The unification of the world had also gradually led people from different nations to adjust their mindsets. In order to live harmoniously together on Earth, they had to seek common ground while respecting their differences.
When faced with common enemies and shared interests, conflicts between ethnic groups or regions were no longer major issues. As a result, the traditional cultures and customs of different countries and regions had also undergone considerable changes.
However, the Four Great Ancient Civilizations, with their long and extensive histories, found it particularly difficult to change. Their deeply rooted cultural heritage made them reluctant to let go of their traditions.
But for humanity to move forward, it had to keep pace with the changing times. Otherwise, it would eventually be swallowed by the tides of history.
Therefore, even though the Chinese people had always been committed to preserving their traditional customs and had tried every possible means to pass them down to future generations, a thousand years had still passed.
With the rapid development of technology, many cultural treasures that were slow to produce results or unable to keep up with the times had gradually been lost.
Examples included labor-intensive traditional handicrafts, traditional Chinese medicine, which often required a long time to show results, and even culinary arts, which placed great importance on the combination of color, aroma, and taste.
The Xu family’s position and influence within the United Government might have been far inferior to that of the Yue family, but in the China Northern Region, it was still considered one of the ancient families with relatively deep roots.
Throughout the Xu household, one could still see Chinese-style decorations and household furnishings everywhere. This gave Xu Rui, who had transmigrated into this world, a little comfort.
At least he was still in an environment that felt somewhat familiar to him.
However, the Xu family’s beautiful-looking decorations were not actually the result of exquisite handmade craftsmanship. After examining them closely, Xu Rui concluded that they were probably mass-produced using molds.
He estimated that occupations requiring years of experience, time, and practice to master had either disappeared or were close to becoming extinct.
After the unification of Earth, this world had become a New World. Everything was about rapid recovery and rapid development. People pursued speed in everything.
It was somewhat like China during the early years of the Reform and Opening-Up period!
“Master.”
The robot Xiao Sisi walked over to Xu Rui and spoke in a respectful tone.
“Breakfast will begin in ten minutes. Last night, you set a reminder that you would be having breakfast with everyone today.”
“Mm, I know.”
Xu Rui removed his protective computer glasses and stretched both arms high above his head.
Just now, Xu Rui had been searching online and browsing through every available piece of information about Yue Lingtian.
Since his mufu had taken a liking to Yue Lingtian and arranged for him to attend the matchmaking event, he had to do his homework in advance.
In his previous life, the Zhou couple had treated him extremely well. But no matter how kind they were, they were still not his biological parents.
His father’s early death and his mother’s abandonment had left him dependent on another family when he was barely a month old. That experience had made him particularly sensitive from a very young age.
After awakening in Xu Rui’s body, Tan Xiaole had immediately felt Li Wenzhe’s unconditional love for him.
During the month or so he spent recovering from his injuries, amid fear and pain, Tan Xiaole gradually accepted the fact that he had traveled a thousand years into the future and become Xu Rui.
Throughout that process, Li Wenzhe, who knew nothing about what had happened, had stayed by his side, sharing his fear and pain.
Although Li Wenzhe had no idea what was really going on, the love he gave Xu Rui had made him feel warm and gradually helped him settle down.
Li Wenzhe’s love for Xu Rui was obvious.
Although the soul inside this body had changed, Li Wenzhe didn’t know about it.
Perhaps he had his suspicions. After all, he had spent twenty years living with and raising his biological son.
But since Li Wenzhe never asked, Xu Rui simply assumed that he didn’t know.
Xu Rui was a newcomer to this world and had none of the original owner’s memories. Living in the future, everything seemed new to him, and he appeared completely ignorant and bewildered about almost everything.
Li Wenzhe had noticed his unusual behavior. Fortunately, Xu Rui had also suffered a head injury, so Li Wenzhe, feeling heartbroken for him, assumed that the blow to his head had caused temporary memory loss.
This also made it much easier for Xu Rui to explore this unfamiliar world.
Although Xu Rui’s soul had changed, his body still retained its instincts.
There were many new things that Xu Rui didn’t understand at all. Yet as long as he reached out and touched them, his hands would operate them smoothly and skillfully.
