Chapter Twenty-One: The Matchmaking (Part Two)

Zhang Guonian glared at his eldest son. “I’m your father, and even if I’m wrong, I’m still right. What are you shouting about?”

Zhang Jiye and his brother Zhang Can exchanged a smile. Their father’s anger was only for show. Since childhood, their parents had showered the three siblings with love, and though the family was poor, their days were filled with laughter. Moments like this, with the family joking and chatting together, were common. Now, seeing his father’s familiar ways after years away, Zhang Can was overwhelmed with emotion. Home truly was the warmest place.

But Zhang Jiye, after grinning, quickly added, “Second brother, don’t blame Dad. The whole family supports you getting married; we’ve all talked it over. After all, our second brother came home with half a million. That means you should be picky about your bride, so we picked out a girl for you already. We were just waiting for you to come back for the meeting.”

Zhang Can could only smile wryly. So this was the real reason they’d tricked him into coming home.

“Dad, brother!”

Zhang Can glanced around the main room, which hadn’t changed since he’d left years ago—still simple and old-fashioned. He nodded and asked, “Have you thought about starting a business or moving to the county seat?”

As soon as he spoke, both Zhang Guonian and Zhang Jiye shook their heads vigorously, answering in unison, “No!”

“Dad, brother, I know we were poor before and living in the county wasn’t easy, but now you don’t need to worry. I can earn money!” Zhang Can hurried to reassure them, thinking his father and brother were probably worried about having no income or not being able to afford a house in town. But with his capability and over five million in the bank, buying a house for the family would be easy.

Zhang Guonian refused flatly, “So what if you can buy a house? If we move to the county, are we supposed to live on air? We have no other skills, no jobs—how would we survive?”

Zhang Jiye shook his head as well. “Little brother, just leave these things alone. Now that you’re back, you should just get married. Our family is well-off now, and you have such a good job. Your sister-in-law’s little sister got into Tsinghua University and now works in Shanghai. She earns over ten thousand a month, and that’s something the whole family brags about. But you, with a million a year, make seventy or eighty thousand a month. Isn’t that even more impressive? With a job like that, finding a wife should be a breeze!”

“Exactly!” Zhang Guonian chimed in. “After lunch, we’ll have your sister invite your second aunt over. We all agreed—the girl your second aunt introduced is reliable and, they say, quite pretty. A good match for you. Let your second aunt handle the arrangements.”

“Dad…” Zhang Can smiled bitterly. “There’s no need to rush. Nowadays, people fall in love freely.”

“Free, my foot!” Zhang Guonian thundered. “You’ve spent years away, living alone in Jincheng. If you’re so free, why haven’t you brought home a daughter-in-law? Enough talk—this matter is settled by your father. You’ll do as I say!”

All Zhang Can could do was smile wryly. He knew his parents’ hearts were in the right place—it was all for their three children. In the past, when the family was poor, matchmakers always cared about financial conditions more than looks or character. Now, with fifty thousand in cash at home, which was a fortune in the countryside, finding a good wife should be easy.

Besides, Zhang Can was good-looking and now claimed to have a million in annual salary. He could choose whoever he wanted.

But in his heart, Zhang Guonian had his own calculations. No matter how capable his son was, he was still a country boy at heart, and finding a wife in the city wasn’t easy. City girls only knew how to spend money and were unreliable. Rural girls, on the other hand, were diligent, good at taking care of their husbands, and made the best wives. If he could settle his second son’s marriage, then he’d be at ease. As for his daughter, Zhang Hua, that would be easier to arrange.

As the three men chatted and laughed, Zhang Hua and Zhu Hongyu brought out bowls of steaming rice dumplings, the aroma filling the air.

Zhang Can made no attempt to be polite. This was his home, after all, and seeing his mother healthy made his heart swell with happiness. He took a bowl from his sister, picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks, and took a bite.

Delicious. He hadn’t tasted this in years. His mother knew he liked savory dumplings, so his bowl was filled with them, except for two sweet ones—her special way of preparing them.

Back in Jincheng, his appetite wasn’t great, and he could only eat six or seven. But this bowl had twelve, and he finished them all, feeling stuffed. He put down his bowl and glanced at Liangliang, who was holding a small bowl with two sweet dumplings.

Zhang Can couldn’t help but pat Liangliang’s head, making the boy shrink back into Grandma Liu Chunju’s arms, eyeing Zhang Can warily.

Liu Chunju laughed and scolded, “Liangliang, what’s wrong? This is your second uncle! When you were little, you only clung to him, and now you act like you don’t know him!”

