Chapter 1 Another Matchmaker

The Luo River flows from north to south, its clear stream rushing across rocks and through forests. When it reaches Pangou Beach, the river suddenly turns and the flow becomes much calmer.

The turning point is Baihe Town.

Although this northern town was small, it had two main streets, one running north and one south. At the end of South Street stood a small yarn shop, specializing in selling a variety of silk threads, yarn strips, lace, and ribbons. Although it was a small business, it was enough to support the Shen family.

In midsummer, willow trees shade the ground.

Chen Qi came back from the front street, holding a basket of edamame, a cube of tofu, and a handful of green onions in her arms. She was preparing to prepare lunch, but as soon as she entered the yard, she found that there were guests at home.

"The Xie family is a wealthy family in Pingshan County. They own a herbal medicine shop with five storefronts on Yinshi Street. They're quite wealthy. Sister-in-law Shen, if your daughter leaves this village, she won't be able to keep this shop anymore..."

Another matchmaker came to propose marriage to me.

Chen Qi did not go in. Instead, she turned around and went to the back door. She sat on the doorstep, quietly picking vegetables while quietly listening to the conversation between her mother and the matchmaker.

"Mrs. Xue, how could a wealthy family like the Xie family be interested in a small family like ours? I'm afraid there's something wrong with the second son of the Xie family?"

"Oh my, look at what you're saying! I'm an official matchmaker who submitted my name to the county government office, not one of those black-hearted matchmakers who only cares about collecting money and arranging marriages! This Xie family's Erlang is the only son of his eldest wife. He's handsome and at least eight feet tall..."

Strangely enough, the green onions in his hand were fresh and green, and not very pungent, but they made Chen Qi feel a stinging sensation in his eyes.

Since her engagement was broken off two years ago, there have been at least thirty or more matchmakers who have come to propose marriage to her, if not fifty. However, young men from the surrounding villages have come to the Shen family to meet one after another, but nothing has come of it.

The reason is probably the rumor that she is unlucky in marriage.

It turned out that when Chen Qi was thirteen years old, her father had arranged a marriage for her with the Xu family, who ran a clinic in the town. From then on, the two families treated each other as relatives and would only wait until she turned sixteen to get married.

Unexpectedly, two months before the wedding, Xu You, the eldest son of the Xu family, suddenly fell ill and passed out. After two or three months of treatment, his condition showed no improvement. The father of the Xu family personally came to the house and said that he was worried that Shen Qi would become a widow, so he had to take back the betrothal gifts and cancel the marriage.

Unexpectedly, three days after the engagement was broken off, Xu You woke up, seven days later, he got out of bed, and half a month later, he recovered.

But the Xu family never mentioned engagement or marriage again.

Gradually, rumors began to spread among the neighbors that Chen Qi had a bad horoscope and was born to be unlucky in marriage.

If not, how come the son’s illness was cured as soon as the Xu family broke off the engagement?

Naturally, no one would tell such rumors in front of the Shen family, but as time went on, everyone in the Shen family knew about it. Although they didn't believe it, they felt bad.

Fortunately, a daughter is sought after by hundreds of families.

After the engagement was cancelled, many people came to seek blind dates with her. Almost none of them were dissatisfied with Chen Qi's appearance. However, when they heard about her reputation as a "husband-killing woman", they all backed off.

This delay lasted for two years, and Chen Qi was almost eighteen years old.

Sister-in-law Qiao came from behind and saw Chen Qi sitting on the doorstep picking vegetables.

"Yue girl, why don't you go in?"

Chen Qi put a finger to her mouth and pointed inside, indicating that there was someone in the room.

After seeing this, Mrs. Qiao turned around, sat down next to Chen Qi, and spoke in a low voice.

"Is it you who are proposing marriage again?"

Shen Qi nodded.

"Where are you from?"

"It seems to be Pingshan County."

The aunt and sister-in-law talked in low voices and slowly finished picking the edamame together. Just as they were about to get up, their mother Zhang came over with a happy look on her face.

