Chapter 33

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“Jing… Jingliang?”

“Why so surprised? Haha, Hehua, you really don’t see things clearly. Jingliang’s such an outstanding kid, suitable in every way.”

Just then, Su Nan came into the kitchen carrying red bean paste, and instinctively asked: “Suitable in what way?”

Xu Hehua hadn’t sorted out her confused thoughts yet, so Wu Yuzhen spoke first, laughing: “Just now, Hehua told me you want to find a match for Taohua…”

Su Nan smiled too: “It’s time to make plans. Time flies, and Taohua’s already a grown girl. It’s really hard to let her go.”

Wu Yuzhen sighed: “So it’s not just Hehua who’s blind, Xiao Su, you’re about the same.”

Su Nan asked: “What do you mean?”

Wu Yuzhen went back to her work: “Jingliang, a while ago, weren’t you worried he didn’t have a match? Taohua and Jingliang would be perfect for each other! You wouldn’t have to be apart, and there’d be no mother-in-law and daughter-in-law troubles… Also, judging by looks and jobs, they’re made for each other. How come neither of you thought of it?”

Su Nan widened her eyes and exchanged glances with Xu Hehua, both momentarily at a loss for words.

Finally, Xu Hehua spoke first: “I… honestly never thought about Jingliang like that. I always felt there’s a generational gap between the two kids.”

“Me too…” After all, when Taohua was little, Jingliang was already practically an adult.

But the more Su Nan thought about it, the brighter her eyes became. Eventually, she grabbed her best friend’s hand and said, “Right! Why didn’t we think of this before? Such a perfect match! My old Cao would definitely be happy too.”

Xu Hehua was stunned: “Nan Jie, you’re serious?”

Su Nan pulled her to sit on a nearby bench: “How could this be a joke? Let me break it down for you… The two kids, from looks to personality to jobs, aren’t they quite suitable?”

Xu Hehua nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Su Nan got even more excited: “We’ve known each other for so many years, you know Jingliang and my family well, right?”

Xu Hehua nodded again, her expression already showing clear interest.

Su Nan continued eagerly, “If these two kids really got together, wouldn’t we never have to be apart again?”

Definitely! At that thought, Xu Hehua’s inner scale tipped fully in favor of Cao Jingliang.

Actually, she had long harbored a worry—that if she followed her daughter, the future son-in-law might outwardly be polite but secretly hold disdain.

If that happened, wouldn’t it be a burden on Taohua?

But… if it was Jingliang as the future son-in-law, everything would be just perfect.

Trying to suppress the smile on her face, Xu Hehua cleared her throat and reminded, “It’s not about us adults being satisfied. The most important thing is what the kids think. After all, there’s a nine-year age difference.”

Because Jingliang was her own son, Su Nan, though very fond of Taohua, wouldn’t ignore her son’s feelings: “Alright then, I’ll write to that stubborn kid now. You should find a chance to ask Taohua too.”

“Okay, I’ll think up what to say.”

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Starting in 1953,

Every year, the old party secretary would set aside some money from the accounts to buy firecrackers.

After the New Year’s Eve dinner, the whole village would gather at the grain field to set them off.

Though it was only a few hundred short bursts, gone in the blink of an eye,

everyone was happy to chip in for the celebration.

Especially the children, who would scatter about after the firecrackers ended, eagerly picking up the duds for a second round of lighting.

In past years, the Xu and Cao families always joined in the fun to fit in.

But this year, Xu Wanchun’s health wouldn’t allow it, so everyone went straight to the stay-up-late stage… playing mahjong.

With one player short, Xu Wanchun managed to join in a couple of rounds.

Now that Grandma Wu had joined, as an underage little girl, she could only hug her lucky money and head to bed early.

When she woke again, 15-year-old Xu Wanchun had messy long hair and looked a bit dazed, glancing at her adoptive mother: “You… what did you just say?”

Her daughter was always sharp, but Xu Hehua had pondered the best way to bring this up for a long time and hadn’t found a good approach. So she just said it bluntly, running her hand through her daughter’s tangled hair: “What do you think of Jingliang? If I told you to get engaged to him, would you be happy?”

