Chapter 7: What's Wrong with Country Bumpkins?
After hearing Ya Matchmaker's words, Jiang Yu rushed over.
Ya Matchmaker said gently, "Meet Wenxuan's mother. Call her Aunt Zhong."
"Aunt Zhong, I am Jiang Yu."
Zhong Yanmei made no attempt to hide her scrutinizing gaze and was pleased with Jiang Yu's appearance.
Tall and graceful, she carried herself confidently, without a hint of timidity.
"Where are you from, and what do your parents do for work?"
Jiang Yu answered confidently, "I am from South River Village, and my parents are farmers in the countryside."
As soon as Jiang Yu finished speaking, Zhong Yanmei's face changed. Her disdain and contempt for country people were obvious.
"How could you introduce a village girl to my son? You're making me lose face! My Wenxuan is a school teacher. With his background, there's no way he'd end up marrying a country girl, right?"
Her blunt and rude words caused Ya Matchmaker's face to fall.
"Yanmei, watch your tongue. What's wrong with country folks? In all my years of matchmaking, I've seen plenty of city folks marry country folks and vice versa, and they're all doing just fine."
Zhong Yanmei snorted, "I'll be straight with you. Wenxuan already has a girlfriend, the only daughter of the school principal! I thought that since you went to the trouble of introducing someone, their conditions must be exceptional. If I had known it was a country girl, I wouldn't have bothered to meet."
Her disdain was plain to see.
Zhong Yanmei waved her hand, turned around, and entered the house, slamming the door shut.
Ya Matchmaker's face turned grim, and she spat on the ground.
"What a lack of manners!"
Jiang Yu was naturally upset and angry, but she had prepared herself mentally before coming.
If marrying a city person was easy, everyone would do it. Who would marry in the countryside then?
"Grandma Yao, I am truly sorry, if it weren't for me..."
Ya Matchmaker clicked her tongue twice, "Oh, girl, this is nothing! I knew Zhong Yanmei was materialistic, but I didn't expect her to have no manners at all. This is my fault."
Not hitting it off during matchmaking was common, but someone as harsh as Zhong Yanmei was rare.
"The only daughter of the school principal, falling for the son of a garbage collector? More likely he's the one entering her family."
She snorted, "Let's go!"
On the way back, Ya Matchmaker assured Jiang Yu that she would keep an eye out for other opportunities, telling her to rest easy.
Jiang Yu smiled and thanked her, "Grandma Yao, don't worry. I'll go see my great-aunt first."
"Alright, go ahead."
The two parted ways at the intersection, and Jiang Yu headed to the street office to find Ya Xiangling.
Upon learning that Jiang Yu hadn't succeeded in the match, Ya Xiangling was naturally disappointed.
"How about you stay at my place for a while, and we'll find a suitable match before you go back."
Jiang Yu thinks it's a good suggestion but doesn't immediately agree.
"Auntie, let me go home and tell my mother first."
"Alright, off you go then."
Jiang Yu waits for Jiang Ting at the appointed spot, thinking so much time has already passed; she should be done by now.
It doesn't take long before she sees Jiang Ting, her face clearly showing joy, apparently bearing good news.
"Did it go well?"
Jiang Ting lifts her chin, her expression haughty. "Of course, it was successful. Brother Fu Xiangyang is very satisfied with me. Forget about it. Xiangyang said his family isn't looking for a pretty daughter-in-law; they just want someone hardworking and capable. Even without me, he wouldn't choose you."
Jiang Yu opens her mouth but doesn't say anything. No point in talking if we're not on the same page.
Jiang Ting is completely unreasonable.
Jiang Ting hums a song, feeling delightfully happy.
"I didn't steal your man. His family chose me. I'm just saying, you really need to change your lazy nature. Being pretty doesn't get you anywhere. When you go out for matchmaking, everyone thinks you're lazy and are too fond of eating. Even the matchmaker's gonna steer clear of you."
She goes on and on, as if only this could convince herself that she hadn't stolen Jiang Yu's marriage prospect.
Hearing the good news brought back by Jiang Ting, Jiang Yonghua and Wang Meili are overjoyed.
Wang Meili realizes for the first time that her daughter is so capable. In the blink of an eye, she is about to become a city person.
"Did he say when they would come to ask for your hand in marriage? What about the dowry? Did he talk about that?"
Jiang Ting is full of pride. "Yes, he did. They'll come to propose in a couple of days, with the dowry set at fifty, and the wedding date should be as soon as possible."
"What? Fifty? That's too low!" Wang Meili starts to complain again.
It must be said that these city people weren't as generous as expected.
Jiang Ting is displeased. "Fifty isn't too little. When my cousin from my aunt's side got married, the dowry was only twenty."
Wang Meili pouts. "But your cousin didn't marry a city person!"
Jiang Ting says coldly, "And those city people marrying a daughter-in-law might not require a dowry."
Wang Meili pretends to hit her. "Not even married, and you're already taking their side!"
Jiang Yonghua steps in. "Fifty is enough; that's not little! In our South River Village, no one has ever received a higher dowry for their daughter than you!"
With his words, Wang Meili feels a bit more satisfied.
Happily, she flips through the calendar, muttering to herself, "Tomorrow is the fourth day of the lunar month, a good day for engagements, perfect for them to come to propose. The fifth is Major Heat, not a good day, so let's have the wedding banquet on the sixth."
What she means by the banquet on the sixth is to hold it in South River Village.
But Jiang Ting doesn't agree, saying, "No need for a banquet in the village. Whether there's a banquet or not, they have to give a red envelope. On the sixth, just set up two tables in his family's courtyard in the city, just to go through the motions."
Wang Meili almost slaps her. "Even if you're marrying a city person, there's no need to be so eager! We'll have the banquet in the village on the sixth, and the timing of the banquet at Fu's will be discussed later. That's settled!"
After finally marrying her daughter off to someone in the city, she was naturally eager to show off.
How could she pass up such a rare opportunity?
Jiang Yu slipped out again to have a chat with Wang Yunshan.
"Did Jiang Ting get matched successfully?"
"Yes."
Wang Yunshan sighed, "I didn't expect that among us, Jiang Ting would be the first to get married. What kind of man would make her so eager to marry?"
Jiang Yu wasn't too concerned. "He's coming to propose tomorrow, you'll see then."
Wang Yunshan glanced at her. "How about you? Do your parents have any plans for your marriage?"
Jiang Yu lay on the haystack. The sky hadn't completely darkened yet, with a faint red glow on the horizon.
"I don't know, there's no reason," she said. "Jiang Ting just got married, it wouldn't make sense to marry off two daughters in the same year."
Wang Yunshan scoffed, "Why not? My parents are already looking for men for me to meet."
She wasn't the eldest in the family. There was an older sister above her, named Wang Laidi.
Wang Laidi got married at the start of the year to a man twenty years older than her, a bachelor.
This man, besides being old, had just two issues: he was really short, under 1.6 meters, and ugly.
So ugly that Wang Yunshan couldn't forget his ugliness after just one glance.
But her parents didn't care. After all, daughters are like water poured out; who they marry doesn't matter, as long as there's a bride price.
"Jiang Yu, I keep wondering, where's our true home as women," Wang Yunshan said, looking confused.
Your natal home isn't home, and the in-laws' home isn't home either.
Are we born to be rootless duckweed?
Since birth, Wang Yunshan had doubts—about her name, about herself, about whether she even had a reason to exist.
And Jiang Yu didn't know the answer to that either.