Yang Lihua frowned as she listened to Su Meilan’s rambling, recalling that the book didn’t go into much detail about Yang Lijuan’s matchmaking—it just briefly mentioned that things hadn’t gone smoothly.
After finally being introduced to a decent match by Director Wang, Wu Xiangdong, the son of the personnel section at the food factory, it turned out he was short-lived—he died young.
This led to Yang Lijuan’s later years being difficult. She struggled alone, raising her child. The Wu family blamed her for Wu Xiangdong’s death and expelled her and her child from the Wu household.
The Yang family, now under Zhou Hongxia’s control, wouldn’t welcome her back either.
Without a job, without a home, and without wealth, a woman raising a child alone would inevitably face a hard life.
“Mom, this concerns my second sister’s lifelong happiness; we can’t rush it,” Yang Lihua comforted Su Meilan.
Zhou Hongxia, passing by, overheard the conversation between Su Meilan and Yang Lihua.
“…Lihua, now that you’re working at the textile factory, keep an eye out. If there’s anyone suitable there, you know, for your second sister. Unlike you, she doesn’t have your awareness. If there’s really no one, then we’ll have to pick the best among the less ideal options.”
“Mm, I’ll keep a lookout. After all, it’s for my second sister,” Yang Lihua nodded.
Zhou Hongxia paused for a moment. The discomfort she had felt earlier—because of the modest wedding and the young sisters’ impoliteness—quickly gave way to a more secretive calculation.
She really had someone in mind. If… if she could facilitate this marriage and introduce Yang Lijuan to him, could she immediately secure permanent employment?
Once this thought took root, it spread quickly in her mind. Not only would it solve her own difficulty with permanent employment, but it would also help the Yang family with a long-standing problem: finding a good match for the young sister-in-law. One action with multiple benefits.
The atmosphere at dinner was even more subdued than at lunch. As the new bride, Zhou Hongxia seemed to have adjusted her mood, wearing a polite, gentle smile again.
She actively served dishes to her parents-in-law and even placed food for her so-called “inconsiderate” young sisters, Yang Lijuan and Yang Lishu.
Seeing Zhou Hongxia being thoughtful, Yang Lixin felt lighthearted and smiled. “Dad, Mom, eat more. Hongxia is thinking of you.”
Yang Daqiang and Su Meilan nodded in satisfaction. Although Zhou Hongxia had said some inappropriate words at lunch, that was just private grumbling between the couple—they would pretend not to notice.
Zhou Hongxia, seeing that everyone’s expressions had relaxed, suddenly seemed to remember something. With just the right amount of concern on her face, she asked Su Meilan:
“Mom, I heard Lixin say you’re arranging a match for Lijuan. Have you found anyone suitable?”
Su Meilan looked up at Zhou Hongxia, whose face was full of concern, and sighed. “Where would there be any good matches? They’re all not ideal. Wait—are you saying you know a young man with good prospects?”
“I do have someone in mind. I’ll tell you their details first. If you approve, I can ask tomorrow and, if possible, we can arrange a meeting right away. What do you think?” Zhou Hongxia put on an expression as if she were leaving the decision entirely to Su Meilan, winning her over.
“Alright, tell me about him. If he seems good, you can ask around,” Su Meilan replied, not thinking too much, and allowed Zhou Hongxia to introduce the candidate.
Zhou Hongxia cleared her throat and began recounting the information she had heard. “This person is the eldest son of Section Chief Wu from our factory’s personnel department. His name is Wu Xiangdong. He’s about my age and graduated from high school.
He currently works as a temporary employee in the food factory’s warehouse. Even though he’s a temp, his father is the section chief. Permanent employment would be easy to arrange.
Section Chief Wu has two sons. The family conditions are excellent—they live in the factory-assigned staff housing. If Lijuan married into this family, permanent employment and a stable life would be guaranteed.”
“His father is the section chief? Staff housing? Permanent employment?” Su Meilan’s voice trembled with excitement. The conditions sounded perfect, far better than the inferior matches she had been hearing about.
Clearly, Su Meilan wasn’t the only one excited—Yang Daqiang also seemed interested—but as the head of the family, he maintained some caution. “Such good conditions… would he even be interested in our Lijuan?” Not because he underestimated her, but the two families were somewhat different in status.
“Dad, what are you saying? How is our Lijuan any less?” Zhou Hongxia immediately refuted, her tone full of support for Yang Lijuan:
“She’s a proper high school graduate, pretty, gentle, diligent, and sensible. I heard Section Chief Wu is looking for a daughter-in-law, not because of wealth, but someone kind, knowledgeable, and obedient, someone who can live a peaceful life. Doesn’t that sound like my second sister?”
Yang Daqiang and Su Meilan nodded repeatedly at Zhou Hongxia’s words. Clearly, Section Chief Wu was a thoughtful person; it made sense he could become section chief.
Su Meilan, convinced, asked urgently, “And… what about Wu Xiangdong himself?” This was the crucial point—no matter how capable a father was, if the son was a coward, life wouldn’t be smooth.
Zhou Hongxia wore a carefully measured expression, pretending to recall seriously: “Wu Xiangdong… I’ve only met him a few times. He’s honest, not very talkative, a little introverted. But he works reliably.
It’s just… maybe because he grew up protected by a good family environment, he isn’t very social and doesn’t have many friends. But that’s not a big issue—honest people are usually like this.”
Su Meilan and Yang Daqiang felt this “issue” was negligible. Introverted? Honest? What kind of flaw is that? Far better than slick, lazy people!
Most importantly, the family background was solid. Married into a proper official’s family, Lijuan would live comfortably.
Moreover, this match could even help Lixin and Lijun in the future.
“Would his family even agree?” Su Meilan, almost persuaded, had only a tiny concern left.
Yang Lijuan was fully convinced. She had met many candidates over the past few days, all of inferior conditions and all critical of her.
The Wu Xiangdong mentioned by her sister-in-law Zhou Hongxia was the best match she had heard of recently. She didn’t care much what Wu Xiangdong’s father did, as long as he had a job and was around her age.
“Mom, I think we can at least see him,” Zhou Hongxia offered a seemingly safe suggestion. “How about this: I’ll ask a senior at our factory whom I know well to find out the Wu family’s specific intentions. If they’re interested, we can arrange for the young people to meet. Whether it works or not, we’ll only know after the meeting. Don’t you think that makes sense?”
How could Su Meilan refuse? They were worried about their eldest son’s marriage, after all. Wu Xiangdong wasn’t exactly in the best of health.