Chapter 053: Poor Parents
The big guys in the yard also came over with curious eyes to listen to Yao Dazui's gossip.
Yao Dazui clapped his hands, like a wake-up call in a storyteller's old days, and said, "Wang Dali's girlfriend's mother, Old Lady Hao, is a truly formidable character. Do you know Matchmaker Wang? The one who lives in Xiaoyuan Hutong."
Everyone nodded in unison. They all knew the matchmaker Wang that Yao Dazui had mentioned. She was the most reputable matchmaker in South City. Because she was honest and straightforward when introducing people, many people in South City turned to her for matchmaking. For example, even nearby, the wife of Niu Xiaodong, the head of the Niu family in their compound, was introduced by Wang.
I don’t know why, but some time ago, Matchmaker Wang suddenly announced that she would no longer be doing this business.
Yao Dazui: "Matchmaker Wang is so upset by Old Lady Hao that she has stopped matchmaking for anyone!"
"Huh? Yao Dazui, tell me, what's going on?"
Yao Dazui said, "Here's what happened. Old Lady Hao asked Matchmaker Wang to find a date for her son. Matchmaker Wang did, and she found her according to her requirements: a beautiful, employed, local hukou girl. Old Lady Hao was satisfied with both her appearance and appearance, so they decided to meet. But on the day of the meeting, when Matchmaker Wang arrived with the girl's family, she saw Old Lady Hao alone. The girl asked what was going on."
Yao Dazui paused, keeping the question in suspense. "Do you know what Old Lady Hao said?"
"What are you talking about?" everyone asked curiously.
Yao Dazui said, "Old Lady Hao said she would first look for her son. If she's qualified, she'll let her son come over to meet the woman."
Wow.
The aunties, uncles, brothers and sisters who were listening to the gossip were all shocked.
What era is this? It's not like the past when people only cared about parents' orders and matchmaker's words, and they could get married if parents were satisfied with the couple's marriage after just one meeting. Now, normal marriages are between the man and the woman, so what's the big deal about the man's mother meeting the woman?
"No, what does she mean? What is she going to see? Matchmaker Wang didn't introduce the girl to her before. Didn't she see the photo?"
Yao Dazui said, "Of course I saw it. How could I not see it? The matchmaker told me clearly that Old Lady Hao agreed to meet me only after seeing the photo."
"She's already seen the photos, so what's the point of doing this? Does she look down on the girl?"
"Well, if you don't like the girl, don't agree to meet her!"
"That's right. I agreed to see you, and now you're doing this. How disrespectful!"
"Exactly. This is just like the old emperor choosing his concubines. Before the emperor meets his concubine, he has to be examined by an old maid. It's disgusting!"
It's no wonder that everyone was talking about it. What Old Lady Hao did was really too outrageous. Even Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui thought it was outrageous.
Even if Mrs. Hao was worried that the girl's photos were fake and she wanted to see what she looked like, she could have gone to see her secretly! Did she have to let the man's mother and the girl see each other alone?
The woman can only meet the man if the man's mother is satisfied. Men and women are both human beings. Why should the woman be inferior when they meet each other and be unilaterally picked and chosen by the man?
Even in the Dayu Dynasty where women had a relatively low status, such behavior of looking down on women and trampling on their face was rare!
"Old Yao, what happened next? What happened? Wasn't the woman you were meeting unhappy?"
Yao Dazui said, "How is that possible? Don't you think about it? Old Lady Hao was so disrespectful to the girl, how could she not be angry? The girl's mother was so angry that her face turned red. She asked Matchmaker Wang what was going on. Oh, poor girl, Matchmaker Wang had no idea that Old Lady Hao would cause such trouble."
She smacked her lips and continued, "The woman's family was quite sensible. Seeing how Matchmaker Wang acted, they knew she had nothing to do with the matter and that it was Old Lady Hao who was behind it. So they didn't pursue the matter with Matchmaker Wang and focused on dealing with Old Lady Hao. They gave her a beating, and from what Matchmaker Wang said, she came back with a black eye and a swollen face."
"Should!"
"She deserved whatever beating she got!"
“That’s right!”
Yao Dazui said, "This matter is not over yet. After she was beaten, she went back and asked Matchmaker Wang for money."
"Ah? What kind of money does Matchmaker Wang want?"
