After Xiaotao finished peeling the potatoes, Xiaolian woke up. She quickly ran over to play with Xiaolian and gave Xiaolian half of the candy her grandmother gave her.
Xiaolian lay on the kang, holding half a piece of candy in her hand. She leaned close to Xiaotao's ear mysteriously and grinned, "Grandma said she would make me a new set of clothes. I want new clothes too."
Xiao Tao smiled and licked the candy in her hand. "Really? That's great. When you put on your new clothes, they will be so jealous of you when they see you."
Then she imitated the voices of the other children and said, "Zhao Di, look at your parents who don't love you at all. You don't even have a new piece of clothing. One look at you and I know you were picked up from the mountain by your parents." Xiao Tao learned these words from the children in the village who used to tease Xiao Lian. She imitated them so vividly that Xiao Lian laughed out loud. "You imitated them so well! Xiao Tao, come on again!"
…
Before going to bed at night, Xiaotao told Zhou Xuemei the good news that Xiaolian was going to have new clothes.
Zhou Xuemei scratched her little nose and laughed at her, "You're not so excited when your mother makes clothes for you. Do you like Xiaolian so much?"
Zhou Xuemei was just joking at first, but children always take everything very seriously, so Xiaotao nodded seriously, "I like Xiaolian, we will be good sisters for life."
Seeing that she was serious, Zhou Xuemei smiled and said nothing, and asked, "What else did you do today?"
Xiao Tao raised her hands, looking for praise. "When Xiao Lian was asleep, no one played with me. The children in the village refused to play with me. I helped grandma peel potatoes, and grandma rewarded me with a piece of candy. Xiao Lian and I shared the candy. It was so sweet."
Zhou Xuemei was stunned for a moment. She felt very sad when she thought of her daughter standing pitifully at the door, watching other children playing.
Hearing her daughter peeling potatoes for her grandmother, she patted her daughter's head with satisfaction and praised, "Xiao Tao is awesome!"
Xiao Tao's face turned red, feeling shy and proud.
Zhou Xuemei thought about the time when she was weeding in the afternoon. She told Li Chunhua that her mother-in-law seemed to have changed and was no longer displeased with their two families as before.
Li Chunhua casually said, "Isn't it good if she changes? I still hope that my mother-in-law will be like this, at least I can relax a little."
Zhou Xuemei thought the same thing. What happened during the day made her suddenly realize that since her mother-in-law came back from the city, she seemed to have changed. She became more and more reasonable, no longer blindly favoring the eldest wife like before, and she was more and more concerned about the two wives. If her mother-in-law could continue like this, she would not ask for anything else.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
The next day, Zhou Xuemei got up early in the morning to help Qian Shulan cook.
"Why did you get up so early?" Qian Shulan was a little puzzled. These days, they all had to go to work, so Qian Shulan took over the kitchen. After dinner, they went to the fields and she went back to her room to catch up on some sleep.
Zhou Xuemei smiled and said, "I'm here to help mother." Then she said a little embarrassedly, "Mother, Xiaotao has troubled you."
Qian Shulan raised her eyebrows, thinking of the lonely and desolate little figure yesterday, and said with a smile, "It's okay, she's very well behaved, you have to teach her well, don't spoil the child blindly, that's not good for the child. But it's up to you whether to listen or not, I just said it casually."
After she figured it out, Zhou Xuemei hurriedly smiled and said, "Well, Mom, I understand. I will never make the same mistake again."
Seeing that she had listened, Qian Shulan nodded.
With one more person to help, the process was twice as fast as usual and the food was cooked quickly.
When the family was having a happy meal, someone suddenly came in from outside.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she called out, "Aunt San, are you home?"
Everyone looked at the person who came. They saw a middle-aged woman in her fifties or sixties, wearing a very festive red flower and green leaf blouse with a large collar and black trousers. She was a famous matchmaker in the village. Her surname was Hua, and people called her Hua Matchmaker. She was a widow who had been matchmaking for young people from several villages around to earn some money. Because she traveled all year round, she was very familiar with the situation of the people living nearby.
Although people generally don't think highly of matchmakers, and there is a saying that goes "I'd rather believe in ghosts than the mouth of a matchmaker", Hua Matchmaker is kind-hearted and does not deceive her superiors or subordinates. She has a very good reputation, so the village always chooses her for matchmaking.
She is related to the Wang family, but a little distantly. According to seniority, she has to call Qian Shulan "Third Aunt".
Everyone stood up from their stools, and Qian Shulan gave her a stool. "Why are you here?"
The matchmaker smiled with wrinkles all over her face. "Brothers, you asked me to help your Xiaomei find a live-in son-in-law. I have something going on, so I came to tell you."
Qian Shulan frowned. How come she didn't know about this
Wang Shouyi felt guilty when he saw his mother's sharp eyes. He put on a flattering smile and said, "Mom, we have never had a son. I want to keep Xiaomei at home and find a live-in son-in-law. He can take care of us in our old age."
Qian Shulan looked at Xiaomei and saw that she had her head down and her fists clenched tightly, looking very reluctant but having to accept her fate.
