Holding back his frustration, Li Dayou said gruffly,
“Since Mother has already made up her mind, what more can I, as her son, say? But when Old Master Sun was still alive, he met Jinxiu himself and was very pleased with her.”
The eldest son, who had never once defied her before, actually dared to talk back.
Old Madam Liu was instantly displeased. Watching her son storm back into his room, she raised her voice sharply.
“Old Master Sun? Old Master Sun? He’s been dead for years, you blockhead! The one in charge now is Madam Sun! Take a good look at yourself—a poor mud-legged farmer! Do you really think they’d fancy you? Or your daughter Jinxiu?”
“I tried talking to you nicely, and this is the attitude I get? You unfilial son! If you had even half your younger brother’s ability, would the Sun family have looked down on you? In the end, you’re just useless. That money-losing girl can’t benefit from having a father like you. Your whole family does nothing but eat for free!”
Li Dayou had long known that his mother favored his younger brother.
Even so, hearing those words left his heart ice-cold.
Normally, his wife, Wu Guihua, would have argued with her mother-in-law on his behalf.
Bang!
Without a word, she slammed the wooden door shut.
The twisted, furious face outside disappeared from view, but the shrill stream of insults continued through the door.
Wu Guihua exchanged a glance with Li Dayou.
Without saying a word, husband and wife reached the same decision.
“Sis! Where are you going?”
Just as they were nearing the village entrance, a young voice called out.
Jinxiu stopped and looked up.
A sturdy boy in his early teens had dropped the water yoke he was carrying and was running toward her in panic.
“Sis! Don’t go!”
Matchmaker Lu chuckled and teased him.
“Your sister’s getting married. If she doesn’t go, are you going to support her?”
“I will! I will!” Li Tianhe nodded desperately.
“Mom said the Xie family isn’t a good place! Sis, you can’t go!”
The siblings had always been close.
The matchmaker couldn’t bear to crush the boy’s hopes.
These days, even adults struggled to feed themselves.
How could a ten-year-old possibly support another person?
Li Tianhe’s eyes turned red with anxiety.
Perhaps because of the original owner’s lingering emotions, Jinxiu felt warmth well up in her chest, and her own eyes grew moist.
She smiled gently.
“Tianhe, you’re the only man left in our family now. Take good care of Father and Mother, understand?”
“I will…”
His voice quivered.
“Will you come back?”
“I will.”
After saying those words, she steeled herself and strode forward.
The matchmaker hurried after her.
Watching his sister’s thin figure disappear into the distance, Li Tianhe wiped his eyes hard with his sleeve.
Then he hoisted the shoulder pole again.
The two large buckets of water hanging from it were completely full.
Yet he carried them with ease, walking briskly toward home.
“The Xie family are honest people. They won’t mistreat you,” Matchmaker Lu said as they walked.
“They even live in a brick house with tiled roofing. Isn’t that much better than staying with your birth family?”
“The head of the household is Old Madam Xie—everyone calls her Granny Tian. Treat her like your own grandmother. She may be hot-tempered, but she’s reasonable. Compared to your own grandmother… she’s better by more than a little.”
The matchmaker kept chatting as she walked ahead.
When they reached a stone bridge crossing the river, she casually looked back—
Only to discover Jinxiu had disappeared.
Thinking the girl had run away, she panicked.
“Oh heavens! Don’t touch that! That’s elephant ear taro—it’s poisonous!”
Jinxiu was standing beside the bridge, bending over to pull a plant growing from the cracks between the riverbank stones.
It stood about knee-high, with three or four broad, shield-shaped green leaves growing from its thick stem.
“Throw it away! Don’t let the root touch your hands—it’ll make you itch terribly!”
Matchmaker Lu reached out.
Before she could take it, Jinxiu slipped the wild taro behind her back and smiled sheepishly.
“The stalk looked crisp and sweet. I thought it might be edible. Since it’s poisonous, we shouldn’t just leave it by the roadside. I’ll throw it into the river instead.”
Last spring and summer had brought endless rain.
Floods had ruined many fields.
Then came the locust plague.
With harvests destroyed, people had been driven to starvation.
