Chapter 35: Xiaogu’s Excellent Match

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

The adults all started feeling distressed again. They coaxed him for a long while before Liu Sen finally took a bite. The instant he bit in however, it was so painful, he started to cry out. Even though the steamed custard was not hot, there was broken skin in his mouth, and he couldn’t tolerate even the slight warmth from the food. He spat it out and refused to take any more. 

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Again the adults were heartbroken. They took the egg custard away. 

Liu Shu and Liu Lin sat, head drooping, at the side of the kang, while Liu Gao shi sat at the other side. Liu Hong stuttered for a while before managing to squeeze out a sentence, “Dage just came. He’s slaughtered two chickens…. They are in the kitchen.”

He shi’s mouth moved slightly, but Liu Changgeng beat her to it by saying, “Got it.”

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Nkw Qys pbk yzps pvyavle vs pyu psxlvbkdt. Fbl oydvle vs rwv kd y tsse osae qsa Wkapv. Jwv pllkdt bso wrplv Tl pbk oyp, pbl fwpv nswzed’v pyu yduvbkdt.

Wkdyzzu Nkw Dw’la casjl vbl pkzldnl, “Rv’p dsv eycs’p qywzv. Mbl sdl obs kdpvktyvle Nkw Zwd’la oyp eycsxw1! Mbl sdl obs qykzle vs vlynb Nkw Zwd’la oyp yzps eycsxw!”

Nkw Qys pbk yde Nkw Tsdt yzxspv kxxlekyvlzu pvyavle vs dse! Mbyv oyp lmynvzu obyv vblu oydvle vs pyu!

Mblpl osaep olal dsv y zkl. Ms Nkw Dw’la, Nkw Ubydtik oypd’v czyxlzlpp kd vbkp xyvvla – yqvla yzz, lewnyvkdt vbl nbkzeald oyp yzps bkp alprsdpkckzkvu, yde Nkw Zwd’la’p hkszldv clbyhksa oyp ewl ryavzu vs bkp qykzwal vs vlynb bla rasrlazu.

Jwv, kd vbkp lay, kv oyp y qynv vbyv kd awayz hkzzytl qyxkzklp, vbl xld olal alprsdpkczl qsa vbl byae zycsa swv kd vbl qklzep. Oyadkdt ldswtb vs pwrrsav vblka okhlp yde nbkzeald oyp yzalyeu y bwtl vypj. Mblu cypknyzzu eked’v byhl vkxl vs xydytl obyv byrrldle yv bsxl. Gp pwnb, vlynbkdt vbl nbkzeald qlzz vs vbl osxld. Mbl xld olal alprsdpkczl qsa xyvvlap swvpkel, obkzl vbl osxld olal kd nbyatl sq xyvvlap yv bsxl. Mlynbkdt vbl nbkzeald qlzz kdvs vbl nyvltsau sq “xyvvlap yv bsxl”, yde olal vblalqsal vbl osxld’p alprsdpkckzkvu. Mbkp oyp dsv y xyvvla sq ryppkdt czyxl, cwv oyp vbl alqzlnvksd sq vbkp nwaaldv lay’p alyzkvu.

Mbyv’p aktbv. Rv oyp vbyv pkxrzl. Rd vbkp lay, vbkp oyp vbl alyzkvu qsa hkzzytla qyxkzklp.

Rq kv olald’v qsa vbkp, obu oswze vblal cl vbl pyukdt, “Yyaau y hkavwswp okql”?” Rv oyp clnywpl vbl okql’p aszl kd vbl qyxkzu oyp yd lmvalxlzu kxrsavydv sdl. Rq vbl okql oyp hkavwswp, vbl nbkzeald vblu caswtbv wr oswze cl pldpkczl, yde byhl tsse qwvwal rasprlnvp. Jwv kq vbl okql oyp dlkvbla hkavwswp dsa vbswtbvqwz, vbld vbl nbkzeald vblu vywtbv oswze pkxkzyazu dsv cl vbswtbvqwz yde oswze dsv byhl tsse qwvwal rasprlnvp. 

Mbkdj  ycswv kv. Rq y zkvvzl csu olal vs oyvnb bkp xsvbla clbyhl nyznwzyvkdtzu yde pbalokpbzu, bso nswze vbyv csu rsppkczu taso wr vs xyjl psxlvbkdt sq bkxplzq?

