Chapter 19: The Matchmaker and Worry-Free Grass

The marriage was quietly arranged because the other party was a remarried person, and they didn’t hold a grand ceremony. Moreover, Wang Chunhua received a generous bride price, and the groom didn’t want to have any more ties with the Zhang family.

In typical households, the bride price was about four or five taels, but the Zhang family received fifteen taels from the butcher’s family.

The news of Third Sister’s marriage was the talk of the village for several days.

Li Guo’er was a person who couldn’t sit still. After lying down for so many days, she was about to go crazy and finally regained her freedom, jumping up with joy.

After eating light meals for so many days, her mouth was almost tasteless, and she eagerly wanted to eat spicy food.

Spicy river snails, here I come…

Without hesitation, she grabbed a basket and bucket, said goodbye to her family, and headed for the fields, with a little follower behind her!

Li Wen heard that his older sister was going to catch snails and was so happy that he couldn’t stop waving his arms. Thinking of the taste of snails made his mouth water, and he swallowed involuntarily.

Li Xing’er had recently become more and more obsessed with embroidery and couldn’t pull herself away. Except for eating and sleeping, most of her time was spent in her room.

The siblings walked slowly along the small path in the fields, and when they saw a dragonfly fly by and land on the wild grass, Li Wen tiptoed, bent over, and tried to catch it.

Unfortunately, he didn’t catch the dragonfly, but he ended up tumbling and falling flat on his back. Li Guo’er saw her brother’s awkward appearance and burst out laughing.

“Big sister, you’re so mean, I’m like this and you still laugh. Hmph, I won’t talk to you anymore.”

Li Wen pouted, looking unhappy as he spoke to his older sister.

Seeing her brother’s cute face, Li Guo’er laughed even more brightly.

Jia Qingshan, who was far away, watched the girl with a smiling face, and his heart skipped a beat.

She was truly beautiful, beautiful enough to make him feel inferior. He had nothing, only a heart that liked her.

Suddenly, he wondered if his affection was just a luxury. Ever since he saw her bright smile for the first time, he could never forget it.

He wanted to marry her, and his longing surged like a tidal wave, which he could no longer suppress. He secretly went to her house and found a place to hide nearby, just to get a glimpse of the girl he had been thinking about for so long.

For several days, he didn’t see the girl he longed for. Just as he was about to leave in disappointment, the door that had been closed for so long opened from the inside.

He saw the siblings carrying baskets and wooden buckets, chatting and laughing as they walked toward the fields.

He couldn’t control his legs and followed them all the way to the fields. Afraid that the girl would misunderstand and think he was being lewd, he had to hide far behind a big tree, watching their every move.

Li Guo’er felt as though someone’s gaze was constantly on her. She looked up but saw nothing. Perhaps it was just her imagination.

She patted her brother’s head and said, “Little master, I was wrong. I will never tease you again. Please forgive me!”

Li Wen was amused by his sister’s apologetic gesture, flicked his sleeve, and said generously, “I will forgive you this time. Don’t let it happen again.”

After saying that, the siblings laughed loudly together.

Looking at the playful antics of the siblings, Jia Qingshan couldn’t help but feel envious. Having lost his parents at an early age, he had been raised by his grandparents.

A couple of years ago, his grandparents also passed away, leaving him alone in the world.

The villagers whispered that he had bad luck, bringing misfortune to his family, and they stayed away from him, fearing that he would bring them bad fortune.

He thought that he would spend the rest of his life alone until he met her, and only then did he realize that life could be so much better.

Watching her laugh and play with her brother, he suddenly wanted more…

The siblings filled a bucket with river snails and gathered a basket full of wild vegetables and pigweed before heading home.

It wasn’t until their figures completely disappeared from view that Jia Qingshan emerged from behind the tree and began walking toward his home.

When the siblings arrived home, they felt that something was off. The atmosphere in the house was strange. It was hard to pinpoint, but something just didn’t feel right.

In the end, it was Li Xing’er who cleared up the mystery for the siblings. The matchmaker from the town had come to propose a marriage for Li Guo’er.

Seeing the matchmaker, the couple was delighted. Their eldest daughter’s marriage had always been a source of concern for them.

But when they heard that the proposed groom was a man named Wang from the town, a widower in his thirties, their joy turned to anger.

Guo’er was still an unmarried young woman. How could she marry a man with children older than her and become their stepmother?

It’s often said that a matchmaker’s words can be dazzling, that the beauty of the bride depends on the matchmaker’s words, highlighting how important a matchmaker’s role is.

Because their daughter had been rejected in a previous marriage proposal, her reputation had been tarnished. Even though there had been suitors in the past two years, they were all unsuitable candidates, and the couple had rejected them all.

To their surprise, the matchmaker introduced an even worse match—a remarried man. The couple was furious, but they still wore smiles on their faces.

In the end, the couple mentioned that their mother had already arranged another match for Guo’er, and the two families had agreed to meet in a few days, using this as an excuse to reject the matchmaker’s proposal.

The matchmaker knew this was just an excuse but said nothing. However, she couldn’t help but feel some regret when thinking of the money promised by the Wang family after the marriage was arranged.

The matchmaker was a well-known figure in the area, and every move she made was closely watched.

The next day, word spread through the village that Li Guo’er was unwanted, and only older men would consider her.

If she didn’t go out, all she could do was listen to the gossip about being an old maid.

When the couple heard the rumors, they were furious, but there was nothing they could do. They couldn’t go around shutting people’s mouths.

In the end, they simply advised Li Xing’er and her siblings not to let Li Guo’er hear about it, and they stopped paying attention to the matter.

Fortunately, Li Guo’er rarely went to the village and hadn’t heard the gossip. Even if she did, she wouldn’t care. She had grown used to the slander over the past couple of years.

Li Guo’er didn’t mind, but there were others who did. When Jia Qingshan heard the rumors in the village, he was furious.

Such a good girl, just because she was rejected by that blind man, she had to suffer again and again.

He wanted to go to her, to tell her that if no one else would marry her, he would. He didn’t care if he had been rejected before. Being rejected wasn’t her fault.

He decided to go into the mountains, to send a marriage proposal to the Li family. He packed some dry food and left without hesitation.

Li Wen finally got to eat the spicy river snails he had been longing for. He patted his little round belly in satisfaction, looking adorable.

The family already had a batch of rabbits ready for sale, but they hadn’t found a buyer yet. Li Guo’er thought it would be faster to work with a restaurant rather than selling them individually at the market.

After discussing it, Li Youyin decided to listen to his daughter’s advice and take the rabbits to the restaurant.

The next morning, the father and daughter packed up a basket and took two rabbits with them. They didn’t reach the town until around noon.

Li Youyin decided to go to Yipinxuan first, since it was the largest restaurant in town, and they used a lot of ingredients every day.

When they opened the door, they heard a familiar voice asking, “Hello, guest, what would you like to eat?”

Li Youyin looked up, but before he could greet the person, the waiter had already recognized him as the same man who had sold wild ducks and chickens before.

After exchanging pleasantries and confirming his intentions, the waiter ran to find the chef. He was a little excited when he heard that the man had come to sell rabbits.

The restaurant owner had just been upset with him because he couldn’t find a stable supply, and now it seemed like his luck had changed.