Qian Shulan couldn't say anything. Families without sons usually look for a live-in son-in-law. However, in this era, sons are highly valued over daughters. Most men care about their reputation and will not easily become a live-in son-in-law. After all, if the child doesn't even have his surname, what's the point of living
So, Qian Shulan was a little curious about what the conditions were for this son-in-law.
"Matchmaker, tell me, what are the conditions of this man?"
Hearing that his mother had no objection, Wang Shouyi and Li Chunhua looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.
Matchmaker Hua also knew about the Wang family's situation. She said immediately, "The man is 26 years old and from Linjia Village. He is the middle son of many boys in his family. His parents died of illness two years ago, leaving behind a lot of debts, so he has not married yet. Usually, he earns eight work points from those women, but he has no health problems."
Twenty-six? That means she is twelve years older, and two more years would double her age. Moreover, she was earning work points for women, so it was clear that she was not very strong.
Qian Shulan was a little bit dissatisfied when she heard about the age, and gave up directly after hearing the last part, narrowing her eyes slightly, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes. Xiaomei has always been a very motivated girl, and Qian Shulan asked herself if she could do anything to watch her being pushed into the fire pit.
She raised her hand to refuse.
The matchmaker had a sad face, "Aunt, I know the man's conditions are not good, but you want a live-in son-in-law. If you marry Xiaomei off, even if you don't ask for a dowry, you can find a good family just for her face and her diligence. But a live-in son-in-law? If he is not poor, who would be willing to give away the son they raised with great effort to someone else?"
She pulled Qian Shulan's sleeve, leaned over and whispered, "Aunt, I'm going to tell you something from the bottom of my heart. This man is quite good, he has all his limbs intact, he doesn't drink or gamble, and he's not a playboy. If it weren't for his parents being sick and dragging down the family, making the family too poor and without a roof over their heads, he wouldn't have become a live-in son-in-law to the previous family. It's because you're my sister-in-law that I'm giving you such good conditions. Well, in Zhoujia Village to the east, there's a family with a daughter who also wants to recruit a live-in son-in-law. Can I give her such a good person? It must be a good choice for our family. Don't you think so?"
A man who has nothing and can't even support himself can have a young and beautiful wife like Xiaomei just because he has a little extra weight? How can such a beautiful thing be possible
Qian Shulan raised her hand to interrupt her, "No, I don't agree with this."
The matchmaker opened her mouth in surprise and looked at the third brother and his wife. They were scratching their heads anxiously and felt a little uneasy. "Well? Third aunt, you guys discuss it first. I'll keep the person for you. If you are not satisfied, tell me. I'll keep the person for you for two days. After the day after tomorrow, I will introduce the person to Zhoujia Village. You can't blame me then!" She paused and seemed to think of something, and quickly added, "Please don't come to my house and scold me!"
Qian Shulan's mouth twitched. She recalled the scene where her original body had quarreled with the matchmaker. Her original body had come to the matchmaker's house and scolded her for three days and three nights because the matchmaker had introduced Li Chunhua, a daughter-in-law who had not given birth to a son, to her son.
The matchmaker's clever words just couldn't stand up to the original body. After two days of quarreling with the original body, the matchmaker's voice became hoarse, but she still couldn't quarrel with the original body.
Later, whenever the matchmaker saw Qian Shulan on the road, she would take a detour.
If Wang Shouli hadn't said that she could get five dollars as a thank-you gift, she wouldn't have felt uncomfortable not going to his house.
In order to prevent Third Aunt from picking on her, she went through all the young men in several nearby villages, eliminating those with good conditions, then those with medium conditions. Among those with poor conditions, she looked for those with good character. After spending a lot of effort, she finally persuaded the young man to marry into her family.
I just mentioned Tongren, thinking that with such good conditions it should be a sure thing, but who would have thought that Third Aunt still disagreed.
The matchmaker wanted to cry. It was really hard to get these five dollars. It was all her fault for being greedy. Why did she want to earn her family's money? Wasn't she crazy? Usually, it was two or three dollars, which was much easier than this. She should just find the easier one! Never bother me again!
Qian Shulan quickly took out two steamed buns from the table and handed them to her, "Thank you for your trouble."
When the matchmaker saw that she was willing to give her even a white flour bun with a smile on her face, the decadence in her heart was swept away. She hurriedly took it, but as if she was afraid that she would regret it, she kept backing away, "Of course, of course."
When she was backing out, she forgot that there was a threshold at the entrance to the main hall and nearly fell. Qian Shulan quickly caught her.
"Hey, be careful."
Hua the matchmaker stood up, patted her chest, feeling relieved that she had survived a disaster, and looked at Qian Shulan with gratitude, "Third sister-in-law, thank you so much." At her age, if she fell down, she would not be able to get off the kang for three days.
Qian Shulan sent the people away. Waiting for her to come back.
Wang Shouyi hurried over and said impatiently, "Mom, this is such a good offer, please don't turn it down."
Li Chunhua followed closely and agreed, "Yes, yes, mother, this man is quite good."
