1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 26 A little famous
in the afternoon.

Aunt Xu arrived at Xu Cuihua's house in Xujiatai.

As a well-known matchmaker in Hongshan Brigade, Aunt Xu's matchmaking activities covered not only Hongshan Brigade but the entire commune. Therefore, many people in Xujiatai knew her, including Xu Cuihua's parents.

When Aunt Xu, the matchmaker, came to visit, Mr. and Mrs. Xu greeted her warmly.

After exchanging pleasantries, Aunt Xu said, "Comrade Xu, if I remember correctly, your daughter should be twenty years old this year, right?"

Mr. Xu nodded and said, "Aunt Xu has a good memory. My daughter is indeed twenty years old this year."

Aunt Xu sighed, "In our time, women usually got married at fifteen or sixteen. Although the age of marriage is getting later and later now, your daughter is already twenty. It's time to find her a husband."

Xu's mother chimed in, "It's indeed time to find a husband."

Aunt Xu got straight to the point: "I won't bother with formalities. I've come to your house today because someone has taken a liking to your daughter and asked me to act as matchmaker."

Mr. and Mrs. Xu were already mentally prepared for this, so they were not surprised to hear it.

The two women exchanged a glance, and then Xu's mother spoke up: "Aunt Xu, then please tell us about the groom's family!"

Aunt Xu nodded and began to introduce him: "The man's name is Qiao Dajiang, he is 24 years old this year, and he is from Qiaojiawan Village, Hongshan Brigade. He is the eldest son in his family, with four younger brothers and two younger sisters. His father passed away from illness three years ago..."

Hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Xu frowned. In a family that has lost its breadwinner, and the man is the eldest son, the pressure is immense. They cannot let their daughter marry into such a family and suffer.

Although the couple thought this way, they didn't rush to interrupt, but listened to Aunt Xu continue her introduction.

“The Qiao family’s living conditions were not good originally. If it had continued like this, I definitely wouldn’t have come to your house to act as a matchmaker for Qiao Dajiang today. But since the land was distributed to individual households in Qiaojiawan last month, the Qiao family’s living conditions have been very different from before.”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Xu asked curiously, "Aunt Xu, since the land in Qiaojiawan was only distributed to individual households last month, how has the Qiao family's living conditions changed in such a short period of time?"

Speaking of this, Aunt Xu sighed, "Here, I have to say that the Qiao siblings were really bold. Not long after the land was distributed to individual households, they went directly to the poultry and egg factory and bought 1000 chicks to raise."

"These 1000 laying hens aren't ready to lay eggs yet, but I saw them all today, and they're all looking very healthy. I estimate they'll be laying eggs in about two more months. At that time, the Qiao family will probably make a fortune just from selling the eggs!"

Mr. Xu's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Who do we have here? It's their family!"

Aunt Xu asked, "Comrade Xu, do you know the Qiao family?"

Xu's father shook his head and said, "Although I don't know the Qiao family, I've heard of their reputation. After all, raising 1000 laying hens is the first thing we've done in our Cenhe Commune. Last month, everyone in our village was talking about them!"

Aunt Xu smiled and said, "Since you all know about this, I don't need to introduce it further. In short, I think Qiao Dajiang is really good and a good match for your daughter. If you agree, I will arrange for the two young people to meet sometime."

Mr. and Mrs. Xu exchanged another glance. Mrs. Xu said, "Aunt Xu, arranging a meeting is no problem, but I'm curious. We've never had any dealings with the Qiao family before. How did they know about my daughter? And why did they directly ask you, the matchmaker, to come and propose marriage?"

"I don't know either. I guess the Qiao family heard it from people in your village."

Xu's mother had only asked casually; the answer wasn't really important. Now that they knew the man was the Qiao family, who had become famous in Cenhe Commune last month, Xu's parents were quite optimistic about the marriage.

Seeing this, Aunt Xu smiled and said, "Comrade Xu, since you agree, I will arrange for the two young people to meet."

Xu's parents naturally had no objections, so they discussed where to meet.

Ultimately, they decided to meet at Aunt Xu's house.

……

The next morning.

Seeing that his elder brother looked a little nervous, Qiao Erhe comforted him, "Brother, relax. Since the girl's parents agreed to let you meet their daughter, it proves that they are satisfied with our family's conditions. And you look strong and handsome, so I believe the girl won't look down on you."

Qiao Dajiang rubbed his hands and said, "The main problem is that when I met the other party, I was tongue-tied and didn't know what to say."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "That's easy. My family raises 1000 laying hens. Countless people in the entire Cenhe Commune are interested in this. I believe Xu Cuihua is no exception. If you really don't know what to talk to her about, then try to find an opportunity to talk to her about laying hen farming. That way, you won't have to worry about awkward silences."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Dajiang's eyes lit up, and he felt somewhat more confident. He said happily, "Second brother, your idea is good. When we meet later, I'll try to talk to her about our family's egg-laying chicken farming."

Qiao Erhe continued to remind her, "You can also tell her about our family's plan to build a house next year; these are all good topics."

Qiao Dajiang nodded repeatedly, his face full of excitement, and said, "I understand."

Qiao Erhe glanced at the time and said, "Alright, it's getting late, brother, you should hurry up and set off!"

Qiao Dajiang responded and, with a look of anticipation on his face, carried the gifts toward Aunt Xu's house.

Watching his elder brother leave, Qiao Sihai asked, "Second brother, do you think this marriage of our elder brother will work out?"

Qiao Sanduo pricked up her ears, wanting to hear her second brother's opinion as well.

Qiao Erhe said confidently, "It's almost certain to work out. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll have a sister-in-law next year."

Qiao Sanduo asked, "Second brother, is sister-in-law really as good as you say?"

Recalling how Xu Cuihua married into their Qiaojiawan family in their previous life and quickly became a recognized virtuous wife and loving mother in just a few years, Qiao Erhe said decisively, "Of course it's true. If my elder brother marries this sister-in-law, then our Qiao family can be said to have had auspicious ancestral graves emitting green smoke."

Hearing the second son give such a high evaluation of the Xu family girl, Huang Hongmei was surprised and also somewhat expectant. Although in this day and age, the mother-in-law holds absolute power in the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, having a filial and sensible daughter-in-law is definitely better than having a troublesome one.

Huang Hongmei was used to doing things her own way in this family, and she didn't want to bring back a troublesome daughter-in-law to cause her more distress.

(End of this chapter)