I traveled back to ancient times, but I was able to lie down and relax.

After they arrived at the Zhao family's house, Zhao Zhitao first told her mother about the bread. After receiving permission, she took it to the fields to find her father, brothers, and other relatives.

After Zhao Zhitao left, Liu Nanjia and the others started to talk about serious matters.

"This is Matchmaker Li," Aunt Zhao introduced.

Inside the main room sat a well-to-do woman, dressed in a style that was noticeably better than the other women in the village. She wore fine cotton instead of coarse linen, and had a striking hairpin in her hair, along with earrings, bracelets, rings, and other jewelry.

With a beaming smile, he exuded joy and made people feel very friendly.

Upon meeting her, Liu Nanjia had a good first impression of this matchmaker, Li, so he greeted her warmly, since he still needed her help.

"Hello, Matchmaker Li. First of all, thank you for telling Aunt Zhao about our cousin Liu Anhe. Otherwise, we would still be kept in the dark. This is some food we made ourselves. Please don't mind it."

As she spoke, Liu Nanjia handed over the remaining bread that she had just brought from home.

Matchmaker Li was quite amiable. "No need for thanks. I just couldn't stand it. I had no dealings with your family before, so I didn't want to come here unannounced. I just vented to Sister Wang. I didn't expect her to know you. It's like I did a good deed and accumulated merit. This must be what that girl Zhi Tao was carrying. Oh, it smells so good! I wanted to ask her earlier, but I was too embarrassed to take food from a young girl at my age, so I held back. I must try it. Don't laugh at me, but I'm not much else, I just love food. Otherwise, how could I eat like this?"

As expected of a matchmaker, Li the matchmaker is truly eloquent.

However, this rapid-fire exchange did indeed quickly bring the group closer together.

Liu Nanjia smiled and said, "It's good that you like it. It's our honor. If you want to eat it again next time, just call us when you come to find Aunt Zhao. We don't have much else, but we have plenty of bread. If the fried chicken hadn't been made before, we would have gotten you a portion to try."

"That's great! I'm all set to eat now." After saying that, Matchmaker Li really didn't stand on ceremony and picked up a piece of bread to eat. It seems she really loves to eat.

As soon as she took a bite, Matchmaker Li's eyes lit up.

"Miss Liu, your bread is really good. I've never had it before. It's delicious! What else did you say you had? Fried chicken? Oh, I'm even more excited now."

When Liu Yanxi saw his younger sister start chatting enthusiastically with Matchmaker Li as soon as she came in, he couldn't get a word in edgewise and stood awkwardly to the side.

After they had been chatting for a while, Liu Nanjia finally brought up the important matter of the day: "Matchmaker Li, you must have heard why we've come. What do you think? Are you willing to help us?"

"Nan Jia, it's not that I'm being pretentious, but this matter is a bit difficult to handle," sighed Matchmaker Li.

Liu Yanxi was a little surprised when he heard this. They had just been talking so intimately, and he thought he would agree.

Liu Nanjia didn't seem surprised. Being enthusiastic when talking to you doesn't mean you're willing to do things for you; the two are very different.

"Matchmaker Li, please feel free to speak your mind. If it's about money, don't worry, the reward will definitely be substantial."

"Oh, it's not about money," the matchmaker said, though her expression softened slightly.

"The main thing is that the matchmaker Zheng, who introduced the two families, has some connections. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to keep doing this kind of thing. She would have been reported long ago. To tell you the truth, this isn't the first time she's done this kind of thing. She'll do things like hiding the truth about the man from the woman's family, like agreeing to marry but actually having her become a concubine, or helping greedy parents sell their daughters. As long as they pay, she'll do it."

"So, it's really hard to say whether she did it on purpose, or whether she made a mistake at first and then continued down the wrong path. We other respectable matchmakers wouldn't stoop to associating with her."

"Is there such a thing?"

Liu Nanjia was surprised. In that case, compared with Zheng the matchmaker's other actions, her own identity-switching was really nothing.

"She did such a despicable thing, didn't anyone report her?"

"Yes, she does, but she mostly harms daughters. If the parents are immoral, they sell their own daughters, so who would sue them? There are families that have been deceived. Their daughters have already married into the family, so what can they do if they make a fuss? Their reputations have been ruined, so how can they remarry? Only a very small number of parents feel sorry for their daughters, but they are powerless and weak. Half of them are paid off, and the other half are probably dealt with by the people behind her. Anyway, she has never made a big fuss."

"Oh, what should we do then?" Liu Nanjia said dejectedly.

"Well, Nan Jia, you just said money isn't a problem, so how much silver are you planning to offer?" Matchmaker Li seemed a little embarrassed.

Upon hearing this, Liu Nanjia perked up again and asked about the money, which meant there was room for negotiation.

"Matchmaker Li, name your price. I'd like to hear it. How much are you willing to do it?"

Matchmaker Li gritted her teeth, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Three taels! If you can offer three taels, I'll sabotage this marriage."

Liu Nanjia breathed a sigh of relief; she had been prepared for the matchmaker, Li, to ask for an exorbitant price and for her to haggle.

Three taels is indeed a lot. For an ordinary family in the village, earning one tael a month would be a very high income. Three taels might be more than some families could save in a year.

Fortunately, she made a lot of money during this period thanks to her fried chicken business and the profit sharing from the rocking chair.

To be honest, she originally wanted to say five taels, but thankfully, the matchmaker, Li, spoke first.

However, she still pretended to be somewhat troubled, saying, "Matchmaker Li, you know that three taels is not a small amount. Our parents passed away two years ago. As for my grandfather and uncle's family, you should understand without me having to explain, otherwise, how could they do such a thing? The house we are living in now is borrowed from the village head, which was obtained in exchange for my brother teaching the children in the village. Therefore, my brother's reputation absolutely cannot be damaged. Otherwise, if he can't teach, we might have nowhere to live."

Liu Nanjia deliberately exaggerated his family's predicament, causing the matchmaker, Li, to frown. She thought, 'They're a pitiful family too. What can I do? Maybe I should lower the price a little? Two taels?'

As the matchmaker was struggling with her decision, Liu Nanjia suddenly changed the subject, saying, "However, fortunately, my mother passed on this cooking skill to me before she passed away. I've saved up some money recently, so three taels is fine, we agree."

The matchmaker, Li, was on tenterhooks because of her heavy breathing. After thinking for a while, she finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the word "agree." Since she had asked Sister Wang to call them over today, she meant she was prepared to cooperate; otherwise, she would have just refused.

A few ounces are enough to solve the immediate crisis.