Wan Donglin was very serious. "Mom, there’s one thing you might not know."

"What?"

"Finding a wife is not like finding a subordinate, nor is it like finding a partner!"

"..."

"If all I needed was a woman who could help me in my career, wouldn’t Zhou Ting suffice? Are there few such women in our circles? Why seek far and wide for something readily available?"

In this world, countless women are assiduously preparing themselves to marry into wealthy families and become young mistresses. To achieve this, they cultivate themselves into shrewd, calculating figures, deeply Machiavellian, believing themselves versatile and exceptionally competent. Little do they know, they’ve probably watched too many soap operas. If the requirements for a wife were truly this low, it would be better to hire several professional managers instead.

His mother and sister both stared at him.

"A wife is a wife, not a coworker!" Wan Donglin stated firmly.

His mother, Liu Daqing, tentatively asked, "Can’t a wife also be a coworker?"

"Absolutely not!" he retorted. "My expectations are much higher than that. I want her to make me happy.

"She might not be able to help me with anything at all, perhaps even be completely clueless about my career... But, when I come home, I want her to be gentle and considerate, to put my mind at ease about everything else. She should be able to make me laugh heartily, to chat and amuse me, to make me feel genuinely happy and completely at ease in her presence. We must also have a deep mutual understanding... That’s what I need!"

This time, no one responded to him. Even Wan Dongmei remained silent.

"I hope couples marry for happiness—that’s far harder to achieve than mere wealth or supreme power. In this world, seven or eight out of ten couples spend their lives blaming each other, complaining, and just getting by... How many actually make it their mission to bring joy, contentment, and happiness to their partner?

"There are always tens of thousands of well-trained, marriageable women eyeing wealthy tycoons. To this end, they strive to be movers and shakers, mastering countless skills...

"But ask them: ’Can you bring me spiritual happiness? Can you?’

"They can be butlers, professionals, shrewd women willing to undergo cosmetic surgery to stay radiant... They can please you, even help your career... But can they truly connect with you, be close to your heart and soul for a lifetime?

"Modern men and women only ask about the number of houses, the amount of savings, the quantity of stocks... Who asks if there’s a soul connection?"

Even Liu Daqing had no answer—this just happened to be her weak point. All her life, she had been her husband’s subordinate. And because of that, she had always thought: isn’t marriage just a matter of asset restructuring? She even wondered: could getting married and carrying on the family line truly come with such high expectations? If a house, a car, and family background were necessities for marriage, then were the things her son was asking for ’luxury goods’? And top-tier luxury goods at that?

After a long pause, Liu Daqing sighed deeply. "Donglin, your standards are too high."

His eyebrows rose. "Too high? Life is neither too long nor too short. Why must we put the cart before the horse and make ourselves miserable?"

Liu Daqing was skeptical. "Have you ever received these things from her?"

He replied with great seriousness, "For almost a year, we were in that ideal state. It’s just that things have changed now; it feels like we can never go back."

"Why?"

"I was the one who broke that mutual understanding first."

"She didn’t like you at all before and raised hell wanting to break up. So why did she suddenly fall in love with you later?"

"That’s a secret!"

Mother and daughter exchanged bewildered glances. This was truly incredible.