Chapter Four: Reply

Zhang Dashan opened his mouth, wanting to stop her, but looking into his daughter's eyes, he swallowed his words.

Matchmaker Wang quickly recounted her purpose, how the Xiong family had chosen her, how good their conditions were, and how much Aunt Song liked her, repeating it all over again, and emphasizing it at the end.

"Yi-jie, this is a marriage that's hard to find even with a lantern! Officer Xiong is a handsome and talented man with a bright future!"

Zhang Liuyi's gaze lingered on her father's worried face for only a moment.

After Wang the matchmaker finished speaking, the main room fell silent, with only Zhang Dashan's heavy breathing breaking the silence.

He looked at his daughter nervously.

Zhang Liuli walked to the stove, picked up the thick cleaver, and pulled out a tough vine from the pig feed he had just gathered, placing it on the chopping board.

She didn't look at the matchmaker, nor at her father; she simply focused on raising the knife.

"Tap! Tap! Tap!"

The vine snapped with a sharp sound, the cut clean and neat.

She chopped pig feed while speaking, her voice drowning out the sound of the knife.

"This marriage," she paused, then with a swift motion, she brought down the knife with a crisp "thud!" "I agree."

"Sister Yi!"

Zhang Dashan was so anxious he almost jumped up.

Matchmaker Wang was overjoyed.

"Oh my! I knew Yi-jie was a smart one!"

Zhang Liuli raised his hand, stopping his father from speaking and also stopping the matchmaker's flattery.

She raised her eyes and looked calmly at Matchmaker Wang.

"I have conditions."

Zhang Yi didn't continue immediately.

She turned her head slightly, her gaze falling on her father again.

Zhang Dashan was nervously rubbing his rough hands, his eyes filled with worry and confusion.

Looking at the few new gray hairs at his temples and his increasingly hunched back from years of hard work, Zhang Liuxin felt a strong pang of sadness and reluctance.

She hadn't even spent a few years properly with this stubborn old man who had raised her and protected her like his own life.

She took a deep breath, and when she turned to the matchmaker again, her tone remained steady, but with a hint of barely perceptible softness:

“The marriage can be arranged. But the wedding date…” She paused, her gaze sweeping over her father before turning firmly to the matchmaker.

"Could you ask the Xiong family if we can move up the queue? I don't care how long, a year or two is fine. I... I want to spend more time with Dad."

"Please ask Aunt Wang to inquire with the Xiong family whether they accept these conditions. If they do, the marriage is settled. If they do not,"

With a swift movement, she cleanly severed the last vine.

"Let's pretend Aunt Wang never came today."

"Thud!" The final sound of the knife seemed to bring this conversation to a close.

She slapped her thigh suddenly, her face contorting into a complex expression of helplessness and desperation:

"Yes! Yes! Yi-jie...you...you really are..."

She couldn't find the right words to describe the girl, so she could only give her a dry thumbs up.

"...Filial piety! Independent thinking! I...I'll go ask right now! I'll go to the Xiong family and get you the truth! I promise I'll get every single word you need!"

Afraid that Zhang would change his mind, she didn't even bother to drink her tea. She grabbed a gaudy handkerchief from the table, stuffed it haphazardly into her bosom, and rushed out as if being chased by a ghost, forgetting to even say goodbye.

Zhang watched the matchmaker's figure disappear into the morning mist before putting down his knife and walking to the water vat to scoop water to wash his hands.

Zhang Dashan leaned closer, his voice tinged with a cautious joy: "Yi-jie...you...you really want to?"

"father,"

Zhang Liuyi interrupted him and turned around.

"Whether Officer Xiong is a good match or not is not something you can decide based on what others say, but on your own judgment. Postponing the wedding and getting to know each other better is enough. If he is really as bad as the rumors say, or if we just don't get along, it's better to back out now than to jump into a fire pit later. Don't you think that makes sense?"

He nodded emphatically. "That's right! That's right! My daughter... she's grown up!"

At noon, west of Zhuohe Village, at the Xiong family's house.

The kitchen was filled with the aroma of stewed dishes and the smoky smell of firewood.

Song was absentmindedly stirring the cabbage and vermicelli in the pot, her eyes frequently glancing at the darkening sky outside the window, her ears perked up, trying to catch any movement outside the courtyard gate.

She was completely unaware that the soup in the pot had almost boiled away.

Wang the matchmaker, wrapped in her maroon cotton-padded coat, rushed in, her face blue from the cold, her hair covered in frost, patting her chest and panting heavily.

"Oh...oh dear! Sister Song! Officer Xiong! You're finally...finally back! This old woman is freezing to death!"

As if pricked by a needle, Song immediately dropped the spatula and rushed over, eagerly grabbing Wang the matchmaker's hand.