Yao Dazui said, "She said that if it wasn't for the person that Matchmaker Wang introduced her to, who beat her up, Matchmaker Wang should be held responsible for her being beaten up, and that she should be compensated by Matchmaker Wang."
"Oh, she still has the nerve to blame Matchmaker Wang. Why doesn't she think that if it wasn't her fault, she would have been beaten?"
Yao Dazui: "That's right. In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that there's nothing wrong with Matchmaker Wang, but Old Lady Hao is a troublemaker. She kept going to Matchmaker Wang's house and making a scene all day long, leaving Matchmaker Wang with no choice but to offer her compensation. But then she said she didn't want the money anymore and just wanted Matchmaker Wang to find a good match for her son, so Matchmaker Wang had no choice but to agree."
She curled her lips and said, "Matchmaker Wang is really a good person. Even in this situation, she still seriously tried to find a suitable match for her son, and she actually found a suitable girl!"
"And then, what then?"
Yao Dazui: "One of the requirements that Old Lady Hao gave Matchmaker Wang was that the girl she introduced to her had many brothers. She said that having many brothers proved that the girl's mother was fertile and that the girl, like her mother, would also be fertile and could carry on the family line for her son, who had been the only son in her family for three generations. Matchmaker Wang searched hard and found a girl with seven brothers. Old Lady Hao was satisfied this time, but her son Hao Fang was not. He told the girl in front of her that he had a partner. The angry girl went home and called her seven brothers to smash the Hao family and beat up Matchmaker Wang. Matchmaker Wang is old, and the beating caused her back to hurt, so she stopped doing her matchmaking job because of this."
Old Lady Yang: "Hey, that person Hao Fang was talking about, is that Wang Dali?"
Yao Dazui: "Yes, that's Wang Dali. They got along well back then."
Everyone curled their lips in disgust. Hao Fang and Wang Dali are already together, but old lady Hao still arranged a blind date for him. How disgusting!
Shi Yue thought of what happened in the morning and raised his eyebrows.
Unexpectedly, not only was Mrs. Hao annoyed by Wang Dali's sarcastic remarks, she was also beaten by the family of the girl she had a blind date with. She really deserved it!
There was a hint of gloating in his eyes, which Shi Qiushui noticed and tugged at his sleeve curiously, "Dad?"
Shi Yue knew his daughter wanted to hear gossip, so he whispered, "I'll tell you when we get back."
Shi Qiu Shui nodded obediently.
Over there, Old Lady Yang, Gao Cuifen, Li Xiuying and several other aunts severely despised Old Lady Hao's behavior, but they were a little curious.
"Oh, that's not right. How did Wang Dali end up dating Hao Fang? Hao Fang isn't from our machinery factory, and he doesn't live in our area."
Yao Dazui said, "Well, you guys don't know this, right? They met as pen pals. You don't understand, but this kind of thing is really popular among young people these days."
"Pen pals?"
Yao Dazui: "Yes, it was one of those dating columns in the newspaper, and then we got to know each other through letters."
Li Xiuying frowned. "Hey, everyone knows what pen pals are. But, dating a pen pal? That's a bit far-fetched!"
Gao Cuifen curled her lips. "That's right. We haven't even met in person, we've only written letters. We don't even know who the person is, what they do, or what their family situation is like, and yet we're already in love?"
Old Lady Yang was worried: "Ah? You haven't even met him, and you don't even know that he's a bad guy, and you're already in a relationship? Oh, the young people nowadays are so brave..."
Not only the old ladies, but also the younger people in the courtyard, such as Mr. and Mrs. Liu, could not accept it.
Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui couldn't accept it at all. Pen pals were a bit too advanced for them.
Is it popular among young people nowadays to have pen pal relationships?
Yao Dazui said: "Hey, who said that we could fall in love without meeting each other? They became pen pals first and then fell in love after meeting each other. Wang Dali herself said that she just wanted to make friends at first, and she saw Hao Fang's name and thought she was a woman. It was not until they met that she found out that she was a man. Hao Fang also misunderstood that she was a man and became her pen pal."
Old Lady Yang still couldn't accept it: "Even if we're just friends, I still feel uneasy."
Gao Cuifen had the same thought: "How can you make friends without even knowing if the other person is a man or a woman? Not to mention Wang Dali and Hao Fang who didn't do it on purpose, but if someone deliberately lied to you, you wouldn't even know."