Similarly, if  a girl grew up watching her mother throw hissy fits and behave viciously, they would pick up her behaviour and that would similarly result in poor outcomes. 

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Liu Xu’er also had a motive for saying this. She didn’t want her mother to start hating dabo over Liu Sen’s matter. This was purely to help maintain her parent’s relationship. 

After all, after a while, dad’s anger would definitely dissipate, and his mood would even out. He wouldn’t bear a long-term grudge against Liu Changqi over this. But if He shi was unable to let go of the matter and persistently said hateful words about Liu Changqi, then it may eventually affect their marital relationship. 

That was something that Liu Xu’er definitely wanted to prevent. She wanted for her family members to always be harmonious, especially the relationship between her parents. 

After all, the matter could mostly be laid at Ma shi’s feet for inciting Liu Yun’er. Although Liu Changqi was guilty of not managing his wife and daughter’s more strictly, as previously mentioned, men not governing matters within the household was a fact of life in this era. Liu Changqi wasn’t someone who had transmigrated. He definitely would not have modern values.

As such, they really could not blame Liu Changqi. 

When Liu Xu’er said that, Liu Gao shi, Liu Hong and Liu Changshi all breathed a sigh of relief.

After a while, Liu Gao shi chased Liu Hong and Liu Changshi home, before consoling He shi. She said that this was Ma shi’s fault, but there was nothing that could be done now, so she needed to calm down, and they could talk again about this some other time. 

He shi had also slowly regained her composure. This was mostly because Senzi had stopped crying. He seemed to have forgotten what had just happened, and was looking around again. 

Wanting a change of subject, Liu Changgeng asked Liu Gao shi, “Mum, you didn’t finish what you were saying just now. Why don’t you continue? Who got an official’s matchmaker to come to our family? Who’s family is so earnest?”

He shi was after all a woman. She loved gossip too. And since this was her own xiaoguzi’s marriage, she was particularly concerned. She nodded and asked, “That’s right, mum. Which family was it?”

Liu Gao shi sent Liu Shu and Liu Lin away. She originally wanted to send Liu Xu’er out too, but right now, Liu Sen was glued to Liu Xu’er. Leaning safely in her arms, eyes blinking as he looked at everyone on the kang, Liu Gao shi gave up on the idea. In any case, Liu Xu’er was only five, there should be no issue talking about this in front of her. 

So she nodded and said, “I was just getting there! You would never guess. The person who wanted to make the offer was none other than our village’s Yuan family!”

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Taohua Village was a rather large village, and there were residents who did not share a surname. It was only because they were located close to Nanzhen County’s Wang Village that there were more people surnamed Wang in their village. But there were plenty of other family names in their village. 

“Yuan family?” Liu Changgeng was stunned for a moment. With some disbelief, he asked, “Yuan Family’s Third? Yuan Hao?”

“That’s right, he’s the one. There’s only one Yuan family in the village, and he’s the only one who isn’t married!” Liu Gao shi’s face had broken out into a wide smile as she said that. 

He shi had also broken out into a surprised smile.

The instant she heard that it was the Yuan family, Liu Xu’er understood why everyone was both shocked and delighted. The Yuan family was one of the best families in the village. Their financial situation was excellent. There were three brothers in their family but they had long ago separated after the death of their parents. Each of the brothers had over 20mu of fertile land and all of them had brick houses atop the slope. 

This year, Yuan family’s Third was 19. Using modern parlance, Yuan Hao was Taohua Village’s most eligible bachelor. 

All the maidens of suitable age in Taohua Village hoped to marry him. Firstly, he was a rather handsome fellow, with a very fit build. Furthermore, there would be no parents-in-law to have to serve. The sisters-in-law all didn’t stay together as the family was separated, so there would be no need to quarrel. And most importantly, Yuan Hao had had control over 20 mu of fertile land for a few years now, so he should have been able to save quite a sum!

As such, it wasn’t just the maidens who wanted to marry him, even their mothers were hoping to match their daughters to him! They too wanted to be his mother-in-law!

There were some, both within and from out of the village, who had quietly looked for matchmakers to propose offers to him. His door sill had been worn away by all the matchmakers coming forward these past few years. 

