Li Xia exchanged a glance with her mother-in-law. There was hope!
Li Xia hurriedly said, “Her name is Comrade Shuhe. She’s seventeen and just graduated from middle school. Her family lives in Xiaoshitou Village, Qinghe County. It’s a little far away, deep in the mountains.”
“Qinghe County?” Lu Jingfeng asked.
“Yes.” Li Xia repeated everything Matchmaker Zhang had told her.
Wang Xiulan asked, “It’s no big deal if her family is a little poor. The important thing is, what’s the girl like? Is she too delicate? Marriage isn’t just about looks.”
Li Xia laughed. “Mom, a delicate girl couldn’t survive in a village these days, much less in the mountains! Matchmaker Zhang said everyone in her family praises her for being steady and sensible. Even while she’s in school, she helps her family with the farm work.”
Lu Changxiong added from the side, “She’s seventeen and has graduated from middle school, and her family’s background is clean. The conditions are a little poor, but our family isn’t marrying a wife to get rich.”
Wang Xiulan shot him a glare. “That’s easy for you to say. Once you bring a wife home, don’t you have to provide her food, clothes, housing, and transportation? Don’t you have to work through all her habits and temper? Jingfeng, what do you think?”
Lu Jingfeng placed the photograph on the table. “Mom, I should meet her. This girl seems like my type.”
Li Xia happily picked up the photograph and looked at it again. “Mom, I told you this one would work out! Matchmaker Zhang only has one such good girl on her hands. We have to settle this as soon as possible.”
Wang Xiulan nodded. “Exactly, Mom. Since Fourth Brother likes her, we can’t drag it out. A girl as pretty as her is bound to have more than just our family interested in her.”
“Let’s meet her first and see, Mom,” Lu Jingfeng said. “Her home is far away, so I’ll have to ask for leave.”
Wang Xiulan quickly asked, “How many days can you take?”
“A week, I suppose.”
Li Xia was startled. “That long? Isn’t your security section busy taking inventory lately?”
“Someone else is keeping an eye on the inventory. I just need to hand over everything I’m handling.” Lu Jingfeng continued, “Xiaoshitou Village is far from the provincial capital. Going there and coming back will take at least three or four days. I’ll see whether the transport team has any vehicles heading toward Qinghe. If I can hitch a ride, it’ll save a lot of time.”
Wang Xiulan looked at her son and sighed inwardly. This was the first time she had seen her younger son take the initiative to ask about the route for a matchmaking visit—and he even knew to request a week’s leave! In the past, she had always forced him to sit down at the table, then urged him again and again to go meet a girl. But now, the moment he got the photograph, he was already thinking about how to find a vehicle.
Wang Xiulan grabbed Li Xia by the arm. “Go quickly, Mom. Hurry and get in touch with Matchmaker Zhang and have her send word to the Zhao family. Tell her our family would like to meet the girl. Once Jingfeng has finished arranging his leave and we’ve set a date, we’ll call them.”
Li Xia answered and picked up her shoulder bag before heading out.
Lu Jingfeng called after her, “Sister-in-law, Mom, tell Matchmaker Zhang not to make it sound too definite! We’re only going there to meet her. Don’t let the girl’s family think the marriage has already been settled.”
Wang Xiulan was displeased. “You child, why are you already leaving yourself a way out before you’ve even met her?”
“Both sides have to be willing in a matchmaking meeting,” Lu Jingfeng said. “If she doesn’t like me, are you going to tie her up and bring her back?”
Lu Changxiong coughed. “That’s true enough.”
Li Xia left with a smile. Matchmaker Zhang had always been quick and efficient. When she heard that Lu Jingfeng had agreed, she went to the supply cooperative that afternoon to borrow the telephone.
She called the Qinghe County Commune. “Comrade, could you please find Zhao Shoutian from Xiaoshitou Village? Tell him someone from the provincial capital is looking for him and that it’s fairly urgent.”
There was a pause on the other end. “Accountant Zhao is in a meeting. I’ll go notify him.”
Matchmaker Zhang sat beside the telephone and waited, waving the fan in her hand rapidly.
Before long, Zhao Shoutian’s voice came through the receiver. “Hello? This is Zhao Shoutian from Xiaoshitou Village. Who’s looking for me?”