Yao Dazui spread his hands and said, "If you don't worry, then don't worry. Young people are very confident nowadays, and you can't control them."
This is indeed the reason why Old Lady Yang and Gao Cuifen remained silent.
After a long silence, Gao Cuifen suddenly said, "It's no wonder that Old Lady Hao isn't happy about Hao Fang and Wang Dali dating."
She said: "If my little sister started dating a pen pal after just one meeting, I would think she is unreliable and would look down on her."
When people around thought about it, they realized that what Gao Cuifen said was right.
Although Mrs. Hao is not a good person, if you put yourself in her shoes, they would not be happy if their son dated a pen pal they didn't know much about.
Gao Cuifen: "Besides, who would go to the newspaper's dating column to make friends? Why can't there be friends in real life? Anyway, if my little Si tried to make pen pals, I would definitely stop him."
Yao Dazui laughed at her: "You really don't understand. How can a pen pal be the same as a real-life friend?"
Gao Cuifen: "Then tell me, what's the difference?"
Yao Dazui: "It's different. It's different in... uh... in..."
In fact, she couldn't tell what was different.
She curled her lips. "It's just different anyway! Also, Lao Gao, let me tell you, as parents, no matter how many children you have, whether they make friends or fall in love, you should stay out of it. Aren't those three kids before you unwilling to even come back because you were too controlling?"
Yao Dazui's casual remark accidentally hit Gao Cuifen in the heart.
The proudest thing about Gao Cuifen's life was that she gave birth to four sons in a row, but the most frustrating thing was also that three of her four sons left her.
Her face suddenly darkened. "They didn't come back because I was too controlling? No! It's because I wasn't controlling enough! I gave them too much freedom, and they all married illegitimate wives. They didn't listen to me at all, weren't filial to me as their mother-in-law, and they kept trying to sow discord between me and my son!"
Gao Cuifen was filled with resentment towards her three daughters-in-law. She said angrily, "If it weren't for those three black-hearted daughters-in-law, my sons would all be obedient. Don't you know how well behaved my eldest, second, and third sons were before?"
Li Xiuying looked down on Gao Cuifen, and even more so on the fact that she protected her own son without any bottom line.
She taunted him, "Gao Cuifen, stop kidding yourself. If your sons were truly filial to you and cared about you, they wouldn't come back no matter how much your daughters-in-law tried to sow discord. They've been spoiled by you for a long time. They were obedient and filial before, but that was just to squeeze money out of you two old people. Now that you two old people have been squeezed dry and have no use for them anymore, they won't want to come back."
Gao Cuifen's face turned pale and blue.
Did she really not know this fact? No, she knew it, but because she was unwilling to admit her failure in education, nor was she willing to accept the fact that she had given birth to three ungrateful children, she had been pretending not to know.
Now that this fact was exposed by Li Xiuying, she felt as if her face had been torn off. She was angry and embarrassed.
No, as long as she doesn't admit it, no matter what Li Xiuying says, it will be useless!
Gao Cuifen retorted excitedly, "No way! My eldest, second, and third children are all good kids, very obedient and filial. It's their wives who have led them astray! It's their wives who have led them astray!"
Li Xiuying: "Tsk, even if they were led astray, it means they are not good people themselves."
Gao Cuifen shouted, "I told you they were good kids! Why didn't you believe me? How could good kids not be led astray? Didn't you see that Xiaobei used to be a good kid, but now he's been led astray by his girlfriend and he doesn't even listen to his mother!"
In order to find an excuse for her son, she directly used Niu Xiaobei as an example.
But the timing of her saying this was a bit inappropriate. As soon as she finished speaking, Ma Yulan dragged Niu Xiaobei in from the gate.
Seeing Ma Yulan and Niu Xiaobei, Gao Cuifen stopped talking abruptly.
The expressions of the other people in the courtyard were also a little embarrassed. Everyone knew that Ma Yulan was anxious and angry about Niu Xiaobei's matter, and Gao Cuifen said this at this time... Even if the words didn't come from their mouths, they still felt a little embarrassed.
Ma Yulan didn't react at all. She greeted everyone with a faint expression and led Niu Xiaobei into the house.
After Ma Yulan closed the door, Gao Cuifen asked guiltily, "Old Ma wasn't angry just now, was she? She even greeted me. Does that mean she wasn't angry? Right?"
