Chen Qiuyue was currently sitting at home doing embroidery, completely unaware of what was happening at this moment.
Speaking of this embroidery skill, she had learned it from Mother Chen, who in turn had learned it from Chen Qiuyue's grandmother.
But Mother Chen had been an average student with mediocre aptitude—her skill could only manage the simplest handkerchiefs, and she had no real talent for anything more.
Chen Qiuyue, however, was a case of the student surpassing the master. Aside from what Mother Chen had initially taught her, everything else Chen Qiuyue had figured out on her own, bit by bit.
Chen Qiuyue had a clever mind, with unique ideas about patterns and color combinations, and her hands were incredibly nimble. Slowly but surely, she had honed this extraordinary skill.
Sometimes, looking at her clever and capable daughter, Mother Chen felt that talent truly was everything.
She remembered how, when she was young, her own mother had watched over her daily and still couldn't teach her properly—she had only absorbed thirty or forty percent of the skill.
Even the skill she had now was hard-won, earned through countless needle pricks to her fingers.
But her daughter Chen Qiuyue not only learned quickly and well, but could also use her own ingenuity to find her way through the craft. The more Mother Chen thought about it, the more gratified she felt.
Chen Qiuyue could now embroider more complex and difficult pieces, so starting from two years ago, in order to protect her delicate hands, she had begun taking on higher-paying embroidery work using finer fabrics.
Chen Qiuyue had long since stopped working in the fields, and on ordinary days she only helped with lighter household chores.
The reason she could maintain such fair, clean skin was precisely because of this. Otherwise, while an ordinary farm girl might not be expected to do the heavy work in the fields, she would still have to shoulder the lighter tasks.
"Yue girl, put down your work for a moment. Your mother wants to have a word with you."
Mother Chen spoke softly, looking at her daughter who sat quietly on the bed, focused on her embroidery.
"Alright, Mother, I'll put this away right now. Come sit here."
Hearing Mother Chen's words, Chen Qiuyue set aside her embroidery and pulled her mother to sit beside her.
Looking at her mother, who was gazing at her with such loving affection, Chen Qiuyue had a fleeting thought about the matter of potential suitors that had been circulating recently.
Her intuition told her this conversation was about marriage, and her expression flickered with a moment of unease.
Mother Chen looked at her delicate, beautiful daughter and felt that time passed all too quickly—in the blink of an eye, her daughter had reached the age to be married off as a wife.
Though she was reluctant to part with her daughter, matters of such importance in life could not be delayed. She no longer hesitated and came straight to the point.
"Yue girl, you probably know that your father and I have been looking into potential matches for you lately. Quite a few families have come to propose marriage recently, and your father and I have been carefully weighing our options, afraid of choosing wrong and making the rest of your life unhappy."
"Right now, there are two families we're most satisfied with. Let me tell you about them, and you think it over yourself and decide which one you'd prefer. Then tell your mother what you think."
Hearing that it was indeed about her marriage, Chen Qiuyue flushed bright red from her neck to her cheeks. She lowered her head, not daring to meet Mother Chen's gaze, but her ears perked up, listening intently.
"The first is Chen Youtian from our own village. He's seventeen years old, the eldest son in his family. He's tall and sturdy, a real expert at tending the crops. His family has over a dozen mu of land, and as the eldest son, he'll take the largest share when the family divides."
"Besides, Chen Youtian's parents aren't unreasonable people either. We live in the same village, so if anything ever happens to you, our family can always have your back."
Chen Qiuyue listened quietly, thinking about Chen Youtian in her mind.
Chen Youtian was two years older than Chen Qiuyue, and they had played together as children.
But as the girls grew older, the boundaries between men and women became stricter, and gradually she stopped having contact with the boys from the village.
She had occasionally run into him while bringing water and food to her parents in the fields. From what she remembered, Chen Youtian was tall and sturdy, but she couldn't recall much else about him.
"The second one was brought up by your aunt a couple of days ago. His family is from Zhao Family Village—the one where some clan members hold official positions."
"His name is Zhao Huaiyu, also seventeen years old. Just from the name, it sounds refined and scholarly. He studied at the Zhao clan school for a few years and now works as an accountant at a tavern in town."
Chen Qiuyue had been listening quietly with her head lowered, but when she heard that Zhao Huaiyu could read and write, and that Zhao Family Village had a clan school, she looked up with bright, eager eyes fixed on Mother Chen.
Mother Chen paused mid-sentence when she saw her daughter suddenly lift her head and stare at her with such earnest longing. Her heart skipped a beat, and she guessed which young man her daughter favored.
"His family's circumstances are similar to Chen Youtian's—they have about a dozen mu of farmland. Unfortunately, he's the second son, and there's an elder brother. When the family divides the property, you might not get much land or assets."
"But supporting a small family of your own wouldn't be a problem. More importantly, Zhao Huaiyu works as an accountant in town, earning eight hundred wen a month. If you marry him, your life shouldn't be too hard. He's a fine young man too."
"So those are the two families. Each has its merits. Chen Youtian's advantage is that his family is well-off and we're in the same village, so the family can look after you in the future."
"Zhao Huaiyu's advantage is that he can read and write, and he works as an accountant in town. Having a skill that earns money is better than anything else."
Mother Chen stopped there, her gaze meeting her daughter's bright eyes.
She said gently, "I've told you all this today because I want to hear what you think. Which of these two young men do you prefer? Don't be shy—this is just private talk between us mother and daughter."
In the past few decades, Chen Family Village had produced one scholar, and as a child, Chen Qiuyue had played with the scholar's youngest daughter a few times.
She had seen how different a scholarly household was, and she had secretly envied how the scholar's daughter could read and write, unlike ordinary farm girls who spent their days tending fields and doing chores.
From that time on, the seed of wanting to study had been planted in Chen Qiuyue's heart.
She had thought she would marry a farm man of similar circumstances and live out her life that way, believing her old dream was nothing but a luxury. She never expected that now, there was truly a chance to make it come true.
For an ordinary family, supporting a child's education was far too difficult. Although the Zhao family was also a farming family, Zhao Family Village had a clan school, and Zhao Huaiyu himself had studied for several years.
If she married into that family, her future children would have the opportunity to attend the clan school.
"Yue girl, Yue girl, snap out of it." Mother Chen called out repeatedly, seeing her daughter's gaze drift off as if lost in thought.
Chen Qiuyue came back to her senses. Though her face flushed with embarrassment, she looked at her mother with determination.
"Mother, if you're asking me to choose, I choose Zhao Huaiyu."
After hearing this, Mother Chen thought to herself that it was indeed so—her own daughter was indeed more satisfied with Zhao Huaiyu.
Having gotten the answer she wanted, Mother Chen did not ask her daughter any more questions. She reached out and pulled Chen Qiuyue into her arms, and let out a sigh.
"Good girl, Mother knows what to do now."