Late April in Lancheng. The spring rains had just passed, but summer heat had already taken over the city, making everything feel stuffy and restless.

It was just past noon. Lunch was over.

Jason Carter, as usual, quietly cleared the table, stacked the dishes, and brought them to the kitchen to wash.

Valerie Grant, surprisingly in a good mood, gave a rare smile as she spoke, “Jason may have some personality issues, sure, but when it comes to taking care of himself, he’s really no different from anyone else. He’s turning 26 next month—it’s time to think about his future.”

She turned to Alexander Carter, her tone soft, “A family I know has a girl about his age. Her situation’s kind of like his—mental health stuff—but her family's nice. They’re actually looking for a live-in son-in-law. Once they heard about Jason, they were interested in introducing them.”

Valerie went on, “The terms are honestly great. No dowry needed, and they’re even giving a condo in Xinghai Yunwan as a wedding gift. For Jason, this is a golden opportunity.”

“I was thinking of taking him over to meet the girl in the next few days. If it goes well, we can sort things out quickly. No point dragging it on and missing a good deal.”

Alexander was stunned. At first, his face showed confusion, then it twisted in anger. “Marriage? And a live-in son-in-law? Are you serious right now? Jason’s condition—how is he supposed to handle marriage? And you want him to live in their house?”

“Come on, the girl's side offering this much, don’t tell me her condition isn’t worse than Jason’s. This is like forcing two unstable people together!”

He’d rather Jason stay single forever than watch his son being handed over like this.

He glanced at Valerie reflexively. Her face was already dark, so he softened his tone, trying to reason with her, “Valerie, we talked about this before getting married. I told you straight up—Jason’s autistic, with occasional outbursts. He’s got to stay with me. You agreed to that.”

Valerie’s eyes widened in disbelief, anger written all over her face. “So what, I’m just supposed to take care of him forever? What about Leo and Chloe? You think college is free? Think they won’t need houses to get married later?”

“You’re just driving a bus, pulling in maybe six or seven grand a month. We can’t afford to carry someone who does nothing! That'll ruin my kids’ future!”

“Now someone finally shows interest in Jason, and you’re the one being picky? Let me make this clear—if you’re so against this, then rent him his own place and have him move out!”

Her face was flushed with anger, voice sharp and firm. It was obvious—she was done spending another cent on Jason."Valerie, what's gotten into you today? I'm telling you, there's no way I'm agreeing to this."

Alexander Carter wasn't good at arguing—he never was her match in words—but he stood firm.

Jason Carter wasn’t just lazing around at home. He cooked, cleaned, did everything he could.

But just because Valerie wasn't his biological mom, she treated him like dead weight.

He barely scraped by on his 7,000 a month salary—2,000 went straight to the mortgage. On top of that, he was supporting two college students and covering the rest of the household expenses. He had no savings. Rent an apartment for Jason? With what?

It was obvious—Valerie was cornering him, and Jason too.

Valerie crossed her arms. "It's simple—either Jason moves out, or he marries that girl as a live-in son-in-law. You won’t pick one? Fine, then we’re done. Divorce."

Anyway, if they split, Leo and Chloe would stay with her.

Since Alexander chose to side with that useless kid, let him take care of him forever. No one else in Alexander’s family would lift a finger—they always saw Jason as baggage from a marriage deal.

"You—!"

“I’ll do it.”

Suddenly, Jason’s voice came from the kitchen doorway, cutting through the tension like a knife.

“I’ll meet her.”

"You don’t mean that!" Alexander jumped up and hurried to his son, his voice panicked. "Don’t listen to your mom's nonsense!"

He knew full well that Jason—autistic and sensitive—must’ve been completely shaken by all this.

Valerie instantly changed her tone, her voice softer than usual, dripping with fake warmth.

"Jason, I knew you’d understand. Your dad just can’t let go of you. The girl’s actually pretty decent, sweet even. It rains and she still heads straight home—you can tell she’s got a good heart."

