"Is Aunt Gan home?"

"Aunt Gan!"

Just as he was knocking on the gate and calling for help, Zhang Fangyuan saw a woman wearing a striking silk flower coming back from outside, twisting her waist.

The woman he called Aunt Gan was called Matchmaker Gan by others. Since Zhang Fangyuan's father and the woman's husband were distant cousins, they were somewhat related.

"Fang Yuan, why are you here? The Xu family slaughtered the New Year pig today, but you didn't go?"

Seeing that the door of her courtyard was being slapped by a strong and powerful hand and it seemed that she was about to fall back into the yard, Gan Matchmaker hurriedly called for help. She couldn't help but complain in her heart about her husband, saying that he was a damned person and just lay at home without opening the door.

"I came back after dinner. It's not too far from Xu's house, so I came to see Aunt Gan. Aunt just came back?"

Matchmaker Gan didn't expect that her cousin would come and try to get close to her today. Her father was indeed an honest man, but he died early, leaving behind an only son, which was quite pitiful.

"Yesterday, the wife of the Wang family in the village asked me to find a girl for her Dalang. I didn't even go to eat the pig soup of the Xu family. I hurried to do their job."

Zhang Fangyuan said: "It is most appropriate to let Aunt handle these matters in our village."

"Hey, boy, you are so sweet today."

"My nephew wants to trouble you with something."

Matchmaker Gan understood immediately: "You are really anxious about this matter. You were not willing to talk to me two years ago. Now you are tired of drinking. You think it would be more comfortable to find a wife and raise a child."

Zhang Fangyuan laughed: "I am not young anymore in the village. Just now I saw that people younger than me at the banquet were holding babies. How can I not be anxious?"

Gan the matchmaker smiled knowingly. Matchmakers are naturally gossipy and enthusiastic. Since someone came to her to ask for help, she would naturally be enthusiastic.

It's just that... Matchmaker Gan looked Zhang Fangyuan up and down. He was talented and skilled, so he should be the best matchmaker. But his reputation made it difficult to get married, so she didn't agree too readily: "If there's a suitable aunt, I'll ask you to come and see her."

Zhang Fangyuan was sincerely asking for help. He handed the two pounds of meat hanging on his finger to the matchmaker Gan and said in a kind voice, "Aunt, please take care of it."

No matter which villager would not be jealous of such a large piece of meat being handed to him for free, Gan the matchmaker refused with her mouth, but her hands were very skillful. She happily took the meat and her tone suddenly became much warmer: "My nephew, you are too polite. Tell your aunt what kind of meat you like."

Zhang Fangyuan thought for a moment and said, "As long as he's not like Xu Shaochun, it's fine."

Upon hearing this, matchmaker Gan widened her eyes and looked at Zhang Fangyuan: "Which single man in this village doesn't want to marry the second daughter of the Xu family? Didn't you say the opposite?"

"My nephew can't afford to support someone like the second daughter of the Xu family." Zhang Fangyuan said with a smile.

When he said this, Matchmaker Gan looked at him with a higher opinion: "You silly boy, you are very clear-sighted. It actually saves you some effort."

"Anyway, I'm not picky. Anything that can make a living is fine."

"Okay, I'll compare the girls and boys of marriageable age I have and go to their homes to find out if there's any. If there's any sign, I'll come to you."

Zhang Fangyuan felt relieved when he saw that the most famous matchmaker in the area had agreed. "Okay, I'll be waiting for your good news."

Matchmaker Gan sent Zhang Fangyuan away and shook the meat in her hand. This was good news, as she didn't have to buy pork for the New Year. She opened the gate and her husband came out of the house: "You dare to agree to anyone's business. If he comes to make trouble when nothing works out, it will be a shame for the neighbors."

"Zhang Fangyuan is a very capable man, so maybe he can't find a wife?"

The man snorted, "How many days a month does he stay in the village? He comes back like a drunkard. Who knows if he will get drunk and beat people up? Didn't his mother get beaten by his father when he was drunk? Who would be willing to give their daughters and sons to him?"

