Jiang Yanxia was also indignant after hearing Zhuang Zhimeng's account of what happened. She said to Zhuang Zhimeng, "It seems that this person is a greedy opportunist with a thick skin. We should stay away from him! I've met him a few times, but I never knew he was this kind of person!"

"We educated youth won't have any interaction with him, so he definitely won't act like he's always getting the better of us! Now that we know what kind of person he is, we should be careful!"

Jiang Yanxia replied, "Okay!"

Zhuang Zhimeng raised her hand, glanced at her watch, and realized it was almost time. She started cooking, with Jiang Yanxia helping her.

When An Qingbai and Su Mengmeng returned from work, it was time for dinner. Zhuang Zhimeng made spicy rabbit, steamed rice, and also made shrimp and seaweed soup.

After dinner, Jiang Yanxia and Su Mengmeng washed the dishes and went home. Su Mengmeng was tired, and Jiang Yanxia went back to take care of Maoxian.

An Qingbai said to Zhuang Zhimeng, who was sitting cross-legged on the kang drinking tea, "Zhizhi, my mother said she'll find Matchmaker Wang in a few days to come and have our horoscopes checked!"

"I understand! Brother Qingbai, is there anything I need to prepare?"

"The matchmaker will give us several suitable engagement dates after matching our birth dates. You can tell your uncle and aunt about the dates the matchmaker suggested, and then we can choose a more suitable one based on both sides' circumstances!"

"Okay, I'll call my parents and tell them once the matchmaker gives me the date!"

An Qingbai nodded, "Okay!"

Zhuang Zhimeng suddenly thought of where to stay, so she stood up and said to An Qingbai, "Brother Qingbai, let's go tidy up my storage room now. I don't know how many people will come to the house, and I'm afraid there won't be enough room!"

An Qingbai agreed and stood up as well: "Let's go! Let's put our things away, clean up, and lay out the kang mats so we can live there. It's hot in June, so don't worry about it being cold!"

When they arrived at the storage room, Zhuang Zhimeng was tidying up the items while talking to An Qingbai.

"The original idea was to have a place to stay if my family came to visit, so when the house was built, we installed kang beds in all these rooms. Looking back now, I'm glad we did!"

"That's true. Luckily, Zhizhi, you have a kang (heated brick bed) here, otherwise there really wouldn't be enough space. They could stay at my house, but I'm afraid they wouldn't be used to it!"

"What do you mean by 'habitual'? You can't sleep on the street! If I don't have enough space here, I'll see who can come to your place!"

"OK!"

Speaking of houses, An Qingbai then asked, "Zhizhi, how about we build a brick house when we get married?"

Zhuang Zhimeng thought for a moment and said, "We'll see when the time comes. We don't even know if we'll have the chance to build our own house to live in!"

An Qingbai thought about it and realized that what he said made sense. The family hadn't divided the property yet, so they could talk about the future later.

Zhuang Zhimeng and An Qingbai tidied up the clutter in the storage room and put it in a corner. Fortunately, there wasn't much stuff. They cleaned the kang (a heated brick bed), swept the floor, and opened the windows for ventilation.

Zhuang Zhimeng planned to wait until it got warmer and the sun was stronger before wiping the floor and laying down new mats.

A few days later, Shi Meiling brought the matchmaker to Zhuang Zhimeng's house. An Qingbai had told Zhuang Zhimeng in advance that she was waiting for them at home that day.

Since Zhuang Zhimeng and An Qingbai were in a free-choice relationship, the matchmaker introduction step was omitted.

Zhuang Zhimeng poured tea for Shi Meiling and the matchmaker, "Auntie, and this lady..."

Zhuang Zhimeng was unsure how to address her, so Shi Meiling told her, "Zhimeng, you can just call her Aunt Wang!"

Zhuang Zhimeng responded and then brought the tea to them, "Auntie, Aunt Wang, please have some tea."

While sipping her tea, the matchmaker Wang said to Shi Meiling, "Meiling, you seem like a good future daughter-in-law!"

Shi Meiling smiled smugly, "Of course, Zhimeng is definitely good!"

After finishing her tea, Wang the matchmaker wiped her mouth with her hand. "Now that we've had our tea, it's time to get down to business!"

Zhuang Zhimeng immediately sat up straight, looking intently at Matchmaker Wang, waiting for her to continue.

As a result, her upright and serious demeanor amused both Wang the matchmaker and Shi Meiling.

Shi Meiling smiled and patted Zhuang Zhimeng's arm. "Zhimeng, don't be nervous, relax. It's not like you're going to war. Just write down your birth date and time!"

Zhuang Zhimeng blushed and smiled shyly, "Hehe, Auntie, I just don't have much experience, please don't make fun of me!"

Seeing that she blushed, Shi Meiling stopped laughing at her: "Alright, alright, I won't make fun of you anymore! Take a piece of paper and write down your birth date and time and give it to Aunt Wang!"

"Okay, Auntie and Aunt Wang, please wait a moment, I'll go write it down!"

Zhuang Zhimeng agreed and quickly fled to the inner room. Shi Meiling and Wang the matchmaker could both see that her steps were disordered.

After Zhuang Zhimeng went to have her birth date and time written down, Wang the matchmaker and Shi Meiling exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter. Wang the matchmaker patted Shi Meiling on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Your future daughter-in-law is quite interesting! Your third son has good taste!"

"The third brother handled this matter very well; meeting Zhimeng is his good fortune!"

"I think Zhuang Zhiqing is very lucky to have a mother-in-law like you! You even let them get engaged before getting married. Nowadays, many people get married directly, and it's very rare to get engaged before getting married!"

Shi Meiling lowered her head, took a sip of tea, and then smiled and said, "Isn't this what I should do? I love Zhimeng! I can't think anything I do is too much, and she shouldn't miss out on any of the proper ceremonies!"

"That's absolutely right, Zhuang Zhiqing is really worth it! I think your third son and Zhuang Zhiqing are both very promising. Just wait and see how well they take care of you and make you live a good life!"

"Then I'll take your kind words. Come home with me later. Even though we're relatives, we should still act as we always have. The matchmaker's gift must be given, so don't refuse!"

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