The literary era since 1979

Chapter 16 Who are you matchmaking for?
When Fangyan returned home, it was already dark.

Looking closely, I saw a stranger woman in blue work clothes sitting in the room, chatting with Yang Xia.

"Yanzi, what are you holding in your hand?"

Fang Hong walked out of the small kitchen holding a kitchen knife.

"Hey, sis, of course it's a good thing."

Fangyan raised his hands high.

“Hairtail fish!?”

Fang Hong was surprised and asked, "Where did you get it from?"

"I happened to run into him when I was passing by Xisi Fish Shop, so I spoke in authentic northern Shaanxi dialect and pretended to be from northern Shaanxi."

Fangyan grinned and said that the sea fish that people in Yanjing like most nowadays are hairtail, yellow croaker and bighead carp.

Especially hairtail, in winter, its body becomes wide and thick, with fewer bones and more meat, and the meat is tender and delicious.

Normally, you need fish tickets to buy fish at Xisi Fish Shop, but there is one thing: non-Yanjing residents can buy up to two kilograms of negotiable hairtail per person without a ticket. The price is much higher than that sold with tickets. Of course, there are also shops that do not require tickets but only books.

(ps: from Qilu Weekly)
Seafood stores also supply dried fish, salted fish and bulk shrimp paste in limited quantities, but these are not affordable for ordinary working-class families.

"No wonder you came back so late, you must have been waiting in line."

Fang Hong saw that they were two hairtail fish and asked, "How much did you spend?"

"The 380-cent ones are all sold out, only 25 cents are left."

It's a pity that the dialect is different. The smallest hairtail is 2.5 yuan per pound.

And the actual price per pound is three cents.

Fang Hong rolled her eyes. "Even if you earn royalties, you shouldn't spend the money this way. Be frugal, understand!"

"Oh, the royalties have arrived!"

Fangyan raised his left hand: "Then I made the right purchase. Let's have an extra meal tonight to celebrate. This steamed dish will satisfy your craving."

Then he raised his right hand and said, "Here's this one, let's put it in the sun. When the New Year comes, we'll have an extra dish for the New Year's Eve dinner."

"Okay, leave it here and I'll take care of it."

Fang Hong opened the wooden lid of the pot and poured the cut fat into the pot.

Seeing her preparing to blanch the pork, Fang Yan was very curious, "Sister, we have distinguished guests today, and you even prepared pork?"

"This pork is not for her. Our mother bought it specially for you as a reward." Fang Hong covered the pot.

"Who is sitting in that room?"

Dialects are very curious.

"That's the 'Aunt Lu' I told you about last time."

Fang Hong said, "Your sister is the eldest sister in the labor union of the factory."

"She wants to be a matchmaker for you, right?"

Fangyan's expression suddenly changed.

"Speak more quietly. What do you mean by matchmaking? Matchmakers are one of the Four Olds." Fang Hong said angrily, "She is Lu Dacheng's aunt."

"So it's my aunt."

Fang Yan asked, "Sister, what are you thinking? You're not really planning to date this bastard Lu Dacheng and marry him, are you?"

"Screw you!"

Fang Hong glared, "I'm married, what will the family eat and drink? Yan Zi is in school, and you haven't returned to the city yet. I have to earn a salary to support the family, how can I just marry someone casually?"

"I understand what you mean, hey, I'm going in."

Fangyan hid aside and turned to leave.

"You can go in, but don't do anything stupid."

Fang Hong reminded her that this person was arrogant and, relying on the fact that she was the deputy factory director's sister, had provoked many people and had a very bad relationship with others.

"Don't worry, I have my own way. Just wait and see."

Fangyan walked with great vigor and confidence with a confident smile on his face.

As soon as I entered the room, I saw Aunt Lu impatiently urging Yang Xia:
"Sister-in-law, what have you thought about? Instead of settling on the marriage right now, let Dacheng and Fanghong..."

"mom!"

Fangyan shouted, interrupting their conversation.

Yang Xia stood up and said in surprise: "Yanzi is back!"

Aunt Lu looked at the handsome guy in front of her and said, "Is this the writer Fang who has been appearing in the newspapers recently?"

"Yes, it's my son."