Li Xiuying glanced at her and said, "What do you think?"
Gao Cuifen said hopefully, "Probably not. Maybe she didn't even hear what I said."
Li Xiuying rolled her eyes: "You shouted so loudly just now, how could Lao Ma not hear you!"
Gao Cuifen slapped her forehead in regret: "Oh, it's my fault for speaking too quickly. Oh, I really didn't mean to say that. I just didn't think before I spoke."
Old Lady Yang said seriously, "Cui Fen, you really should watch your mouth. You can't say anything you want!"
Yao Dazui said: "That's right, Lao Ma has been in a bad mood these past two days, and you still say this, she must be feeling very upset!"
"Yes, Aunt Gao, you shouldn't have said that just now." Shi Yue also interrupted.
Gao Cuifen is really something. She made enemies with Li Xiuying because of her talkativeness, but she still hasn’t learned to control her mouth.
Gao Cuifen glared at Li Xiuying aggrievedly.
She also knew that she said the wrong thing, but she really didn't mean it. Isn't this just a matter of talking nonsense? Why does everyone blame her? If someone should be blamed, it should be Li Xiuying. If Li Xiuying hadn't mentioned her son, she wouldn't be angry, nor would she think of excuses, and she wouldn't talk about Niu Xiaobei!
Li Xiuying: "Why are you glaring at me? Do you still want to blame me?"
Gao Cuifen quickly shook her head: "No, I don't blame you."
Although she blamed Li Xiuying in her heart, she would be wrong if she said it out loud.
Gao Cuifen changed the subject: "Well, should I go explain to Mom that I really didn't mean that just now?"
Yao Dazui: "Explain? Explain what? If you don't mean that, what else can you mean?"
Gao Cuifen: "I..."
Li Xiuying rolled her eyes. "Come on, stop the you-me-me thing. Old Ma is upset enough. If you explain yourself, won't that just add fuel to the fire?"
Gao Cuifen: "But Lao Ma..."
"Oh!" Shi Yue: "Aunt Gao, please stop making trouble. Don't you know who Aunt Ma is? She won't hold a grudge just because you said a few words."
Just based on Gao Cuifen's words, if Ma Yulan wanted to hold a grudge, she would have done so a long time ago. Why would she have to wait until now?
Gao Cuifen had no idea what Shi Yue was thinking, and she even nodded.
"Yes, yes, Lao Ma is not the kind of person who holds grudges. Even if she is angry, she will be fine after a while. I'd better not bother her anymore."
Shi Qiu Shui held her little face in her hands in surprise. Was Grandma Gao convinced like this?
Shi Yue twitched his lips. Forget it. It’s better not to say anything since his words are so unpleasant.
Even Li Xiuying twitched her eyes and was speechless.
"By the way, why did Xiaobei come back so early? Doesn't he have to attend evening self-study every night?" Shi Yue realized a question belatedly.
"Huh!" As expected, Yao Dazui stood up again. She acted like an insider and said, "It's all because of Xiaobei's premature love. Xiaobei refused to break up with that female classmate, and Lao Ma had no choice but to think that if they don't want to break up, then so be it. I'll just make sure you don't have time to meet. So, she went to the school today to discuss it with the teacher. In the end, the result of the discussion was that Niu Xiaobei would attend classes at school as usual during the day, but Lao Ma would pick him up after class, and not let him eat dinner at school, and go to evening self-study."
Shi Yue: “Ah?”
What is this operation?
If Niu Xiaobei wanted to meet his female classmate, it would be okay even if he didn't have dinner at school or attend evening self-study. He could still see her during the ten minutes after class.
Although the others didn't say anything, they were all thinking about this.
But, it’s not impossible for everyone to understand Ma Yulan’s thoughts.
Niu Xiaobei had the college entrance exam in just over a month or less. Forcing him to break up now, forcing him to quarrel with his family and preventing him from concentrating on studying, was definitely not an option. But letting Niu Xiaobei date his girlfriend was definitely not an option either. When he was dating without telling his family, he was skipping classes with her. Now that everyone knew about it, he would surely become even more unruly. If anything went wrong, it would be unacceptable.
So Ma Yulan could only pretend to disagree and ask Niu Xiaobei to at least stop being so presumptuous.
