Thursday, August 24, 2023.

Deng Da, who was already 78 years old, went to the provincial capital alone.

If it were in other families, if an elderly person of this age who could not read went on a long journey alone, his family would definitely not feel at ease and would either not let him go or have someone accompany him.

But in Deng's house, his wife and children are very relieved.

After all, although Deng Da is illiterate, he has seen the world. He started to make a living in Guangdong Province in the 1970s and 1980s and has lived in a big city for more than ten years. He is different from those old people who have never traveled far.

It is very easy to get to the county town, just take the bus directly to the town.

After arriving in the county town, the second daughter Deng Jiuliu bought a train ticket to the provincial capital and sent Deng Da to the train station.

Deng Da had taken a train more than forty years ago, and the last time he took a train was twenty-nine years ago. The high-speed train was no different from the trains of that era, so Deng Da was naturally familiar with it.

Moreover, if he didn't understand something, he could just ask. For an elderly person like Deng Da, the staff at the train station were happy to help and explain things to him enthusiastically. In short, there was always someone to help him from ticket checking to boarding the train to finding a specific seat.

After the train started moving, Deng Da felt its speed and couldn't help but sigh. Compared with the trains 29 years ago, this speed was really much faster.

No conversation along the way.

An hour and a half later, the train arrived at the provincial capital.

After leaving the train station, Deng Da asked people around for directions to the Xingfu Marriage Agency.

After walking around and asking around for more than ten minutes, Deng Da finally arrived at the Happy Marriage Agency.

When I entered the matchmaking agency, a pretty girl came up to me and said, "Hello, old man. Welcome."

"Hello!" Deng Da greeted her, and then asked, "Little girl, I want to ask if Master Jiang is here?"

The customers who come here are all attracted by the boss's reputation. The receptionist was not surprised by Deng Da's question and replied with a smile, "Old sir, Master Jiang is here. Are you here to find a spouse for your relative? If so, please come here and fill in the information first."

Deng shook his head and said, "Little girl, I have never been to school and I can't read. You should take me to see Master Jiang. I will tell him the situation directly and ask him to help me as a matchmaker."

Hearing that Deng Da had never been to school, the receptionist was not surprised. After all, there were many people who had never been to school in that era. She nodded and said, "Okay, old man, please follow me."

Having said that, he took Deng Da to the boss's office.

…

One minute later.

Jiang Feng and Deng Da sat opposite each other. The receptionist poured Deng Da a cup of tea and then left.

Jiang Feng looked at the old man in front of him who had more white hair than black hair, and asked with a smile: "What's your name, old man? Where are you from?"

Although the Master Jiang in front of him was young, Deng Da did not dare to look down on him at all. His eldest daughter helped him look up the information of this Master Jiang on the Internet, and found that he was really amazing.

Hearing Master Jiang's question, Deng Dalian quickly replied: "My surname is Deng, and I am from Xin'an County, Yulin."

"So we are from the same hometown. I am from Bailiang County, Yulin."

Jiang Feng didn't say much politely and went straight to the point: "Mr. Deng, which of your juniors are you looking for a wife for this time?"

Deng Dadao: "I want to find a husband for my second daughter, third daughter, fourth daughter, fifth daughter and eldest son."

Jiang Feng's eyelids jumped when he heard this. The old man in front of him should be in his seventies or eighties. The youngest of his children was probably in his forties, and the oldest was probably in his fifties or sixties. How come none of them were married?

"Well, Mr. Deng, how old are your children?"

Deng Da remembered the ages of his children very clearly, and blurted out: "My second daughter is 27 years old, my third daughter is 26 years old, my eldest son is 25 years old, my fourth daughter is 24 years old, and my fifth daughter is 23 years old."

Jiang Feng was surprised when he heard this and asked, "Mr. Deng, may I ask how old you are this year?"

Deng Dadao: "I am already 78 years old this year."

Jiang Feng gave a thumbs up and praised: "Great!"

They started having children when they were in their 40s or 50s. The age of the eldest daughter is not clear at the moment, but the other children are born one year. The frequency is really high.

Deng Da smiled and said, "I am not good at other things, but I am as good as anyone in giving birth to children. I had my first child when I was 50 years old. By the time I was 71, I had given birth to 15 children in total, including 3 sons and 12 daughters. I can be considered worthy of our Deng family's ancestors."

