At this time, Jiuxi Village was very busy. Most of the people grinding spices were women. They were crowded in two connected rooms. There were fires burning in the middle and four corners of the room, so it was not very cold.

People wore masks on their faces and their hands were busy, but that didn't stop them from telling funny stories to others.

From time to time, someone would call out "Qiao'er" and "Shuanghua" to ask how their spices were being ground. When no one called, Li Qiao'er and Xia Shuanghua would do their own work, and would check from time to time to see if anyone was slacking off.

At this time, someone opened the door and shouted, "Auntie Li, someone from the next village has found your house and wants to propose marriage to your daughter!"

Li Qiao'er's face turned pale.

The originally lively atmosphere fell silent for a moment. Li Qiao'er's mother, Luo Shi, pinched the corner of her clothes, stood up, and asked, "Whose family is this?"

"We don't know either. They say she's related to Zhou Lizheng. There's an old lady standing next to the matchmaker. She's not tall and quite old, with a mole between her eyebrows. Maybe she's trying to find a match for her grandson."

The atmosphere in the room relaxed a little. Someone said, "It's good to be related to Zhou Lizheng. He's a good man. Why don't you go and see him?"

Luo looked at Li Qiao'er. Although she could see that she was reluctant, she still said, "Qiao'er, I'll go and see what happens. If you are not happy, I will definitely not let you get married."

Li Qiaoer lowered her head and said nothing.

"Oh!" said the man at the door with the letter, "It's not Sister Qiao'er, it's Sister Shuanghua! I blame myself for not explaining it clearly. Isn't Auntie Sister Shuanghua's adoptive mother? You're the one who has to come to arrange her marriage."

Everyone's eyes fell on Xia Shuanghua.

Xia Shuanghua, who was whispering to comfort Li Qiaoer, was stunned, and a blank look appeared on her face for a moment. It was not until Li Qiaoer took her hand that she reacted and smiled stiffly at the bewildered Luo.

"Mother, since he's a relative of Zhou Lizheng's, please help me meet him. We can discuss whether you agree or not later."

The last sentence was vague.

Luo Shi quickly responded and walked out of the house.

After a small incident, voices were soon heard in the room again.

Some people also talked in low voices.

"Qiao'er is only one year older than Shuanghua, but this family has taken a fancy to Shuanghua. Perhaps it's because she has no parents and is easy to manipulate..."

"What are you talking about? What if it's a good marriage? If this gets out, it will ruin the marriage. Let's wait and see."

"Although this is Shuanghua's personal matter, if the woman who came here has bad intentions, we have to stand up for Shuanghua!"

"That's for sure. I'll tear their mouths apart!"

······

Li Qiao'er looked at Xia Shuanghua repeatedly with concern. Xia Shuanghua sensed this and said calmly, "Sister Qiao'er, don't worry about me. I even got through my parents abandoning me. I'm not afraid of anything else in the future! What's more, we have you, my younger brother, my parents, the village chief, and my sister Ah Xu... so many people here! No one will bully me again."

Seeing that she showed no reluctance, Li Qiaoer nodded and said, "My parents will definitely not marry you off just for that little betrothal gift."

On the other side, Luo had returned home and met the matchmaker and Chai Pozi.

After welcoming the guest into the house and hurriedly preparing hot water, Mrs. Luo sat down.

After the three of them exchanged greetings, the matchmaker finally stated her intention.

"Aunt Li, we are here today because we have taken a fancy to your daughter Shuanghua. We would like to propose a marriage to Aunt Chai's second son. If you agree, the betrothal gifts and other things will certainly not be a problem."

"Speaking of Zhou Qiang, he's a well-known handsome young man in our surrounding villages. He's strong and upright, and he's very honest. Everyone who sees him has to praise him..."

Mrs. Luo was a little confused. What did she hear? The second child of Aunt Chai?

She had been doing embroidery work for many years, so her eyesight was not very good. She had to squint her eyes to look at Mrs. Chai carefully - her face was full of wrinkles and half of her hair was white.

Mrs. Chai felt very uncomfortable being stared at by her with squinting eyes. She cursed her in her heart for being so ignorant as to come from the mountains, but she still had a stiff smile on her face.

After taking a closer look, Mrs. Luo opened her eyes wide and interrupted the matchmaker, "Matchmaker Li, can I ask how old is Aunt Chai's son?"

Matchmaker Li covered her lips and smiled, "At thirty, you're in the prime of life! You've already built up your wealth, and even an older person likes to be kind, don't you think?"

Suppressing the shock in her heart, Luo continued to ask, "You're still not married at this age?"

The smile on Matchmaker Li's face faded a little. She exchanged a glance with Mrs. Chai before speaking again: "It's a miserable life. Zhou Qiang got married once before, and the girl was also as beautiful as a frost flower, but it's a pity that she didn't live long..."

"You two didn't have any children?"

The three questions in succession made Mrs. Chai's smile fade away each time. She didn't want to hide it any longer, but she knew she couldn't. But judging from the expression of the man from the Li family, she was afraid that the matter was half over.

The matchmaker, who pretended to wipe her tears with a handkerchief, froze for a moment, then quickly recovered and said, "Of course she is. She only has a little girl left. She is very sensible and will be able to get married in a few years..."

Luo frowned and interrupted the matchmaker with a cold face: "This marriage is too high for our family, Shuanghua. You two should look elsewhere!"

As she said this, she stood up and was about to chase people away.

"No, it's not that high-end..."

The matchmaker was halfway through her words when Chai Pozi interrupted her: "If this marriage can be successful, my family can offer a betrothal gift of five taels of silver. What else can you not be satisfied with?"

"Who cares about your five taels of silver? Who are your in-laws?!" Mrs. Luo couldn't help herself and pointed at Mrs. Chai's old face and cursed. "How can you have the nerve to marry a sixteen-year-old girl when you are over thirty years old? Your son can't even be the father of my Shuanghua! Not to mention that you have a daughter who is almost the same age as my Shuanghua! What are you dreaming of? Get out, get out!"

Someone watching outside heard Luo's scolding, and then saw the matchmaker and Chai being pushed out.

Zheng Wangshi had come to watch the fun, and she found it strange to hear Luo's scolding. She wondered what had happened to anger the usually taciturn Luo.

After listening to the whole thing from beginning to end, she couldn't help but feel furious. How could she tolerate the bullying coming right to her doorstep?

After exchanging a glance with the women who came with them, the group squeezed into the Li family's yard.

Mrs. Chai was so angry at what Luo said that she blushed and said, "Everyone knows that your two daughters are..."

"What are you talking about? What are you talking about?" Madam Zheng Wang angrily interrupted her. "A widower whose wife has died, can't find a widow who is a good match for him? Or what? He insists on marrying a girl who is only sixteen or seventeen years old? Or is it because you think Shuanghua has no parents and only pick on the weak?"