That evening, after the family finished dinner and each returned to their rooms, Mother Chen and Father Chen sat on the bed discussing their daughter's marriage in low voices.
In truth, the two families were about equal in circumstances. Since their daughter was more satisfied with Zhao Huaiyu, Father Chen and Mother Chen planned to give a definite answer when Chen Meihua came again in a couple of days.
However, Father Chen still decided that in the next few days, he would go to town with his son to secretly take a look at Zhao Huaiyu in person.
Although Chen Meihua said Zhao Huaiyu was an excellent young man, they still wanted to see him with their own eyes before feeling at ease.
Meanwhile, Chen Shitou and his wife were also discussing the younger sister's marriage.
"Shitou, you came back late last night, and I didn't get the chance to ask you in detail—how did your inquiries on the Zhao Family's side go?"
Xu Cuicui normally got along well with Chen Qiuyue. The sisters-in-law had never had a falling-out, and her urgent questioning came from concern for her sister-in-law's marriage.
After all, with Chen Qiuyue's looks, no matter how she chose, she could surely find a family that was good in every respect. If her sister-in-law married well, then if their own family ever had trouble, they would have someone to lean on.
Xu Cuicui stroked her slightly bulging belly, already beginning to plan for the future.
Chen Shitou sprawled on the bed and glanced at his wife, then said quietly, "There's no problem with the Zhao Family. I didn't find out anything bad."
"From what I can see, it should be settled on Zhao Huaiyu. After all, the young man of the Zhao Family can read and write, and he has a job in town. That already puts him a cut above the rest."
Hearing this, Xu Cuicui also felt it made sense. For a farming family, getting an education was not easy. Supporting a scholar cost too much, and ordinary families had no chance to study and become literate.
"I heard you say before that Zhao Huaiyu works as an accountant in town. So after our sister marries over, will she stay in Zhao Family Village to serve the two elders of the Zhao Family, or will she live in town with the young man of the Zhao Family?"
Xu Cuicui suddenly thought of this question. If in the future her sister-in-law stayed in the countryside with the two Zhao elders all the time, then husband and wife would spend more time apart than together. If anything happened, she would not even have someone by her side to care for her.
If she could live in town with the young man of the Zhao Family, that would be best of all. But thinking about it, it probably was not very likely either. Living in town cost too much.
"Father and Mother have thought about this too, but there are pros and cons, and there's no way around it."
"All right, go to sleep early. Tomorrow morning I still have to go to town with Father to secretly take a look at the young man of the Zhao Family. If they don't see him with their own eyes, Father and Mother won't feel at ease."
After Chen Shitou finished speaking, before Xu Cuicui could reply, he had already fallen asleep.
Looking at her sleeping husband, drowsiness gradually came over Xu Cuicui as well, and the couple fell asleep in each other's arms.
The early morning sunlight of May fell on people's faces. It did not feel scorching, only warm.
From Chen Family Village to town, at the pace of the Chen father and son, it took about half a shichen. Chen Family Village was not too far from town; some villages took several shichen to reach town.
The town was called Furong Town. The whole town was neither too big nor too small. There were restaurants, cloth shops, grain shops, butcher shops, and so on—everything that ought to be there was there.
People from the surrounding villages also bought these daily necessities in Furong Town. Very few went to the county or farther away.
The whole town was bustling with people coming and going—those going to market, those buying and selling goods. It was very lively.
By the time the Chen father and son reached town, a thin layer of sweat had already formed on their bodies.
The two knew the town well. Usually, when there was no farm work, they would also come to town to do odd jobs, generally helping some wealthy households.
Although it was hard work, earning a dozen or so wen a day was already quite good.
Zhao Huaiyu worked as an accountant at a restaurant in town called Ruyi Tower.
Usually, when the Chen father and son came to town, they passed by as well, but they had never gone in to eat. They had only seen the restaurant's furnishings from afar. Ordinary farming families could not afford to eat there.
Today, the Chen father and son did not plan to go in either. They only planned to stake out near the restaurant; surely they would be able to see Zhao Huaiyu.
Father Chen and his son found a corner in an alley diagonally across from the restaurant and squatted down, waiting quietly.
It was still early at this hour, and farmers and merchants kept arriving with all kinds of fresh ingredients for the restaurant.
The front of the restaurant was bustling with activity. The waiter shuttled back and forth among the various ingredients. Once the ingredients had been more or less checked and counted, a middle-aged man who looked like the manager and a slender, handsome man walked out together.
"Manager Zhang, Accountant Zhao, we counted once and there's no problem."
The two waiters stepped forward and said loudly.
The manager nodded and began to check and settle the accounts for each type of ingredient and goods one by one.
The Chen father and son watched the tall, thin man following behind the manager from afar and exchanged a glance. Seeing Zhao Huaiyu for the first time, at least in appearance, he seemed quite a good match for their daughter.
Watching his every move, he did things in an orderly way and spoke neither too quickly nor too slowly. He was not rough and simple like an ordinary farming man; he had the distinctive air of a scholar about him.
In the distance, Zhao Huaiyuan was checking and settling accounts together with the manager. After the calculations were done and there were no problems, he turned and went back into the shop. He still had to register and record everything in a moment.
Seeing that the man had already gone back inside, the Chen father and son thought that today's matter had gone quite smoothly, so they turned and left.
After finishing a day's work, Zhao Huaiyu returned to a side room in the back courtyard of the restaurant to rest. This was the lodging provided by the restaurant in town.
The room was not large: a wooden bed, a table and chairs, and two trunks.
Zhao Huaiyu sat in the chair flipping through a book, though if one looked closely, the page had not moved for quite a while.
At this moment, Zhao Huaiyu was thinking about the marriage arrangement with the Chen family, worrying whether the Chen family would be satisfied with him.
Actually, Zhao Huaiyu had learned about Chen Qiuyue only after coming to town to work as an accountant.
The embroidery shop that Chen Qiuyue often visited was on the same street as Ruyi Restaurant, not far away, so every time Chen Qiuyue came to town to deliver embroidery work to the shop, she would pass by Ruyi Restaurant.
The first time Zhao Huaiyu saw Chen Qiuyue, she was wearing plain blue cloth clothes, her black hair simply pinned up with a wooden hairpin.
As she passed by Ruyi Restaurant, she inadvertently raised her eyes, and her beautiful face fell into Zhao Huaiyu's view.
For the previous ten-plus years, Zhao Huaiyu had been mischievous in childhood and had studied at the clan school after growing up.
Aside from his own sisters, he had never had contact with unfamiliar young women. Yet that day, with just a hurried glance, that quiet, refined, and elegant figure was imprinted in Zhao Huaiyu's heart.
From that day on, whenever Zhao Huaiyu had free time, he would look out at the street beyond the restaurant. Every ten days to half a month, he could always see her once.
Sometimes Chen Qiuyue was alone, and sometimes she was accompanied by others.
It was only when Mother Zhao began arranging to look into a marriage for him that Zhao Huaiyu suddenly understood his own feelings for that girl.
Zhao Huaiyu asked someone to inquire about Chen Qiuyue's situation at that embroidery shop, then hurriedly told his own thoughts to Father Zhao and Mother Zhao.
When Father Zhao and Mother Zhao first heard about this, they only felt that their son had finally come to his senses.
Previously, he had been indifferent to his own marriage prospects, always finding excuses to deflect whenever the topic came up. Now, unexpectedly, he had taken a fancy to the Chen family's daughter on his own initiative.
While overjoyed, she also grew curious about Chen Qiuyue, wondering what kind of girl could make her son so preoccupied.