Jiang Feng was stunned, and after a while he managed to utter two words: "Awesome."

As a man, Deng Da is proud of this, but when he thinks of the marriage pressures his children face, he has no interest in bragging. He sighed and said, "Master Jiang, my youngest daughter has just started elementary school. Because there are too many brothers and sisters, my children have reached the right age to get married, but have not found a partner. I only know you, Master Jiang, through someone's introduction. I hope you can help matchmake for my children."

Jiang Feng nodded and said, "It's definitely no problem for me to help with matchmaking. Mr. Deng, please briefly tell us about your children!"

Deng Da hummed, then took out a family photo from his pocket and placed it in front of Jiang Feng. He pointed to a well-looking girl and introduced her, "This is my second daughter, Deng Jiuliu. She graduated from Yulin Medical School and is currently working as a nurse in our county hospital."

Jiang Feng looked at the family photo. All the twelve girls in it were above the standard. Two or three of them were very pretty. The second daughter, Deng Jiuliu, was one of them.

Deng Da pointed to his third daughter next to his second daughter and continued to introduce her, "This is my third daughter, Deng Jiuqi. She went to work in Guangdong Province after graduating from junior high school. She currently works in a clothing store in Zhongshan."

"This is my eldest son, Deng Jiuba. He graduated from junior high school and is currently working as a security guard in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province."

"This is my fourth daughter, Deng Jiujiu. She graduated from a technical secondary school and is currently working as a cashier in a large supermarket in the city."

"This is my fifth daughter, Deng Lingling. She graduated from high school and currently works in a garment factory in the capital of Guangdong Province."

After hearing these names, Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, called him an expert. Jiang Feng was trying to hold back his laughter and almost got internal injuries. It was really hard for his children to tolerate these weird names.

After Deng Da gave a brief introduction, Jiang Feng began to ask some detailed questions.

The two of them asked and answered each other for about half an hour before Jiang Feng smiled and said, "Mr. Deng, I already know the situation of your children. Please leave their and your contact numbers. I will call them to discuss the blind date when I arrange it later."

Hearing this, Deng Daxian gave out his own cell phone number, then took out his cell phone from his pocket, opened the address book, and then gave Jiang Feng his children's cell phone numbers one by one.

Although he is illiterate, he still knows the ten numbers 0123456789.

After Jiang Feng wrote down all the phone numbers, Deng Dacai took out five red envelopes that he had prepared long ago, handed them to Jiang Feng and said, "Master Jiang, I am sorry for not bringing any gifts when I came to ask for a matchmaker this time. Please accept these small red envelopes. I will leave the marriage of my children to you."

Jiang Feng did not refuse, took the red envelope and said: "Mr. Deng, you are welcome, I will do my best."

"Then I'll leave first. Call me if you have any news."

"Okay, Mr. Deng, take care."

Jiang Feng escorted Deng Da out of the office and watched him leave.

At this time, Huang Lingwei, who had nothing to do, came over and asked curiously, "Husband, is this old man here to find a marriage partner for his grandson or granddaughter?"

Jiang Feng shook his head and smiled, "Neither, he came here to seek marriage for his son and daughter. Today I was just scratched by a knife and my eyes were opened."

Huang Lingwei was surprised and said, "No way? This old man is already in his seventies or eighties, and his children are still unmarried. Do they need him to come to our matchmaking agency in person to find a partner for his children?"

"He is old, but his children are not old, I tell you...blah blah..."

"Ah? Oh my god... No way? Is this true? This is too amazing..."

…

Jiang San is recognized as a capable person by the whole village.

When he was in the village, he did all kinds of businesses, big and small, and made money. In the late 1990s, Jiang San took out all his savings and went to the county town to open a hot pot restaurant.

I have been doing this for more than 20 years.

Today, this hot pot restaurant named Longhu by Jiang San has already become one of the most famous hot pot restaurants in the county, and Jiang San’s net worth reached eight figures a few years ago.

He made a lot of money, but unfortunately Jiang San was unlucky. His wife died of illness more than ten years ago, and his health has been up and down in recent years. Who knows one day he will go to the underworld and reunite with his wife.

Fortunately, Jiang San has successors. His two handsome sons have grown up to be successful. In the past few years, the hot pot restaurant has been run by his two sons together. The business has been booming, which makes Jiang San very pleased.

