Chapter 65: Let Me Think About It Again
"I've already spoken with your Uncle Chen. His daughter, Yue Liang, is exceptionally capable and hardworking. If there are no problems, we'll arrange your engagement soon. You'll be a married person in the future."
As soon as Grandma Guo said this, not only did Guo Baiwen turn his head quickly, but even Guo Xiaohua, who was walking in front and was about to fetch water to wash her face, immediately turned around.
In surprise, she asked, "Grandma, what did you just say?!"
Grandma Guo, completely unaware that she had dropped a bombshell, was even able to continue slowly and methodically closing the front door of her house.
Seeing the expressions on the faces of the two people in the house, she tilted her head in confusion, as if wondering about their shock.
After a while, I realized I had forgotten to say something.
He then continued, "However, this is just a suggestion, and we don't know yet whether it will come to fruition."
"The Chen family said they need to think about it for a few more days. If nothing unexpected happens, when your Uncle Chen comes to the county town in a few days, he can give us their address as well."
"Whether this matter goes through in the end or not, it will not affect the relationship between our two families."
At this point, Grandma Guo seemed to remember something. She took a few steps forward, took Guo Baiwen's hand, gently patted the back of his hand, and instructed, "When your Uncle Chen really comes to the shop, we'll spend money to hire a matchmaker and calculate some betrothal gifts to send to the girl's family. Then your marriage will be settled."
"So fast?" Experiencing an engagement happening so quickly for the first time, Guo Baiwen seemed not to have fully reacted and asked this question almost subconsciously.
Grandma Guo rolled her eyes at him and explained, "This is already considered slow. It's not like you can have a wedding right after you get engaged."
"This is the busy farming season. Even if the couple is engaged, the earliest they can expect to get married is during the winter off-season this year or around this time next year."
"The Chen family felt that you were still a bit too young, so they discussed that after the engagement, the wedding would be held after you turned eighteen."
"You mentioned before that you didn't want to get married too early." Grandma Guo seemed a little helpless at this point. "But if we really wait until then, she'll probably be in her early twenties—are you really that into this girl?"
As Guo Baiwen listened, he was momentarily speechless.
She glanced subconsciously at her grandmother, then at Guo Xiaohua, and after a long while, she managed to stammer out, "...Grandma, how did you know...?"
What do you know?
How did you know that?
Grandma Guo put down the hand she was holding, gave Guo Baiwen a disapproving look, and said, "Wen-zai, your grandma may not be young now, but she was young once too, okay?"
She clearly cares about him; she's just getting old and her eyesight isn't failing her.
However, she hesitated for a long time before finally bringing up the matter with the Chen family during her farewell.
Let me suggest a possibility!
Whether it works out in the end or not, how will we know if we don't try?!
Besides, she saw that Chen Baoyue was a capable young girl. Back when she came to the village to catch bighead carp, no young man could compare to her!
If this matter can actually be accomplished in the end, she will have finally put her mind at ease a hundred years from now.
Guo Xiaohua finally realized what was going on. She was both happy and incredulous as she tugged at Grandma Guo's arm. "Grandma, you mean—Sister Chen might become my sister-in-law in the future?"
Grandma Guo patted her head, but didn't nod. She just made a 'shh' gesture with her hand.
"We're still waiting for news. Don't spread rumors before things are settled!"
Meanwhile, Chen Baoyue, who had finally managed to get home with a huge pile of stuff, learned the news after dinner.
Her hand, which was holding the bowl and chopsticks, paused, and she subconsciously looked at her father and mother.
"The Guo family's son is down-to-earth and capable, and his family has a clean reputation. Not only does he have his own business in the county town, but I've also heard that he's been sent to study at an academy." Whether he can actually complete his studies remains to be seen, but just the fact that he can read already makes him better than the families that the matchmakers introduced before.
This is also why Chen Youtian couldn't help but scrutinize Guo Baiwen last time.
At that time, I just felt that although this kid was a good person, he was two years younger than my own Yue Liang.
Nowadays, although there are cases where wives are older than their husbands, they are still a very small minority.
So he never thought about it again.
Unexpectedly, Grandma Guo took the initiative to bring up the idea of her family getting engaged.
To put it bluntly, he initially felt that the two families' current situations were not a good match.
But upon closer reflection, Guo's son was indeed a more reliable choice than the other kids in the village.
Moreover, his wife, Chen Zhonghua, was unusually refrain from immediately objecting.
He only said that he would consider it carefully for a few more days after he returned.
Actually, he just wanted to ask Chen Baoyue for her opinion privately.
