The Tempting Educated Youth Married to a Rough Man-Chapter 147 - 43: Matchmaker Zhou’s Admonition

Xiao Chenye really wanted to announce this good news to the world, but Mrs. Xiao quickly brought him back to reality with a couple of slaps.

He couldn’t say anything just yet, because despite the current trend of free love, the Silly Deer Team still clung to the old rules.

Parental consent and the word of a matchmaker.

If any young people dared to mess around in private, they’d be talked about.

Although the Xiao Family didn’t really care about others’ gossip, they preferred to avoid it if possible.

Why use their family’s good news as fodder for others? That could make the whole family unhappy.

After dealing with her son, Mrs. Xiao returned to the house, and after rummaging around at the end of the kang bed for a while, finally found an old red lacquer box.

The box was about three palms wide and four fingers high.

She caressed the patterns on it with a tearful eye full of memories.

With a deep breath, she wiped away the dust and opened the latch.

The box contained Mrs. Xiao’s wedding dowry from back in the day.

A 24-karat golden necklace, three gold bracelets, and neatly stacked and tied with string were fifteen gold bars.

Beside these lay some scattered Dong pearls, and a half-new half-old pouch.

These items were constant, but she hadn’t decided how to distribute them initially.

Logically speaking, if she were to keep things fair and square, she had six children, so it would be hard to divide anything adequately. She even thought about melting the bracelets and the necklace down to be split equally.

But now it seemed unnecessary.

The necklace would go to Wen Ran, while the remaining three bracelets would go one each to Yueyue, Star, and the last one... for the future wife of the third son.

The gold bars would be saved for now as she and her old man still needed a retirement fund.

Taking out the golden necklace, Mrs. Xiao sighed.

"Squeak~"

Mrs. Xiao was startled but then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was her husband who had come in, jokingly saying, "You scared me to death."

"Why did you take all these things out? You should be more careful."

He was aware of his wife’s stash; if he hadn’t quietly exchanged some gold for food years ago, many of the children wouldn’t have survived during the famine.

"Looking for things for Ranran," she picked up the necklace excitedly, "look, give this to Ranran, the three remaining bracelets can each go to the kids."

"Your stuff, distribute it however you like," Mr. Xiao said, surprised, "Wait, it’s for Ranran? Has the boy succeeded?"

"He has!"

Mrs. Xiao grinned broadly at the mention, full of praise, "That boy, can’t utter a word when standing in front of Ranran, yet wasted no time when he finally did. Surely, he takes after me."

Mr. Xiao shared in the pride, "Absolutely, takes after me!"

~

Mrs. Xiao was so excited she couldn’t sleep after thinking about it all night, and went to Matchmaker Zhou’s house at the Silly Deer Team’s first thing the next morning.

"What? Your Chenye has found a match?"

"Oh, yes indeed," Mrs. Xiao happily shared her family’s good news, "we’ve got our eyes set early, after some time getting to know each other, we couldn’t be more pleased, and wanted you to help us arrange a good marriage."

In cases like this, it was often already agreed upon by both parties, and the matchmaker just needed to officiate to seal the deal.

Plenty of matchmakers preferred frequent visits from such families—it was an easy job for them, and they could earn a fee and some happy fruit without lifting a finger. A win-win by all accounts.

But Matchmaker Zhou had some private intentions of her own.

She had been fancying Xiao Chenye for quite some time and wanted to pair him with her niece Zhou Wei.

Mrs. Xiao’s words caught her off guard.

Wasn’t this the peach I had my eye on? You know?

Just taken away like that?

Unwilling to let it slide easily, Matchmaker Zhou took a deep breath, tried to maintain composure, and smiled, "Who’s the girl? So sharp, can catch the eye of an old fox like you?"

She’d been keeping an eye out but hadn’t seen the Xiao Family getting close to anyone.

Li Family’s Lihong went up in smoke, Tian Family’s Xiaorou wasn’t interested in Xiao Family’s, then, who else?

After much thought, eventually, a candidate occupied her mind.

Not someone from the team but a visiting educated youth!

At the same time, Mrs. Xiao smiled, "It’s Wen Ran, Wen the educated youth!"

Matchmaker Zhou’s head spun fast, the smile on her face turning hesitant, "Educated youth?"

She conspiratorially said, "Dear sister, are you sure? Educated youth don’t have many good ones, and what if she returns to the city someday, what’s going to happen to our Old Five?"

"Huh?"

Merrily, Mrs. Xiao was immediately doused with cold water, bewildered.

Matchmaker Zhou assumed Mrs. Xiao was taking her words to heart and started to spin her tale, "I don’t mean to sound unpleasant, but there are real-life examples to prove it.

Have you heard of Qian Kangmei, the commune head of Mao’er Village team next to Xiangyang commune?"

Mrs. Xiao hadn’t met him but had heard of him.

She hesitantly nodded, "What about him?"

Primarily, she wanted to know if there was a way back to the city.

In the eyes of Mrs. Xiao, being sent to the countryside was a punishment, and if Wen Ran could go back to the city, then it would be wise to find a way to do so.

As for the marriage with her son...

Oh, if the wife can’t be tied down, one might just run away with her, wouldn’t that be a waste.

Matchmaker Zhou was unaware of Mrs. Xiao’s little schemes and thought she’d touched upon something crucial in her friend’s mind, happily saying, "Old Qian’s eldest daughter Xiao Yun was determined to marry an educated youth years ago.

Old Qian beat her and scolded her, yet she was a bull-headed girl with straightforwardness, what she had set her heart on, even a herd of horses couldn’t drag her back..."

Last year, Xiangyang Commune received a place in a workers’, peasants’, and soldiers’ university, and Mao’er Village got one. Logically, this spot was not meant for the youth leader.

Yet Qian Xiaoyun was adamant, wanting to secure that opportunity for her man.

No matter how Captain Qian tried, Qian Xiaoyun was relentless, eventually causing a huge rumpus at home and hanging herself, forcing Captain Qian, being despite his age, to beg his daughter on his knees.

Eventually, it was other educated youth who saw Captain Qian’s pitiful state and voluntarily conceded.

Otherwise?

Carrying a life on their shoulders didn’t seem viable.

Furthermore, Captain Qian was extremely selfless—educated youth who came to the countryside, he helped wherever possible, and even if he couldn’t, he tried to mediate, and the community recognized this.

But after Qian Xiaoyun caused such a commotion, it weakened those ties significantly.

Mrs. Xiao listened intently, etching the workers’, peasants’, and soldiers’ university into her mind.

Matchmaker Zhou paused before continuing, "Guess what happened next?"

"Another Chen Shimei?"

Abandon wife and child perhaps.

Matchmaker Zhou clapped her hands, "You really understand things! That educated youth went to university and quickly cut ties with the Qian Family. Sent a letter last year saying he wanted a clean break.

As if he died out there, didn’t want a wife or children anymore."