Brush Up Your Proficiency

Wang Hao finished organizing the post-funeral arrangements for the Zhu family. Seeing that everything was settled, he strolled home with his grandfather.

Along the way, Grandpa Wang kept praising Wang Hao, saying that he had brought honor to the family.

After this, throughout the surrounding villages, whenever anyone needed help with an event, they would remember the top chef from their village, which brought fame to their village as well.

Wang Hao simply listened with a smile, occasionally chiming in with a few words, happily watching his grandfather speak.

In his grandfather's eyes, this small village was where he had lived his entire life.

That kind of feeling was beyond Wang Hao's comprehension. If the village could become better and better, he would be happier than anyone else.

As Wang Hao was about to see his grandfather to his doorstep, Grandpa Wang suddenly stopped and took out a bulging red envelope from his pocket, handing it to Wang Hao: "Take this!"

Wang Hao took one look and quickly waved his hand, saying, "Grandpa, what are you doing? How can I accept this?"

"I'm telling you to take it, so just take it. Why are you talking so much nonsense?" Grandpa glared. "This is a thank-you gift from the Zhu family. You handled things so well for them this time, of course they want to thank you.

Moreover, you still want to open a restaurant, and you'll have to start a family in the future. There will be many places to spend money.

This little bit of money is nothing to you, but if you don't accept it, Grandpa will feel uncomfortable."

After speaking, Grandpa stuffed the red envelope into Wang Hao's hand without allowing any argument and turned to leave.

When he reached the door, he looked back at Wang Hao, a hint of relief and pride on his face.

Wang Hao watched his grandfather's departing figure, and a wave of emotion welled up in his heart.

Earlier, on the way, Grandpa had been praising his culinary skills and his promising future. Although his tone was full of joy, Wang Hao detected a sense of twilight from it.

It was as if Grandpa had finally realized at this moment that he was old, no longer the imposing head of the Wang family, but an old man who needed to rely on his grandson.

Putting himself in his grandfather's shoes, if it were Wang Hao himself, seeing his juniors so outstanding and promising, he would definitely feel gratified, but at the same time, he would also feel that his era had passed and lament that the world now belonged to young people.

Wang Hao returned home and had just stepped into the main room when he saw someone he didn't particularly want to see: Liu, the matchmaker from the village!

This matchmaker Liu was a well-known matchmaker in the village, enthusiastic and helpful, but sometimes too enthusiastic, which could be overwhelming.

Before, when Wang Hao had just graduated and didn't know what to do, he had stayed at home for a while. At that time, this matchmaker Liu often came to their house, saying that she wanted to introduce Wang Hao to someone.

Wang Hao was still immersed in the emotions of his breakup at the time, so naturally he didn't want to accept such an arrangement, but in the end, he couldn't resist his parents' persuasion and had to go and meet someone.

Under Matchmaker Liu's arrangement, Wang Hao began his first blind date. Now, when he thinks back to the atmosphere at that time, Wang Hao feels so awkward that he wants to rub his hands.

Both of them were people who had just graduated not long ago, and they were forced together to chat. The indifference in their emotions and the resistance in their words naturally led to no results.

Through this blind date, Wang Hao's most direct first impression of blind dates was aversion.

After all, striking up a conversation with a stranger is already very awkward, but blind dates take this awkwardness to a whole new level.

Immediately afterward, he was arranged for several more blind dates. At that time, Wang Hao was still young, and although he felt uncomfortable, he still listened to his parents and went on blind dates with Matchmaker Liu.

However, as a young man with his own ideas, he was not interested in these things at all, so he always went through the motions.

Later, he really couldn't stand this life of being arranged for blind dates from time to time, so he chose to leave his hometown and start making a living in the city where his sister was studying.

However, whenever he occasionally returned home, he would always encounter Matchmaker Liu.

And Matchmaker Liu always seemed to be able to time it perfectly, appearing at his house not long after he returned home, introducing the girls she wanted to match him with, saying how well-suited they were.

This made Wang Hao feel very awkward and helpless. After all, they were neighbors in the village. When someone came to introduce you to someone, you couldn't just kick them out, right?

Moreover, Matchmaker Liu always behaved very enthusiastically when she came to his house.

But she seemed like an enthusiastic salesperson, looking at him as if she were looking at a commodity, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

As Wang Hao grew older, his market in the countryside disappeared, and the frequency of Matchmaker Liu's appearances began to decrease.

When he came back before, he heard his mother say that Matchmaker Liu was still active on the front lines of matchmaking, still keen on introducing young people to each other, using her connections to help them find suitable partners.

Although Wang Hao felt somewhat disgusted by this, he understood that Matchmaker Liu's behavior was not malicious.

After all, in rural areas, blind dates are still a common form of marriage.

"Oh, Xiao Hao, it's been so long since I've seen you, you've grown more and more handsome!" Matchmaker Liu, who was sitting in the living room cracking melon seeds, noticed Wang Hao's arrival and quickly got up and came to his side, looking at him with a scrutinizing expression.

"Aunt Liu, why are you here?" Wang Hao didn't stand on ceremony and asked directly, his eyes involuntarily looking at his parents. Seeing the innocent expressions on his parents' faces, it was clear that they hadn't called her over. Wang Hao had a hunch.

"Didn't I hear that you were back? Your mother also said that you were successful and were going to open a big restaurant in the city. Auntie is just here to share in the joy and, by the way, let you see the good matches that Auntie has chosen for you!"

Matchmaker Liu said with a smile, and as she spoke, she reached into her pocket to take out her mobile phone, preparing to show Wang Hao the photos of those girls.

However, before Matchmaker Liu could take out her phone, Wang Hao interrupted her with a smile: "Thank you, Aunt Liu, but you don't have to worry about this matter. I already have someone outside. Thank you for your trouble!"

Hearing this, the smile on Matchmaker Liu's face froze.