One day in early August of the lunar calendar, two people suddenly came to the Song family. One was a well-known matchmaker, and the other was Zhang Shengtian.
Upon seeing the woman enter, Song Yongren roughly understood what was going on, but he still quickly ushered the two women into the house.
Everyone called her Aunt Fu, the matchmaker. She was the matchmaker for several neighboring villages, and because of her good reputation, people were willing to hire her.
So, as soon as they sat down, Aunt Fu asked Sister Zhi, "Uncle Yongren probably understands why we're here, right?"
Song Yongren nodded, but was still a little confused. "I know, I know." A matchmaker, what else can she do? Arrange marriages.
However, what he couldn't quite grasp was that this was a marriage proposal for his eldest daughter.
"That's good to know. I won't beat around the bush. It was Uncle Shengtian who invited me here to find a husband for your Lili. The man is his son, Qinghua."
"I wonder what your plans are for Lili?" Aunt Fu then asked.
Song Yongren was completely dumbfounded, because he had never thought of this before!
In his mind, the children were still young, and engagement was a very distant matter that shouldn't be associated with his children.
But now someone has come to him and told him that his children have reached the age to get married, and to be honest, he doesn't want to accept it.
This feeling of being abruptly pulled back to reality made him feel somewhat disgusted, somewhat guilty, and somewhat ashamed.
Regret is directed at others, while self-blame and guilt are directed at one's own child.
"His uncle? His uncle?" Aunt Fu waved her hand, calling out to Song Yongren, who was clearly distracted, while Zhang Shengtian on the other side had a layer of sweat on his palms.
Judging from Lili's expression, does she not want to?
Zhang Shengtian had no idea that Song Yongren was completely bewildered.
"Yongren? Yongren?" Aunt Fu called twice more. This brought Song Yongren back to his senses. "Ah? Oh..."
Aunt Fu found it somewhat amusing. "What are you doing? I'm asking you what Lili's plans are. Has she gotten engaged to anyone?"
"No, no," Song Yongren said somewhat dryly, still feeling a bit uneasy.
But Aunt Fu laughed and said, "That's good. Brother Shengtian's family thinks your girl is good, so they want to talk to Qinghua about it. What do you think?"
“This…” Song Yongren hesitated, unsure of what to say.
Seeing this, Zhang Shengtian realized he had no choice but to intervene, fearing his son's wife might leave him. So he quickly smiled and said...
“Brother Yongren, my Qinghua is not bad. Although he is a bit older than Lili, he will take care of people when he gets older.”
“I also really like Lili. If she marries Qinghua, I will definitely treat her like my own daughter.”
"This... let me think about it. I... this... is a bit sudden, I... can't quite process it yet," Song Yongren stammered.
His mind is completely blank right now; how could he possibly be thinking about anything else?
"Huh?" Zhang Shengtian was stunned, not expecting such an answer. Then he laughed happily, "Is that so? Okay, think about it carefully, think it over carefully."
As long as it's not that he's unwilling, it's fine. But he was so scared. He thought Song Yongren disagreed. Turns out he just couldn't react.
Seeing Song Yongren's dazed expression, Zhang Shengtian finally left with Aunt Fu, saying that Song Yongren should think it over carefully.
Since the matchmaker has come, it's not considered a lack of courtesy. Song Yongren should think it over carefully; who would agree to a match on the first visit?
Zhang Shengtian said goodbye to Aunt Fu and went home with a smile on his face, while Song Yongren sat like a wooden statue for a long, long time, until the children all returned.
The autumn harvest is over, and the task of turning the soil has been assigned to the people punished by the Party Secretary, so Song Yongren has been staying at home for the past few days.
Song Lili took Song Fang to the fields to dig for wild vegetables and pick up ears of grain in the unplowed fields. Song Jianshe and Xia Niu went up the mountain to find firewood and things to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed).
So, none of the family knew that someone had come to their house today, but they were a little worried when they saw Song Yongren looking dazed.
"Big Brother, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Or did something happen?" Song Lili nudged Song Yongren.
Song Yongren was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the children had returned. It was only when Song Lili nudged him that he snapped out of his reverie.
Seeing the worried looks on her children's faces, she smiled and said, "You're back? It's nothing, I was just thinking about something and didn't hear you come back."
Although Song Yongren said this, his gaze towards Song Lili was still somewhat complicated, containing feelings of joy, worry, self-blame, guilt, and reluctance.
The complexity made it impossible for Song Lili to discern the truth; she only felt a pang of sadness.
"Big Brother, what's wrong?" Song Lili asked, clinging to Song Yongren's arm. Something was definitely wrong.
"Sigh..." Song Yongren sighed, seeing the children looking at him expectantly, before he spoke.
"I'm fine, I'm just a little heartbroken." He said with a wry smile, "Lili..."
"What's wrong?" Song Lili's heart skipped a beat. Could this matter be related to her?
“Zhang Shengtian came today, with a matchmaker, saying he’s going to arrange a marriage for you with Zhang Qinghua,” Song Yongren said quietly.
Song Lili immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, so that's what it was. It scared her so much; she thought something terrible had happened.
Then, things became somewhat absurd. So, the huge anomaly was all because of this?
But what's with that constant warmth in my heart?
She tried her best to control her expression, waving her hand dismissively, "Oh, so that's what happened? I know."
"What? You know?"
"It seems I was right after all..."
"Sister..." several people said, but their emotions were all different.
Song Lili nodded calmly, "I know, and I agreed to it."
Now, everyone's heart was filled with complicated emotions. Even Xia Niu, who hadn't spoken until now, was filled with a mix of girlish feelings.
She suddenly felt sad, sad for herself.
Song Lili was actually following her own principles in this marriage proposal; she had agreed to the man's proposal before he came to propose.
But what about her? She was betrothed by her own mother, without her consent at all.
It's not that Song Jianshe treated her badly; she just felt somewhat pitiful compared to Song Lili.
The reason why the Song family members are complicated is that they themselves don't know why; they are just very complicated.
One was that they didn't expect Zhang Qinghua to come back and propose marriage, and the other was that they probably didn't expect Song Lili to have already agreed.
This left Song Yongren feeling somewhat frustrated and depressed, but even more so heartbroken, because he had already anticipated that he really couldn't keep his daughter.
Lili agreed, which means the child is willing. How could he possibly disagree? Of course not, because Zhang Qinghua is really a good person.
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