Shen Donghua is the youngest of three sisters. Her personality is contrary to her name. She is not aloof at all. Instead, she is good at speaking and doing things to please others.
Countless times when Donghua was about to be beaten, she would escape because of her mouth, but when Chen Laicai wanted to hit someone, he would not stop until he had vented all his anger.
The stick that was originally going to fall on Donghua will now fall on Shen Chunhua. Originally, each person would only receive two sticks, but now she will receive five sticks.
So Chen Chunhua actually didn't like this sister very much, thinking she was too cunning, until Shen Donghua woke her up in the middle of the night.
"Second sister, think of a way to run away!"
"Ah?" Chen Chunhua was half asleep and half awake when she heard her sister biting her ear, trying to make her run away in the middle of winter.
"You know the father and son who run the pig butcher business in the next village, right? I heard Daddy telling Mommy today that his family is willing to pay 160 yuan for you, but Daddy wants to raise it to 170, saying that even if you discount the price of 36 legs in the city, it would still be 177!"
Chen Chunhua sat up suddenly, her back felt cold, and her mind was completely clear.
"Are you sure you heard correctly?"
Shen Donghua nodded. Because she was obedient, her parents were not really wary of her. Today, when she was washing clothes outside, she was sitting under the window of their room and heard everything clearly.
Chen Chunhua sat on the bed, slapped herself hard and called herself an idiot.
A few days ago, when I was listening to gossip in the fields, I wondered why she joined everyone in sympathizing with someone who would end up being as miserable as her and marry him.
After so many years, why did she still have illusions about her parents, thinking that they were still human beings and had the most basic moral bottom line?
If she isn't an idiot, who is?
After Chen Chunhua calmed down, she turned around and looked at Shen Donghua, "What else did you hear? Can you tell me everything?"
In fact, Shen Donghua was still immersed in the fierceness of her third sister's slap on herself just now. She only reacted when she was asked.
"...Oh, there seems to be nothing else. It seems that the butcher thought 170 was too expensive. We are in the countryside, not the city. But Daddy thinks... thinks... that if she marries him, she will be worth two... and can't be sold cheaply. So now it's still deadlocked..."
Chen Chunhua curled the corners of her lips expressionlessly. Of course, she couldn't sell it cheaply. How could it be worth the cost of growing grain over so many years if she sold it cheaply?
Her mind was in a mess. Sometimes she thought of what Shen Xiahua said before she left, and sometimes she thought of the faces of Shen Laicai and Qian Laier, the dog-parents, and another person, Shen Dahai.
Shen Dahai, the young man who lived at the end of the village, would blush when he saw her, gave her forsythia in spring, foxtail grass in summer, wheat ears in autumn, and bougainvillea in winter.
Although he never said he liked her, everyone knew that Shen Dahai liked her.
For a moment, she wanted to go out and ask, "Can you spend 170 yuan to marry me? If not, how about we elope?"
But thinking of his house, which leaked in the summer and was drafty in the winter, and was filled with the perpetual smell of Chinese medicinal herbs, Shen Chunhua gave up. Shen Dahai's family was broke and couldn't afford to run away. If he ran away, his mother would hang herself on the hospital bed with a hemp rope the next day.
She turned her head and looked at Shen Donghua. The 16-year-old girl felt her back tingle when she looked at her.
"Sister...what's wrong?"
"Is Yuegui's mother trying to matchmake someone?" Yuegui is Shen Donghua's friend.
Shen Donghua nodded, "It seems like there are some, but the mothers in our village don't do it very often, and there are quite a lot of them outside..."
"Take me to her tomorrow."
"……oh."
***
Yuegui's mother has been a matchmaker for more than 20 years. Before liberation, she was a well-known matchmaker in the local area. She arranged marriages for both rich and poor people, not for money, but mainly for her personal hobby.
This was the first time in her life that a virgin girl came to her and asked to be her matchmaker.
"Can you afford a betrothal gift of over 170 yuan? Oh, that's not much for city workers! City dwellers offer 36 legs as betrothal gifts, and they still have dowry requirements. What can you afford? You're asking for too much, girl!"
Chen Chunhua knew this was unscientific, but she couldn't give up. If she couldn't find him, she would have to run away. But these days, running away is not something you can just do. You need a letter of introduction to go anywhere and do anything.
She had no money, no status, no education, and was illiterate. If she simply ran away, the final outcome wouldn't necessarily be better than selling out the father and son. So, until the very end, she wouldn't choose this path.
Laurel took her mother's hand and shook it coquettishly, saying that this was her best friend's sister, and asked her to help find her. Not being able to find her is one thing, but helping to find her is another.
Only then did Yue Gui's mother nod and say, "I understand. I'll try my best to help you find it."
Chen Chunhua bowed to her gratefully, and shamelessly said, "Please do it as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late."
Yue Gui's mother didn't know why she was so busy. Anyway, the ancestors at home were urging her to come, so she went out to visit her matchmaker friend without even having lunch that day.
Coincidentally, a family in the next county was looking for a wife for their son. The boy was 19 years old, and his older sister was already married. There were only three of them at home: him, his parents, and me. While the population was small, and in this age of labor shortages, it wasn't very competitive, but the advantage was that the relationship was simple and peaceful.
They had no other requirements for the girl, except that she had to be capable, very capable. They said their future mother-in-law was frail, unable to do much work and not in charge of family matters, so she needed to be the head of the household once she got married. The bride price was negotiable.
When Yue Gui's mother came back in the afternoon and told Chen Chunhua about it, she started pressing for a meeting again. I've never met a girl more anxious than she is.
Yue Gui's mother said the man's family was in the next county, and it would take more than an hour to get there by tricycle, and it was already mid-afternoon...
Chen Chunhua didn't care and immediately went to borrow a car from someone. She pulled Yuegui's mother into the car and asked her for directions.
The matchmaker had to pay for the ride, as the girl had no money in her pocket. Yue Gui's mother was speechless.
When they arrived at Sihe Village, Lin Guoqing was studying his own winter leeks in the field, and Old Man Lin had just returned from digging winter bamboo shoots in the mountains. The three groups ran into each other at the gate.
Before Yuegui's mother could speak, Chen Chunhua stepped forward and introduced herself.
"Are you looking for a wife? What do you think of me? My name is Chen Chunhua, and I'm from Su County next door. I'm 18 years old and can do everything. I can wash clothes, cook, feed chickens and pigs, chop wood and weed, plow and weed, carry manure and apply fertilizer... You name it, I can do it!"
Chen Chunhua no longer remembered how her family viewed her shocking behavior. She only remembered that Lin Guoqing's entire head was red from his scalp to his neck, like the red head of a matchstick.
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