Su Family had no relatives in Wuliqiao. So every New Year was a good time for the whole family to spend time together. But this year was a little different from last year.
Since the third day of the new year, there have been no fewer than five or six matchmakers who had come knocking the door to propose marriage. Their target was mainly the eldest daughter of Su Family: "Madam Su, I'm not boasting. This Liu Family have more than a hundred mus of fertile land. Although Gentleman Liu is only fifteen years old, he is a top-notch person! There is nothing bad to say about his character and appearance. Liu Family couple are both capable and kind people. Our eldest niece will definitely not be aggrieved after she gets married!"
Listening to the eloquent matchmaker boasting about Liu Family to the point of flowers appearing, Mrs. Su didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Enduring the pain, she refused: "Thank you Elder Sister-in-law, our family's daughter is young now and we still want to keep for another two years."
If it wasn't for You Jin forbidding her to setting marriage for her after coming back from He's house before the new year, how could Mrs. Su not be moved by the fifth matchmaker who came knocking?
Hearing Mrs. Su's refusal, the matchmaker invited by Liu Family didn't give up. She grasped Mrs. Su's hand with a smile and said with a concerned look: "Younger Sister Su, it's not me who is complimenting, but that Gentleman Liu is really wonderful. Paired with our eldest niece, she isn't aggrieved. You must know that there are hundreds of mus of fertile land in the family. And there are long-term workers to take care of it. When my Eldest Niece marries over, she only needs to serve her in-laws well, take good care of Liu Family's boy, and open branches and spread leaves for Liu Family. This is a blessing!"
Hearing what she said, Mrs. Su, who was initially a little bit excited, rest her thought. Her daughter was now served by maids and servants at home. If she marries into their Liu Family, she will be tortured by her parents-in-law, no? As soon as Mrs. Su thought about her own miserable experience back then, she rejected the matchmaker without hesitation: "Thank you Elder Sister-in-law for your kindness. Our family's daughter is indeed still young. What's more, our family can lack You Jin. Let's talk about it in a few years! "
Seeing that won't budge no matter what, the matchmaker knew that she wouldn't be able to earn this money. But thinking how Su Family had seven daughters besides the eldest daughter and that they would still have contacts in the future, she smilingly bidded goodbye. No longer pestering.
After seeing off the matchmaker, Mrs. Su finally heaved a sigh of relief: "I didn't know that it would be this tiring after the family's daughter grows up!"
Auntie Song came up with tea. When she heard what she said, she jollily responded: "No matter whether it is character or appearance, our family's Eldest Miss is the best. Besides, Madam think about the current situation of our family. Though we can't compare to the major household in the city of Luohe Prefecture, we can be ranked first out of all families outside the city!"
Who wouldn't want a rich and capable daughter-in-law?
"You're right. At this time last year, how could any matchmaker want to come to our door to propose marriage? They just came to propose when seeing our family's prosperity!"
Although Mrs. Su's temperament was weak, her brain wasn't stupid. Since Auntie Song said this, she wrapped her mind around: "However, this marriage is still up to the children themselves as well as choosing a good husband's family!" Mrs. Su herself was forced to marry into Yue Family and encountered such a powerful mother-in-law again. Naturally she had lingering fears.
Auntie Song nimbly took away the used tea set on the table and smiled, "Madam, it's not the time to worry about this! After two years, when the girls are all grown up, it's even more frustrating!" Su Family sisters were similar in age. One by one each will come to age every year. Now that they thought about it, it was really not time to worry.
After listening to Auntie Song's words, Mrs. Su helplessly grinned: "You're right. It's not time to get frustrated yet!"
All the matchmakers who came knocking retreated home in defeat. After a period of time, the matchmakers wisely stopped coming to the door of Su Family. After all, it was a waste of time to make this trip, so why waste expression? Mrs. Su didn't know this, but she was really relieved that the matchmaker no longer came to bombard her one after another.
***
On the eighth day of the New Year, Sujiaxiang snack shop opened as usual.
Now the front of the store greeting customers and managing the accounts were all handled by You Yin. You Jin was only responsible for the calculation of the accounts at the end of each month. The back kitchen had You Zhu leading five or six people busying away, including □□, Bai Zhi, etc.. Now You Zhu didn't need to be overwhelmed with tasks. She only needed to hold on to the formula and take stock of the daily inventory of the ingredients. Others did the rest of the work. The division of labor was very clear between the front of house and the back. The two do not overlap.
You Jin's main job was to use the money earned from Sujiaxiang to develop more profitable fields; use money to make money. She headed out early and returned late every day. So busy that her shadow couldn't be seen.
"Miss, two letters for you have been delivered directly to the door today." You Jin just returned home and Auntie Song followed quickly with two letters.
Unbuttoning the cloak, Qiao-er, who was following beside her, cleverly took the cloak. After receiving the letter handed over by Auntie Song, You Jin smilingly replied: "I didn't know that someone would send a letter to me!" After looking at the first letter, it was Xiao Lin Yu's handwriting. Next, she read the second letter, the handwriting on the envelope can only be considered upright. It should be a woman's handwriting. You Jin felt it was a little strange. Sitting in the parlor, she waited for the kitchen to prepare the meal and she opened it: "Who could it be?"
After reading the letter, all the smiles on You Jin's face disappeared. Only silence remained. After a long time, she sighed and spoke to Qiao-er: "Go invite Madam over."
She can intervene in this matter, but she didn't want to get involved. So she had to invite Mrs. Su over to discuss it together.
