From the end of the world

Chapter 407 The Possibility of Marrying Zhu Shi 3
Zhu Shi was completely dumbfounded.

"This is...what a mess..." she said.

I was also shocked by this sudden turn - should I say a sharp turn - and for a moment I didn't know how to respond to Ma Zao.

Although I knew that Ma Zao had a very strong sense of protecting Xiao Wan, I didn't expect that she would transfer this sense of protection to Zhu Shi at this juncture and become a staunch supporter of Zhu Shi and my marriage.

Lu Chan's face was full of contemplation. He seemed to have stopped "watching the show" and his face became serious. He then said, "Excuse me, can I have a word?"

"Lu Chan, this is a matter between Zhuang Cheng and the Zhu family. You shouldn't make irresponsible remarks, right?" said Mr. Zhu.

However, I wanted to buy some time to digest and think in this chaotic situation. Although I didn't know what Lu Chan wanted to say on this occasion, I still provided support: "It's okay, Lu Chan, go ahead. If you have any ideas, just say them directly."

"Thank you." Lu Chan looked at everyone, "Just as Mr. Zhu said, this matter is not something I should interfere with, but I still want to say that we should be cautious about the marriage of Zhuang Cheng and Zhu Shi.

"It is stupid for a group to split up because of a man-woman affair. Zhuang Cheng and Ma have long been attracted to each other, but they want to marry Zhu Shi, which will inevitably lead to conflicts in the future. It seems that there are no problems at the moment, but there are still some hidden dangers. If we can't eliminate them, we shouldn't rush into it."

"Hidden dangers—such as?" I asked.

"For one thing, I heard that hemp came from the apocalypse." Lu Chan said, "Although I can't confirm the truth from my personal perspective, since you all discuss it based on this premise, then I will assume it is true.

"She obviously lacks understanding of the common sense of modern society, or has only a partial understanding of it, and marriage is one of them. As her life experience in modern society grows, she may have a new understanding of marriage, and then she may not be able to look at the marriage between Zhuang Cheng and Zhu Shi with the same mentality as now.

"Besides, she is still young, just a little girl of about thirteen years old, and she shouldn't be in formal contact with love between men and women... Sorry, I don't mean to say anything to Zhuang Cheng about this matter. It's just that objectively speaking, people at different stages of their growth are likely to have different understandings of love.

"Just like she lacks understanding of marriage, at the age of thirteen, does she still lack understanding of love, or does she only have a one-sided understanding? And when she enters a new stage of life and her understanding of love changes, can she still calmly accept the marriage between Zhuang Cheng and Zhu Shi?"

Although Lu Chan sometimes gets off track, the truth he said at this moment is very mature and correct, and I have to admit it.

It is true that Ma Zao has been in the apocalypse for who knows how many years, but due to the special nature of the apocalypse, the human spirit cannot grow normally under the repeated erosion of forgetfulness, so Ma Zao's spirit cannot be said to have entered adulthood. At least from my observation, Ma Zao is more like a child with scars all over his heart than a spiritual adult.

It is precisely because Ma Zao is still in the growth stage both physically and mentally that Ma Zao and I made an agreement not to formally enter into a relationship for the time being, but to wait until Ma Zao grows up before making a decision.

"So far, it's just Ma Zao's own problem. Next is Zhuang Cheng and Zhu Shi's problem." Lu Chan looked at the two of us. "No matter what, you are a young man and a woman. Judging from the evaluation criteria of a handsome man and a beautiful woman, you should have a great attraction to each other. And then you have the status of marriage. Can you guarantee that you won't make mistakes to each other?

"Let's not talk about physical intercourse for now. Anyway, if you want to have a child, you must have intercourse again and again before giving birth to the child. Having only one child may not be enough. I think two or three are not too few... Under this premise, can you guarantee that you will abide by the original agreement and not be mentally united with each other?
"Of course, it's not too much for the Great Wuchang to have three wives and four concubines, but since we have made an important agreement now, we need to abide by it, otherwise there may be backlash in the future. And I don't want such a hidden danger to be buried in my workplace."

After listening, Zhu Shi nodded seriously, and then said: "I believe Zhuang Cheng will not break the agreement and fall in love with me. In addition, I can also guarantee that I will never mix personal feelings into the marriage..."

Lu Chan asked: "Are you trying to say that it's because you don't have any romantic feelings?"

"Hmm?" Zhu Shi's eyes changed.

We haven't told Lu Chan about Zhu Shi's situation yet.