That was also why Li Wenzhe, the doctors, and even the visitors who came to see him firmly believed that Xu Rui was merely suffering from temporary amnesia.
Take the present situation, for example.
Xu Rui could skillfully operate the miniature computer. He could understand the written language, which had long since been integrated into a unified writing system, and could even type it out himself.
These were all instincts retained by his body.
Not only were they convenient for Xu Rui, but they also allowed him to conceal his enormous secret.
If possible, he naturally hoped that this secret would never be discovered.
Xu Rui could tell that Li Wenzhe very much hoped he would catch Yue Lingtian’s eye and marry into the Yue family.
At the same time, he could also see his mufu’s worries.
When all was said and done, the competition was simply too fierce.
Xu Rui’s appearance and family background were not particularly outstanding among the numerous candidates attending the matchmaking event.
Although his current appearance was already countless times better than it had been in his previous life, people in this world all seemed exceptionally handsome and beautiful. Mixed-race individuals were quite common, while people with purely Chinese features like him were actually rather rare.
But perhaps his distinctly Chinese appearance could give him an unexpected advantage?
The deeper a family’s roots and the more prestigious its history, the more importance it placed on such things.
Xu Rui hoped the Yue family was the same. If so, his chances would be somewhat better.
Apart from appearance, another important requirement for Yue Lingtian’s partner was that the person had to possess inner refinement and a certain level of ability.
It was rather like choosing a Miss World contestant: beauty and intelligence were equally important.
As for personal cultivation and knowledge, he could still cram beforehand and pretend to have some understanding.
But actual abilities were not something he could fake.
After all, a person’s experiences from childhood onward were all recorded in their electronic profile. There was no way to falsify them.
Moreover, the Yue family enjoyed tremendous prestige in the military. Who would dare submit fabricated information in their matchmaking application?
Were they tired of living?
In this world, where powerful physical strength and overall capabilities were highly valued, Xu Rui’s qualifications really weren’t very impressive.
He had already been disqualified from entering Fenoman Military Academy because he had failed the physical examination.
Fenoman Military Academy was a genuine military institution in the China Region where admission depended entirely on the candidates’ abilities.
Its purpose was to cultivate outstanding military personnel capable of going into battle, repelling alien invasions, and protecting Earth’s security.
No matter how prestigious a person’s background was or how powerful their connections might be, they still couldn’t get in if they failed the assessment.
Yet Xu Rui discovered that quite a number of outstanding students from Fenoman Military Academy were also participating in Yue Lingtian’s matchmaking event.
Xu Rui was speechless.
What on earth was wrong with this world?
Although Yue Lingtian was an idol admired by soldiers and a brilliant star among military commanders, he was still a man!
Not a soft, sweet, gentle girl!
Xu Rui, whose thoughts were still stuck in the twenty-first century, found this somewhat difficult to accept.
However, perhaps these people’s families wanted them to marry into the Yue family?
After all, not every man was willing to take the submissive position in a relationship.
Using his twenty-first-century male perspective and rational thinking, Xu Rui analyzed the situation and eventually arrived at a rather conspiratorial conclusion.
Although this world was completely absurd, which man with even a little ability wouldn’t want to conquer others?
Being conquered by someone else was far more humiliating, wasn’t it?
Xu Rui wasn’t homosexual. He found the idea of either position somewhat difficult to accept.
But if he had the opportunity to choose between the two, he would naturally want to be the one on top.
He was a man, after all!
After using these rather flimsy and far-fetched reasons to encourage himself, Xu Rui felt a little more confident.
But the family-background comparisons that followed dealt him another blow.
To be honest, the Xu family might be quite impressive, but there were plenty of families even more powerful than them!
Xu Rui stared at the image of Yue Lingtian on the screen, the heaven-favored man whose handsome appearance and alluring physique had countless men bending over backward to win his favor.
He deeply realized that Li Wenzhe’s worries were not unfounded.
Setting aside the Yue family’s illustrious background, Yue Lingtian’s own qualifications were also exceptional.
Xu Rui looked at the photograph of Yue Lingtian still displayed on the screen.
