The next morning, Li Xiaohua went back to her parents' home.
"Mom, quickly catch me two chickens."
Upon hearing this, Li's mother frowned and said irritably, "You came empty-handed and expect me to catch you two chickens? Have some shame."
"Mother, please don't say such hurtful things. I'm only doing this for my brother's own good."
"Catching my chickens, for your brother's sake? Li Xiaohua, are you out of your mind or am I out of my mind?"
"Mother, listen to me, Xia Chunmei is going to teach my sister-in-law her cooking skills..." Li Xiaohua told Li Pozi about Xia Chunmei's plan in detail.
"I was thinking of giving Xia Chunmei a gift so she could help my brother out. What would my in-laws have to give me? Besides, we're short two chickens, and I don't know what Chen Jinlian and Huang will do to make a scene."
"Xia Chunmei is so capable! She has both a mule cart and a big pot, she must have made a lot of money."
Granny Li was very excited. There wasn't a single large animal in their Li family village, but Xia Chunmei was actually planning to prepare three!
"Of course she's amazing. You wouldn't believe the scene on the day she came of age... The noblemen in the city sent her three large trunks of clothes and a large trunk of fabric, enough for them to wear for a lifetime. They also sent her a mule. I heard from Chen Jinlian that the noblemen also secretly sent her a lot of gold and jewelry."
Is she married?
"She was already engaged, but that guy was a scoundrel. He messed around outside and got two women pregnant. Xia Chunmei broke off the engagement with him. I heard she's planning to find a husband for her. I was thinking it would be great if she had a boy, so I could introduce Jingjing or Honghong to her. What a pity..."
"What a pity!" Granny Li exclaimed excitedly. "Our Li family doesn't have a suitable young man to introduce to her, but my family does. Your uncle's youngest son is twenty-one years old this year, and he's handsome. Wouldn't it be perfect to introduce him to her?"
Li Xiaohua frowned slightly and said, "Mother, Xiao Niu is six years older than her, isn't that inappropriate... Besides, he's not exactly handsome either, he's less than five feet tall and weighs a good 150 pounds."
"What do you know? She'll be more caring as she gets older. Besides, Xia Chunmei has already broken off an engagement once. Her reputation is what it is. What else is there to complain about?"
You said her ex-fiancé got two girls pregnant, so he must be a lecher. Who knows if Xia Chunmei was ever cheated on? My nephew is lucky he even wanted her.
If they get together, would there be any need for gifts? The skill was learned for free anyway.
Granny Li's abacus was clattering away as she thought about it, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt it was a good idea.
“Your in-laws have a good relationship with her. Go talk to her and tell her that if the marriage goes through, your in-laws will definitely get some benefits.”
Li Xiaohua looked troubled: "Mom, the person she's close to is my sister-in-law Chen Jinlian. How could she possibly speak up for me? My mother-in-law has always looked down on our family, so she wouldn't say anything either..."
Upon hearing this, Granny Li pinched Li Xiaohua hard: "You idiot! It's because they look down on us that we're pushing this together. Think about it, if Xia Chunmei becomes your cousin's wife, will she be closer to you or to Chen Jinlian? Will your mother-in-law, that old hag, still dare to look down on our family?"
Li Xiaohua thought about it and agreed that it made sense.
"Then...then I'll go back and sound out Xia Chunmei's opinion."
"Even a strong woman can be won over by persistent suitors. It doesn't matter if she refuses the first time." Granny Li was full of confidence. She would never give up on Xia Chunmei, such a desirable woman!
*******
Li Xiaohua approached Xia Hongfen that very evening.
In her view, Xia Chunmei had no parents, and Xia Hongfen was her aunt. The two had a very good relationship, so as long as Xia Hongfen agreed, she wasn't afraid that Xia Chunmei wouldn't agree.
“Sister Hongfen, that person is my cousin. You see, our family is still benefiting from Chunmei's connections, so we definitely wouldn't introduce someone unreliable.”
My Chunmei says she wants to find a husband.
"Why does she have to marry a man? She has three younger sisters, any of them can marry a man. It doesn't have to be Chunmei who does it, what do you think?"