It seems that the matchmaker has been sent away.

My sister-in-law asked, "Mother, which family is this matchmaker talking about?"

Zhang said, "They say he's a wealthy family in Pingshan County, surnamed Xie. He runs a herbal medicine shop and is quite wealthy."

Chen Qi asked: "Family background is secondary. I wonder how the family members are doing?"

"She said that the Xie family has two branches, this one is the eldest, and the second branch has a cousin, so he is the second child. His mother died early, and his father is still alive. He has an older sister and a younger sister, and once he marries into the family, he will be the mistress of the household."

Chen Qi looked at her mother, wanting to say something but stopping herself. Her sister-in-law understood her thoughts and asked for her.

"What about this young man? What's he like?"

"Matchmaker Xue said she had seen this second son of the Xie family with her own eyes. He's quite handsome, and even taller than our eldest son. He's just older, at twenty-four, six years older than our Xiaoyue."

After hearing this, Chen Qi couldn't help but shook her head.

"The matchmaker praised his family so highly, but he's still not married at this age. There must be a reason."

"I asked that, too. The matchmaker said he'd been away since he was seventeen or eighteen, buying some medicinal herbs for his family. It seems he hadn't been home properly for several years, which is why he's been delayed."

Chen Qi laughed and said, "What matchmaker isn't full of nonsense? Even a pile of cow dung can be made into something beautiful!"

My sister-in-law continued, "That's right. The matchmaker who came last time said there was a scholar from the next town. He was very refined and fair-skinned, and he never went out to hang out. But when your brother saw him the day he came, he found out he was lame and had white spots on his face. He was so angry that he didn't even pour the tea and sent them back."

Zhang was afraid her daughter would lose hope, so she quickly said, "This is an official matchmaker, not some street-walker who talks nonsense."

Chen Qi knew what her mother was thinking and was afraid that she would lose her lifelong support because of a ridiculous rumor.

"In that case, let's ask the Xie family's Erlang and his family to come and see it tomorrow. It won't cost much."

After hearing this, Zhang felt hopeful again. With a smile on her face, she went out to chase matchmaker Xue.

The sister-in-law said to Shen Qi, "In that case, I'll go to the street and buy some snacks to entertain the guests."

Chen Qi grabbed her sister-in-law who was about to get up and shook her head.

"Why waste this money? It's probably going to be useless."

"Don't say that. True gold fears no fire, and dark clouds cannot obscure the sun. You are such a good girl, just like the golden phoenix, you can only land on a blessed family. If a family misses out on you, that family is unlucky."

Chen Qi smiled and rubbed her shiny black hair into her sister-in-law's arms.

"No, I want to be an old maid for the rest of my life and stay with you forever."

My sister-in-law smiled, hugged her and nodded in agreement.

"That's great. Just like when we were kids, we can eat and sleep together every day, okay?"

My sister-in-law Qiao Yunhua's family is on South Street. She grew up with her husband, Shen Shao, and her sister-in-law, Shen Qi, as childhood sweethearts. Two years ago, she married into the Shen family, and they were close friends.

Just after lunch, another short young woman with a gray face, waving a large cattail-leaf fan, hurried into the gate of the Shen family.

"Aunt, your family and the Xie family of Pingshan County cannot be close relatives. Be careful not to fall into their trap!"

When Zhang saw the person coming, she felt a little unhappy.

This person is Liu the matchmaker from East Street, who is also well-known in Baihe Town. When her daughter was engaged to the Xu family, she was the middleman she hired.

After the two families called off the engagement, Shen's father thought that since Xu Dalang was well again, it would be better for the two families to continue the marriage, so he asked Liu the matchmaker to pass the message.

Unexpectedly, when matchmaker Liu heard this, she laughed so hard that she slapped her thigh and said that the Xu family had already arranged a marriage with the Zhuo family in the county town in order to bring good luck to their son who had just recovered from a serious illness!