Chen Zhonghua knew the importance of marriage for women nowadays. Although the Guo family seemed like a good family now, she had only had one child, Chen Baoyue, all these years.
Even if people nowadays prefer to talk about arranged marriages, if their family really cared about that, they wouldn't have kept Chen Baoyue until this age.
So ever since Chen Youtian mentioned this, she has been subconsciously paying attention to Yue Liang's reaction.
There was confusion and helplessness, but no aversion or disgust.
I can't see anything else.
She thought for a moment, then turned to give her husband a look, signaling him to leave. After that, only the mother and daughter remained in the room.
Chen Zhonghua then walked over, gently pulled her daughter into her arms, and patted her silently. "Good Moon, what do you think about this? Tell your mother properly."
It's fine if you're willing.
It's fine if you don't want to.
It all depends on her own decision.
Chen Baoyue was somewhat at a loss. Chen Zhonghua patted her back gently and intermittently. After a while, she finally spoke softly, "Mother, I... I don't know."
Chen Zhonghua stopped patting her back. She thought for a moment and asked, "Do you dislike that Guo family boy?"
The person in his arms shook their head quickly upon hearing this.
Chen Zhonghua thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you dislike the other members of the Guo family?"
Hearing this, Chen Baoyue thought of Grandma Guo and Guo Xiaohua, and she slowly shook her head, "I don't dislike them."
Patting her head, Chen Zhonghua continued, "So, do you like that Guo family boy?"
like?
Chen Baoyue thought of Guo Baiwen.
I recalled that first lash of the whip, and gradually I thought of that encounter in front of the fur shop, and the arrows and headbands at this gathering.
My mind is a jumble of thoughts.
She remained silent for a long time, her mind a jumble of thoughts, and when her mother asked her question, she could only manage to stammer, "I don't know."
She doesn't know what liking someone means.
But when Guo Baiwen is in danger, he will instinctively rush forward.
She didn't know if it was because of her instinct as a hunter's daughter, or because the man was Guo Baiwen.
And when he gave me a hairband, although I was initially a little surprised, I was still happy.
If this is what liking someone is—
This thing is different from the hunting skills taught by my father and uncles; the line between it and not is too blurry.
She herself didn't dare to make a decision casually.
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhonghua sighed helplessly.
When she married Chen Youtian, she was in a daze because her father was seriously ill, and she brought a lot of dowry with her when she got married.
Now that things have come to this, she doesn't know how to explain it to her daughter.
Let her think about what her mother said to her back then.
"Then let's not talk about whether we like it or not for now." Chen Zhonghua thought for a moment and decided to be more practical.
"I'll now lay it all out for you, to explain why your father values the Guo family."
“The Guo family has shops and businesses in the county town. You saw for yourself how good their business was last time. Grandma Guo said that they also have more than two acres of farmland that they rent out. If you agree to the engagement, you can move to the county town to live.”
"I'm not talking about becoming extremely wealthy, but life will definitely be much better than it is now."
Given these conditions, Guo Baiwen could easily find a girl from the county town to get engaged.
But Grandma Guo took a liking to Baoyue, who was two years older than Guo Baiwen. Besides the fact that she liked her, Chen Zhonghua was more inclined to believe that Guo Baiwen actually liked his daughter.
During the day at the market stalls, for no apparent reason, she had this feeling inexplicably.
This is also why Chen Zhonghua is more inclined to facilitate this marriage; after all, reaching this point is already far better than the currently popular arranged marriages.
“Now that you’re this age, all the families who have come to propose marriage in recent years have told you about them.” Chen Zhonghua pulled out a few more sheets of paper from somewhere, pointed to the names written on them, and said, “It’s okay if you really don’t like the Guo family’s son.”
"Before leaving today, Grandma Guo said in advance that whether it succeeds or not in the end, it's all normal."
"If you don't want to marry into the Guo family, once you've made your decision, just have your father go to town and tell them a few days later."
"After all, we haven't discussed anything about birth charts or birth dates yet, so it won't delay our marriages later."
They all got married?
In other words, Guo Baiwen will marry someone else...
And she—
Chen Baoyue scanned the names on the list. Although she had never been to school, her mother had given her some early education at home and would read her a few good stories or travelogues in her spare time.
Therefore, she can recognize most of the simpler characters.
Looking at the rows of names, some familiar and some unfamiliar, and recalling the stories her mother had read to her, Chen Baoyue felt even more confused.
Clutching the few sheets of paper her mother handed her, she subconsciously gripped the edges of the papers tightly, and looked up at her, saying, "Mother, let me think about it. Let me think about it some more."
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Author's Note: That concludes today's four-chapter release! [Heart emoji] Thank you for your support, my little angels!
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