Chapter 820 - 422: Acting as a Go-Between

Chapter 820: Chapter 422: Acting as a Go-Between

Guizhi laughed heartily. "What are you talking about? This is a good thing. Who would find it troublesome? Besides, my maiden home isn’t far. If I walk fast, I can make a round trip in half a day. As for this matter, I can’t give you a definite answer just yet. We need to match their birth charts and have them meet first."

Juhua quickly nodded. "Of course. How could they agree immediately? Wouldn’t that be foolish? They should definitely ask around and meet in person before making a decision."

They were discussing Laicai’s marriage prospects.

Ever since Mrs. Wang asked her daughter to help look out for a suitable wife for Laicai, the Yang Family and Juhua had taken the matter to heart. They were worried that Laicai might marry another unvirtuous woman, which would only cause Mrs. Wang grief. The other night, Huai Zi had reminded Juhua that Big Mouth Zhao’s wife, Guizhi, had many female cousins on her maiden side. He suggested asking her for help. Following this, He had spoken to Guizhi about it in the fields, and today Guizhi had come to give them a reply.

He carried out some padded and lined jackets, piled them in the center of a bamboo tray, and shook them out to dry in the sun. Hearing their conversation, she smiled and asked, "Guizhi, we’ve been talking for a while now, but whose daughter are we actually talking about?"

Guizhi smiled. "She’s my uncle’s daughter. She turned thirteen this year. My aunt said she’s still young and didn’t want to arrange a marriage so early. I told her that Laicai is only fourteen or fifteen. If they find each other suitable, getting married in a couple of years would be perfect. Only then did my aunt agree to a meeting."

After He finished her task, she patted her clothes and came over to sit down. She said to Guizhi, "Laicai is a clever boy and good-looking too. Your aunt will definitely take a liking to him. Juhua’s second uncle’s family is quite well-off. His younger brother, Laishou, is studying at Uncle Zheng’s place. He’s very smart and might even become a Scholar in the future."

Seeing her mother boasting without batting an eyelid, Juhua covered her mouth and smiled. "Mother, stop bragging. We’re looking at our own family, so of course we think highly of them."

Guizhi said, "You aren’t bragging. I’ve also heard that Laishou is great at his studies. I haven’t seen Laicai’s face, but looking at your mother, her nephew couldn’t possibly be ugly. As for their financial situation, as long as a person is hardworking, how poor can they be? Besides, his uncle’s son, Laixi, opened a shop in the market. Aunt Zheng is his aunt, which is also very good."

Indeed, giving face to the Zheng Family, Guizhi was already somewhat inclined toward this match. As the saying goes, "Three poor relatives will drag you down, but three rich relatives will lift you up." Putting aside whether Laicai was good or not—though she heard he wasn’t bad—the main branch of the Yang family was already quite wealthy. And the son-in-law of the Yang family, represented by the Zheng Family right in front of them, was an honest and prosperous household.

Moreover, the younger brother in Juhua’s husband’s family was a Scholar. She heard he had gone to the Capital City to study, so how could his future be anything but bright? Laicai’s cousin was married to Liu Xiaomei, and Liu Xiaomei’s fourth brother, Liu Sixun, was also a Scholar. Calculating all this, it was quite impressive. Why wouldn’t they agree to this marriage?

After hearing Guizhi’s explanation, her aunt also felt this was a good match and agreed to a meeting. However, Guizhi was a calculating woman. She had heard a few things about Juhua’s maternal grandmother’s family. Thus, she felt the most worrying aspect of this marriage was Laicai’s mother—Juhua’s second aunt from the Lin Family. Therefore, she didn’t make any absolute promises.

At that moment, Pu Pao picked some Yingtao, washed them by the well, and brought them over to coax Liangzi. She then took him to play with Banli and Jing’er. The little boy went off excitedly.

Juhua offered Guizhi some Yingtao. Guizhi picked one up, popped it into her mouth, and smiled. "The taste is quite good. This fruit is very difficult to grow. Even if they mature, the birds stare at them all day, waiting to steal a bite."

Juhua nodded. "Exactly. That’s why I made a lot of small gauze bags. I cover the ones I can reach, and it helps a bit. But I can’t do anything about the ones at the top of the tree."

This was an idea that came to her when she was racking her brain on how to drive the birds away. She suddenly remembered a scene in Dream of the Red Chamber where Xiren asked the older female servants managing the Pu Pao vines to make gauze bags to cover them and prevent bee stings. So, she followed suit. It went to show that reading more books had its benefits.

The method was good, but it couldn’t be used on a large scale. Who had that much free time? After eating some fruit and chatting for a while, they returned to their original topic.

Juhua looked at He and turned to Guizhi. "I won’t sugarcoat things in front of you. We aren’t worried about anything else regarding this marriage except that your aunt might find fault with my aunt from the Lin Family. She does have a few minor flaws. However, she has improved a lot over the past two years, and my grandmother can keep her in check. Besides—" She paused and blinked at Guizhi. "—if your cousin is as capable as you are, there’s nothing to fear!"

Before Guizhi could speak, He burst into laughter. She rolled her eyes at Juhua and said, "What you said makes sense, but aren’t you afraid Guizhi might take it the wrong way? She might think you’re calling her fierce. Guizhi, what Juhua means is that you are good at managing a household and won’t let anyone push you around. Although her aunt from the Lin Family can be a bit of a gossip, she isn’t terribly difficult to deal with. How should I put it? She isn’t all that aggressive. If you simply refuse to give in to her, she runs out of ideas."