Gan the matchmaker said, "He's not the only unremarkable man in the village. Didn't Zhou Saner, who limps and is ugly, find a boy?"

The man sneered, "Then don't you see how much money the Zhou family spent to marry her? Ten taels! Not only did they empty their family coffers, but they also had to borrow money from everywhere to get the sum. If there was a famine, it would be enough to buy a wife. How could Zhang Fangyuan come up with so much money?"

"Do you know that the Zhang family didn't leave money for Zhang Fangyuan to marry a wife? The Zhang family used to be very wealthy, and his uncles were all well-off in the village."

What he said was true, but Matchmaker Gan felt a little guilty. Even if the Zhang family had some financial resources, they could not afford Zhang Fangyuan's spending. Their reputation was bad now, so it would be strange for the Zhang family's uncles and aunts to care about Zhang Fangyuan.

Besides, when other people come to seek matchmaking, they would at most give a basket of eggs and a few snacks wrapped in a handkerchief. Who would give such a generous gift before the matter is settled? Even the village chief's family would not be so generous. After all, bachelors do not know how to live. Giving so many things shows that they are sincere in seeking a wife. They really want someone to take care of them.

But on second thought, Zhang Fangyuan is a man of his word and looks fierce. Even if he gets a wife back home, she will not be able to control him.

She withdrew her thoughts and raised the pork in her hand to save face in front of her husband: "Look, Zhang Fangyuan sent it to you."

When the man saw the three lines of meat, he swallowed subconsciously. He pursed his lips and decided not to argue any further about the meat.

Zhang Fangyuan didn't know yet that his situation had become very bad. He went home happily, humming a popular tune from the city.

I don’t know how many days I had been fooling around in the city, but the kitchen at home was already covered with dust. It was cold anyway, so he simply lit a fire and boiled a large pot of water. This not only warmed the house, but also allowed him to wash the pots and pans on the stove with the hot water.

He had just come back from doing some work, and he couldn't help thinking that once he got the news from the matchmaker and got his wife back, there would be someone to take care of the kitchen. By then, he will be out earning money, and his wife won't have to work so hard. She only needs to tidy up the house, so that he won't have to light a fire when he comes back from outside to find an empty house.

After putting two pieces of dry wood in the stove, he walked through the hall to his bedroom. There was a faint smell of alcohol in the room, and it was a mess. Used clothes were hung and thrown everywhere. When he entered the room, he almost tripped over his pants thrown on the ground.

I don't know if a cat got into the house or if I was drunk and not alert, but the charcoal basin in the house was kicked over and turned upside down in the middle of the room, with extinguished charcoal and ashes all over the floor.

Zhang Fangyuan was a rough man who was not good at housework and did not like cleanliness like the girls. He had not paid attention to it earlier, but now he felt upset when he saw this scene.

He stepped over to the edge of the bed, pushed away the long wooden bench beside the bed, pried up two floor tiles, and pulled out a small solid wooden box from underneath. He held the thing in his arms, blew away the accumulated dust, and quickly opened the box.

There were only a few pieces of silver lying alone in the box, and a silver bracelet carved with auspicious patterns of mandarin ducks.

The silver bracelet weighs four taels and the loose silver weighs five taels. In other words, apart from some loose change and things that can be sold for money, this is the only savings the family has.

Both his parents were hardworking people who would take on any hard work. Although they didn't know any business skills, they lived frugally and still saved a lot of money for him.

Zhang Fangyuan remembered that after his parents passed away, when this box that stored the family's treasures came into his hands, there were twenty taels of silver in it. After two years of wasting time, he had spent most of his family's life savings, and not even a single decent thing was left.

First, he did not renovate or expand his house; second, he did not buy any household items; and third, he was unable to marry and have children.

He held the box and sighed slightly. The bracelet could not be touched at all. It was his mother's dowry. He was required to leave it to his wife as a betrothal gift in the future. He should not give it to her parents, but give it to his wife as jewelry. This means that he only has five taels of silver at his disposal.