Qian Shulan glanced at their faces and felt that they were just like those who saw cheap and affordable goods but had no money. She frowned and interrupted them, "Yes, you are happy, but what about Xiaomei's happiness? Does she want to stay at home and marry a son-in-law?"
Wang Shouyi didn't even look at Xiaomei, "She is my daughter. Can't I be the master of her? I raised her to this age, it is her responsibility to take care of me until the end of my life."
Qian Shulan rubbed her forehead, feeling a little headache. "Yes, she is your daughter and it is her duty to take care of you in your old age. But if you want to keep her at home and marry her in, shouldn't you ask her opinion first? She is grown up, not a child anymore. She is not your property. Marriage is a major event in her life, you two can't be so selfish."
Li Chunhua was extremely anxious. She thought her mother-in-law had been treating her well recently and would definitely agree to marry into her family. But who would have thought that her mother-in-law would actually object.
Wang Shouyi seemed to understand what his mother meant. He looked at Xiaomei quickly and said, "Xiaomei, tell your grandmother that you want to stay at home and find a son-in-law."
Seeing Xiaomei lowering her head and not answering, he became anxious, strode forward, held Xiaomei's arm tightly with one hand, and reminded her with a gloomy face, "Hurry up and tell your grandma!"
Xiaomei was forced to look up, and everyone immediately saw that her eyes were filled with tears and she looked miserable.
Wang Shouyi was so angry that he wanted to slap her, but his mother was watching him closely, so he clenched his fist and didn't dare to hit her.
Qian Shulan pulled his hand away and said angrily, "Why are you trying to show off to the child? The child doesn't want to do it, so why are you forcing her to do it?" She looked down and saw that Xiaomei's arms were red from being squeezed by Wang Shouyi.
Wang Shouyi was so anxious that he turned around and stamped his feet! He didn't even eat and walked out of the house in anger.
Li Chunhua glared at Xiaomei from behind Qian Shulan. Xiaomei blinked and tears flowed from her eyes, dripping down her cheeks onto her clothes.
Seeing Li Chunhua's actions, Sun Daqin started yelling, "Oh, if Xiaomei doesn't want to, forget it. Third sister-in-law, why are you glaring at her?"
Qian Shulan turned around and saw Li Chunhua shrinking her neck with a guilty look on her face.
Qian Shulan touched Xiaomei's head and comforted her, "Don't worry, as long as you don't want to, grandma won't let you stay at home."
Hearing this, Li Chunhua became a little anxious. She wanted to open her mouth to say something several times but swallowed it back.
Xiao He on the side rolled her eyes and said, "Mom, my elder sister doesn't want to, please don't force her. I am willing to stay at home and marry a son-in-law." As she spoke, she raised her little hands high.
Qian Shulan raised her eyebrows in surprise.
The others were also stunned. Xiao He, who had always been invisible at home, was not afraid of such a scene at all. She curled her lips and wanted to continue, "I..."
Li Chunhua interrupted her quickly, looked Xiao He up and down with a critical eye, and then curled her lips and said, "You are lazy, greedy, and ugly. It's good enough that someone is willing to marry you, but why keep you at home? Forget it!"
Qian Shulan couldn't believe that such ruthless words came from the mouth of Li Chunhua, who had always been honest, cowardly, and hardworking. Qian Shulan looked at Xiaohe, and saw that Xiaohe's smiling face turned pale in an instant, and then blushed with shame. She got so angry that she stood up from the stool and stamped her feet, "If you don't want to keep me at home, I'll be relieved!" Then she ran away. The stool that she knocked over in her anxiety fell to the ground with a loud noise.
Qian Shulan scolded Li Chunhua, "The child has grown up and knows how to save face. It's fine if you say it in private, but who can stand it if you are so ruthless!"
Li Chunhua's face was stiff, she pouted and lowered her head. Qian Shulan realized now that Li Chunhua was just like Sun Daqin, who was obedient on the surface but didn't really agree with her point of view.
Because of the issue of marrying a son-in-law, the third room was in a state of strife. Xiaomei had been resisting the pressure and refused to agree.
Qian Shulan is also thinking of a way to have the best of both worlds.
The author has something to say: There are three updates today. The remaining two will be at 12:00 and 20:00 respectively.
As an aside, Zhou Xuemei was afraid because she was bullied too badly by her original self. Although the heroine favored their family, she was nervous, after all, she had caused her mother-in-law to fall. Later, she found that her mother-in-law was so reasonable, so she really believed that her mother-in-law had changed for the better. She was changing slowly, there must be a process! It is impossible that the heroine treated them well and they had no reaction at all. That was the third couple, they were too simple-minded and would not think too much.
In fact, we have a God's perspective and it is easy to distinguish the heroine from her original self.
But Zhou Xuemei was not like that. She remembered all the grievances she had suffered and the harm done to her child. It was impossible for her not to be afraid.
As for why the heroine is nice to the fourth room, it’s because she is trying to increase her filial piety points. If she doesn’t fill up this amount, these people will just be perfunctory about her orders and not take them seriously.
Thank you for your support, little angel.