Matchmaker Zhou stared intently at the cup of tea. It was unbelievable! She clearly couldn't lift it just now, but Zhou Quan picked it up easily. Could it be that not only is Li Mai extraordinary, but Zhou Quan is also extraordinary?

"Hehe, of course!" Matchmaker Zhou quickly accepted the tea with both hands, took a sip, sighed inwardly that it was good tea, and gently put the teacup down.

She lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, then finally sighed and said, "Ask whatever you two want to know!"

Li Mai put down her teacup. "How did you and my grandmother meet? When did you meet?"

Matchmaker Zhou smiled. Now that Li Mai was pregnant, she could finally speak.

“When you were fourteen, I went to Lijia Village to arrange a marriage for someone. I happened to be resting in front of your house. Your grandmother was sitting at the door, so I asked for a bowl of water.”

"After that, she struck up a conversation with me and learned that I was a matchmaker from Zhoujia Village. She said she had heard that there was a nice boy named Zhou Quan in Zhoujia Village and asked me what I thought of the boy, whether he was really as good as the rumors said?"

“I told her about it. The child is very sensible and good-looking, but in recent years he has been working outside with the village foremen to earn money to supplement his family’s income.”

"As a matchmaker, I smiled and asked her if she was arranging a marriage for someone. She said she had a granddaughter who was fourteen years old, but the child was still young and hadn't matured yet. She was also a bit silly, so she didn't dare to bring up marriage or anything like that, for fear of hurting the young man."

"I tried to comfort her, saying that a fourteen-year-old girl is old enough to be engaged, but Zhou Quan has been away from home for a year, and I was just asking around on her behalf. But your grandmother stopped me, just smiling and shaking her head, saying, 'No, it won't work, the time isn't right!'"

“At the time, I didn’t understand what she meant. After returning to the village, I told Zhou Quan’s mother about it, and she wanted me to arrange the marriage for Zhou Quan. However, she also said that she would ask Zhou Quan when he returned, and if he agreed, she would come to me.”

"It's possible that your fate just wasn't meant to be back then. Zhou Quan's mother never came to see me again. But then, more than two years later, I heard that Zhou Quan had an accident at work and became paralyzed. She also brought back a child. So I completely gave up the idea of ​​going to your grandmother to discuss this marriage again."

"Unexpectedly, last year, one day your grandmother suddenly stopped me outside Zhoujia Village. She said she felt her health was deteriorating day by day, and that you were still not engaged. She asked me if Zhou Quan had settled down yet."

“I told your grandmother about Zhou Quan’s situation. Your grandmother looked up at the sky, sighed, and said that you happen to know medicine. Perhaps this is a blessing from heaven. After that, she asked me to help propose marriage to the Zhou family. However, she had one condition: she wanted a dowry of ten taels of silver, which she planned to give you for protection.”

"Originally, I was not optimistic about this matter, but I didn't expect that when I went to Zhou Quan's house and talked to Zhou Quan's mother about it, it was settled. When Zhou Quan's mother heard that the girl was nineteen years old and knew a little about medicine, she naturally agreed and was even willing to give ten taels of silver."

“We all know that the ten taels of silver was compensation given to Zhou Quan after he was injured. Since Zhou Quan’s mother agreed, I ran around and arranged for it to be done. Your grandmother gave me two taels of silver as a reward, asking me to help you get the marriage certificate done as soon as possible, so I helped her get it done at the town government office.”

"Who knew that after I returned the marriage certificate, your grandmother said that the Zhou family would come to fetch the bride in three days. I asked her why she was in such a hurry, and she said that she didn't have much time left. I thought she was sick, but who knew she would do something like this and take medicine herself." Matchmaker Zhou shook her head helplessly.

After hearing this part of the story that she didn't know, Li Mai suddenly asked, "So, my mother-in-law knew about me several years ago and even wanted to arrange my marriage with Zhou Quan?"

Matchmaker Zhou nodded, "Yes, if she doesn't agree, how can I arrange a marriage for you two?"

Li Mai nodded, raised an eyebrow, and asked Matchmaker Zhou, "So, my mother-in-law actually knew I was skilled in medicine, which is why she agreed to the marriage with Zhou Quan?"

She wanted to know if Zhou the matchmaker was someone Gu Zhe had placed here to monitor her, and she wanted to know if her mother-in-law had been monitoring Zhou Quan all along!

Matchmaker Zhou nodded. "She should know. I told her what your grandmother said a few years ago: there aren't many girls here who study medicine, so bringing this up will increase the chances of the marriage. I've been a matchmaker my whole life, and my goal is to bring together two suitable families."

Li Mai smiled as she looked at Zhou the Matchmaker's soul, which was a darker pale yellow than before. She believed him; only those who had never done anything immoral would have such a pure pale yellow soul. If they had performed great deeds, their souls would gradually turn golden yellow.

However, for a soul to transform from pale yellow to golden yellow, it not only needs to do more good deeds and accumulate merit, but also needs to undergo a life-and-death tribulation to accumulate merit. Only by escaping death can one attain Buddhahood on the spot.

It's difficult, which is why there are so few people with golden life souls among the people she has met.

Zhou Quan is a person with a golden life soul!

It seems that his ordeal that year was because he saved someone, or rather, he saved someone's life.

Zhou Quan then whispered, "But my mother didn't tell us anything. She only told me that she had arranged a marriage for me. The girl asked for a dowry of ten taels of silver, and she gave it to her."

Li Mai smiled and said, "Why don't we ask Mother about this when we go back tomorrow?"

Zhou Quan shook his head. "Don't ask. Mother is definitely doing this for my own good. She only decided to give me ten taels of silver as a betrothal gift because she knew you had medical skills."

Li Mai nodded, and in front of Matchmaker Zhou, she didn't mention that she suspected her mother-in-law was also one of Gu Zhe's people. Instead, she directly asked Matchmaker Zhou, "Auntie, tell us why you've come to see us. Is there anything you need our help with?"

Matchmaker Zhou gave an awkward smile. "Yes, my grandson is twelve years old this year. The teacher at the village school said he doesn't need to go to the elementary school anymore and should go to the academy in town to study. But we don't really know any academy owner or teacher. I was thinking that your Xiaolei is studying in town, right? I wonder if Xiaoquan could recommend Xiaolei's academy to my grandson, considering that I arranged this marriage for you last year?"

After listening, Li Mai and Zhou Quan nodded with smiles. "Of course we can help with the recommendations. However, the academy requires an entrance exam for students. I'll take Auntie to the academy later so you can ask her about it in person."

Zhou Quan knew that Zhou the matchmaker wanted him to ask about this matter, and he understood her.

No one in my aunt's family has ever been a scholar, and because she works as a matchmaker, she usually doesn't dare to associate with people from scholarly families, for fear of being looked down upon. This time, she probably really had no one else to turn to, which is why she came to them.

He has a good relationship with the owner of Xiaolei Academy, so he can naturally help with the introduction. As for whether his aunt's grandson can get in, that depends on how much he has learned in his early education over the years.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhou's hands trembled with excitement. She stood up and hurriedly asked, "Can we go now?"

Zhou Quan looked at Li Mai, who nodded. "Go ahead, take your aunt with you. I'll go back to the shop and help them out for a while. You can come back and pick me up when you're done."

Zhou Quan agreed, got up, and left the teahouse with Zhou the matchmaker, heading east.