No matter how long you dawdle, it will eventually be over. After packing up her things, Shi Lan lay back on the kang (a heated brick bed) and glanced at Mo Yun, who was rubbing his shoulders. "What do you think of this family?"

Mo Yun said, "The conditions are not bad, but the appearance is a bit lacking. I'll go and take a look this afternoon. If it's really just a shallow imprint as Granny Liu said, I think this marriage can still be arranged."

Shi Lan said, "Alright, when you come back I'll ask Aunt Liu. She should be familiar with all the villages around here, and she should know a little about the family's character."

Mo Yun nodded and said, "It's good for you to go and ask, but I reckon the man's family isn't bad people."

Shi Lan was greatly surprised; he had never even seen such a person before, so how could they say such a thing?

Seeing her staring at him with her big, dark eyes, Mo Yun found her incredibly cute. He reached out and touched her smooth little face, explaining, "Old Liu has been a matchmaker for so many years, her tongue must be incredibly smooth. If the man hadn't specifically emphasized this point, she probably would have glossed over it long ago. If we had just trusted her and made the betrothal, we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it later, even if we found out the man's face was disfigured. And later, when I said I wanted to go see him, although she had a gloomy face, she wasn't surprised. It was obvious that she had already prepared for this before she came. Matchmaking is about standing between the two families and acting as a bridge. We're going to bypass her to see that family, and she even told us where she lives. Don't you find that strange?"

Not surprising, Shi Lan thought to herself. Anyway, she wasn't the one she was marrying, so why should she take everything so seriously?

All that she did before was simply to keep Mo Yun from feeling bad. As long as Mo Yun was satisfied, Shi Lan felt she could get her job done.

"Should I ask Aunt Liu? She cares about you a lot."

Mo Yun said, "It would be good to go and ask. Our family situation is not suitable for holding a wedding. Yuxiu will be getting married through her house, so it's only proper to tell her."

Shi Lan agreed, looked up at the sky, and seeing that it was almost time, called to Aunt Wang to start the meal.

After the meal, Mo Yun took Uncle Wang to the village that Granny Liu had mentioned. Shi Lan asked Aunt Wang to deliver some food to Zhou Yuxiu, who refused to show her face, while she tidied herself up and prepared to go find Aunt Liu.

Before he could even leave the house, Aunt Wang told him that Zhou Yuxiu was not inside.

Shi Lan was taken aback. Zhou Yuxiu didn't know anyone here. Since arriving, her focus had always been on Mo Yun. She hadn't even stepped out of the courtyard. In addition, her legs weren't very agile yet, so Shi Lan really couldn't imagine where she could go.

Seeing Shi Lan in a daze, Aunt Wang said, "Madam, could it be that Miss Zhou is afraid you'll marry her off, so she secretly ran away while we're eating?"

Shi Lan's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly turned around and went to the east wing. She opened the cabinet where Zhou Yuxiu kept her things and found that all the pearls, flowers, hairpins and rings inside were still there.

Shi Lan frowned. She hadn't taken anything, so it seemed she hadn't run away from home.

"Aunt Wang, you look around nearby, I'll go look further away. We'll meet here in an hour."

After saying that, Shi Lan followed the road toward the distant village. She had seen children playing by the roadside when she went to her sixth aunt's house before. If strangers were passing by, they should have been able to see them.

Seeing Shi Lan walking hurriedly, Aunt Wang shook her head slightly, thinking that this new wife was too kind-hearted. If it were in her old family, any slut who had feelings for her master would have been arrested and sold to a brothel without even a second thought if she dared to step out of the house. That would have been the end of it.

However, if he were not kind-hearted, he wouldn't have obediently stayed at home to serve the old lady until her death and wait for the master, waiting for three years in a row.

Aunt Wang, lost in thought, walked in the opposite direction.

Shi Lan took a step and looked around. Soon she saw a child carrying a grass cricket cage, and the cricket inside was still chirping.

Shi Lan stepped forward and stopped him, asking if he had seen a girl with a slight limp.

The child tilted his head, pointed into the distance, and said that he had seen it when he was catching grasshoppers before, but he didn't know about it now.

Shi Lan glanced in the direction the child pointed, thanked him gently, and hurriedly chased after him.

After chasing for a long time, Shi Lan's pace gradually slowed down, and the increasingly familiar environment made her frown.

She walked slowly along the path, and a figure gradually approached from afar.

The afternoon sun was quite intense, and Shi Lan squinted, taking a while to make out who it was.

The man carrying a stack of books walked slowly over. When he saw Shi Lan, he smiled gently and kindly, "What a coincidence, running into you here again."

Shi Lan gave him a stiff grin and nodded.

Yuan Lang asked, seemingly casually yet with concern, "I saw you faint the other day, are you alright now?"

Shi Lan nodded and gave a dry thank you.

Yuan Lang smiled faintly, politely making way for them, and then slowly walked away, hugging the other side of the field ridge.

Shi Lan turned around and looked around at where she was. A gentle breeze blew through the stacks of harvested wheat stalks on the ridges of the fields, and in the distance, the iconic crooked tree swayed its branches in the wind, as if reminding her where she was.

Shi Lan stood silently for a while, then quietly turned around and quickly left the place where the original owner often came over to greet Yuan Lang before she got married.

Back in the familiar courtyard, Aunt Wang had already returned and, seeing Shi Lan, hurriedly brought her water.

Shi Lan was so thirsty from walking that her throat was parched. She gulped down the cool, sweet well water and said, "Forget it, let's not look anymore. Yu Xiu isn't a child. She'll come back when she's tired of walking."

Aunt Wang thought the same thing, which is why she walked around the area and came back when she saw no one was there.

As dusk settled, a few noises came from outside the door. Shi Lan jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed) and called out, "Aunt Wang, who's back?"

Aunt Wang opened the door and replied, "Madam, it's Master who's back."

Shi Lan muttered "I'm finally back," then got off the kang (a heated brick bed). Before she could leave, Mo Yun strode in.

"What's wrong? You look unhappy," Mo Yun poured himself a glass of water and downed it in one gulp.

Shi Lan poured him another cup and said, "Zhou Yuxiu has disappeared. I've been looking for her all afternoon but haven't found her."

Mo Yun was startled at first, then laughed nonchalantly, "He's probably just bored. He's going out for some fresh air and should be back tonight."

Shi Lan pursed her lips but didn't say anything.

Seeing her like this, Mo Yun put down his teacup and said, "Alright, don't worry. I'll go out and look for it. If I still can't find it, I'll go to the village head and ask the villagers to help look for it."

Shi Lan was even more unhappy when she saw him get up. She wasn't worried about Zhou Yuxiu at all; she felt that Zhou Yuxiu was deliberately trying to embarrass her. She had just scolded Zhou Yuxiu, and Zhou Yuxiu had said she wouldn't marry him. If this got out, she would be seen as a villain who forced her husband's friend's younger sister to marry!

Mo Yun, being a man, didn't understand these intricacies, while Shi Lan, having lived in a wealthy and powerful family, was well aware of these shady dealings.