Smoke rises from cooking stoves, dogs bark and chickens crow; the sun sets in the west, and the sky is filled with red clouds.
The dusk in Xiahe Village gives people a warm and comfortable feeling that you will never get tired of watching no matter how many times you watch it.
Zhu Ping'an returned to Xiahe Village from Mr. Li's house in the sunset glow. Before he reached his doorstep, he heard a commotion and noise. From a distance, he saw many villagers gathered at the door of his house.
What's wrong
Zhu Pingan walked over with doubts. When the villagers who were watching the excitement at the door saw Zhu Pingan coming, they greeted him and made way for him. Zhu Pingan responded one by one and walked in through the path made by the villagers.
Then I saw my grandparents and my uncle's family standing in front of my house. My mother Chen and my father Zhu were also there. My mother Chen looked a little unhappy.
My uncle's family was quarreling, but not with my family.
After greeting his grandparents, Zhu Ping'an walked to his parents, looked at his uncle's family who were making a fuss, looked at the villagers who were booing and laughing at him, and then walked over to his uncle's family who were making a fuss to try to persuade them to stop.
"Uncle, aunt, and Jun, why are you standing at the door? Come inside. Let's sit down and have a cup of tea and talk slowly."
As the saying goes, family disgrace should not be made public. Even if the family is divided, not a single red character can be written with one stroke.
The aunt was educating Zhu Pingjun and didn't want to go home. However, the uncle listened to Zhu Ping'an's advice and nodded very politely. The grandmother said something to the aunt, and then the aunt took Zhu Pingjun's arm and followed the grandmother into Zhu Ping'an's house.
As the uncle's family entered Zhu Ping'an's house, the onlookers tactfully said hello to Chen and others and went home.
Zhu Ping'an followed his parents into the house last. When he got home, he found that his uncle's family was still arguing in the house and no one could stop them.
From the quarrel of his uncle's family, Zhu Ping'an roughly understood what was going on. It was mainly about the internal family dispute caused by the matchmaking for Zhu Pingjun. A few days ago, a matchmaker found his aunt and wanted to find a marriage for Zhu Pingjun. It was said that the girl's family was not bad, and the girl's father was a scholar. The family had a lot of good land. They lived a very rich life. The aunt was very happy when she heard it, but she didn't agree immediately. When she found the uncle and talked about it, the uncle was very happy when he heard that the girl's father was a scholar. It would be very beneficial for him to have a scholar in his family in the future.
In addition, my uncle and aunt were overwhelmed by the happy events of Zhu Ping'an's family these days, and finally my family had a good thing. Look, the scholar's family took the initiative to marry into my family, how face-saving, this is considered marrying up. My uncle and aunt were very satisfied, and my grandparents also agreed, but I didn't expect that Zhu Pingjun was a bit stubborn and just didn't agree.
In ancient times, matchmakers’ words and parents’ orders were important, so my uncle and aunt agreed to the marriage in the name of their parents. Even if it was their parents’ orders, Zhu Pingjun’s cooperation was required. But this guy refused to cooperate and refused to agree, which led to this noisy scene.
"Jun'er, just listen to your mother's advice and follow Matchmaker Wang to ask for marriage proposal." The aunt advised earnestly.
"I won't go to the wedding, I won't go!"
Zhu Pingjun raised his head, hugged his arms, tapped the ground with his feet, and his whole body was swaying.
Nacai is similar to today's blind date. In ancient times, Chinese women were often "born in seclusion, unknown to the world, and no one knew whether they were beautiful or ugly". After the matchmaker, the man visited the woman's family for the first time with the matchmaker's food, which was called "visiting relatives". It is also known as "blind date". Visiting relatives is a key link in whether a marriage can be successful. Especially the man should be cautious and behave well, try to impress the woman's parents and win the woman's favor. After that, the man prepares gifts and goes to the woman's family to propose marriage. Nacai is completed.
Since Zhu Pingjun was so determined not to propose marriage, the marriage naturally could not be completed. His uncle and aunt hoped that this marriage would bring honor to the eldest branch of the family, so they naturally used both soft and hard tactics on Zhu Pingjun.
"Jun'er, how could your mother harm you? The girl's family is well off. Her father is a scholar and they have dozens of acres of fertile land. If you marry this girl, you will never have to worry about food and clothing in the future. Your mother has predicted your fortune and said that you are the star of literature who has descended to the earth. Maybe this is the right time for you. Your father-in-law is a scholar and can tutor you in your studies. You will be able to pass the imperial examination in the future." The aunt advised Zhu Pingjun earnestly.