Not only did he possess a handsome face and a strong, well-built physique, but he was also a military genius.
Just look at that glorious list of military achievements, so long that one had to keep turning pages to read it all.
He was practically perfect to the point of being almost impossible to look at directly!
No wonder so many men admired him and wanted to marry him.
With such an outstanding appearance, a high-ranking position in the United Government, and such powerful family connections, who wouldn’t want to marry him?
The only thing that wasn’t quite so perfect was probably Yue Lingtian’s cold personality.
Saying that he was unsmiling would be a relatively mild way of putting it.
After all, the media couldn’t use disrespectful words to describe such a highly respected young general, nor would they dare to.
Besides, a soldier who constantly had to face enemies on the battlefield couldn’t exactly be expected to have a gentle temperament.
Everyone could understand that.
Although it was true that his comrades and subordinates often felt tremendous pressure around him.
This heaven-favored man, no matter how iron-blooded and cold he might be, still had admirers and potential marriage partners flocking to him like fish crossing a river.
Even though everyone knew that Yue Lingtian’s annual leave on Earth would not exceed fifteen days, even after marriage, the applications submitted to the Yue family for the matchmaking event still arrived like snowflakes.
All in all, Yue Lingtian was the ultimate tall, rich, and handsome man of the twenty-first century.
And he was also a military heir with both power and influence.
In the China Region, he was one of the top ten most eligible bachelors.
With such excellent qualifications, how had this man never even had a chance to fall in love freely and find himself a boyfriend?
Xu Rui was very suspicious.
Li Wenzhe, however, explained that it was because of the limitations imposed by Yue Lingtian’s circumstances.
After graduating from military academy, Yue Lingtian had immediately applied to serve on the front lines.
That place was practically an exclusively male world.
Moreover, the area surrounding Earth had been far from peaceful in recent years. There might not have been any major wars, but small-scale conflicts had occurred constantly.
For soldiers stationed there, who had to remain ready to attack or defend at any moment, who would have the time or inclination to think about romance?
Later, as Yue Lingtian became increasingly famous and his military rank continued to rise, more and more men began pursuing him.
Even the enormous distance of outer space didn’t deter them.
Instead, this made Yue Lingtian even more cautious.
His most outstanding son was about to turn thirty, yet his marriage was still unsettled.
Old Master Yue and his husband were becoming extremely anxious.
However, Yue Lingtian spent very little time on Earth each year, and his personal safety was not guaranteed while he was stationed on the front lines.
Taking into consideration that their son and future son-in-law would have to live apart for long periods after marriage, Yue Xiao discussed the matter with his partner and decided to take advantage of Yue Lingtian’s upcoming return to Earth to organize a matchmaking event for him.
No matter how deep one’s love was, in the face of distance and time, it was all just floating clouds.
Besides, even Old Master Yue couldn’t guarantee that the person selected would genuinely admire his son or was merely interested in the Yue family’s prestigious background.
He certainly didn’t want Yue Lingtian to be guarding Earth’s security on a distant frontier planet, protecting his country and its people, only for his own household to catch fire back home.
The reason the Yue family had started making arrangements more than a month in advance was that they had received far too many applications and needed time to screen the candidates.
After analyzing everything, Xu Rui couldn’t help sighing.
Although the probability of catching Yue Lingtian’s eye was relatively low, Xu Rui still had to give it his best shot.
Even if it was only for his mufu’s sake.
If Li Wenzhe divorced Xu Hesheng, he probably wouldn’t return to the Li family either.
If Xu Rui managed to marry into the Yue family, Yue Lingtian would be away for long periods. That would give him an excuse to invite Li Wenzhe to move in and live with him.
Then Xu Rui and his mufu could look after each other.
But if he unfortunately became a pawn in Xu Hesheng and Xu Yi’s schemes, none of that would be possible.
“Master, it’s time.”
Xiao Sisi reminded Xu Rui once again, interrupting his thoughts.
“Mm, I know.”
Xu Rui took a deep breath and once again examined his appearance in the mirror.
Then, with his usual smile on his face, he opened the door.