"How is it? Aunt Wang? Zhang family... Zhang the butcher... has he... agreed? Keep an eye on the girl..."

She was so nervous that she almost dared not ask any further questions.

Xiong Zixiang had just returned from work not long ago.

He took off his worn-out indigo blue official uniform, leaving only his coarse cloth short jacket underneath, revealing his muscular arms.

In the dim light from the kitchen doorway, he was vigorously scrubbing his cuffs with a rough piece of soap.

Once Wang the matchmaker had caught her breath, she put on an expression that seemed to be both a boast and a complaint.

"Oh dear! Sister Song, you have no idea! That stubborn Zhang the butcher almost kicked me out of the house!" She embellished the story, recounting how Zhang the butcher grabbed a broom and how worried he was about Xiong Zixiang bullying his daughter.

Song's heart leaped into her throat: "Then...and what happened next? What about Miss?"

"Hey! That's the key!" Matchmaker Wang slapped her thigh, her eyes lighting up. "Thank goodness Yi'er is back! That girl is really resourceful! She personally agreed to the marriage!"

"Really?!" Mrs. Song was overjoyed.

"But!" Wang the matchmaker suddenly changed the subject, a troubled look on her face.

"Sister Yi...she made a condition."

"...She said that the marriage could be arranged, but...but the wedding date had to be postponed, for as long as possible, a year or two...she...she wanted to spend more time with her father."

After speaking, Wang the matchmaker nervously watched the mother and son, especially Xiong Zixiang's reaction, her heart pounding with anxiety, fearing that the "generous gift" would fall through.

"This...this...postponing the wedding date? To accompany her father? This...what kind of situation is this? If the villagers find out...who knows what they'll say! They'll say our Xiong family is chasing after her, and she doesn't want to marry him? They'll say Zixiang..."

She grew increasingly anxious and looked to her son for help.

"Mother," Xiong Zixiang, who had been silently washing his cuffs, suddenly spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but it silenced both Madam Song and Matchmaker Wang.

He wrung out the clothes in his hands and draped them over the rope beside him, his movements unhurried and deliberate.

Then, he turned around and faced Wang the matchmaker.

The flickering flames in the stove illuminated half of his face, highlighting his sharp features and deep-set eyes.

“Take note of the girl’s conditions,” he said. “They’re reasonable.”

"The desire to be filial is universal. Uncle Zhang raised his daughter with great difficulty, and the fact that she wanted to spend more time with her father shows her filial piety and affection."

"It's a life-long event, so it's only right to be cautious. Postponing it for a while is fine."

"I agreed."

Wang the matchmaker's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly felt a thud, and she was immediately overwhelmed with immense joy.

The awkwardness on her face was instantly replaced by ecstasy. She smiled so broadly that her eyes disappeared, and her wrinkles were squeezed into a chrysanthemum shape.

She excitedly gave a thumbs up, spittle flying everywhere.

"Generous! Open-minded! Understanding! Reasonable! Caring! Sister Yi really... really didn't misjudge her! Sister Song, did you hear that? You can rest assured! Good things come to those who wait! Good things come to those who wait! This marriage is definitely a match made in heaven!"

Looking at her son's calm yet determined eyes, and then at the matchmaker's overjoyed expression, Song's worries slowly dissipated.

Yes, my son is right. It's only right to be cautious.

Notice that the girl is filial; that's a good thing!

With such a strong sense of loyalty and affection, how bad could she be to her mother-in-law and husband in the future?

Let's postpone it for a while... let's postpone it for a while! As long as our son is willing, as long as we can bring this daughter-in-law into the family, what's wrong with waiting?

A relieved smile returned to her face.

"That's good! That's good! Aunt Wang, thank you so much! You've really gone to a lot of trouble! Come on in and warm up!"

Xiong Zixiang walked up to Wang the matchmaker and nodded slightly.

"Thank you for your hard work in relaying the message, Aunt Wang. I will remember your kindness today. Once the marriage is settled, I will give you a generous gift of money as a token of my gratitude."

The words "generous reward" were like the sweetest honey, instantly making Wang the matchmaker feel completely at ease.

All fatigue vanished.

She smiled broadly and kept saying it.

"Oh dear! Officer Xiong, you're too kind! You're too polite! It's my duty! It's all what an old woman should do! It's my blessing to be able to matchmake such a good couple as Officer Xiong and Yi-jie! It's a great deed! I'll go to the Zhang family right now! I'll go tell Yi-jie the good news! Let her be happy too! And let that stubborn mule Zhang... ah, no, let my old brother be at ease too!"

As she spoke, she turned around in a flurry, not even bothering to take the bowl of hot water that Song handed her. As if she were on wheels of fire, she rushed out of the Xiong family's courtyard like a gust of wind.