“Does your Zhihuan have someone in mind?” Perhaps recalling something, Old Lady Qian’s smile froze for a moment before she changed the subject.

“Zhihuan is still young, there’s no rush,” Li Qiuhua replied while heading into the house to fetch a few fist-sized potatoes to peel.

“She’ll be eighteen after the New Year, right?”

As Li Qiuhua lowered her head, Old Lady Qian quickly grabbed two handfuls of sunflower seeds and stuffed them into her pocket, then reached for the sticky rice sticks.

Qian Zhizhi frowned slightly, visibly troubled as she watched her mother finish hoarding sunflower seeds and move on to the rice sticks.

It might be tolerable in this bastard’s household, but if her mother behaved like this at the He family, what would Chunsheng’s mother and sister-in-law think of her?

This thought sparked a trace of irritation in Qian Zhizhi’s eyes.

“Hmm!” Li Qiuhua didn’t lift her head, deftly peeling the potatoes.

“That’s not young anymore. You should hurry and start looking,” Old Lady Qian said as she stuffed her pocket to the brim and began snacking on the seeds.

“Zhihuan is different from Zhimei. She’s stubborn and strong-willed, like a bull. I can’t control her,” Li Qiuhua said with a smile and a shake of her head.

But inwardly, she scoffed.
You can’t even clean up your own mess, yet you’re worried about others?

Most girls her age would already be married, perhaps even with a couple of kids by now. Yet Old Lady Qian’s grown daughter was still idling at home, and she had the audacity to tell her to hurry up with Zhihuan? Shameless.

Old Lady Qian secretly pursed her lips.

“That’s only because your Zhihuan is capable! If I had a daughter earning a hundred yuan a month, I’d keep her at home and wouldn’t want her to marry either,” she said, her tone dripping with jealousy.

They all crawled out of Li Qiuhua’s belly, so why is the one who enter her house so cowardly?

It’s bad enough that she can’t give birth to a son, but her brain is also not working well.

If not for her being a decent worker, she’d have kicked her out ages ago.

“If I could trade that hundred yuan a month for my daughter’s good health, I’d gladly give it up,” Li Qiuhua sighed deeply.

The thought of her youngest daughter’s frail health since childhood never failed to tug at her heartstrings.

Looking at Li Qiuhua’s fuller, rosier face, Old Lady Qian could barely suppress her jealousy.

Easy for her to talk now. Without that hundred yuan, how would she even manage to feed her family of weaklings and old folks on her seven work points a day?

“Isn’t Zhihuan’s body recovered now?” Old Lady Qian forced a smile, her jealousy practically spilling over.

“It would be great if it gets better!” Li Qiuhua sighed again.

Her youngest daughter’s health had always been fragile. While she could protect her now, who would look after her if something happened to her? She didn’t dare to think about it.

“I heard from Zhimei that you’re planning to marry Shen Zhihuan to a live-in son-in-law?” Old Lady Qian asked as she cracked open another sunflower seed.

“That’s the plan,” Li Qiuhua said as she put the peeled potatoes into a basket and went outside to toss the peels into the waste bin.

“Since we’re family, I won’t beat around the bush. My eldest brother has four sons, and you know how outstanding they are. Compared to my two useless ones, they’re much better.”

Old Lady Qian gulped down her bowl of brown sugar water and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Zhimei mentioned your plan, and I’ve been thinking about it. So I took the liberty to pick out a couple of candidates.”

Li Qiuhua remained silent, watching Old Lady Qian’s theatrical performance with a faint smile.
Help her find a match? Ridiculous.

Old Lady Qian misinterpreted her silence as agreement and grew more enthusiastic.

“My elder brother’s two sons are handsome and strong, just the right age for Zhihuan. Yesterday, I even went to my brother’s house to discuss it. After much persuasion, he finally agreed to let them meet Zhihuan.

“Pick a date, and I’ll bring them over. Zhihuan can choose whichever one she likes.”

After her long-winded monologue, Old Lady Qian was parched. Without hesitation, she grabbed Shen Zhimei’s bowl of sugar water and gulped it down.

Li Qiuhua’s lips curled into a faint, mocking smile.

Old Lady Qian must really think she was stupid. Everyone knew her elder brother’s family was full of lazy slackers. Despite having plenty of strong laborers, they couldn’t even earn full work points.

One of them had even driven his wife away, and the other only stayed because she had no where to go.

Marrying into Old Lady Qian’s family was bad enough; she didn’t need to make it worse by dragging in that lot.

Just as Li Qiuhua was about to respond, a calm voice came from the courtyard.

“Aunt, I appreciate your kindness, but I wouldn’t want to burden your family’s ‘handsome and strong’ nephews with my health issues.”

Shen Zhihuan had initially planned to avoid coming home, wanting to observe her mother’s attitude. But the relentless matchmaking by various relatives targeting her wore her down.

Every relative seemed to have a son or nephew to recommend, and it became unbearable. She’d had no choice but to return home, only to overhear this nonsense at the door.

For the little she remembered about Old Lady Qian’s family, a few keywords stood out: lazy, messy, abusive, and domineering.

Fantastic!

Her aunt was really “looking out” for her.

“Zhihuan, you’re back!” Qian Zhizhi greeted her with a smile.

“I had to come back. A bunch of aunts are determined to play matchmaker for me,” Shen Zhihuan said sarcastically.

“Where’s your little brother?” Li Qiuhua asked, glancing toward the courtyard gate.

“He’s playing with Xiao Pang at Aunt Wang’s house,” Shen Zhihuan replied, handing Li Qiuhua a piece of candy.

Old Lady Qian’s eyes darted to Shen Zhihuan’s bulging pockets, and she swallowed audibly.

“My nephews are truly excellent, Zhihuan. Don’t listen to outside gossip,” Old Lady Qian said, unwilling to give up.

After all, if this marriage succeeded, her brother and sister-in-law had promised her ten yuan a month. That was 120 yuan a year, and over ten years, that would amount to…