"Talking to him is useless." Ms. Wang waved her hand dismissively upon hearing that, "Let me tell you, every time I come back and ask Qingrui about his preferences, he always finds fault in this or that. He hasnāt even met the girls, how can he just decide theyāre not good enough?"
"So, I came up with an idea. Why donāt we invite the girls over so your eldest brother can take a covert look? Maybe then heāll find someone he likes. What do you think?"
"Inviting people over isnāt a bad idea, but we need a good pretext. Otherwise, if you invite them over so openly, and everyone knows youāre trying to find a match for Qingrui, the girls might decline the invitation to avoid any impropriety."
Talking about matchmaking in ancient times sure is troublesome, unlike nowadays, where you can simply sit down in a coffee shop, the man and woman meet, and itās immediately clear whether itās a āno-goā or if the relationship should continueāobvious at first sight.
"Iāve certainly thought of a pretext. Isnāt Yunyun at home? And Linyu is also here. They can send out invitations asking the girls over to play. What do you think?"
"That pretext could work." As Yang Chuxia thought about it, she said, "But mother, thereās one thing you need to keep in mind: donāt invite those who would look down on us because we live in the countryside."
"Of course, I know that." Ms. Wang laughed, "The matchmaker and I have made it clear: even though we have houses in the county and town, our family will not move; weāll stay in the countryside. Anyone who would mind that shouldnāt be introduced to me."
"Ah? Mother, when did our family get a house in the county? Why havenāt I heard about it?" She remembered that whenever they went to the county, they would either return the same day or stay in their shopābuying a house in the county had never come up.
"Look at me, I forgot to mention this to you, your father bought them last year," Ms. Wang laughed, "He bought two at once, one for each of your younger brothers. The ones in town were bought the year before. Donāt you know about it? Your father always uses extra money to buy land or houses. Oh right, Iām getting more forgetful with age. Your father even said heās reserving one in the town for you."
"Heās reserving one for me?" Yang Chuxia was immediately moved, "A real father always thinks of his daughter, even after sheās married."
"Isnāt that the truth? Since the candy shop started doing well, weāve had more income. With the money allocated the year before last, your father bought houses in the townāone for each of you."
"No, mother, please tell father that I donāt need one. Itās better to leave them for my brothers." Despite being touched, it didnāt feel right to accept such significant assets from her parental home after marriage. "Iām not lacking in money. I can buy one myself when the time comes."
"Iām afraid that wonāt work. Your father is the type to put names on the property deeds the moment he purchases. If heās giving it to you, just take it. The houses in our town are inexpensive; they didnāt cost much."
"Alright, mother, thank you and father."
"What nonsense are you talking about, thanking your own parents?."
After conversing with Yang Chuxia for a while and spending some time with her grandchildren, Ms. Wang went back to her own home. Then she discussed plans with Yang Xiayun, and the next day Yang Xiayun sent out the invitations.
A few days later, the small gathering organized by Yang Xiayun took place as scheduled.
Among the attendees were the He Family girl, whom Ms. Wang had been praising endlessly, as well as girls from the Wang and Zhang families, among others.
"Mother, grandmotherās house is so lively, there are so many beautiful sisters," Yangyang ran over after circling around early in the morning. "But the annoying thing is, there was even a kid there."
"Wasnāt it your Aunt Jindiās banquet? Where did the child come from?"
"Itās a child that Aunt Jindiās friend brought over, looks to be only a few years older than me. But I donāt like him; he kept staring at Aunt Jindi."