After sending the text message, Shi Aoju didn’t reply at all. Thinking he might have fallen asleep, she decided not to disturb him further. She placed her phone on the bedside table, lay back down, and turned off the light.

Just as she closed her eyes, there was a sudden knock on the door, followed by Su Manning’s voice, "Sister, are you asleep?"

Her voice was very soft, as if afraid of being noticed.

In the past, whenever Su Jiuyi was home, Su Manning rarely came to her unless there was something important. Normally, Su Manning would wait until the next day to speak with her.

Su Jiuyi turned over and got out of bed without turning on the light, feeling her way forward to open the door.

"Sister, let’s go inside to talk."

Su Manning looked anxious and entered the room directly before Su Jiuyi agreed, then promptly locked the door as she came in.

"What’s wrong?" Su Jiuyi asked her.

"It’s like this." Su Manning, not caring about whether the lights were on, said quickly, "Mom and Dad said they’ve set up a blind date for you tomorrow, right at our house. It’s the man I told you about this morning, I think his name is Sun Zhihao."

Arranging a blind date without consulting her? Not even a notification. Su Jiuyi couldn’t help but laugh, "Since they want to play, I’ll play along with them. It’s just a blind date, anyway."

Su Manning hadn’t expected her to be so composed and was slightly surprised, then frowned and said, "Sun Zhihao’s family has some money, but he’s a bit older. Can you accept that, Sister?"

"How old?" Su Jiuyi asked.

"In his early forties, and he’s been married before. Now divorced, he has an eight-year-old daughter in his care," Su Manning replied.

"Oh." Su Jiuyi responded, then calmly said, "Sounds good."

"Sister..." Su Manning furrowed her brows, clearly worried for her.

"You should go back. I understand." Su Jiuyi gave the order to leave, not because she intended to distance herself from Su Manning, but because she felt this matter didn’t concern Su Manning and didn’t want to involve her. After all, she and Su Manning weren’t the same type of person.

"Okay." Knowing it was pointless to say more, Su Manning nodded, saying, "Then I’ll go back to my room."

After speaking, she grasped the doorknob, pressed it down, opened the door, and walked out. Before leaving, she looked back at Su Jiuyi, but the surroundings were too dark to see her expression clearly.

Su Manning hesitated at the doorway for a moment. Before leaving, she said, "If possible, Sister, you should leave. I’ve already been a sacrificial pawn once; I don’t want you to become a pawn in Dad’s hand. Plus, Sun Zhihao isn’t comparable to Song Zhike. Even if he has good character, he’s still a man who’s been married and divorced. He’s twenty years older than you and has experienced much more than you have. If such a man isn’t truly sincere with you, you’ll suffer."

Su Jiuyi didn’t think her words were unreasonable and actually agreed with her analysis. Even though she had gained some experience from enduring hardships over the years, it wasn’t as profound as a man who had lived twenty years longer than her.

So, Su Manning’s concerns weren’t unnecessary, because even she felt that if she really married such a man, her future days might be like being in Purgatory, worse than death.