Yang Xia raised her chin, "She is Aunt Lu, the female worker committee member of the labor union in your sister's factory, and she used to be a colleague of your father."

"Auntie."

Fang Yan and she knew each other, and suddenly changed the subject, "I seemed to hear you say 'marriage' just now. Who is getting married to whom?"

His neither humble nor overbearing demeanor made Aunt Lu restrain her arrogance in front of Yang Xia. She smiled and said, "It's not 'marriage', you heard it wrong. This is what's going on. The union cares about the personal problems of female workers. Your sister is not young anymore, so we carefully selected and recommended a male comrade from the factory to be with her."

"So they were dating."

Fangyan joked: "I thought it was a matchmaking."

"How could it be an arranged match? Arranged marriages have been abolished now." Aunt Lu couldn't help but laugh.

"I think so. Our family has always advocated free love."

Fang Yan raised his lips and said, "My mother never interferes. We can date whoever we like."

"Free love is good, free love is good."

There was a hint of unhappiness mixed with embarrassment on Aunt Lu's face.

“You’re the only one who talks too much.”

Yang Xia pretended to be disgusted: "Why do you smell like fish? Where have you been? Why don't you go outside and wash yourself?"

"I bought some hairtail for my family to celebrate."

Fangyan came close to her and whispered in her ear.

Aunt Lu wanted to hear but couldn't hear anything. Then she saw Yang Xia suddenly look up and grab his arm tightly, "Really?"

"of course."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Mom, you can chat with Auntie slowly. I'm going to wash my hands to get rid of the fishy smell, and then help my sister light a fire."

Seeing the mother and daughter acting so mysteriously, Aunt Lu became more and more curious. She felt like she was being scratched by a cat, but she could not see any clues.

"go Go."

Yang Xia looked at her son's departing back and smiled, "Big sister, go on, let's continue our story."

"This one in your family is quite different from the other young comrades I've met at this age," Aunt Lu said with emotion.

"Of course he did. He went to the countryside right after he graduated from high school and has been there for many years. He has grown up and become independent. Now his novels have been published and he has become a writer. I can't control him anymore."

Yang Xia's face was filled with happy worries. "Well, as a parent, I still have to take care of what I have to do."

Aunt Lu noticed that she was full of joy, and couldn't help but feel jealous: "I heard that Yanzi is not going back to the city this time, but has to go back and continue to work in the countryside. Didn't you ever think of letting him return to Beijing?"

Yang Xia drank a sip of water calmly, "I do want to, of course I do."

"If you want him to come back, I have a way."

Aunt Lu said, "The noodle factory has recently issued five quotas. If Yanzi can get one, he can come back to the city under the name of recruiting workers. However, this quota is very popular and the competition is very fierce..."

Yang Xia said disdainfully: "No need, my Yanzi has already found a job, so let's leave this quota to someone else."

"What! Found it?!"

Aunt Lu's face changed.

"Working as an editor at Yenching Literature and Art."

Yang Xia spoke with great excitement.

"when did it happen?"

Aunt Lu was stunned for a moment.

When I think about the fact that Fangyan is both a writer and an editor, her future is limitless. No wonder the eldest brother is so anxious to ask her to be a matchmaker for his nephew.

"Just these few days."

Yang Xia's whole face looked like a blooming chrysanthemum when she smiled.

"Yes, yes..."

Aunt Lu's sense of superiority when facing her disappeared instantly, and she suddenly asked, "Your Yanzi doesn't have a partner yet, right?"

"No."

The random question left Yang Xia confused.

Aren’t you talking about Fang Hong? Why are we talking about dialect again?
"Really!"

Aunt Lu's heart suddenly warmed.

My daughter just returned to the city and is single. She listens to "The Horse Shepherd" all day long and dreams of marrying a man like Xu Lingjun. Although Fangyan is not like Xu Lingjun, who has a billionaire father, she is talented and promising, and is also a gold nugget!
If the two of them could form a pair, together with Lu Dacheng and Fang Hong, it would be a close relationship and a powerful combination.

So, the purpose of the visit suddenly changed, from matchmaking for nephew Lu Dacheng to helping his daughter learn the dialect.