The Zhuo family has run a clinic in Pingshan County for more than ten years. They have only one daughter and are determined to find a son-in-law with medical skills to inherit the family business.

Thanks to what she said, Ke Keer and the Xu family hit it off right away. I'm afraid they will get married after the new year!

Only at this time did Mr. Shen figure out what was going on.

What about their own son being too sick to get out of bed, what about being worried about the Shen family's daughter becoming a widow, what about bringing good luck! It's obvious that the Xu family has been wanting to cancel the engagement for a long time, but they are afraid that they are not in the right and will not be able to return the gift money, so this drama has been going on for half a year!

Seeing how quickly the engagement was cancelled and then reconciled, I'm afraid Liu the matchmaker had a lot of credit for that.

At that time, Mr. Shen turned around and went back home. From then on, he never had any contact with the Xu family again.

Matchmaker Liu didn't feel ashamed and still came to Chen Qi's house to propose marriage. She was either a widower or a boatman, and she was talking nonsense.

The Shen family clearly refused her several times, which is why she didn't visit for half a year.

Now she has come to the Shen family again, and I don’t know what her plan is.

Zhang didn't give her a good look and continued to work on the task at hand.

Matchmaker Liu came up to her with a shy face.

"Auntie, don't let that old woman Xue fool your family! The Xie family in Pingshan County are said to be wealthy, with a huge herbal medicine shop on the street. But in reality, their fortunes have fallen, and only an empty shell remains. Their outflows outweigh their income, and their business is no longer as good as it used to be!"

Zhang didn't even raise her head. Matchmaker Liu turned to the other side and continued speaking.

"As for the second son of the Xie family, Mrs. Xue only said that he was the only son of the eldest son, but she didn't say that he wasn't the eldest grandson of the Xie family! His cousin, born to his second uncle, is one year older than him! He is the eldest grandson, managing the shop at home, and is the most valued by his old lady! If your girl married into the family, even if she didn't have a mother-in-law to look after her, she would still have grandmother, second aunt, and a sister-in-law from a wealthy family who would put a lot of pressure on her! Forget about being the mistress of the house. I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to make a name for herself for twenty years!"

Zhang didn't want to pay attention to her, but the matter concerned her daughter's life, so she had to listen to her and slowed down her movements.

Seeing that she was a little hesitant, Matchmaker Liu hurriedly said a few more words.

"And there's more! That second son of the Xie family has been away for five or six years straight, barely staying home for a few days year-round. I heard he just returned home from out of town not long ago, and who knew his cousin was the one managing the shop's business? He's called the "Second Master," but he's really no more than a shop assistant! Tomorrow, he'll be gone again. If your daughter marries him, she'll have to wait a year or two before she can even see him again!"

Zhang was really concerned about her daughter's future, and her voice was trembling.

"Niece-in-law, are you telling the truth?"

"Oh, Auntie, tell me, I'm a relative from our town, and Mrs. Xue is an outsider from the next town. Who are you talking about? How could I lie to you?"

The black-hearted matchmaker rolled her eyes and then spoke.

"If you ask me, the young man from Sancha Village I mentioned is the most reliable. He's only in his thirties, but he's an expert at butchering pigs and scalding cows. At home, he's alone, with a little girl from his ex-wife, seven or eight years old. If she gets married, she could be a maid. And in a few years, if she gets married, won't her family have a good income? Think about it... Ah! Ah!"

Before she could finish, Matchmaker Liu suddenly jumped up and exclaimed.

This was because Shen Shao, the eldest brother of the Shen family, suddenly started sweeping the yard with a big broom. Every sweep of the broom hit Liu the matchmaker, and in no time, he swept her out of the door.

"You thief, don't ever come to my house again! If you dare to mention my sister again, I'll beat your head into a pulp!"

Shen Shao gnashed his teeth in anger.

Chen Qi was sitting in her room, hearing everything that was happening outside. She stared at the swaying shadows of the trees in front of the window without blinking. Even though she was usually the most open-minded person, she sighed.