study so hard and strive for excellence every day since she was young? Why did she struggle through the grueling July to get into a top university?

I fought my way up to my current company, enduring a brutal and bloody battle to reach this position, but what was it all for? It turns out that all of this is less satisfying than someone else's daughter getting married in a grand and glamorous way right after graduating from university. She doesn't even want to go to relatives' houses; to be honest, she doesn't even want to go to those kinds of events.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, she was chatting with her aunt's daughter on the sofa. In front of them were eight kinds of dried snacks, yellow and red. It was the New Year, and every family was full of joy. Her aunt could make glutinous rice balls herself. The filling was made of black sesame paste and wrapped in water-milled glutinous rice. When they were served, they were snow-white and round in the clear soup, looking very tempting. Qian Duoduo had loved this kind of food since she was a child, and she would eat it as soon as it was served.

My cousin Yuanyuan, nicknamed "Sticky Rice Ball," was sitting next to me. You can imagine how much she loves this food. But this time, she didn't even glance at it while sitting next to me. She was busy making a phone call, chattering and giggling as she talked. Her sweet voice gave Qian Duoduo goosebumps.

Finally, after waiting for her to hang up the phone, Nuomi Yuanzi remembered that she had a cousin she only saw once a year. "Cousin, are you still working at UVL?" "Ah, ah." Busy eating, Qian Duoduo's syllables were muffled.

"It must be tough." Giving her a pitying look, Nuomi Yuanzi stirred the rice balls in her bowl with a spoon, feigning a sigh. "I also want to be a successful career woman like my cousin, but Kevin says he doesn't like career-oriented women."

Choking, Qian Duoduo glanced at her sideways.

Mom leaned closer. "Kevin? Is he the guy Yuanyuan's dating?"

Auntie Qian joined in, expanding the fray. She grabbed her daughter's chubby, white hand and showed it off, the diamond sparkling brightly, dazzling everyone's eyes. "No, no, the two families just had dinner together a couple of days ago. It's a wedding, so our Yuanyuan hasn't been eating lately. She's on a diet. This little girl is determined to be pretty, just so she can look good in her wedding dress." She then burst into a seemingly embarrassed giggle, patting Auntie Qian apologetically, "Sorry, our Yuanyuan has to go first. We were hoping to attend your Duoduo's wedding first."

My aunt is from southern Fujian and has been married into the family for many years. She still occasionally slips out a word or two of her hometown dialect, especially when she is in a particularly high or low mood. This time, of course, it was the former.

Qian Duoduo felt a chill run down her spine. Looking at her mother's expression, she realized it was definitely not right. She forced out a sentence through twitching lips, "Congratulations! You must give me a big red envelope later."

On the way back, Qian Duoduo drove silently, head down. Along the way, people were setting off firecrackers and fireworks, a riot of colors and a scene of great joy. Unfortunately, the car was completely unaffected by the festive atmosphere.

When they got home, Mom threw her coat on the sofa, turned around and went into the room, slamming the door shut, leaving Qian Duoduo and her father looking at each other in bewilderment.

Later, the two sat on the sofa and chatted for a while. Mr. Qian was a retired professor who had been a refined gentleman all his life. His wife was the former head of the publicity department of a steel factory. It was easy to imagine who was stronger between them. Before speaking after sitting down, he sighed and patted his daughter's shoulder, "Duoduo, you must know that everything in the world has its time."

Qian Duoduo also wanted to sigh. Her father was good in every way, but whenever he wanted to talk to her about life, he liked to start from the beginning of the universe. It would take at least half a day to get to the point. To be honest, deep down, she did sympathize with those students.

"Dad, are you trying to say that my time to find a partner is almost over, and if I don't hurry, I might become an unsaleable product?" Accustomed to giving summarizing speeches, Qian Duoduo cut straight to the point.

When his daughter was so blunt, Mr. Qian was a little at a loss for words. He taught Chinese classics and liked to quote classical texts in everything he said, but unfortunately, neither of the two women in his family appreciated this trait, leaving him no room to elaborate.

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Qian patted his daughter on the shoulder again, saying, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, for they will soon be bare and withered."

Qian Duoduo was exasperated. "Dad, it's not that I don't want people to pick them, it's that nobody wants to pick them, okay?"

The door, which had just slammed shut, was slammed open again, and Qian's mother rushed out, yelling, "Who told you not to go on blind dates? There isn't a single normal man in the place you live in, where are you going to find someone to marry!"

Qian's mother was incredibly imposing. Duo Duo and her father, sitting on the sofa, both felt an urge to cover their heads. After regaining their senses, Qian Duo Duo, who had always had excellent grades and a smooth career, became indignant and stood up, shouting, "It's just marriage! I refuse to believe I can't get married. You wait and see, I will definitely finish this project this year!"

Chapter Two

Qian Duoduo's current position is Senior Marketing Manager. Most of her peers in the company are around thirty-five years old, and she is the only woman. In such an international company that values seniority and has a strict hierarchy, she can be described as very successful.

Unfortunately, this kind of success was worthless in her life after leaving the company. No one was proud of Duoduo's rapid promotion. In contrast, Yuanyuan, who had been happily preparing for marriage for less than two years after graduation, was the role model that all the sisters wanted to learn from.

It is said that Yuanyuan's fiancé, Kevin, fell in love with her at first sight and was devoted to her.

It is said that Yuanyuan's future in-laws are very wealthy, and the engagement ring will be at least one carat.

It is said that after Yuanyuan gets married, she can start living the life of a full-time housewife and no longer have to endure the hardship of working nine to five.

It is said that—we'll talk about it later? Yuanyuan is already surrounded by countless halos; if we keep talking, Duoduo will be kicked out of the house by her mother.

However, none of these things held much appeal for Duoduo.

After working for many years, she felt that she was also a rich person. A one-carat diamond ring could be worn on her right hand without any problem, as long as it wasn't on her left hand.

As for being a full-time housewife, that's not even a consideration for her. Her next promotion plan is to become the director of the marketing department. The current director's term is about to expire, and he has already hinted that she is the best candidate.

The only trouble was finding a partner to marry, but now that she had a goal, Duoduo, who was always an efficient person, quickly began to summarize her past failures and start to arrange specific implementation measures.

Compared to Qian Duoduo's other fruitful achievements, her romantic experience can be described as a complete failure.

They were childhood sweethearts in high school, holding hands and making vows of eternal love. On Valentine's Day, they took the train to Suzhou and foolishly got soaked in the rain all day. They were sneezing and kissing passionately in front of their house, and Qian's father walked by without noticing.

So what? After getting into universi

……