Matchmaker Zhang immediately adopted a warm, friendly tone. “Accountant Zhao, this is Zhang Hongying from the provincial capital. A while ago, I had someone bring me a photograph of your youngest daughter. Do you remember?”
Of course Zhao Shoutian remembered! His eldest daughter, Zhao Shulan, had said that there was a matchmaker in the provincial capital who knew quite a few families with good prospects. After the photograph was sent out, the whole family had been waiting for news, but he hadn’t expected it to come so quickly.
“I remember, I remember. Comrade Zhang, is there news?”
Matchmaker Zhang laughed. “Mom, there’s good news! I showed the photograph to several families, and one of them is especially taken with your daughter.”
“Which family?”
“The Lu family from the provincial capital. Their younger son is Lu Jingfeng. He’s twenty-five. After returning from military service, he was assigned to work as section chief of the Cigarette Factory’s security section! He’s good-looking and proper, has a stable job, and his family is well-off too.”
Matchmaker Zhang continued, “Mom, the older couple in the Lu family are both respectable people. Their eldest son is married as well, and they have a very spacious home! After seeing Comrade Shuhe’s photograph, Lu Jingfeng wants to come to Xiaoshitou Village personally to meet the girl.”
A security section chief, a permanent job in the provincial capital, and a former serviceman? The conditions were so good that Zhao Shoutian could hardly believe them. His daughter He was certainly pretty, but at the end of the day, she was a girl from the mountains. Her family could barely scrape together enough grain to send her on to further schooling! Could a family like that really take an interest in her?
Matchmaker Zhang asked from the other end of the line, “Accountant Zhao, are you listening?”
Zhao Shoutian came back to himself. “I’m listening, I’m listening! Comrade Zhang, the Lu family… are they really willing to come all the way to our village?”
“How could it be false? The Lu family’s younger son is already preparing to request leave. It’s just that Xiaoshitou Village is too far away, so they need to arrange the route and the letter of introduction first. I’ll call you again once they’ve decided exactly which day they’ll come.”
Zhao Shoutian hurriedly said, “All right, all right! I’ll go tell my family and let the girl prepare herself.”
Matchmaker Zhang laughed. “Accountant Zhao, your family is about to have a happy occasion! A pretty girl has an advantage, after all. Old Madam Lu liked your daughter’s photograph very much too.”
Zhao Shoutian agreed verbally, but after hanging up, he simply stood there without moving. Several cadres who had been in the meeting nearby had long since pricked up their ears to listen. As soon as he put down the receiver, they surrounded him.
“Accountant Zhao, what happy occasion is this? You even got a call from the provincial capital at the commune.”
“I heard something about a section chief. Is it true?”
“Your youngest daughter just graduated from middle school, didn’t she? Someone’s already taken an interest in her?”
Zhao Shoutian knew he had to keep his excitement in check since nothing had been settled yet. “It’s only a matchmaking visit. Nothing’s been decided.”
An older cadre patted him on the shoulder. “Old Zhao, you say it isn’t settled, but your face is already split by a grin.”
Another man asked, “Which family is it?”
Zhao Shoutian knew everyone had heard the conversation just now, but he still answered, “It’s the Cigarette Factory in the provincial capital. The man is the security section chief. He’ll be coming to the village to meet her in a few days.”
The news spread faster than the wind.
Before Zhao Shoutian had even finished his meeting that afternoon, quite a few people at the commune already knew that the youngest daughter of Accountant Zhao from Xiaoshitou Village had caught the eye of a family from the provincial capital with excellent conditions.
Some said Zhao Shuhe was lucky. Others said the girl looked beautiful in the photograph, so it was hardly surprising that someone from the provincial capital had taken an interest in her. Someone else added sourly, “Let’s wait until they’ve met. People from the provincial capital have very high standards.”
Zhao Shoutian didn’t argue when he heard that. He was genuinely happy, but he was genuinely uneasy too! If this marriage came through, He would be able to leave the mountains. But before everything was settled, no one could say for sure.
After the meeting, he didn’t even have time to organize the brigade’s accounts. He borrowed a bicycle and hurried back to the village. Several village women were sitting beneath a large tree, sewing soles onto cloth shoes. When they saw him return, one of them immediately called out, “Accountant Zhao! I heard your daughter He is going to marry someone from the provincial capital!”
Zhao Shoutian quickly waved his hands. “Nothing’s been decided! What do you mean, marry? They’re only coming to meet her.”
