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Song Shi’s words were directed at Shen Yu’an, Shen Dalang, and Shen Erlang, as they were the ones who will be evaluated tomorrow.
Shen Yu’an struggled to speak, and in a low voice, she said, “I had originally planned to go to the capital city.”
Her voice was so hushed that Song Shi couldn’t make out her words at first, prompting her to ask again.
Shen Yu’an explained, “I had initially intended to go to the Capital city with Ji Xun to take care of some matters. Since there’s an event tomorrow, I’ll wait for another day.”
She seemed completely drained, her body slumping onto the chair. She leaned her upper body against the table, her fingers slowly tapping on its surface.
Song Shi saw that Shen Yu’an hadn’t said much and thought it wasn’t very important, so she enthusiastically explained the details of the upcoming appraisal to Shen Dalang.
Zhao Shi also engaged Shen Erlang in a discussion about the appraisal. Even Grandma Shen joined in, coordinating with both Song Shi and Zhao Shi.
Shen Dalang and Shen Erlang were both nearing their twenties, and Grandma Shen had been eagerly anticipating the prospect of holding her great-grandchild.
She clapped her hands cheerfully and said, “Tomorrow, you two will go for the appraisal.
Our entire family can’t go along, so you must keep a sharp eye out.”
“As an old lady like me, I might even be able to help take care of your children in the future, and our family could have four generations under one roof.”
Grandma Shen’s statement prompted Shen Yu’an to continue, saying, “Grandmother is in good health, so even having five generations under one roof wouldn’t be a problem.”
The old lady chuckled and patted Shen Yu’an’s hand, saying, “Our An’an really knows how to speak.”
Hua Ling sat nearby, listening to their discussion about the appraisal. Her eyes gleamed as she asked, “Can I go along too?”
Grandma Shen paused, thinking that she also wanted to be appraised.
She playfully teased Hua Ling, “You’re still young. Give it another two years. If you’re still with us and there’s a young man you’re interested in, Grandma will make the decision to have you appraised.”
Hua Ling seemed quite similar to Shen Yu’an in this matter, not at all hesitant or reserved.
She boldly declared, “If I take a liking to a certain young man, I’ll just kidnap him and make him my husband.”
The Shen family members were shocked by Hua Ling’s words. How could this young girl talk about such matters without a hint of embarrassment, and even mention kidnapping someone!
Hua Nan, observing the Shen family’s astonished expressions, awkwardly cleared his throat twice.
In a hushed tone, he reprimanded, “Hua Ling, don’t speak recklessly.”
Hua Ling pouted and ignored him. She was quite favored within the Shen family and had no intention of paying attention to her brother’s constant nagging.
She then looked at Grandma Shen with eager eyes and said, “Grandmother, let me also go and take a look. I’ve never seen what this appraisal is like.”
Grandma Shen smiled and agreed. They didn’t have the custom of women accompanying during the appraisal.
Moreover, there was no need for them to leave their home; Hua Ling could witness everything from there.
In their tradition, if a man were being appraised, he would visit the woman’s family, while for women, they only needed to wait at home.
After all, in their usual circumstances, there were many suitors for a single woman, and it was the women who waited at home while the men lined up to visit. Sometimes, with a large number of people, it could take quite a bit of time.
But the current situation was the opposite. In the Shen family, only Shen Dalang, Shen Erlang, and in the Zhang family, Zhang Wendong needed to go through this appraisal process.
However, the matchmaker had mentioned that there were over twenty women in consideration. Therefore, they modified the tradition and decided to have the women take turns visiting the Shen family.
Of course, there was also another option – if both sets of parents visited together, bringing their children along, they could also interact and appraise each other.
However, with such a large number of people, they could only carry out the appraisal at home.
Shen Yu’an sat listlessly, bored, as she listened to them discuss the details of the appraisal.
It was Shen Rong who took notice of Shen Yu’an’s mention of going to the Capital city and asked, “Is the matter you mentioned about going to the Capital city what you’ve been considering these past few days?”
Shen Yu’an’s enthusiasm returned as she began to share the busy activities she had been involved in these past few days.
Her demeanor was completely different from when she had been discussing the appraisal just moments ago.
Previously, she had shown no interest whatsoever, but as she talked about her involvement in establishing a papermaking workshop, she seemed to radiate energy.
As she spoke, Song Shi and Zhao Shi, who had been arranging matters for Shen Dalang and Shen Erlang, also paused and listened to Shen Yu’an talk about papermaking.
Xiao Zhang, who had recently come out of her postpartum period, held a baby in her arms and sat nearby, listening to their conversation.
Upon hearing Shen Yu’an talk about papermaking, she couldn’t help but ask in curiosity,
“An’an, you really know how to make paper?”
Shen Yu’an confidently replied, “Of course, and my method is even more convenient.
The costs are significantly lower, and the quality of the paper produced won’t be any worse than what we see today.”
The members of the Shen family were all impressed.
Shen Rong sighed and said, “If the costs can be significantly reduced, even ordinary families wouldn’t have trouble affording paper for writing.”
Zhao Shi chimed in, “Absolutely, the paper from those stationery shops is ridiculously expensive. Just a small stack of paper is costlier than eating meat.”
Xiao Zhang joined in with a smile, “It’s perfect since we have so many people attending the school in our family. We won’t need to spend that money on buying paper in the future.”
The little baby in the pink swaddle that she was holding saw everyone excited and thought they were playing with her. With joy, the baby waved its hands and babbled in innocent baby language.
Xiao Zhang was worried about her baby getting cold, so she quickly tucked the baby’s hands back into the swaddle.
On the other hand, the baby boy held by Shen Yun in the gray-blue swaddle remained calm and quiet, gazing at Shen Yu’an with wide eyes, not making a fuss at all.
Shen Yu’an took a liking to the baby and gently took him from her Uncle’s arms to play with him.
The other baby, seeing her brother being taken by Shen Yu’an, started crying loudly, not pleased at all. Her little hands poked out from the swaddle and she reached eagerly in Shen Yu’an’s direction.
Xiao Zhang tapped her baby’s chubby hand and playfully remarked, “Even at such a young age, she’s already feeling jealous of her brother.”
But the little girl’s cries persisted, indicating that she insisted on being held by Shen Yu’an as well.
Shen Yu’an playfully interacted with the calm baby boy for a moment before handing him over to Shen Yun. Then, she quickly picked up the little girl and began soothing her in her arms.
Once the little girl was in Shen Yu’an’s embrace, she indeed stopped crying. She held onto Shen Yu’an’s cascading hair with her chubby little hands, playing with it.
Her eyes, which had been teary just moments ago, were still a bit misty. She glanced over at her baby brother, as if making a protest.
──
The next day, after the meal, matchmakers led young women to either the Shen or Zhang households.
Shen Yu’an got a glimpse of the grand scene of arranged marriages in ancient times.
As one young woman left, another would arrive, and each person who entered the courtyard of the Shen family couldn’t help but look around in awe and enthusiasm, their attitudes difficult to describe.
Amidst this bustling activity, Shen Yu’an herself soon became busy as well.
Most of the men who came were from the Longxian Village, but Shen Yu’an found it hard to muster much interest in them.