"No, mother. You said I was the god of literature, why should I rely on them? Haven't you heard that if you rely on mountains, they will fall; if you rely on water, it will flow away. You have to rely on yourself."
Zhu Pingjun swung his legs, looking confident and high-spirited.
Wenquxing has come down to earth
Looking at Zhu Pingjun, who was swinging his legs, looking very confident that he could ride a tiger on a mountain and catch a dragon in the water, Zhu Pingan felt like a group of grass mud horses were roaring over his head. It was said that when he visited Master Sun last time, Master Sun was still lamenting that Zhu Pingjun was a useless person, and the reputation of Zhu Pingjun in the village was quite negative... ...
Listening to Zhu Pingjun saying nonchalantly: If you rely on the mountain, the mountain will fall; if you rely on the water, the water will flow; you have to rely on yourself.
Zhu Pingan inexplicably wanted to correct him: If you rely on the mountain, the mountain will fall; if you rely on the water, the water will run away; if you rely on yourself, you have no ability at all, what should you do!!! Of course, Zhu Pingan would not say this out loud.
"Rely on yourself? You're just waiting for starvation." The uncle said the truth in anger.
"Oh, why can't I rely on myself? The reason why they wanted to marry into our family this time was because of me. My mother just said that matchmaker Wang said it herself, that the girl fell in love with me at first sight!"
Zhu Pingjun raised his head with a look of pride.
"Then why don't you go?" The uncle looked angry.
"A man should have no trouble finding a wife! I haven't even started dating yet, but the daughter of a scholar has already fallen in love with me at first sight. When I take the exam next year, I'll pass it like a pig and become a scholar or a juren... ... a daughter of a scholar..."
Zhu Pingjun said this with a look of disdain on his face.
Well, this is because he was overwhelmed by the sudden surprise. Zhu Pingan was speechless. Brother Jun took the imperial examination too easily, as if the examination was held at home.
Moreover, Zhu Ping'an was still very confused about the matchmaker Wang had introduced to Zhu Pingjun. It was not that he looked down on Jun Ge, but simply analyzed the facts. Jun Ge had accomplished nothing and had a bad reputation in the village. His uncle had never passed the examination for a scholar. The woman was from a family of scholars and had dozens of acres of fertile land. She could have found someone better. How could she have fallen in love with Jun Ge at first sight? Love at first sight is all nonsense in novels, especially in the feudal Ming Dynasty, where women were kept in seclusion, especially in the homes of scholars. The etiquette must have been stricter. How could she have fallen in love with Jun Ge at first sight? Unless... ...
Thinking of this, Zhu Pingan asked his aunt without leaving any trace, "Aunt, did Matchmaker Wang say that the girl fell in love with Jun at first sight?"
The eldest aunt heard this and looked proud, "That's not a big deal, the matchmaker Wang swore to heaven that the girl fell in love with your handsome brother at first sight, and she also swore that if I lied, she would give me ten taels of silver."
"Aunt, well, before you accept this marriage, you should go and ask about this girl privately. If she is good, I believe Brother Jun will go." Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an had a strange look on his face, and he was hesitant to speak.
The matchmaker was just trying to cover up her mistake.
Zhu Ping'an vaguely guessed that the girl from the scholar's family must have a physical problem. If he guessed correctly, perhaps one of her eyes was blind. Otherwise, he should be able to find a better one. Of course, he couldn't say this casually. In the Ming Dynasty, a woman's reputation was more important than her life. He couldn't say irresponsibly and without basis.
If my uncle's family hastily agreed to the deal, and later found out that the new daughter-in-law was really blind in one eye after marrying her home, and then went to argue with the matchmaker, the following conversation would probably happen.
The eldest aunt said: "Old Wang, the daughter-in-law you introduced to my son Jun'er has a blind eye! You have to compensate me for the matchmaking fee and give me an extra ten taels of silver. You said at the beginning that if I told a lie, I would get ten taels of silver!"
Matchmaker Wang: "One of his eyes is blind."
Aunt: "You lied to us. Why didn't you tell us at the beginning? Give me the money."
Matchmaker Wang: "Why didn't I tell you? I said at the time that the girl fell in love with your Jun'er at first sight!"
After Zhu Ping'an kindly and implicitly reminded his aunt, his aunt looked at Zhu Ping'an with a strange look, thinking that Zhu Ping'an might be jealous of her own Jun'er finding a good marriage.
"Um."
So the aunt just evaded the question and didn't take Zhu Ping'an's words seriously at all. (To be continued.)