"What's the matter?" Mrs. Su held hands with little Eighth who was already able to wobbly walk and entered. As soon as little Eighth saw You Jin, she abandoned Mrs. Su and headed toward You Jin with staggering steps: "Eldest Sister hug!"
You Jin quickly caught the chubby little Eighth, picked her up, and sat on her lap. She motioned for Qiao-er to hand over the opened letter on the table to Mrs. Su: "Mother, have a look!"
Then she teased and played with little Eighth.
Mrs. Su lovingly took in the interaction between Eldest Daughter and Youngest Daughter. She took the letter from Qiao-er and read it slowly. The expression on her face gradually became serious. In the past two years, Mrs. Su had also learnt to recognize words with Yu Lan and had made great progress in learning to read and write. Putting the letter back on the table, she turned to You Jin who was making little Eighth laugh. She asked, "What do you think should be done? Since your Third Aunt can find us, she must have reached a dead end."
It turned out to be a letter from Mrs. Han. Don't know how she got the address.
"We can help. After all, when we left Dingyuan, Third Aunt helped us a lot. But we can't go back. We can't sacrifice all of us just to help Third Aunt." To You Jin, Yue Family of weirdos can be said to be an existence she wants to avoid: "Mother, think about it. If Yue Chang Lu knows our current situation, can he ignore the wealth he sees?"
Thinking of her ex-husband, Mrs. Su still had goosebumps all over her body. She agreed with her daughter's words: "No! We can't take this risk!"
But thinking of the things mentioned in Mrs. Han's letter, Mrs. Su couldn't bear the thought: "But we can't just watch You He jump into the fire pit!"
"Since Mother spoke out, I will make arrangements for this matter." You Jin handed little Eighth, who was tired from playing, back to Mrs. Su's arms: "I'll arrange for Uncle Song to take Qiao-er and set off to Dingyuan tomorrow!"
Mrs. Han must have had no other choice and will try anything when in a desperate plight. That was why she pleaded Su Family whom she hadn't been in touch with for a long time. Just treat it as returning the favor from back then.
When Mrs. Su thought about the troubles in Cuifeng Village, she felt very irritable. She couldn't be bothered to intervene in this matter: "Then you can make arrangements."
"Mother, don't worry." You Jin nodded. She immediately found Uncle Song, handed him the letter, and instructed: "Uncle Song, you can take Qiao-er for a trip tomorrow morning. Take this letter with you. I'll write you another letter. Go to Dingyuan to pick up Sister You He and come back immediately. Don't let anyone find out."
Uncle Song nodded: "Don't worry, Miss."
That night, Su Family was busy for a while: You Jin went back to the room to write a letter, took fifty liang silver to pay Uncle Song's father and daughter, and gave Uncle Song some instructions. Only then did You Jin have time to go back to her room and read the rest of the letter from the capital.
After reading Xiao Lin Yu's letter, You Jin helplessly shook her head. Although the two of them were considered acquainted for half a year last year, was it really appropriate for him to find a little girl who was nearly six years younger than him as his life mentor? But thinking of the 10,000 liang silver notes in the box where she put the money. I had no choice but to pick up a pen and write back with helplessness: "Man dies for money, birds dies for food!"
In fact, Xiao Lin Yu didn't know why he wrote such a letter and sent it to Luohe Prefecture. The moment he sent the letter, he regretted it. His heart was entangled as well as vaguely looking forward to what Su Family's lass would reply.
It took nearly half a month to get from Luohe Prefecture to the capital by horse. When Xiao Lin Yu thought that You Jin wouldn't reply to his letter, he finally received a reply from You Jin. After reading her childish but inexplicably unreasonable 'idealism' discussion, Xiao Lin Yu finally revealed a rare smile after being depressed for a long time: "This girl is really a youth who doesn't know the taste of sorrow."
He seemed to regard You Jin as an ignorant child, but forgot that he wasn't much older than the other party.
Feeling the knot within being relieved, Xiao Lin Yu took up a pen and wrote another letter to Su Family's lass and told the servants around him to arrange delivery as soon as possible. Afterward, he began to secretly look forward to Su Family's lass's reply.
***
Back to heading to Dingyuan County's side. Uncle Song carried fifty liang silver and two letters and caught a ride on a caravan heading out of Luohe Prefecture with his daughter. They arrived in Dingyuan County within five days.
According to Eldest Miss's order, Uncle Song stayed in Dingyuan first. After spending two days inquiring about Yue Family's affairs, he went to Han Family's grocery store to look for Mrs. Han. It happened that Yue Chang Shou wasn't around. Although Mrs. Han's father had passed away and the grocery store was under Yue Chang Shou's management, the clerks in the grocery store still listened to Mrs. Han's orders in private. As soon as Uncle Song said he was looking for Mrs. Han, they hurried in and asked Mrs. Han to come out.
"You are?" Uncle Song was wearing fine cotton clothes, looking like a wealthy family's housekeeper. Mrs. Han thought a big business had arrived. So she forced herself to be spirited and came out to greet.
Uncle Song cupped his hand and asked politely, "Are you Third Madam Yue? I'm from Su Family in the south."
When she heard that he was from Su Family, Mrs. Han's heart, which was already half cold, immediately came to life: "You are from Su Family?"
She naturally remembered that Second Sister-in-law's family name was Su. All the children changed surname to Su.
"Exactly, it's very inconvenient to talk here. I wonder if we can change to another place?" Uncle Song looked at the grocery store with people coming and going. It was really not a good place to talk. So he proposed to invite Mrs. Han to the teahouse on the opposite side.
After leaving a few words to the shopkeeper, Mrs. Han hurriedly followed Uncle Song out of the grocery store.