Going Big
After more than half a month of running from one matchmaking meeting to another in nonstop succession, Shen Taohua’s nerves had been stretched to the limit.
When she once again saw the matchmaker at home wearing her usual ingratiating smile, that final thread of restraint snapped with a “pop.”
She expressionlessly placed a hand on the matchmaker’s shoulder. The other woman, seeing her expression, felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine.
“Miss Shen… d-did you need something?” she asked nervously.
Shen Taohua gave a thin, fake smile. “You’ve already introduced quite a few eligible men to my family. You still haven’t run out of candidates?”
At this, the matchmaker, momentarily intimidated by her tone, immediately broke into a proud smile, speaking animatedly.
“How could I possibly run out so easily? You should know, I control at least one-tenth of all marriageable men and women in the entire county, plus several surrounding villages!”
One-tenth might not sound like much, but the county’s total population was over fifty thousand. Including nearby larger villages, it came to nearly sixty thousand.
Among them, roughly six thousand were of marriageable age. About one-third of those were men, around two thousand.
One-tenth of two thousand meant two hundred men.
Even after filtering out those unsuitable for the Shen family, those with poor looks, bad habits, second marriages, widowers, and so on, there were still at least seventy to eighty candidates left.
Up to now, the number Shen Taohua had actually met through her introductions didn’t even reach one-third of that total. That meant two-thirds of the pool was still available, making it impossible to finish matchmaking in the short term.
And even after going through one full round, she could still find a new batch of candidates.
The matchmaker spoke with pride and satisfaction, but Shen Taohua’s vision was already going dark from what she was hearing.
Her family wasn’t just using this one matchmaker; there were several others as well. Their candidate pools were likely similar. In other words, the total number of people she would have to meet could easily multiply three or four times, up to one hundred fifty or even two hundred men.
And that didn’t even include the ones introduced through her parents’ aristocratic friends, who wouldn’t go through ordinary matchmakers at all.
Just imagining how long it would take to meet all these people made her gag slightly.
No, this absolutely could not continue.
Her expression turned increasingly resolute, a hint of near-madness flickering in her eyes.
She looked at the still-chattering matchmaker and said, “With so many people, there’s no way I can meet them one by one. How about I suggest something to you?”
The matchmaker was startled. “W-what suggestion?”
Shen Taohua leaned in and whispered a few words in her ear.
The matchmaker’s pupils shook violently. She stared wide-eyed, stammering, “Th-this… that doesn’t seem appropriate. I’ve never heard of matchmaking being done like this before.”
Shen Taohua coaxed her patiently, “Just because it’s never been done before doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Besides, if I can’t settle on anyone, you won’t be able to earn your matchmaking fees either. Isn’t that a loss for you? Don’t you want to make a big profit?”
Although the matchmaker received a small fee from the Shen family each time she arranged a meeting, that money was nothing compared to the much larger matchmaking reward she would get if a marriage was successfully concluded.
To strengthen her bargaining position, Shen Taohua directly stuffed her purse into the matchmaker’s hands.
“I definitely won’t let you work for nothing. Think of this as tea money,” she said.
The matchmaker weighed the purse in her hand, estimating its contents. Her eyes lit up instantly, and she immediately changed her stance without hesitation.
“Your idea really is quite good. I’ll go arrange it right away!”
It wasn’t that she lacked professional ethics or was easily swayed, there was simply too much money involved.
Shen Taohua reminded her, “Please also inform the other matchmakers. I’ll provide additional fees on my side as well.”
The matchmaker didn’t actually want the others to compete with her, but since money talks, she still agreed.
After the matchmaker hurried off, Ping’an couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Miss, what did you just tell her?”
Shen Taohua smiled mysteriously. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Day after day of matchmaking, meeting men, over and over, had left her almost numb to it all. At this point, she felt a kind of reckless, mutual-destruction mentality building up.
Isn’t it just matchmaking? Then she would matchmake for everyone to see!
Ordinary matchmaking was boring anyway. If she was going to do it, she would do something big, she would make sure these conservative people got an eye-opening experience.
Three days later, while Shen Feibai was in his study reviewing account books sent from various grain stores, Steward Liu rushed in and reported urgently, “It’s bad, Master! Miss has gathered a large crowd at Yueya Tower. They say she’s holding some kind of group matchmaking event, and now many people have gone over to watch the excitement.”
Shen Feibai spat out his tea. “Pfft, cough, cough, what did you say? Group matchmaking?”
Steward Liu couldn’t explain it clearly either; the message had come from his son Liu Mao, and he didn’t know the details himself.
Seeing this, Shen Feibai knew he wouldn’t get any clearer answers.
Thinking back to how his daughter had recently been complaining about the constant matchmaking arrangements, yet had suddenly gone quiet these past two days, his eyelid began to twitch violently.
As the saying goes, when a child is too quiet, trouble is guaranteed.
