Chapter 1789 Matchmaker
Shopkeeper Zheng always felt that Zhou Man looked at him as if he were an evil father, as if he would sell his son for fame and fortune, but was he that kind of person?
Shopkeeper Zheng thought that his son must have said something in front of Zhou Man, so he blew his beard in anger.
Seeing that he was angry, Manbao quickly comforted him, "Boss, although Zheng Gu has a soft temper, he is actually gentle. As a doctor, a gentle temper is the best. If you look hard enough, you will definitely find a good daughter-in-law."
Manager Zheng felt even angrier.
At noon, Zheng Gu and Zheng Shao came to pay their respects to their master with gifts on their faces. "I don't know what's wrong with my father today. He was fine this morning, but after the master left, he's been looking at me with displeasure. I was supposed to deliver the gifts after noon, but I couldn't stand my father's nagging, so I came early."
Doctor Liu arrived half an hour late. The two families were planning a marriage, so she felt embarrassed to visit them. However, it was customary to bring food to the master on the winter solstice.
Manbao happily accepted their gifts and wanted to invite them to have lunch at his home, but all three of them refused.
Because there were quite a lot of people coming to the Zhou family today to deliver delicious food.
Yin Huo, Liu Huan, and even Feng Zongping personally brought some delicious food and directly occupied their yard to eat and drink.
Feng Zongping said, "Your family is more comfortable. The adults don't supervise you much, you have many children, and you have a big garden. You can play however you want."
Bai Shanze and Manbao said, "I was thinking of bringing food to Brother Tang and Brother Yang this afternoon, but it seems impossible now."
Manbao said: "It's okay, we still have a day off tomorrow, we will go and send it tomorrow."
The Winter Solstice is a festival for exchanging food.
Everyone has worked hard for a year, and by the winter solstice, basically all the work for the year is done, and the next step is to wait for the New Year.
So even poor families would take out some things to make delicious food and then share it with relatives and friends.
Even the business trips outside were closed, so everyone could enjoy the food and socialize with each other.
Bai Shan had no schoolwork for a rare occasion, so Manbao also put her work on hold on hold, and even suspended Teacher Mo's class for a few days.
Teacher Mo didn't quite understand their festival. To him, the Winter Solstice seemed to exist only in history books, and this festival was no longer celebrated much in his time.
Because as long as they want, every day is a holiday; and as long as they are busy, even holidays become like working days.
Manbao and his friends ate happily for the whole day. The next day, they picked out many delicious foods from home, including some special ones, and put them in baskets and food boxes. They then took them to give as gifts to Lord Tang and Lord Yang.
Tang He and Yang Heshu have been spending the past two days eating and drinking with relatives and friends.
Tang Hexian accepted their gifts, thought for a moment, picked up a basket of steamed buns from the kitchen, took a few pieces of smoked pork from under the kitchen eaves, and went with them to find Yang Heshu.
So everyone spent another day at Yang Heshu's house. When they left, they not only had a full stomach, but also received a lot of gifts from the Yang family.
Old Zhou watched Li Jun take something out of the basket and curiously rummaged through a box, then asked, "What is this?"
Manbao took a look and said, "Bird's nest."
She said, "This is good. Take it out and ask my sister-in-law to cook it. Mom's spleen and stomach are not very good. She should eat a small bowl every day to nourish her spleen and stomach. My sister-in-law can also eat it to beautify her skin."
When the sisters-in-law heard this, they couldn't help but come forward to take a look, and asked curiously: "Is this a bird's nest?"
Xiao Qian took a look and asked, "How do you cook bird's nest?"
"Just add water and boil it," Manbao didn't quite understand. "Or I'll look it up later and write down a few recipes."
Zhou Lijun glanced at the aunts and sisters in the room and felt that there were too many people at home, and this little bit of bird's nest would only be enough for one meal. So he closed the box and said directly, "Keep it. Isn't this bird's nest also a medicine? You never know when it will come in handy."
Qian and Xiao Qian also thought so. This thing is precious. Why would they eat it for no reason?
As a result, a few days later, when Manbao was resting again, Old Zhoutou told Manbao that his appetite was not very good and he didn't want to eat anything. He wanted to eat something to nourish his spleen and stomach.
Manbao understood it instantly, so she prescribed a recipe for bird's nest porridge for her father and then showed it to her sister-in-law.
She squatted in the kitchen and whispered to her sister-in-law, "Cook it. Make two more bowls for my parents and sister-in-law."
Little Qian smiled and tapped her nose, saying happily, "What a clever girl, just like dad. Be careful that mom will find out and beat dad."
Manbao chuckled and said, "Don't worry, mother will be fine in a couple of days."
Although Xiao Qian accepted the recipe, she did not cook three bowls, but only two. She gave one bowl to Old Zhou and one bowl to Qian.
After eating it, Old Zhou said to Qian, "No wonder people like this so much. It's really delicious."
Qian gave him a sidelong glance and said, "You're already so old, yet you're pretending to be sick just to get a bite to eat."
Old Zhou shamelessly defended himself, "Who said I was faking illness? I really didn't have an appetite, but I'm feeling much better now. I'll ask the old lady at home to make some mutton soup buns for us tonight."
Qian ignored him and brought up the Liu family's marriage proposal. "Manbao said the Liu family has agreed, and the two children have been getting along well these past few days. I mean, while Manbao is off for the next two days, let's ask the matchmaker to go and talk to them."
Old Zhou agreed, "Yes, it's already the twelfth lunar month. Let's set it up before the New Year, and then we can choose a date for the wedding. By the way, how much money do you have at home?"
Although Lijun was in charge of the accounts now, Qian Shi knew the situation well. She said, "Don't worry, it's enough for a wedding."
Old Zhou was relieved.
As soon as Qian was interested in proposing marriage, Manbao said, "I've discussed it with Imperial Physician Liu, and we both think Xiao Yuanzheng would be a good matchmaker. I mentioned it to Xiao Yuanzheng two days ago, and he agreed."
She said, "My family has prepared the gifts. Tomorrow I will take my elder brother and sister-in-law to the Xiao family to invite Xiao Yuanzheng."
Qian nodded and immediately prepared a gift for her.
Because the marriage has not been completed yet, all we need now is to hire a matchmaker. Moreover, for a marriage that has already been agreed upon by both parties, and an acquaintance has been invited to act as the matchmaker, we don't even need to pay any money. We just need to prepare some food and daily necessities, which is very simple.
The next day, Manbao took his elder brother and sister-in-law to the Xiao family with gifts.
Xiao Yuanzheng received Zhou Man's invitation a day in advance and was waiting at home early. After accepting their gift, he smiled and said, "It's just right. I have a place to eat lunch."
I plan to propose to them at noon.
Zhou Dalang and Xiao Qian hurriedly expressed their gratitude.
Xiao Yuan was politely entertaining everyone, and as he sent Man Bao out, he sighed, "My little daughter is about the same age as Liu Yinu, and she won't leave the palace for another two years. If Imperial Physician Zhou finds a suitable candidate by then, don't forget to introduce her to me."
Zhou Man: "...Okay."
How did she become a matchmaker for no apparent reason?
Watching the Zhou family walk away, Xiao Yuanzheng sighed. Madam Xiao had walked up to him at some point and also sighed, "Back then, you said you'd tell the kids about her..."
"Don't do that," Xiao Yuanzheng said, "Your son is not worthy of her."
Madam Xiao said unhappily, “You speak as if that is not your son.”
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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