"I'm sorry, I brought the 'self who specializes in exploring and repairing souls' upon you before, and I've also experienced the drastic soul change state of 'giving up dreams', so I can tell the traces of change and current state of your soul at a glance." Lu Chan said.

"Okay... I have no reason to hide it. You are right. What next?" Zhu Shi asked.

"Even if you don't have any romantic feelings now, what will you do if you get it back in the future?" Lu Chan said, "Maybe you will say that you don't plan to get it back, but things are unpredictable. When I was providing services to Mingzhuo in the past, I never thought that I would change back, but the result was that I changed back.

"Not only is there a fate between people, but there is also a fate between oneself and oneself. Perhaps in the future, you will be attracted to your lost 'dream' and then come into contact with it. No one knows what the result will be." In fact, not long ago, Zhu Shi had a plan to restore his past self to regain the power of the right position of heaven and earth, and he put it into practice, but failed in the end. No one can make a judgment on what will happen in the future, and even the hexagram master dare not guarantee that he can see through everything.

Moreover, I had promised Zhu Shi that I would help her regain her love. Although after knowing the truth about Zhu Shi's loss of love, this thought faded, but the lack of emotional function is an abnormal state after all. In my heart, I did hope that my friend could regain her wholeness.

"But, marrying Zhu Shi is good for Zhuang Cheng." Ma Zao suddenly spoke, "Although I was a little hesitant when I heard that Zhu Shi wanted to have a child with Zhuang Cheng, I can still accept it. Besides, Xiaowan... Zhu Shi is my best friend, and Zhuang Cheng is the person I like and trust the most.

"I don't want Xiaowan to marry and have children with a man I don't know. I want my best friend to be with the person I like and trust the most... Isn't it good for us to be together forever? If I object now, I will definitely regret it in the future."

Although it was a nice idea, would it really go that smoothly? I thought.

"Morning..." Zhu Shi looked at her speechlessly.

Lu Chan accepted the advice and said, "I understand, but no matter what, marriage is a very important matter. I believe everyone agrees with this, right? Precisely because it is very important, we should not make a hasty decision after hastily proposing it.

"In addition, Mr. Zhu's organization of believers is still in its infancy, and the Zhu family has just started to cultivate the believers. Something as important as the divine marriage ceremony should be done after the believers' power has expanded and stabilized. At this stage, our identity as the god's agent authorized by Zhuang Cheng is more than enough. According to the marginal diminishing effect, even if we give the Zhu family another halo in the near future, it will not improve efficiency much."

Mr. Zhu frowned and asked, "So... do you want to drag this matter out? Or do you want to pretend that nothing happened today?"

"I have a compromise plan." Lu Chan said, "It's not advisable to get married immediately, but we can let both parties sign a marriage contract first."

"In other words, you want me to become Senior Brother Zhuang's fiancée?" Zhu Shi asked tentatively.

"That's right." Lu Chan nodded. "With this identity, your future marriage should feel more realistic, and it can also help you re-examine your relationship with each other. At the same time, in terms of fate, the engagement with the Zhu family can also have a similar effect to marriage, allowing the Zhu family to better serve as a bridge between Zhuang Cheng and believers.

"If we find any conflicts in the future, we can cancel the engagement midway. Of course, doing so will cause great damage to the Zhu family's position within the believers' power, so we can first let Ma Zao become the adopted daughter of Mr. Zhu or Zhu Shi, and then let Zhuang Cheng and Ma Zao get married."

"Hmm?" Zhu Shi seemed to have found a loophole. "In that case, it seems that there is no need for Senior Brother Zhuang and I to..."

Mr. Zhu said quickly: "Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this approach is an extreme move and will leave loopholes and flaws in the law of fate. Isn't the purpose of suggesting that Zhuang Cheng marry you to fill in the loopholes and flaws, my silly granddaughter!"

“Is it really just like that…?” Zhu Shi said doubtfully.

"Anyway... that's all I have to say. The final decision still depends on Zhuang Cheng." Lu Chan looked at me, "Zhuang Cheng, what do you think?"

Ma Zao hugged my arms tightly.

I don't want to see Ma Zao's disappointed expression.

"I think it's OK." I said, "Zhu Shi, what do you think? If you can't accept it, I will respect your opinion."

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhu Shi, and Zhu Shi looked at Ma Zao.

Ma Zao looked at Zhu Shi with expectant eyes.

Zhu Shi raised her head and looked at me again, and I looked at her. After staring at each other for a moment, she nodded.

"I want to be Senior Brother Zhuang's fiancée," she said.

(End of this chapter)