CHAPTER 482: 435 BLASTING DATE WITH FIVE THUNDERS_2

Arguing with Wu Shengnan’s father might not bother *him*, but if I upset *my* own father, he definitely wouldn’t let me off easily.

Prescribing medicine for myself... never mind anything else, that dosage alone would give Wu Shengnan’s father plenty to work with.

Du Heng swallowed hard.

It’s not that we couldn’t get along; we’re just fundamentally incompatible.

Never mind our attitudes towards each other. Just think: a police officer and a doctor. How many times could we even meet in a year? How many full nights of sleep could we get?

And then there’s the inevitable issue of children to consider in the future—it’s a massive headache.

What if... I just pretend to date her for a while, and then we say it’s not working out and break up?

That seems feasible, Du Heng thought.

"Since it’s come to this, let’s try dating for a bit. What do you think, Sir?" Du Heng said quickly, seeing Wu Shengnan looked ready to explode. He frantically signaled her with his eyes, almost winking them dry, before she finally reined herself in.

Hearing Du Heng’s words, the old man finally smiled. "Now that’s a good lad."

He stood up and started walking out again. "You two chat. I’m going out for a smoke."

After saying that, he headed for the door, shooting a look at the wide-eyed Gu Ping standing nearby.

Gu Ping, who had watched the entire drama unfold, flinched under the old man’s gaze. Without a word, he hurriedly followed him out.

"Du Heng, what do you mean? I won’t date you!" Wu Shengnan blurted out, unable to hold back any longer after the old man left.

Du Heng looked back at Wu Shengnan with equal disdain. "Dream on. As if I’d be interested in you. Alright, enough talk. Let’s pretend to date for a while, then we’ll say we’re incompatible and break up. We can even act like sworn buddies afterward to show it’s really over; this whole charade will be finished then."

Du Heng stated his thoughts bluntly, but Wu Shengnan’s eyes widened. "Then what did you mean by all those compliments earlier?"

"I say that to everyone; don’t take it to heart." Du Heng didn’t dare to run his mouth now. His earlier ’schemes’ had all failed, a complete waste of breath.

Wu Shengnan was about to explode. She hissed through gritted teeth, "Du Heng, you bastard! I’m not going to be your ’sworn buddy’! I’m going to dump *you*!"

Seeing Wu Shengnan angry made Du Heng happy. "Go ahead, dump me with all you’ve got. Dump me however you like."

With that, he strode away coolly, not looking back no matter how Wu Shengnan yelled.

I don’t have time to bicker with her; I still have a blind date to get to.

A PhD student in accounting—intelligent, knowledgeable, ambitious, and idealistic. Just thinking about her, she’s far more appealing than that police officer.

With such thoughts, Du Heng arrived at the agreed-upon meeting place right on time. Once there, he immediately recognized the girl he was supposed to meet.

It wasn’t that the photo Li Jianwei had given him perfectly matched the girl in person. Rather, she was the only one in the entire coffee shop, and her attire was that of a typical PhD student.

Clean and tidy, but not elaborate, and wearing no makeup.

Du Heng didn’t look down on her for this.

In my opinion, any woman who can earn a PhD deserves praise and respect.

They’ve truly dedicated all their time to studying, with no spare thought or effort for dressing up or makeup.

They spent their prime years on study and research. Isn’t that worthy of respect?

After meeting, they began to chat, somewhat awkwardly. Both were people of few words, so the atmosphere grew increasingly stilted as they talked.

Finally, the girl, unable to bear the awkwardness any longer, spoke directly, "My uncle told me about your situation, Doctor Du. My family is very satisfied with your family background and job, and so am I, though your income is a bit low.

But that’s alright. Doctors tend to become more sought-after after thirty-five. Plus, with your current position, your future prospects are very good."

Du Heng smiled awkwardly, gesturing for her to continue.

But I’ve now realized something about the emotional intelligence of female PhDs—it really isn’t on the same level as their IQ.

"Given your current income situation, my family doesn’t want betrothal gifts, and of course, I’m also against the idea of betrothal gifts." When the girl mentioned betrothal gifts, she made a point of emphasizing it, as if wanting to convey to Du Heng that she was a modern woman.

Du Heng said nothing, merely smiling again and gesturing for her to continue.

"I hear you have a car but no house, is that right? In that case, my family will help us with a down payment for a house, but we’ll have to pay the mortgage together. Do you have any objections?"

Listening to the girl’s very methodical account, Du Heng didn’t quite know how to express his feelings.

This feels like... a business transaction.

Still, listening to her, I’m very grateful to Li Jianwei for not setting me up with a more troublesome blind date prospect.

Especially when I recall last year, when my sister-in-law introduced that sister from her maternal family, I feel even more grateful to Li Jianwei. Going by this pace, if there are no surprises, this should definitely work out.

And this isn’t the usual kind of blind date where you talk things over; this is aiming to get everything settled in one go.

"Let’s go with what you said; I have no problem with that. But don’t worry about the betrothal gifts. We’ll give what’s appropriate. At the very least, it should allow your parents to maintain face."

The girl nodded. "Let’s put that aside for now and discuss it later. Shall we continue?"

"Please, go on," Du Heng said.

The girl tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I’m graduating this year and have already signed with Jinzhou’s XX Group as a CFO Assistant. The group has promised me the position of Finance Director at the Linzhou Branch in two years. Therefore, I plan not to have children for five years. Can you accept that?"

Du Heng knew of XX Group; it was the largest real estate group in their province.

Of course, ’largest’ here couldn’t compare to national corporations. But in their province, while other well-known enterprises were developing projects in the remote corners of Jinzhou, XX Group could secure development in the city center.

So, if the girl could truly gain a foothold in this group and develop her career, Du Heng would certainly support it. And as for children, as long as she’s able to have them, whenever she wants to is fine; a woman’s wishes should be respected.

"Of course, that’s not a problem."

Du Heng picked up the coffee from the table and took a sip. His expression contorted slightly—it was terribly bitter. The bitter taste filled his entire mouth and lingered persistently.

The girl didn’t notice Du Heng’s expression. She also lowered her head, took a sip, and then said, "One last question. If you still have no objections, we can discuss the wedding arrangements."

Du Heng’s mouth was so bitter he didn’t want to speak. He just gestured for her to continue.

"I don’t want to hide this from you: I’m not very interested in marital relations."

The moment she finished, Du Heng looked at her, instantly bewildered.

What does she mean?

Could it be...?

Before he could speculate further, the girl continued, "If we get married, marital relations will be once a month."

Instantly, Du Heng felt as if a bolt of heavenly thunder had struck him square on the head, leaving his mind reeling.

What does that mean?

Once a month? Is this still a normal marriage?

It’s not that I can’t live without sex. But once a month, on a schedule... What if we suddenly feel like it on an off day? What if, when the scheduled day comes, one of us has something urgent and we miss it?

I really thought my luck had finally turned, but I never expected this to be waiting for me.

Looks like I praised Li Jianwei too soon!

The girl also noticed the contortion of Du Heng’s expression, and a struggle appeared in her own eyes. After a long pause, she said, very reluctantly, "Every twenty days would be acceptable too. If not, then fifteen days. It can’t be more frequent than that."

Du Heng really didn’t want to discuss the number of days.

He studied the girl’s face but saw no signs of illness. Could it be, he frowned, thinking, that she suffered some past trauma that left a psychological scar?

This thought made him less conflicted and angry about her proposition. Instead, a desire to understand the cause of this issue arose within him.