"Didn't the old sister-in-law think about Yanzi's personal problems?"

"The children are grown up now. They have their own ideas about who to date and who to marry. We can only let them do what they want."

Yang Xia became extremely alert.

"Yes, yes, free love, after all, my sister-in-law is open-minded." Aunt Lu said with a fake smile, "Then Dacheng and Fanghong..."

Yang Xia said bluntly: "If Yaya really likes Lu Dacheng, I have no objection, but if she doesn't like him, forget it. Our family doesn't do arranged marriages."

"Yes, feudal arranged marriages are the most abominable."

Aunt Lu laughed bitterly, but at least the trip was not in vain.

He has found a partner for his daughter. As for his nephew, although the Fang family did not explicitly agree to his relationship with Fang Hong, they did not explicitly oppose it either. Whether he can get her depends on his own ability.

Thinking of this, he felt that there was no need for him to stay any longer, so he hurried back to report his results. But before leaving, he specifically asked Fang Yan for an autograph on behalf of his daughter.

"Everyone has gone far away, what are you still looking at?"

Yang Xia sent them out the door and returned to the yard. She noticed the brother and sister sticking their heads out of the kitchen and gave them a meaningful look.

Fangyan walked forward: "Mom, how is it?"

"She's attracted to you and wants you to be her son-in-law."

Yang Xia couldn't help but laugh.

Fang Yan and Fang Hong looked at each other. "She is here to propose marriage to that bastard Sun Lu Dacheng. Why is she bringing me into this?"

"Be greedy, looking at the bowl and thinking about the pot."

Yang Xia curled her lips.

"No wonder when I was signing, I felt that the way she looked at me was wrong. It seems that she wanted to buy one get one free and take advantage of our family." Fang Yan sneered, "Mom, what are you thinking?"

"What do you mean by that? You've been thinking about our family."

Yang Xia rolled her eyes. "It's your own business to be in love. You can handle it on your own. Mom is just checking for you."

"ah!"

Fang Hong ran out of the kitchen without even taking off her apron.

"But let me be frank. I still have to keep an eye on the people. You can't bring just anyone home. Do you understand me?"

Yang Xia had a serious face.

Fang Hong nodded contentedly, then suddenly thought of something and her smile froze, "But in this case, Mom, what should we do about Yanzi's recruitment and return to the city?"

"Don't worry, sis. I've already done it myself."

Fangyan stretched.

"Done? What kind of work? Can we go back to the city?"

Fang Hong was very surprised.

Yang Xia raised her chin and said, "Editor of Yenching Literature and Art, you decide whether you can come back or not."

"You've become the editor of Yenching Literature and Art?!"

Fang Hong's eyes widened in shock.

Fang Yan raised his hand and said, "Don't listen to my mother. I'm not an editor. I'm just a contract worker for now. I can barely be considered an assistant editor."

"No, when did this happen?"

When Fang Hong heard that it was “these few days”, she was both happy and angry. “Such an important matter, why did you only tell mom and not sister? I have been worried about you not getting a job quota and what to do if you can’t return to the city. Well, it turns out that I worried about you for nothing…”

"I'm just worried that if it doesn't work out, I'll be so happy for nothing."

Seeing her raise her hand to hit her, Fang Yan immediately moved aside.

You hide and I chase. Yang Xia looked at the siblings making a fuss and stopped them, saying, "You are all grown up, but you are still running around in the yard. Isn't it shameful? Go back to the house."

"Mom, the lard hasn't been boiled yet, and the hairtail fish that Yanzi bought is also being steamed in the pot." Fang Hong said, "There is another one that needs to be dried tomorrow."

"Let me do it."

Yang Xia rolled up her sleeves swiftly.

Fang Yan shook his head and said, "Mom, let me and my sister prepare the meal today. You can go into the house and enjoy the feast."

Facing her children's dissuasion, Yang Xia was stubborn but could not resist. She complained but was relieved in her heart. She returned to the house and looked at the portrait of Fang Yuanjun hanging on the wall. She sighed with relief:

"Old man, did you see it?"

"Our children have grown up and have achieved success!"

　Thanks to 20171215113427315 for the 500 Qidian coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)