She’d seen the photo today; the girl was short and round-faced, features plain but okay—looked “fortunate,” as the older folks would say.

Alexander's blood pressure spiked. He shot back sarcastically, "If she’s so great, why not have Leo be the live-in son-in-law?"

"Alexander Carter!" Valerie snapped right back. "What’s that supposed to mean? Jason’s your son but Leo isn’t?"

"At least Leo’s a college student. And you want him to marry a mentally unstable girl and move in with her family? Are you even listening to yourself?"

Then she jabbed again, "Besides, Jason already agreed. Why are you still acting like this?"

"You’re throwing him straight into the fire!" Alexander growled through clenched teeth.

The argument kept spiraling. Alexander was clearly losing ground.

Jason’s face twisted into a deeper frown. Then he raised his voice sharply:

"Enough! Stop it. I said I’d do it!"

Usually quiet, Jason could turn the whole house upside down when his emotions hit the edge—autism and intermittent explosive disorder didn’t leave much room in between.

His sudden outburst immediately brought silence.

Everything finally came to a halt. Jason glanced at his father. Alexander’s eyes were already rimmed red."I'm going back to my room."

Jason Carter tossed out the sentence flatly, then turned and walked off to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him without looking back.

Alexander Carter frowned, clearly disgruntled. He was sure Jason had been irritated by something Valerie Grant said, and without thinking much, he strode toward Jason’s room.

Valerie yanked his arm to stop him. "What are you trying to do? Start a fight so he flips out and wrecks the house?"

She could still vividly recall the last time Jason lost control—when he nearly set the whole place on fire.

Right now, Valerie was both scared of and tired of Jason. All she wanted was to offload this walking time bomb as soon as possible.

Alexander shot her a cold glance. He still wanted to save Jason from this marriage arrangement, but he also didn’t want to completely tear the family apart.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and cool down. After a moment, he exhaled slowly and compromised, "Fine. Since he agreed, let them meet. But if the girl's situation is too bad or Jason doesn’t like her, then forget about it."

Deep down, he’d already made up his mind—no matter what, he wasn’t going to let his son waste his life stuck in a miserable marriage. If it came to it, even divorce was on the table.

Seeing Alexander ease up, Valerie quickly followed suit. "Don’t worry. I’ll take them out to meet when I’ve got time. If they get along, we adults can sit down later to talk the details—on your terms."

And just like that, the argument hit pause.

Alexander was working the late shift today. To keep his perfect attendance bonus, he always left forty minutes early. He had to be at the company by 1 PM sharp.

Time was running short, so he dropped the topic with Valerie and got ready to head out.

Before leaving, he stopped by Jason’s door and knocked. "Jason, I’m off to work. When I get home tonight, we’ll talk more about that marriage stuff, alright? Don’t overthink things."

After a while, a muted "Okay" came from inside.

Jason sat in front of his computer, barely replying before diving right back into typing:

"The Xiao family had endured enough disgrace. Young and proud, Xiao Yan finally snapped. He clenched his fists in rage, scrawled his resignation, and shouted at Nalan Yanran: ‘Tables turn, you know. Don’t look down on the broke guy!’…”

Writing—this might be his best shot at turning things around on this messed-up planet.

In just thirty minutes, he pumped out a few hundred more words, completely immersed in his story—until the bedroom door suddenly swung open.

Valerie peeked in and saw Jason sitting at his computer. She thought he was gaming again. "Jason, quit messing around on the computer. Come on—I'm taking you to meet your future wife."

This computer used to belong to Leo Carter, who’d passed it down when he got a new one. Since then, Jason had liked hanging out at the desk, always on the computer.

Valerie hated this habit. Normally, she’d scold him for it.

But not today. As long as she could drag him out to meet that girl and ease him into moving into the Wu family, she’d have a lot less to worry about in the future.