Making sure she wasn’t imagining things, Xu Wanchun rubbed her face and asked back, “So… that’s why you and the master and mistress were acting all weird yesterday?”

Is she happy or not? Watching her daughter closely, Xu Hehua was a bit puzzled but admitted honestly: “Yes, we were thinking about how to bring it up with you.”

Xu Wanchun didn’t rush to reply, instead asking again: “Does Senior Brother know?”

“Your mistress sent the letter yesterday,” Xu Hehua nodded repeatedly.

Knowing her mistress’s personality, this wasn’t surprising. Xu Wanchun calmly pushed back her quilt and got out of bed: “Then let’s wait for his reply.”

Seeing how the adults on both sides were so worked up, she thought it best not to stir trouble herself.

Declining such matters was better left to the distant Senior Brother who was out of reach.

Smart little girl, indeed.

Having raised her, Xu Hehua wasn’t fooled by her daughter’s subtle thoughts and joked teasingly: “What about you? Don’t you have an opinion? Don’t you like Jingliang? Think the age gap’s too big? I thought you’d prefer boys your own age.”

After all, her daughter was quite mature for her age.

“It doesn’t matter who it is.” Seeing that she couldn’t avoid the topic, Xu Wanchun combed her hair while protesting, “Mom, I’m only 15 today. Isn’t this pushing marriage way too early?”

Xu Hehua didn’t understand: “It’s just an engagement, not marriage. Besides, isn’t engagement at your age normal?”

Xu Wanchun was momentarily stumped. That’s true — in this era, lots of girls got engaged at 15 or 16. Then she switched tactics: “I want to go to university.”

Hearing this, Xu Hehua had even more to say. She took her daughter’s comb and began brushing her hair while explaining, “Originally, your mistress and I weren’t in such a hurry. But recently, over in Zhaojia Village…”

It turned out that in Zhaojia Village, there was a very pretty girl who had reached marriageable age. Suitors kept coming one after another, with matchmakers practically trampling on the doorstep.

The girl had also finished elementary school and wanted to pick a good match, which was only natural.

However, among those rejected suitors, several were petty and narrow-minded. Recently, they had been spreading nasty rumors everywhere.

“…That girl’s reputation was ruined. She could only marry someone in the neighboring city. You’re young and might not have noticed, but things like this happen quite often. The woman always ends up the one suffering.” Xu Hehua clenched her teeth at this: “My Taohua plans to attend university, and I heard that university admission requires a political background check. If some bastard ruins her reputation, she won’t get in.”

This was a crisis Xu Wanchun hadn’t considered, but… “There are countless ways to do harm. Marriage isn’t the only vulnerability.”

“Still, we must guard against the worst. If something nasty happens and someone tries to repeat what happened in Zhaojia, as long as we get engaged first, we can block those dirty tricks.”

If that’s the case, why not use Senior Brother’s identity to fake an engagement unilaterally?

Just as she thought this, Xu Wanchun realized Senior Brother was in the military—and so would she be in the future.

Both would have to report their relationships, let alone an engagement.

Xu Wanchun wasn’t against marriage, but in this era, not marrying would bring endless gossip and even hurt one’s career.

She was just an ordinary person who couldn’t withstand so much “social bullying.”

According to her life plan, she wanted to wait until her studies were done and her job stable before considering a partner.

Although plans were now broken, Xu Wanchun’s mindset remained steady: “No rush. Let’s wait and see what Senior Brother says.”

Xu Hehua knew there was no hurrying it and sighed regretfully, “Then we wait. I wonder how your Senior Brother will react after receiving the letter.”

Xu Wanchun secretly thought… he’d probably think the family was crazy, just like she did.

In fact, her guess was close to the truth.

When the letter was rushed across thousands of miles and delivered to Cao Jingliang, he nearly dropped his eyes in shock.

The first line read: Son, your mother has arranged a fiancée for you!

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