As for daily expenses, it is already a large sum of money. You must know that after paying taxes and labor service in a year, the villagers and households in the upper reaches can have two thousand coins or two taels of silver left, and that only if the harvest is good and there are no disasters.

As long as he didn't go to the city to drink and have fun, and controlled his extravagant habits a little, he wouldn't have to spend much money. Even if he had something important to do right now, he didn't know the price of the marriage gift. After all, he couldn't borrow money from everywhere to marry someone and then have her suffer and pay him back. That would be too shabby, and he couldn't do it.

Besides, his reputation is not good now, and his uncles don't like him. No one would lend him money, for fear that they would think he was lying and borrowed money for fun.

The dog would shake his head when he saw the current situation.

Zhang Fangyuan slammed the box shut. Money cannot be saved by just saving it, it has to be earned. He has healthy hands and feet, so is he afraid that he can't make money?

Having made up his mind, he cleaned the house inside and out. If it were a hot day, he would want to use hot water to wipe everywhere in the house, but it is cold in winter and the sky is gray and gloomy. If the house does not dry for a long time, it will easily produce water odor and mold.

At dawn the next day, Zhang Fangyuan carried a large bamboo backpack filled with hunting tools and a sharpened long-handled sickle. After tying his trouser legs tightly with a rope, he did not go to the main road at the entrance of the village towards the city, but instead took the narrow path towards the back mountain of the village.

While it hasn't snowed yet and the weather isn't too cold, he's going to go to the mountain to chop some firewood, which he can use as firewood to fill the stove and also as charcoal for use in the twelfth lunar month. Also, set up some traps when you go up the mountain and try your luck to bring something back.

There are slightly more people going up the mountain during this season than usual. After the autumn harvest, the fields are idle. At most, some seasonal vegetables can be grown, but crops cannot be grown, so the farmers have nothing to do.

The land can be idle but people cannot. After all, they have to open their mouths to eat. Villagers either pick vegetables from the fields and sell them in the city, or find some odd jobs. In short, it is impossible for them to sit back and enjoy a leisurely life.

The Jijiu Village where they live is far from the county town, and it takes several hours to go back and forth. It is not practical to carry vegetables there to sell, and very few people in the village go there to sell vegetables. As for casual workers, there are more laborers during the slack season, and not only is it hard to find work, but the wages are also lower than before.

With the comparison between the two rooms, naturally more people go up the mountain. Whether it is hunting, chopping wood, or digging wild vegetables, there is always something to do.

However, Jijiu Village is surrounded by mountains and there are mountain roads everywhere. Therefore, even in winter, more people go up the mountain to find a way out, but they may not necessarily meet anyone. They can only hear the sound of chopping wood from the opposite side through the mountains and forests.

Zhang Fangyuan swung his long-handled sickle all the way, and the wild grass vines covered with mist were cut down to the side of the road with a few slashes. When he reached the top of the mountain, he had cut out a clear mountain path.

After entering the mountain, he walked all the way to the deeper areas, set up small animal traps, dug holes and placed iron nail boards... These guys are good hunters, and iron tools are valuable, which ordinary people don't have.

In order to buy these lumps of iron, he exchanged all the meat and offal from slaughtered animals for money, and bought damaged iron from the village at a low price and took it to the iron shop in the city to have it forged. He had never saved a penny before, and he used it all to buy these things.

Maybe he was born with a strong physique, so his favorite things were these cold iron tools. Other people's treasures may be gold, silver and money, but his are knives, sickles, clamps, nails, boards, chains and so on.

Fortunately, I spent the money on buying these things in the past. If it was money saved, I would have spent it long ago. At least these tools can support myself.

After setting up the traps, he marked each one so that it would be convenient for him to collect the traps, and also to prevent villagers from accidentally falling into the traps when going up the mountain. After doing all this, he went out of the mountains to chop wood so as not to scare away the prey.

He had only been away for two hours when a figure sneaked up to open the marked trap.