"How old is your cousin?"
"Twenty-one." Li Xiaohua was afraid that Xia Hongfen would think the age was inappropriate, so she quickly explained, "Older men are more caring. When looking for a man, the most important thing is that he is caring and hardworking. If you find a man who is like a domineering old man, then the woman will really have a life of hard work and will not get any good results."
To be honest, my uncle and aunt also dote on him the most and are biased towards him, so their branch of the family will have an even better life in the future.
Look at our family, my mother-in-law only favors my eldest brother and sister-in-law. What kind of life do you expect from my eldest brother and sister-in-law, and what kind of life do I expect from them…”
"If you think your life is not good, then go back to your Li family! Our Xia family doesn't need you!" As soon as Li Xiaohua finished speaking, her mother-in-law Qiu's angry voice suddenly rang out.
Li Xiaohua was so frightened that her mind went blank. She spoke ill of her mother-in-law and was caught red-handed. What kind of luck is this?
"Mother, I..."
"What do you mean, 'I'? Don't you think I'm biased? Don't you think my Xia family is bad? Then you can just..."
Go back to your Li family and find a new, impartial in-law family!
"Your aunt is the fiercest woman for miles around. Not only does she get along with her sisters-in-law and neighbors, but when she was a daughter-in-law, she drove her parents-in-law to live in a pigsty. Now that she's a mother-in-law, she's just as vicious. Her eldest son's wife suffered two miscarriages from her torment. Anyone who becomes her daughter-in-law is incredibly unlucky!"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiaohua was stunned: "Mother, how can you talk nonsense?"
"I'm talking nonsense? Ha, my family is from Shazitang, right next to your uncle's village. My aunt married into your uncle's village. I even had the pleasure of seeing your aunt drive your grandparents to eat pig feed during the first month of the lunar year!"
Xia Hongfen was furious: "Li, you're praising her to the skies? Aren't you pushing my Chunmei into a fire pit? What did Chunmei do to you? Even if she made you unhappy, that's a lifelong matter. What kind of grudge do you have that you want to ruin her life?"
Li Xiaohua felt utterly wronged: "Sister Hongfen, I didn't know anything about these things. My mother asked me to be a matchmaker. I really didn't know anything..."
"Don't come to my house again. My Chunmei would never marry into a family like this, even if she never marries! Humph!" Xia Hongfen snorted and turned to leave.
“Sister Hongfen…” Li Xiaohua reached out to grab Xia Hongfen, wanting to explain.
Qiu grabbed Li Xiaohua by the hair and slapped her twice across the face: "You think I'm being biased? Life's not easy for you, so today I'll show you what real hardship is!"
Despite her advanced age, Qiu was quite strong due to years of hard work, and Li Xiaohua dared not actually retaliate, so she could only endure it.
When Xia Hongfen got home, she angrily told Xia Chunmei about it.
“From now on, you should have less contact with Li Xiaohua. That wretched woman has ill intentions and is far inferior to Jinlian. She still has the nerve to say that Qiu Shi is biased. If I were her, I would be biased too.”
"Aunt, please don't be angry. In the future, I will either not get married or I will find a husband through marriage. Besides, with my personality, if my mother-in-law is wicked, I will be even more wicked than her."
Xia Chunmei would never wrong herself.
Half an hour later, Chen Jinlian arrived at the door.
"Chunmei, Sister Hongfen, I'm so sorry."
"Auntie, this has nothing to do with you, you don't need to apologize."
“My sister-in-law is a very obedient person to her own parents. My mother-in-law just found out that it was her parents’ idea to arrange the marriage. That old woman has come here a few times, and I’ve met her. She’s not a good person. So you should be careful about this marriage. Sister Hongfen can go and find out for herself.”
“If Grandma Qiu says it’s bad, then it’s definitely bad. I trust her, and I really do want to find a husband.”
Xia Chunmei's marriage fell through, which did Qiu no good. Moreover, it's unusual for a matchmaker to speak so ill of one party. If Qiu dared to do this, it must be truly unethical.
Given Xia Chunmei's current situation, how could she possibly get married?
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