The woman laughed. “That’s still quite something. I said long ago that a girl as pretty as your daughter He wouldn’t stay in the mountains forever.”
Zhao Shoutian said no more. He pushed his bicycle and hurried home.
As soon as he pushed open the courtyard gate, Li Qiongxian was squatting beside the kitchen door, sorting vegetables. “Why did you come back so late today? The food’s almost cold.”
Zhao Shoutian leaned the bicycle against the wall. “Where’s He? Call everyone out. I have something to say.”
Li Qiongxian looked up at him. “What is it? Is the brigade short on grain again?”
“It’s not about the grain. It’s about He.”
The people inside gradually came out.
Zhao Shuhe had been helping her eldest sister-in-law, Zhang Xiaoping, soothe her child. When she heard Father calling, she set the child down and walked to the doorway of the main room.
Zhao Shoutian looked around at everyone before saying, “Matchmaker Zhang from the provincial capital called. The family she introduced to He likes her photograph. The man is Lu Jingfeng. He’s twenty-five, returned from military service, and works as chief of the security section at the Cigarette Factory. He’s going to request leave and come to Xiaoshitou Village personally to meet He in a few days.”
The vegetables slipped from Li Qiongxian’s hands into the basin. “A section chief from the provincial Cigarette Factory is really willing to come all the way to this mountain ravine?”
“The matchmaker said it herself. How could it be false?”
Zhao Manzhu immediately brightened. “Is Little Sister really going to the provincial capital this time? A security section chief—that sounds impressive.”
Zhao Baocang, sitting on the threshold, said, “Little Sister, don’t go out to the fields these next few days, and don’t spend time in the sun. Rest properly. Don’t get your clothes dirty, and don’t let your face get tanned.”
“Second Brother, I’m not a crop in the fields. Can being out in the sun for two days really change my color?” Zhao Shuhe asked.
Zhao Baocang scratched his head. “Anyway, stay out of the sun as much as you can. They’re coming from so far away. You have to look spirited when they see you.”
Zhang Xiaoping came over as well, the smile on her face much warmer than usual. “Little Sister, you’re truly blessed! A former serviceman who’s also a section chief—he must be educated too. A family this good isn’t easy to find, so hold on to him and don’t do anything foolish.”
Not long ago, her eldest sister-in-law had been so anxious about the grain Zhao Shuhe’s schooling would consume that her face had gone red. Now that she had heard someone from the provincial capital was interested in her, her attitude had changed quickly. Still, Zhao Shuhe didn’t find it strange. Everyone in this family was calculating how to get through life, and her eldest sister-in-law had her own difficulties.
Ding Feng stood nearby holding her younger son and joined in. “Exactly! A girl being pretty is an advantage in itself! Once Little Sister marries out, you’ll become a city woman. Don’t spend your whole life struggling here in the mountains!”
Zhao Manzhu was uncomfortable with that. “What do you mean, ‘marries out’? Little Sister isn’t something to be traded for goods.”
Ding Feng rolled her eyes at him. “What did I say wrong? A section chief from the provincial capital is willing to come meet her. If that isn’t an opportunity, what is? Do you really want such a beautiful girl to spend her whole life farming in the village?”
Zhao Manzhu said nothing. Who didn’t want to leave this place?
Li Qiongxian finally regained her composure and took Zhao Shuhe by the hand, looking her up and down. “We need to make you another outfit, and fix up your hair properly too. You can’t wear those cloth shoes when you go out. I’ll have to find a way to get you a new pair.”
“Mom, the clothes we bought in the county town last time are still new. Don’t spend any more money,” Zhao Shuhe hurriedly said.
Li Qiongxian thought about it, then grew worried again. “They’re coming from the provincial capital. What are we going to use to entertain them? We’ll have to set aside some cured meat and kill a chicken too. If there are many of them, we’ll have to borrow some grain in advance.”
“Don’t panic yet,” Zhao Shoutian said. “The matchmaker hasn’t set a date. We’ll prepare once we get the call. Don’t go shouting it all over the village and letting everyone know.”
Zhao Shuhe stood where she was, listening as the whole family talked over one another and discussed the matter. Her thoughts were in turmoil.
A section chief from the provincial capital had taken an interest in her photograph. It didn’t sound particularly reliable, but she also understood that this was the only chance she had at present to leave the mountains.