The only thing that is giving Jiang San a headache now is how to divide the property between his two sons.

Although both sons have not yet started their own families, Jiang San still wants to divide the family property between his two sons while he is still alive, to prevent the two sons from hurting their brotherly relationship over money issues after he is gone.

The cash, house, car and other things in the house are easy to divide, but the hardest thing to divide is this booming hot pot restaurant.

After all, this is a hen that lays golden eggs, and which son the egg is given to is not disclosed to the other son.

But if each of them gives half and lets the two brothers run the business together, that won’t work either.

Jiang San has seen too many cases where brothers, friends, and relatives started a business together, but ended up turning against each other. Originally, there would be no problems when two brothers started a business together. Ninety-nine percent of the time, problems occurred after they each started a family.

What Jiang San wants to do now is to prevent problems before they happen.

Unfortunately, he thought of many ways, but none of them seemed perfect enough. How could he divide the property between his two sons in a fair and just manner?

Jiang San sat behind the service counter of the Longhu Hotpot Restaurant, observing the occupancy rate of the hotpot restaurant while thinking about how to divide the property between his two sons.

Just when Jiang San was lost in thought, a waitress walked up to him and said, "Boss, there's a guest over there who wants to talk to you."

Jiang San came back to his senses and followed the waitress's gesture. He saw a handsome young man nodding and smiling at him. He nodded in response, then stood up and walked straight to the young man.

"Sir, are you looking for me?" Jiang San sat down opposite him and asked.

The handsome guy nodded and smiled, "Boss, have you eaten before? If not, bring a pair of bowls and chopsticks, and we can eat and chat at the same time."

Jiang San declined politely: "Thank you, I have already eaten. I wonder what you want from me, sir?"

The handsome young man put down his chopsticks and introduced himself: "My name is Jiang Feng, I'm from Bailiang County, and I'm a professional matchmaker. I called you here mainly to help your two sons find partners. I wonder if you are interested in listening?"

Jiang San is 61 years old this year. He has never seen such a young professional matchmaker in his life, and he is still a man. He thought Jiang Feng was joking, so he nodded and smiled: "Okay, then tell me about it."

Jiang Feng observed the other party's expression and knew that the other party was just talking casually and didn't take his words to heart. He didn't care and introduced directly: "Boss, the first girl I want to introduce is from Taiping Town, Xin'an County. She is 27 years old this year and is a nurse in the county hospital. She is 1.63 meters tall and very beautiful. She has a good personality. She is smart, sensible, and filial. She is a perfect match for your eldest son."

Jiang San was a little surprised when he heard this: "Matchmaker Jiang, are you serious?"

Jiang Feng smiled and said, "Of course it's true. This girl is really likable. If it weren't for her family reasons, she would have been married off long ago. Why would it be my turn to be a matchmaker?"

Seeing that Jiang Feng was not joking, Jiang San's eyes lit up and he began to seriously think about whether the girl introduced by Jiang Feng was a good match for his eldest son.

"Matchmaker Jiang, what exactly is the family reason you mentioned?"

Jiang Feng said with emotion: "She has so many brothers and sisters!"

As a rural man in the 1960s, Jiang San was not at all averse to having many children and grandchildren. In fact, if his wife had not been in poor health at that time, he would have had more than these two sons, but at least four or five children.

Therefore, he asked casually, "How many brothers and sisters does she have? Six? Seven?"

Jiang Feng picked up a few pieces of mutton and replied while rinsing it, "She has fourteen brothers and sisters."

Jiang San's eyes widened suddenly when he heard this. If he were a young man, he would have said "Fuck" long ago. After a while, he asked, "Are all the babies born in her family multiples?"

Jiang Feng shook his head and said, "No, they all have one baby each."

Jiang San gave a thumbs up: "This family is amazing!"

Jiang Feng agreed and said, "It's really amazing. You don't know, her father got married at the age of 49, had his first child at the age of 50, and then had 15 children in 21 years. All the children grew up healthily. It's really incredible."

Jiang San was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out.

Jiang Feng sighed, "She has 3 sons and 12 daughters. She is the second oldest in the family. Her youngest sister has just started elementary school. Many people are afraid of getting involved with this family, so they don't dare to mess with her."