Chapter 314: Chapter 167: Sister-in-law Candidate, Part 2

Qingmu raised his eyes to his sister, asking in surprise, "Doesn’t it look good?"

"Of course not," Juhua said, waving her hands frantically. "It looks great! Hey, Brother, if you go out like this, you’ll have all the girls staring."

Hearing her exaggeration, Qingmu couldn’t help but laugh too.

He asked, "Why did you only make one for me? Didn’t you make one for Dad?"

If she had made one for Qingmu but not for Zheng Changhe, he would get jealous and complain about how his daughter only remembered her brother and forgot about her dad.

Holding the short cotton coat he had just taken off, Juhua smiled. "Of course I made one for Dad. I made him a padded jacket. I figured since Dad’s older, it would be better for him to wear something warmer. He’s not young like you and can’t take the cold as well. Hey, how did this get dirty? What’s this?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

She looked quizzically at the coat in her hands. There was a large, damp stain on the back that gave off a pungent smell... the smell of raw eggs!

Seeing that the new coat had indeed gotten dirty, Qingmu walked over to Juhua in frustration. He took the coat to examine it closely, saying, "Don’t even ask. I had some bad luck today. I bumped into a boy and knocked over his basket of eggs. He twisted his ankle, too. This is from the eggs. It got on me when I was carrying him on my back to take him home."

As he spoke, he recounted the morning’s events to Juhua.

When Juhua heard the boy was Liu Fugui’s son, her expression turned strange. ’How do we keep getting tangled up with the Liu Family!’

She asked with a smile, "You took him home, and his family didn’t make you pay for the eggs?"

Qingmu chuckled. "Nope. The boy was probably planning to make me pay—he was scared because he’d broken the eggs. But who would’ve thought? His sister didn’t listen to his nonsense at all. She immediately guessed that he was the one who wasn’t watching where he was going and had bumped into me. She even apologized..."

As he spoke, he remembered what Liu Yunlan had looked like. Then he saw Juhua watching him with a smile, and his face inexplicably flushed red. He couldn’t laugh anymore, and the words died in his throat.

Juhua hadn’t thought much of it at first, but seeing her brother blush while talking about Liu Yunlan, she was utterly astonished.

Qingmu cursed himself for his lack of composure. ’I was talking just fine, so why did I have to blush?’

He looked at Juhua, a little embarrassed, not knowing what to say.

Seeing his embarrassment, Juhua decided not to press him, to save him the awkwardness. She was about to change the subject when, to her surprise, Qingmu began to speak on his own.

He had been a bit preoccupied all day and really wanted to confide in his sister. Besides, she wasn’t just anybody, and he wanted to hear what she thought.

So, fighting back a blush, he said to Juhua, "She’s not like her brother—he’s such a baby, cries over every little thing. She’s really smart and has a mind of her own. And she’s not like her parents either, not so... cloying. Also, her looks... she’s pretty, too."

Normally, Qingmu would never talk about a girl’s looks in front of Juhua, but now that Juhua didn’t mind such things, he wasn’t as guarded.

’Besides, it’s not her looks that made me notice Liu Yunlan. If I cared about looks, I wouldn’t have felt anything for Liu’er and Meizi. I don’t know why, but just seeing her smile makes me feel at ease, and happy.’

He looked up and saw Juhua listening intently with a smile. After a moment’s hesitation, he added, "She invited me to visit her home during the New Year’s celebrations. She said she’d make dumplings for me."

Seeing Qingmu like this, Juhua knew he had taken a fancy to this Liu Yunlan.

’This is a rare sight,’ Juhua thought. ’My brother’s finally coming to his senses and noticing girls.’

She asked with a smile, "So, are you planning to go, Brother?"

Qingmu lowered his eyes, his hands unconsciously fiddling with the cotton coat. A faint smile played on his lips. "I haven’t decided yet." After a moment, he added, "What would I even go for? We’re not related or anything. Showing up at their house for a New Year’s visit... what would people think?"

’This needs to be handled carefully,’ Juhua thought. ’It’s rare for Qingmu to take an interest in a girl. I should give him a helping hand.’

She suddenly grew excited, sitting up straight and saying with a grin, "How about I go check her out for you? That’s right! I haven’t visited Grandma’s for the New Year in ages. That’s not right. Next year, I’ll definitely go pay a New Year’s visit to Grandma and Uncle."

Qingmu saw her using their grandmother and uncle as a completely serious-sounding excuse—even though just last New Year she had said she didn’t want to visit relatives. The eager look on her face made him chuckle, his blush fading away.

He asked with a wide smile, "Juhua, are you that eager for me to get a wife?"

Juhua shook her head. "That’s not it at all. I actually want you to marry later—sigh! Once you have a wife, you’ll have another person to look after. But even though we might think it’s better to marry later, other people don’t see it that way. These days, families get their kids, boys and girls alike, engaged when they’re just teenagers. I’m really worried—what if all the good ones are taken by then?"

Seeing her worried expression, Qingmu couldn’t help but laugh. "You make it sound like we’re shopping. Are you saying we won’t be able to get one if we’re late?"

"It’s not that different!" Juhua retorted. "We’re just looking for a wife from the villages around here. If all the suitable families marry off their daughters, won’t we be left high and dry? Are we supposed to wait for the next generation of little girls to grow up?"

Qingmu just watched her with a smile, listening as she rattled on about how they had to find someone suitable and get engaged first. She even said she hadn’t realized how serious the situation was before, and now she looked even more anxious about it than he was.

’It might be a good idea to let my sister check out this Liu Yunlan,’ he thought. ’My sister is sharp; she’ll definitely be able to tell whether that girl and I are a good match.’

Juhua talked for a long time. Seeing Qingmu just leaning against the foot warmer and smiling, she shot him a sideways glance. "What are you smiling at? Brother, if you go to the Liu Family for a New Year’s visit, it’s as good as telling them you’re interested. It wouldn’t be good if you changed your mind later and didn’t want to commit. Let’s go stay at Grandma’s for a night during the New Year. I’ll find a chance to meet her. And you, you think it over carefully. If you really like this Liu Yunlan, then you should pursue this match. You’ll be eighteen after the New Year. In two more years, you’ll be twenty. Time flies."

Qingmu nodded. "Alright, let’s go together after the New Year." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)