But Yuan Hao was a strange one. Even though the matchmakers kept coming forth, and even though his two brothers and sisters-in-law were anxiously looking everywhere for a suitable match for him, he didn’t care! From the time he was 16, people started looking at him. Till now, at nearly 20, he hadn’t chosen anyone! It had invited those who had been rejected, to gossip behind his back that there must be something physically wrong with him. 

However, even that talk didn’t stop people from hoping to marry him. So much so that his door sill was close to breaking! 

So when they heard it was him, and furthermore that he had spontaneously come forward to request the match, Liu Gao shi was overjoyed, but also surprised. 

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Liu Changgeng was also pleasantly surprised, “It is Yuan Hao?! He…. Why would he suddenly approach our family? Although we are in the same village, he has seen Liu Hong around and he’s never seemed to show any interest in her before?!”

He shi also found it strange. “Yes. Also, Liu Hong is only 14. She’s younger than him by 5 years! That’s quite an age gap between them. Is there no one closer in age that’s suitable around here? We should look into the situation closely!”

Liu Gao shi smiled and said, “But of course! Even though so many have approached him, we have never thought of trying to be social climbers, so he shouldn’t have noticed Liu Hong. But who would have thought, he was the one who admired Liu Hong and actually went to ask the official’s matchmakerto help make the offer!”

“So how on earth did that happen?” Liu Changgeng and He shi asked simultaneously. 

Both sides had to be especially careful whenever people married within the village. That was because when everyone stayed in the same village there would definitely be frequent interactions. Therefore the chances of conflict were greater. 

Liu Gao shi then said, “That is what I went  around asking. Yuan Hao had also explained everything clearly to the matchmaker. Speaking of which, the two of you were crucial to helping this match!”

Liu Changgeng and He shi both were stunned, “How so? We’re not familiar with Yuan Hao, He stays in the east and we in the west. At most, we would just exchange greetings with him.”

“When the two of you fell into the ravine, everyone went forward to help! Yuan Hao was also there that night. At first, the Village Head wanted to look for a cart, but in the end, Yuan Hao loaned his own transport to send the two of you into town to treat your injuries. He was also the one who sent you there. He personally witnessed Liu Hong carrying her ersao around everywhere… Because of this, Yuan Hao felt that Liu Hong had good character, and chose her!”

Liu Changgeng and He shi immediately understood. 

Speaking of that matter, He shi still felt somewhat guilty. “I really don’t know what to say about what happened that night. As an unmarried girl of only 14, she had to carry my heavy body about. I really troubled her….”

“Why are you still talking about this? Everyone knows why she ….. Ai, forget it. Let’s not speak of that.” Liu Gao shi sighed. Then she smiled again, “But that was perhaps a blessing. Because of that incident, Yuan Hao saw her actions and felt that she was of good character. And that’s why he honored her by looking for such a prestigious matchmaker to come and make the offer.”

“That’s true, it’s truly a blessing.” Liu Changgeng said. However, he was a man and Liu Hong’s elder brother. As such, he was still cautious, and hadn’t let the sudden good news cloud his judgment, “However, even though we are all in the same village, we still need to look into everything clearly. We need to check if those rumors that there’s something wrong with his body are true….”

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“Hey! Why are you mentioning that sort of crude matter in front of your children!” He shi immediately cut in.

Liu Changgeng also jumped. Smiling sheepishly, he turned to have a look. As they were speaking, Liu Xu’er had leaned against the blanket and closed her eyes to rest them. Liu Sen had already fallen asleep in her arms, 

Liu Changgeng laid Liu Sen down and put a pillow under his head. Then he also supported Liu Xu’er to lie down and softly said, “Sleep well. When you wake up, everything will be better.”

He shi quickly took out Liu Sen’s little gloves and helped him wear them. Every time Liu Sen slept, he would always take his hands out from under the blankets. And if the adults were not watchful, his hands would be freezing by the time they noticed. 

There was a pause before Liu Gao shi continued, “Your dad also said the same thing! The matchmaker has come by twice. The first time they came, your dad said nothing, not even to all you brothers! He only told Fourth to check everything out….”

“Then has he found anything out? Is there anything wrong with him?” Liu Changgeng asked.

He shi  gave a “pu-chi”. Stretching her arms out, she poked him. 

“How would anyone find out about that! It’s very obvious that those were just rumors spread by those who are upset! Such a good lad….” Liu Gao shi obviously firmly stood on the side of her future son-in-law.