“Over here, Auntie Gangzi, what are you looking at? Lirong, this is the Gangzi I told you about—his surname is Qian. His family is well-off, really well-off. They’ve got cattle sheds, pigpens, and sheep pens. He’s also capable—during harvest season he travels all over the south and north helping people collect wheat, and can earn over a thousand yuan a year.”
Aunt Liu smiled as she pushed her niece forward.
Mother Qian, flattered by the introduction, immediately put on airs. She sized the girl up from head to toe and looked slightly disappointed. Dark, rough-skinned, nothing delicate about her. Compared to fair, soft-skinned girls with only their eyes showing, she fell far behind.
“You’re tall enough. Can you read?”
“I’ve got five or six siblings at home—who would have the spare money to send me to school?” Aunt Liu quickly praised her niece. “She’s very capable. She can handle both field and housework. Everyone within ten li praises her for being hardworking.”
“There isn’t much work in my house, she won’t need to do it. Gangzi travels outside during harvest and needs someone to keep accounts.” Mother Qian had clearly already made up her mind—she wasn’t satisfied.
“My niece is smart. She’ll learn everything quickly once she follows Gangzi.” Aunt Liu suggested. “Why don’t the two young people go out and talk for a while and get to know each other?”
Under pressure from the crowd, Mother Qian said reluctantly, “Gangzi, take her for a walk along the main road.”
Aunt Liu also urged, “Lirong, go talk to him.”
After the two young people left, Aunt Liu immediately pressed Mother Qian about the wedding date.
“Today is just a meeting. We still need to ask Gangzi and his father when we go back.” Mother Qian changed the topic instead. “What’s this girl’s name? Does she have a boyfriend? Why is she so fair? Has she never done any farm work?”
Aunt Liu replied, “She’s Dr. Qin’s wife from the health station. She’s a city girl—why would she need to do any work? She just has meals cooked for her by her husband. The whole village knows.”
Li Yingtang: “……”
She had already become village gossip?
So idle? Ridiculous.
“Oh, Dr. Qin’s wife.” Mother Qian suddenly sighed in regret, then had an idea. “The young lady from Dr. Qin’s family—do you know any unmarried girls? Help introduce some for us.”
Aunt Liu’s expression changed. “What do you mean by that?”
Mother Qian said matter-of-factly, “If we’re arranging marriage, of course we have to choose carefully.”
Aunt Liu’s face darkened.
Li Yingtang felt extremely awkward. Why was she dragged into this?
Given Aunt Liu’s attitude, she clearly approved of the match, even after Mother Qian complained that Lirong was uneducated. If the match failed later, they might blame her.
“I suddenly remembered I have something to do. I’ll head off first.” She slipped away.
……
Back at the health station.
As soon as she entered, she saw Cheng Fang sitting awkwardly on a small stool, staring blankly at her floral cotton shoes.
An elderly man was receiving an IV drip on the bed, with a young man accompanying him.
Qin Xian was not in the room.
Where was he?
His heart must be huge—not afraid someone would steal medicine fees?
“A-Xian.”
Cheng Fang looked up immediately, alarmed. She had not seen this woman earlier and thought she had gone back to the city—yet she was still here.
“Dr. Qin went out. Whose house were you snooping around at?”
“Snooping?” Li Yingtang repeated before understanding. “Oh, I went to Aunt Liu’s place to see her nephew’s marriage arrangement.”
“What does the man look like?”
Li Yingtang sat down at Qin Xian’s desk. “Not great. Not even one-tenth as good as my husband.”
The moment she said it, both the grandfather and grandson on the bed looked over.
Even Qin Xian, who had just pushed the door open outside, nearly staggered.
Husband?
How did she say that so casually?
Was she not embarrassed?
“A-Xian, you’re back.”
Li Yingtang quickly gave up his seat.
Cheng Fang said, “Dr. Qin, I suddenly feel all-over body pain today.”
Qin Xian reached for a thermometer.
But Li Yingtang was faster and handed one to Cheng Fang first.
“Here. Body pain might mean fever. There’s no fever medicine at home—you should eat something first and see if it improves. Traveling in cold weather can make it worse. Right, A-Xian?”
Cheng Fang was shaking with anger. Did I ask you? Always showing off!
Qin Xian’s lips lifted slightly. “Right. So the matchmaking ended so quickly?”
Pleased, Li Yingtang leaned closer to him and sat beside him, admiring his long legs.
Then she unconsciously reached out and touched them.
He was wearing padded winter pants, yet they were still so long and straight. What would they look like without all that?
She was already looking forward to summer.
She should earn more money next year and buy him more shorts.
Hehe.
Qin Xian stiffened instantly. Heat surged up his neck and ears.
He glanced at the others in the room—fortunately, the table blocked the view.
He quietly grabbed her wrist under the desk.
“Behave yourself.”
Li Yingtang slipped her fingers between his and held on tightly, lowering her voice too. “It’s cold. Let me warm my hands. By the way, gossip time—the guy Aunt Liu found for her niece is short and fat, no presence, no charm. And his mother still thinks the girl is uneducated and wants me to introduce someone else. I’m not helping.”
Qin Xian glanced at their intertwined hands, his eyes darkening. “So you weren’t planning to mess things up?”
“I just said that. I’m not that bad. The bad one is Aunt Liu. She even brought us a scarf earlier—I thought she was nice. But she clearly dislikes the girl and still insists on matchmaking. I really don’t get it. That man isn’t good-looking either—plain, bad teeth—how would she even…”
Before she could finish, Qin Xian covered her mouth and nose with his hand.
Enough.
She really couldn’t keep talking.
“Make lunch. I’m busy today. You cook. There’s dried noodles in the cupboard—just boil them.”
“It’s still early.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Alright then. I won’t let you suffer.”
That single sentence made Qin Xian’s lips curl slightly.
……
After she left, Cheng Fang finally got her temperature checked and left unwillingly.
As she passed the kitchen, she paused.
Inside, the woman was sitting by the stove, clumsily lighting fire with corn husks.
So clumsy.
Unlike her—she could do everything well.
Only someone like her deserved Dr. Qin.
She had to come up with a way to make that woman leave the village.
Then an idea struck her.
“Do you like fish?” she asked. “There are people drilling holes in the frozen reservoir to ice-fish. I remember Dr. Qin used to go fishing there in summer—you could ask them to help drill a hole and go too.”
As long as that woman went, she’d have a way to make her fall into the ice hole.
Li Yingtang, who had a poor impression of Cheng Fang but a good impression of fish, replied, “Really? I’ll go take a look later.”
Cheng Fang got what she wanted and left without further entanglement.
……