Zhang Can looked at Liangliang with affection and said, “Mom, it’s my fault for not coming home in so long. Of course he doesn’t feel close to me anymore.”

As Zhu Hongyu cleared the dishes, she said, “Second Uncle, Liangliang is very shy. He’s five now, but after two days of kindergarten, he cried and refused to go back. I don’t know what to do.”

“He’s still young. Give him time, don’t force him,” Zhang Can advised, praising his mother’s cooking. “Mom, your dumplings are still the best.”

The family chatted delightedly in the main room, though the conversation always circled back to finding Zhang Can a wife.

That evening, Zhang Can insisted his mother and sister-in-law not cook again. He was still too full from the dumplings, and after washing up, he went to bed, feeling tired.

The right wing had two rooms—one for his parents and one for his sister, Zhang Hua. It used to be his room, but after he went away for work, his sister moved in. She used to share a room with her nephew Liangliang, but now that Zhang Can was back, she returned to sharing the room with the boy.

His mother had replaced the bedding with freshly washed sheets, but the room was otherwise unchanged: his old desk and chair, the posters of celebrities on the walls. Everything seemed so simple. In the past, he hadn’t noticed, but now, after living in Jincheng, he realized how hard his parents and sister had it. He heard from his parents that the fifty thousand he sent home hadn’t been touched—they said it was his money to decide how to use.

His eyes grew moist as he noticed the clothes hanging on the rope by the bed—half of them faded from washing. His sister had grown taller in the past two years, but at least half the clothes were ones he remembered from three years ago.

Though he had sent home a huge sum, his family was frugal. He’d told them on the phone to use it as needed—give five thousand to his brother and sister-in-law, have his mother and sister buy new clothes and good food. But as he’d expected, they hadn’t touched a cent.

That night, Zhang Can tossed and turned, unable to sleep, only drifting off at two or three in the morning. In the morning, his sister Zhang Hua woke him. Opening his eyes, he saw Zhang Hua holding Liangliang, smiling at his bedside.

“Third sister, it’s so early?”

Zhang Hua grinned. “Early? Second brother, it’s already nine! Mom didn’t want me to wake you—said you’d worked hard and should rest. But second aunt is here. She said she made arrangements last night, and now they’re waiting for you at her house. Hurry up and get ready!”

“Meeting someone? Meeting who?” Zhang Can was confused. Who could he be meeting so early?

Zhang Hua leaned in and said with a laugh, “Second brother, it’s your blind date—the girl second aunt introduced. Who else?”

After getting up, Zhang Hua brought him water to wash, a cup and toothbrush, and waited on him. Then they went to the main room. Second aunt lived nearby—she wasn’t a close aunt, but before marriage, she’d lived just next door. After marrying, she moved to a neighboring village.

Second aunt was dressed neatly. On seeing Zhang Can, she immediately stood and greeted him with a wide smile. “Well, if it isn’t the second son! You’ve really changed—so dignified, like a big boss!”

From her eyes, Zhang Can saw both envy and flattery. He remembered as a child, she’d looked down on their family. Clearly, money changed everything—just fifty thousand in cash was enough to shock their hometown folks.

Zhang Can’s clothes were simple, but confidence and poise transformed one’s bearing.

“Not at all, second aunt. Why so early?” he asked.

As soon as she opened her mouth, she chattered away, “Second son, your parents called me a few days ago, asking me to introduce you to someone. I thought, it has to be someone worthy of your new status—so I found just the girl. She’s the second daughter of your cousin’s uncle, from our village, graduated from the nursing school, just assigned to the county hospital as a nurse, and she’s very good-looking—absolutely a match for you!”

The “cousin” she mentioned was her son, her husband’s family name was Liu; her son’s uncle would also be from the Liu family. This was an introduction within her own family—probably exaggerated, as was the custom. In their village, the most important qualities for a girl were the “three bigs”—a large face (for good fortune), a large body (for hard work), and large hips (for bearing sons). Second aunt, an old matchmaker, didn’t mention the “three bigs” this time, only that the girl was pretty, which made Zhang Can more suspicious.

But he didn’t mind. Marriage should be about freedom, and no matter how much his parents wanted it, they wouldn’t force him to marry someone. They just wanted him to settle down soon. Out of respect for his second aunt’s efforts, he would go on the blind date—there was no getting around his parents otherwise.

In the countryside, matchmakers had their own customs, including receiving betrothal gifts. Of course, Zhang Can wasn’t going to be stingy about that.