Li Xiuying: "Actually, I ran into Lao Ma at noon. She told me she'd asked for leave this morning. I was wondering why she'd asked for leave. It seems like she's working on this kind of thing."
Yao Dazui shook his head. "Not only that, I heard she even went to see the parents of Niu Xiaobei's female classmate. It seems she was trying to talk to them into letting the two kids study hard for the college entrance exam. If they can get into a local university, they should do so. If they can't, even if they go out of town, they can discuss a place close by so they don't have to worry about transferring them back later."
Shi Qiu Shui's big eyes, clearly black and white, blinked, full of admiration.
Grandma Yao is so amazing, she is so well-informed, it's like she's eavesdropping on people's roofs!
However, the aunties in the yard guessed at a glance that Yao Dazui was eavesdropping again.
But no one exposed Yao's big mouth, they just sighed, "Poor parents."
Look at how much Ma Yulan opposed Niu Xiaobei's relationship with his girlfriend and going out of town with her in the morning. However, after calming down, she went to find the girl's parents. Not only did she acquiesce to the two children's relationship, she even tacitly agreed to the possibility of them going out of town together.
There is nothing we can do. As parents, we cannot persuade our children.
Unable to persuade the child, she had to consider it in advance. He said he wanted to go to another place, so Ma Yulan found a good university close to home for him.
well--
"It's not easy for Lao Ma..."
"That's right. Did you see it just now? Old Ma looks like he's aged several years."
"I saw it, how could I not see it! But, come to think of it, being a parent isn't easy for any of us. Old Li, weren't you also worried about your Fangfang when she was in high school? And you, Old Gao, you worried about your child too, didn't you? The only one in our courtyard who's a little less worried is you, Old Yang."
Old Mrs. Yang, who was called, waved her hand.
"Well, who doesn't need to worry? Our Zhiqiang has given me a lot of worries too. Look, these past few days I was worried that he wouldn't find a partner. You said he's already in his thirties, why isn't he in a hurry to find a partner or get married? In our area, there are people around his age whose children are almost old enough to help with household chores, but he's still single."
The more she talked, the more worried she became. Old Lady Yang sighed deeply, "Alas, as parents, how can we not worry?"
Shi Yue nodded in agreement. This little guy of his was only six years old, didn’t he also cause him a lot of worry?
Shi Qiushui, caught by Shi Yue's gaze, smiled innocently: "Dad?"
Shi Yue rubbed her head: "It's okay."
Yao Dazui gave Old Lady Yang some advice: "Old Yang, don't worry too much. Your Zhiqiang isn't in a relationship, maybe he hasn't met someone he likes. Why don't you arrange some blind dates for him and let him meet a few more people? Maybe he'll meet someone he likes."
Old Lady Yang: "Blind date... I've thought about it, but when I approached Matchmaker Wang before, she no longer does matchmaking. I'm also afraid other matchmakers are unreliable."
She didn't have high expectations for her son's partner, but to be honest, although her son's conditions were not particularly good, he was still a small business owner with some money in his pocket. She was afraid that the matchmaker would introduce her son to someone who was only interested in money.
Yao Dazui said, "Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier? I know a matchmaker! I've known her for years, and she's guaranteed to be reliable!"
Old Lady Yang: "Really?"
Yao Dazui said, "Of course! Come on, Lao Yang, tell me what kind of person you want to find for your Zhiqiang. Then I can talk to my sister and ask her to help you find one."
Old Lady Yang: "Ah, actually I don't have any special requirements. My son Zhiqiang is not particularly good-looking, nor is he educated. I'm not picky about these conditions in the woman. She just needs to be pretty. It's mainly about eye contact. In addition, I hope the woman is someone who lives a serious life and has a good temper. You know I have a soft temper. If the woman has a hard temper, I'm afraid we won't get along..."
Yao Dazui: "Yeah, is there anything else?"
"Ah, and I hope the girl's family can get along better..."
"Okay, and..."
“…”
Yao Dazui pulled Old Lady Yang to discuss introducing a girl to Yang Zhiqiang. Without further gossip, Shi Yue thought he could take Shi Qiu Shui home.
As a result, Shi Qiu Shui blinked and leaned over to listen to how the other person introduced the partner.
Shi Yue: "Xiao Qiu is back!"
People are introducing each other to each other, why are you, a kid, getting involved!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
