Choosing a Husband

Xiao Yan, the eldest daughter of a human family, had turned eighteen and could now choose a husband.

Dressed in a formal gown, she arrived at the lavishly decorated banquet hall, took the seat of honor, and looked at the densely packed crowd below.

She felt dizzy, nauseated, and ready to throw up.

"Yanyan, does your head still hurt a lot?" her mother, Xiao Jue, asked gently from beside her.

A few days earlier, Xiao Yan had been in a car accident and suffered a blow to the head.

She had lost her memory after that, but unfortunately, her eighteenth birthday had arrived right on its heels, and she had to choose a husband.

She had planned to go through the motions, say she didn't like anyone, and bluff her way through it.

Which had led to the scene before her.

Xiao Yan shook her head. "It's nothing, Mom. Let's just start."

"Then have some water first and take a moment."

Xiao Yan accepted a glass of ice water from her mother and took two sips, suppressing the discomfort.

She and her mother sat at the long banquet table on the dais, facing everyone below.

Her father and her several other dads sat at a round table below.

The other banquet guests and all the candidates were seated at various round tables.

Xiao Jue announced the start of the banquet, and after a round of applause, everyone began eating.

Quiet discussions rustled through the room, rising and falling.

"A family as wealthy and powerful as the Xiaos will definitely choose a fellow human as her husband, right?"

"Not necessarily. Human women can only choose up to two human husbands, but if they choose beastmen, they can have five."

"But if she chooses beastman husbands, there's a fifty percent chance her children will be beastmen too."

"You said it yourself, it's only fifty percent. There's still a fifty percent chance of having human children. If she wants human descendants, can't she just have more?"

"Good point. It's not like the Xiao family's young lady has to give birth herself, anyway. Fetal incubation pod technology is so advanced these days."

In their society, birth rates were extremely low, and every policy the authorities introduced was intended to encourage people to have children.

With such a vast fortune and extensive holdings, the Xiao family ought to set an example all the more.

About half an hour into the banquet, Xiao Jue gave the butler a meaningful look.

It was time to arrange for the candidates to come up one by one and introduce themselves for Xiao Yan's consideration.

The eyes of the person in charge of marriage registration at the head table lit up. There was hope of meeting their KPI!

Xiao Yan paid little attention to the people below.

She propped her head on one hand, not even bothering to lift her eyelids.

The first to come up and introduce himself was a human man.

As though delivering a report, he told Xiao Yan he was the second son of the Gu family, was twenty-nine this year, and had been waiting for the day she turned eighteen.

His meaning was clear: he admired Xiao Yan and wanted to marry into her family.

Xiao Yan shook her head without even looking at him.

Xiao Jue waved a hand, and the butler escorted him away.

The second candidate to come up was a cheetah beastman, also a son of a prominent family.

He promised to bring a certain amount of assets into the Xiao family after registering their marriage.

This statement was probably meant to put his qualifications on par with those of the Gu family's second son, who had just been rejected.

Xiao Yan shook her head again.

The third, the fourth... Each time, Xiao Yan listened to everything they had to say, politely enough.

Then, quite rudely, she let it go in one ear and out the other and shook her head.

This couldn't go on forever. Xiao Jue reminded her, "Yanyan, you won't find someone you like if you don't use your eyes."

She meant that Xiao Yan should hurry up and raise her head.

Xiao Yan sighed and finally stopped propping up her head and acting profound.

Once she lifted her head, folded her arms, and leaned back in her chair, Xiao Jue felt her daughter had been better off with her head lowered.

With her head down, people would at most think she might be feeling unwell.

Now that she had raised it, the impatience written all over her face was impossible to hide.

But...

When the next man approached, Xiao Yan was shocked at her very first glimpse of him!

She stared, dumbfounded, as he walked up to the table!

"Hello, Miss Xiao. My name is Xavier."

"..." Xiao Yan opened her mouth. "Wait... what's going on?"

Xiao Jue looked puzzled. "What is it?"

Unable to explain, Xiao Yan could only continue staring at the man like an idiot.

Xavier was one of the male leads in the romance game she had played in her original world!

How had he ended up here?!

"Not satisfied?" Xavier's face was expressionless. "All right, understood. I'll leave, then."

"Wait!" Xiao Yan stretched out a hand in an Erkang pose. "Could you... say a little more?"

Xiao Jue immediately perked up.

She joined Xiao Yan in taking a closer look at the young man named Xavier.

With his silver hair and blue eyes, he was indeed very beautiful, and his bearing was nobler than that of ordinary beastmen.

As for his clothes, he wore a beige casual suit over a simple white shirt.

It showed respect for this special occasion while preserving his own preference for comfort.

His expression, however, seemed even more impatient than Xiao Yan's.

He was clearly forcing himself to remain patient as he went through the motions.

"Xavier, twenty-three this year, 185 centimeters tall. I work in the city's special police unit."

His voice was mellow and pleasant, and his age was suitable too.

Xiao Jue merely felt some distaste for the young man's profession.

Working in the city's special police unit was hardly a stable job. He would constantly face all sorts of dangers and often work overtime, staying away from home.

Could he take good care of Yanyan?

"The city's special police unit?" Xiao Yan clapped her hands. "Special police are great! Special police are handsome. You're the one."

Xiao Jue froze. Why had Yanyan suddenly changed so dramatically?

Her temperament had changed completely after the car accident. Nothing interested her, and she had always been extremely resistant whenever choosing a husband came up.

What was going on now? Had romance blossomed? Had someone caught her eye?

Xavier froze too. "You... don't even need to find out what kind of beastman I am?"

"Oh~" Xiao Yan made another inviting gesture. "Go ahead if you want to tell me. I'm all ears."

Xavier: "..." What was wrong with this woman?

Only then did he reveal the pair of white fox ears he had hidden, twitching them twice atop his head.

"A fox!" Xiao Yan recognized them. "Foxes are great! Foxes are handsome! You're the one!"

Xavier was speechless. "Are you sure? I usually live at work. I might not come home even once in a month or two."

"That's fine, that's fine. I want to choose you. You there, come help us register!" Xiao Yan called to the person in charge of marriage registration at the head table.