When hunger became unbearable, they even ate tree bark and grass roots.
Given that, Jinxiu’s mistake didn’t seem unusual.
“Right. It’s not edible. Hurry and throw it away.”
The weather didn’t look promising.
At some point, a massive bank of dark clouds had appeared against the blue sky.
The mountain path was already difficult enough.
If it started raining, who knew how much longer the journey would take?
The river below surged rapidly.
Walking across the bridge, Jinxiu glanced at Matchmaker Lu’s back.
Hidden behind her, her right hand tightened slightly.
The poisonous plant vanished from her palm without a trace.
The matchmaker turned around.
“Hurry up!”
Jinxiu calmly caught up as though nothing had happened.
Dali Village lay beyond two mountain ridges from Shangyuan Village.
Stopping to rest along the way, Jinxiu and Matchmaker Lu didn’t reach Dali Village until nearly two hours later.
It was already past noon.
Following the matchmaker, Jinxiu headed toward the far end of the village.
Several villagers noticed them.
Everyone recognized Matchmaker Lu from town.
But the young woman beside her was unfamiliar.
She had to be someone’s new bride.
“We’re here. See? I wasn’t lying.”
Matchmaker Lu led Jinxiu to a large brick house with gray tiled roofing at the edge of the village.
The walls were built of blue-gray bricks, with red bricks paving the courtyard.
Compared to the mud-brick homes that filled most of the village, this house was indeed among the finest.
This… would be her home from now on.
Jinxiu felt a trace of uncertainty.
For the past two years, natural disasters had struck one after another.
Neighboring kingdoms watched like hungry wolves.
Society was unstable, and refugees were everywhere.
As a lone woman without travel papers who had just arrived in this unfamiliar world…
Trying to survive alone was simply unrealistic.
One step at a time, she told herself.
“Remember—be clever. And keep that sweet tongue of yours ready.”
Since it was broad daylight, someone was naturally home.
The courtyard gate stood wide open.
As Matchmaker Lu reminded her, she pulled the distracted Jinxiu inside.
In one corner of the yard, a little girl of about five or six was crouching beside the chicken coop.
She reached inside with her tiny hand and triumphantly pulled out a warm little egg.
“Xiaoyu, where’s your grandma?”
“Grandma’s inside!”
Holding the fresh egg, Xie Xiaoyu looked curiously at Jinxiu behind the matchmaker.
When Jinxiu smiled warmly at her, the little girl’s bright eyes blinked, and her smile grew even wider.
“Grandma! Granny Lu brought Sister-in-law!”
With that, she dashed into the house like a tiny cannonball.
Jinxiu rubbed her nose awkwardly.
A moment later, an elderly woman emerged.
The matchmaker greeted her with a broad smile.
The old woman warmly clasped her hand.
“Big Sister, you’ve worked hard!”
“Oh, come now. Between the two of us, there’s no need to be so polite.”
The two women had grown up in the same village and had been close friends since they were young.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Matchmaker Lu got to the point.
“Well, little sister, I’ve fulfilled my mission and brought the girl safely to you. Jinxiu, call her Grandma.”
Having already stolen a glance at her, Jinxiu now watched as Old Madam Tian slowly circled her twice with her hands clasped behind her back.
The old woman was short and slender.
Her graying hair was neatly combed without a strand out of place.
She looked energetic and spirited.
Without the slightest embarrassment, Jinxiu greeted her generously.
“Hello, Grandma. My name is Jinxiu.”
“Ah!”
Old Madam Tian’s face immediately lit up with delight.
What a bright, sensible girl.
She’s a little too skinny…
But that’s all right.
She’ll put on weight with proper care.
Their family wasn’t what it used to be, but they could certainly still afford to raise one young woman.
“You’ve walked such a long way. You must be exhausted. Come inside! The tea and food are all ready.”
Then she turned to Matchmaker Lu.
“I owe you this time. You must let me treat you properly!”
The matchmaker waved her hand apologetically.
“I’d love to, but I promised to arrange a marriage for Steward Wu’s youngest son. It’s getting late, so I have to go. Next time—next time I’ll definitely come back and chat with you properly.”