Chapter 1321: Chapter 1326

“No way; no way. There’s a huge social gap between them… It’s just not right.” Maddie vigorously waved her hand in dismissal. “You don’t understand. Marriage needs to be between people of the same social standing too. The difference between their social standing is too vast; it’s not acceptable.”

Sophia hurriedly said, “Come on! What era are you living in? Why are you bothered by social standing in this day and age? Look at you and the commanding general! Didn’t you two break through the social gap too? I believe Stan and Christine will make a great pair. They look so good together! Besides, they seem to be getting along very well recently!”

Sophia believed that Stanley was finally going to graduate from singlehood. After all, he came to Sophia with all the hopes of the Fletcher Family riding on his shoulders, asking her to matchmake him with Christine. Contrary to her expectations, Maddie vigorously dismissed the notion. “No way; no way.

Our family is very conservative. We don’t dream of marrying above our station. Even now, my marriage with Joel can be considered marrying above my station.”

No matter how Sophia tried to persuade her, she refused to change her stance. She wished from the bottom of her heart for Stanley to find himself a good wife. She also wished that Christine could find a husband that would share her burdens with her. At the very least, it wouldn’t be as tiring as struggling alone. More importantly, she felt that the two of them were a great match too. But… there’s a reason why the saying ‘a good match is between families of equal standing’ has existed for thousands of years. It’s not just about financial standings; it’s also about one’s values and beliefs—those aspects have to match too.

Look at Sophia; her father is Cooper Mitchell while her brother is Linus Michel. They’re both highly influential figures, which match Michael Fletcher’s status perfectly as they all stand on the same social class.

There is a world of difference between people of different social classes. Unfortunately, Christine’s family is… Christine and Maddie’s families came from a small country town located deep in the countryside. It was a remote and conservative place. When Maddie was studying in high school, she was an elite student with excellent grades. She was originally supposed to enter the elite class.

However, she had a cousin that was studying in the same school and the same grade as her. He failed to make it into the elite class due to his low scores. As a result, her family succeeded in negotiating with the school and transferred her placement over to her cousin.

From the school to the Evans Family, everybody believed that the spot should have been given to her cousin; even Maddie herself believed that. They believed that boys were the hope of the family while girls were not. She was considered extremely blessed in their society that her family could even afford to send her to high school as most girls only studied until junior high school. That was the common mindset among her society and her entire family. People who came from that little society held values and beliefs that were surprisingly consistent.

Later, Maddie was admitted into a first-tier university at Provincial City with excellent scores despite being in the ordinary class. Meanwhile, her cousin that had taken her place in the elite class could only be admitted into an inferior second-tier university with his scores. Unfortunately, the tuition fees for a first-tier university were too high, and her family could not afford it. Therefore, she had no choice but to reject the offer and seek another option. Alas, she entered a third-tier university with much lower tuition fees despite her high scores. When I think back on it now, that must have been the stupidest choice in my life. But, growing up in that environment… I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with my decision at the time.

Even though Maddie chose to study in a third-tier university, her family felt that she shouldn’t have furthered her studies in university and refused to pay for her tuition fees. She had to pay for them herself by taking up a part-time job writing manuscripts. During her internship in her junior year, she went back to the country town and worked at a small newspaper office. Moreover, she had to hand over a portion of her salary to her cousin who was studying in the second-tier university for his living expenses. Afterward, her cousin took her money and went on a lavish graduation trip while she worked at the newspaper office until she had low blood sugar levels. Even so, she felt that it was only right for her to do so.

The feudalistic social norms of the past remained strong in a closed-off society like theirs, and the entire society was enveloped in a strange culture. They believed that girls were born only to contribute to their families. As such, women did not deserve to study. They should only study until junior high school before dropping out to work and earn money for their brothers to go to school.

More importantly, they had to earn money so that they could buy houses for their brothers’ marriages.

Once the houses were bought, their families would then introduce a local unmarried man to them.

Discussions on the dowry generally began after several meetings, and the dowry usually started from a minimum of 100,000. Not surprisingly, the dowries they received would be used to supplement their brothers’ marriages.

Even after getting married, they were still expected to continue supporting their natal family while giving birth to children. Specifically, they had to give birth to sons. If they couldn’t produce sons, both their in-

laws and their natal family would blame them for being useless. Aside from that, women were not allowed to be seated at the table during banquets nor enter the ancestral graves. Even when the family received compensation according to headcount for forced relocation, only men were considered. Every family practiced these customs throughout the generations. Naturally, Maddie and Christine were not an exception.

Unexpectedly, an earthquake completely changed Maddie’s life. Back then, the building of the newspaper office she was working in collapsed after the earthquake. She was buried under the building; she was stuck in a small crack under the rubble. Despite desperately screaming for help, she only heard more screams and crying sounds coming from everywhere. Nobody came to save her, and her phone was not working. When she lifted her head among the rubble, she could only see a despairingly small sky.

At that moment, a man descended from the sky in a military green parachute and landed next to the rubble. He removed the panels pressing down on her and rescued her from among the rubble. At the same time, he rescued her from a gray and gloomy period of her life. When she followed Joel back to the Fletcher Residence, she discovered a completely different world. In their world, not only could the women study, but they were also allowed to eat at the table and enter the ancestral graves. They also fought in wars!

A new chapter opened up in Maddie’s life from that moment on. Therefore, she encouraged her cousin, Christine, to never give up on her dreams during high school. She also supported Christine in pursuing e-sports and taking her university entrance exams by paying for whatever Christine could not afford.

Afterward, she even encouraged Christine to move to Bayside City for her personal growth.

Looking back on her life, she realized that her original family was extremely different from the Fletchers —they were living in completely different worlds. It’s because I know just how great the gaps are between them that I absolutely refuse to agree to the marriage between Stanley and Christine!

Marriage isn’t only about two people—it’s an issue between two families. If both families are unable to get along with each other, that marriage will never be a happy one!

While Sophia was trying to convince Maddie, Linus was resting in another lounge, reading the newspaper and drinking some tea. Since it was still early, it didn’t hurt to let them have a chat among themselves. Besides, everybody knew who he was and did not dare to harass him. However, not long after he sat down, a middle-aged man suddenly entered the lounge while nodding and bowing.

“Hi, mister! Are you resting here?” A voice speaking broken Cethosian in a heavy southern accent rang out.

Even so, Linus understood what the man was saying. “Yes, that’s right. Where did you come from?”

That man let himself in. Behind him stood another man and a woman, who were very young.

Somehow, Linus could help thinking that the woman seemed strangely familiar. Ah; she’s the lady that passed out in the lobby just now.

Then, the man sat down next to Linus, acting like they were very close. He enthusiastically began to introduce himself. “You must be Maddie’s friend, right? I’m her second uncle on her mother’s side, Byron Evans.”

Maddie’s uncle on her mother’s side? Thus, Linus greeted him politely. “Nice to meet you, Uncle Byron.

My name is Linus—”

Byron was being overly friendly toward Linus. At the same time, he surreptitiously asked about Linus’

background while making small talk. “Wow! Young man, you must be a foreigner! You’re more fluent in the Cethosian language than I am! You must have settled down in Bayside City for many years now, right? Have you bought a house here?”

Linus thought to himself, No matter what, this man is Maddie’s uncle and she’s now the matriarch of the Fletcher Family. I can’t be discourteous. Thus, he answered patiently, “I’ve been in Bayside City for many years now. I live with my father and my sister.”

“Have you bought a house? Do you have a car? What do you do for a living? How much is your salary?

Are you registered in the household registry of Bayside City? Are you married?”

Upon hearing those questions, Linus was rendered speechless.