Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

"I think you're just waiting to eat shit! What do you mean I'm an old matchmaker? I'm just a figurehead. The two families were already on good terms, so I went to mediate. How did that make me an old matchmaker?" Madam Yang said with a laugh.

Baldy, with his back to Yang, waved his hand and said, "I don't care, I'm sticking to you about this! You have to get it done for me!"

"I'll chop off your fingers, I'll do it for you! Get out, get out!" Madam Yang waved her hand and continued to laugh and curse.

Ji Yongling watched Baldy Guang turn and leave, then looked at Madam Yang, puzzled, and asked, "Grandma, whose daughter has my Uncle Baldy Guang taken a fancy to?"

Madam Yang shook her head and said, "Who else could it be! It's that girl who came from Zhao Family Village and asked you for medicine two or three times. She's fair-skinned and clean-cut!"

"Oh, it's Xiuqin!" Ji Yongling realized.

No wonder the bald man kept saying he was eyeing his daughter-in-law; it turns out he had his eye on Xiuqin.

Xiuqin had been taking thyroid hormone powder made from pig thyroid glands because of her hypothyroidism. However, the dosage of this medicine had to be adjusted according to the patient's condition, so Xiuqin was brought to Niujiazhuang twice by Yin Xiuju to have her medication adjusted. Later, her symptoms improved significantly, and she became much more energetic, so she came by herself twice more.

Unexpectedly, the bald man took a liking to Xiuqin and wanted her to be his daughter-in-law.

It's a bit unexpected, a bit absurd, and a bit unlikely!

Baldy Guang was a bit stubborn, and if he didn't care about this at all, Yang wouldn't be able to get over it. But Yang didn't know Xiuqin at all, so there was no way to talk about it.

So all she could do was tell Ji Yongling, "Next time you run into Xiuqin, ask her for your bald uncle Guang what she thinks."

Your bald uncle, you know, he never really farmed properly; he only ever thought about making money by trading. In the end, he sold everything, made no money, and his wife died. Luckily, this kid is a good one—hardworking, reliable, and able to endure hardship.

"This... Grandma, is this something an unmarried girl like me can ask? How could I possibly ask? Should I just ask, 'Do you want a man?'" Ji Yongling said, looking embarrassed.

This isn't like taking a patient's medical history in a clinical setting, where you can just ask directly. It requires a roundabout and evasive approach, which she's not good at!

“Only you young girls are so quick to ask about this kind of thing. Come on, let me teach you! Just say, there’s a really good guy in our village, tall, with deep-set eyes, double eyelids, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. Oh, the girl will definitely fall for him as soon as she hears that!” Mrs. Yang said earnestly.

After hearing this, Ji Yongling burst out laughing.

She said, "Good grandma, what kind of person are you? Going around playing matchmaker for people! I bet you're just lucky if you manage to find someone a match. You don't care if they're suitable or not, you just force them together!"

Yang retorted, "What's wrong with my skills? You kid, what do you know! What does 'forced matchmaking' mean? Matchmaking starts with introductions, right? Only after the two families meet can things start to progress! If the other party doesn't think it's a good match during the introduction, then we won't continue. That's why we always choose the better ones to introduce."

Ji Yongling shook his head and smiled, saying, "Grandma, I've memorized all your lines! When introducing a boy, just say he's exactly five inches tall, very tall, with bright eyes, double eyelids, a high nose bridge, and thin lips!"

When introducing a girl, you describe her as slender and delicate, fair-skinned, well-behaved, and virtuous. Are you afraid of using the same phrases to introduce everyone? It's all formulaic; how can people tell who's who when you introduce them? They all sound pretty much the same!

Mrs. Yang said with exasperation, "Good boy! Matchmakers always say the best things, not the worst! Besides, we're just telling the truth. Isn't your Uncle Baldy's son tall, reliable, and capable?"

Ji Yongling disagreed, saying, "Grandma, everyone has strengths and weaknesses. You only introduce the strengths and don't mention the weaknesses, isn't that just making fun of people? If you were to act as a matchmaker, I could do it too, and I guarantee I could pair up two people and they'd become a couple!"

Yang rolled her eyes and said, "If you think you can do it, then you go and say it! You silly boy, when you're matchmaking, you start by pointing out the other person's flaws, saying this is bad and that is no good. Even if you talk about their many advantages and benefits later, they won't listen."

People will only remember the bad things you said at the beginning, and they'll think you're no good, and the deal will fall through! So, you need to learn the art of conversation from your grandma!

Ji Yongling raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "Grandma, what should I learn from you? How to be a matchmaker? Am I going to inherit your mantle and strive to become the number one matchmaker in Niujiazhuang?"

"Hey—you kid! I've arranged a few marriages, but the other people still like each other. There has to be a matchmaker to go through the motions, and you've made such a big deal out of it!" Yang was amused by Ji Yongling's words and wanted to hit her with the sole of her shoe.

Ji Yongling pretended to run away and said, "I know, I know, 'arranged marriage by parents and matchmaker,' you are the matchmaker in their 'proper' marriage!"

"Come back here!"

……

People are the least likely to be talked about or discussed.

Speaking of Xiuqin, the next day, Xiuqin and Yin Qiuju came to find Ji Yongling, saying that Huang Daopo invited her to come and discuss something.

Ji Yongling noticed that Xiuqin had recovered well in both appearance and temperament over the past six months. She was no longer the "depressed" and "lifeless" person she once was. On the contrary, she always spoke with a warm smile and was poised and generous, truly appearing to be a virtuous wife and loving mother, capable of managing the household.

Although Ji Yongling didn't know what Huang Daopo wanted to ask her to come over for, she didn't refuse.

She figured that Huang Daopo wouldn't invite her over for no reason, since their relationship wasn't close enough for them to share resources or help each other out.

Is it for treating someone else's illness again?

In fact, Huang Daopo and her disciples returned to Ningping County around the same time as Manager Ma and his group.

Huang Daopo stayed in Qingzhou Prefecture for quite a while this time, and some things finally settled down. For example, she gained the trust of the suspicious Madam Guo and made her drink a cinnabar talisman water.

Originally, she did not want to take action so soon, but when she learned that Madam Guo knew that her grandson had been diagnosed with "asthma" by the doctor, but still insisted on using other children's blood to soak steamed buns to treat her grandson's illness, she became very angry.

Why is it that in the eyes of these powerful people, the lives of ordinary people are not considered lives?

In particular, her anger reached its peak when she learned that her grandson, the son of her eldest daughter, had also been tricked into the Guo family mansion to have his blood drawn.

Although these dolls don't have much blood drawn, they are still growing babies!