His instincts told him this time, his daughter had definitely caused something big.
Realizing this, Shen Feibai couldn’t sit still anymore. He shot up as if his chair were on fire.
“Let’s go! Hurry and take a look!”
At the same time, many people in the city were also discussing it.
Most didn’t know exactly what had happened, only that a large crowd had gathered at Yueya Tower because the Shen family’s young lady was supposedly choosing a match.
But this wasn’t her first time meeting potential suitors, so what exactly was different this time that drew so many people to watch?
Curiosity was piqued, and many turned their steps toward Yueya Tower to see what was going on.
Including vendors like Huagu, Fat Auntie, and Uncle Liu, many stall owners temporarily left their stalls in the care of neighbors or helpers and came over to join the excitement.
Xue Yutang had originally planned to meet a romantic interest, but halfway there he noticed the flow of people was odd. Curiosity was immediately piqued, so he sent a servant ahead to find out what was going on.
After a short while, the servant returned with the news. Xue Yutang snapped his folding fan shut. “It’s actually related to Miss Shen again? Interesting.”
He immediately changed course. “Let’s go. We’ll take a look too.”
One after another, groups of people followed the crowd. When they arrived and asked those who had come earlier, they finally learned the truth: it wasn’t that some unusually prominent match candidates had drawn attention, it was that a whole group of suitors had been invited at once.
The curious onlookers who had rushed over, as well as Xue Yutang, were all nearly stunned.
A whole group of marriage candidates? That’s even allowed?
The same question arose among the candidates themselves.
They were also thinking: this… is allowed?!
But Shen Taohua’s stance was simple: why not? Who ever said matchmaking had to be done one person at a time?
If it weren’t for the fact that women’s presence in public gatherings was more restricted in this era, she would have gathered all eligible women as well and held a full-scale matchmaking event.
As it was, bringing a group of eligible men already counted as restraint.
However, not everyone was on board. Soon, objections were raised.
“Is Miss Shen making a mockery of us?!”
“Exactly! We came with anticipation and sincerity, yet Miss Shen tramples on our intentions like this. Isn’t this going too far?”
Seated behind what had been set up as a temporary “desk,” Shen Taohua glanced at the two men who spoke, then at the others who remained silent but clearly discontent.
“I’m only one person, while the number of people hoping to form ties with the Shen family is too many to count. If I were to meet each of you one by one, would I even have time to live my own life? Rather than wasting so much time, it’s better to finish everything in one go.
If anyone here cannot accept this method, you are free to leave. I will not force you. However, once you leave today, do not contact the Shen family again. I will not give anyone who leaves another chance, and that wouldn’t be fair to those who stay.”
The candidates wavered.
Some, proud and self-important, could not tolerate being picked over by a woman, especially not in such a public setting. They immediately turned and left.
“Leave then! Who cares?!”
In an instant, more than twenty people were gone.
Others, more introverted and unable to withstand being observed by a crowd, also quietly left after politely bowing to Shen Taohua.
That accounted for another dozen or so.
The remaining people who were uncertain hesitated for a while, then gradually another group left. Throughout it all, no matter how the onlookers whispered among themselves, Shen Taohua’s expression did not change in the slightest.
After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, no one else moved. She then quickly scanned the crowd.
There had been nearly two hundred people at the start. After those who left, there were still about one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty remaining, still a substantial number.
Shen Taohua clapped her hands. “Now that the irrelevant ones are gone, we can officially begin—”
Before she could finish, a furious roar cut her off.
“Shen Taohua! What are you doing again?!”
She jolted slightly. Looking over in the direction of the voice, she saw her father’s expression shifting like a color palette. She couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.
But then she thought about the past half month of torment from constant matchmaking sessions, and quickly steadied herself, she even gave up resisting altogether.
“Aren’t you seeing it right now? This is exactly what it looks like! Since they’re already here, we can’t just send them away like that, can we? Whether we see them early or late, we still have to see them eventually, it makes no difference, and it saves everyone time.
Since you’re here anyway, we might as well evaluate them together. I’m choosing a husband, and aren’t you also choosing a son-in-law? We can just consult each other.”
The father, who had been about to explode in anger, fell silent: “……”
Strangely enough… it actually sounded somewhat reasonable.
Next, Shen Taohua continued unleashing her persuasive (and highly questionable) reasoning. By the time Shen Feibai came back to his senses, he had already ended up seated beside her.
Shen Feibai: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
His face darkened and he instinctively wanted to stand up, but seeing the many “prospective sons-in-law” in front of him all looking at them with anticipation, he hesitated again.
Regardless of anything else, there was one thing his daughter had said that did make sense: since they were already here…
He took a deep breath and simply closed his eyes.
Forget it. Fine. Let it be.
He wanted to see exactly what kind of new trick she was planning.
And so, with Shen Feibai no longer objecting, this interrupted and unconventional group matchmaking session finally officially began.