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The next day, after sending Lin Mai who came to the market together with him home, Lin Cheng rushed back to his house using his carriage. Before he could get close enough to see the pretty figure in front of his house, he suddenly felt a pain in his teeth and had the intention of turning back to Lin Da Shan’s house at that exact moment but it was already too late.
Li Xiaoju had been waiting here for more than half an hour but she still hadn’t seen Lin Cheng return. Today, she had especially worn her most beautiful clothes to see Lin Cheng, thinking that she would be able to make Lin Cheng look at her and take a liking to her. Li Xiaoju said in a delicate and seductive voice, “Lin Cheng Ge, you’re finally back. I’ve been waiting for you for half a day.”
Lin Cheng, who couldn’t run away even if he wanted to, instantly turned his face into a chrysanthemum and said in a rude way with the corners of his mouth twitching, “What are you doing here?”
“Lin Cheng Ge… are you not happy?” Li Xiaoju did not expect him to speak like this so she was dumbfounded for a moment before asking in a low voice.
‘How can I be happy that you came here?’ Lin Cheng thought in his heart but his face was also full of impatience as he said, “You better go home! A girl comes alone to a man’s house, what kind of thing is that? You should hurry back, so your aunt doesn’t need to look for you.”
Li Xiaoju, who had been pampered since she was a child, how could she stand this kind of anger? She wanted so much to go up and slap Lin Cheng yet she could only think about it. She bit her lower lip and looked at Lin Cheng with teary eyes.
Lin Cheng thought badly and just as he wanted to make a sound he heard Li Xiao Ju sobbing and said, “Lin…Lin Cheng Ge, do you, do you really hate me so much ?”
“What are you crying for? As if I am the one who did something to you!” Lin Cheng didn’t afraid of anything else, the thing he most afraid of was the crying woman, therefore every time he met the woman crying, his entire person became dumb.
“Lin Cheng Ge, did I do something that made you hate me? If not, why would you talk to me like that?” Li Xiaoju wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and cried so miserably.
Lin Cheng scratched his hair and really didn’t know what to say, looking at Li Xiaoju who was still crying, he was upset,
“If you want to go back then go back to your home and cry there, don’t come to my house and cry, it’s annoying!”
As soon as he said that, Li Xiaoju stopped crying for a while. She just looked at him dumbfoundedly and even forgot to make a sound.
Lin Cheng felt pretty good about himself and continued, “I’m already telling you, I don’t want to see you sneaking up to my home door again, so you like to go where then just go wherever you like! Now get out of my way and let me enter my house!”
Li Xiaoju just like that, while still dumbfounded, gave way to him. Only after Lin Cheng entered the door did she come back to her senses and wanted to follow him. However, she was shut out by the swift and quick Lin Cheng. As a result, Lin Cheng closed the door. She was so angry that she almost gnashed her teeth. Li Xiaoju, although love money and wanted to live a good life, it did not mean that she could let people just casually think that she was so cheap (low) ah! She stomped her feet, turned her head and left. She firmly believed that one day, Lin Cheng would regret marrying someone other than her!
Lin Cheng was relieved to see that whiz outside the door had finally left. Although not many people in the village usually come here, it was not like there won’t be any ah! If people saw it, he would not have been able to wash himself clean, even if he jumped into the Yellow River.1
Lin Cheng, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, heard someone knock at the door again, which scared him and made all of his hair stand up . Lin Cheng covered his wildly beating heart. He raised his voice and said, “Who is it?”
“Oh, Cheng Zi, I’m glad that you’re home! Open the door! It’s me, Auntie Chen!” Aunt Chen outside the door tapped on the door a few more times urging Lin Cheng to open the door.
‘It’s good, as long as it’s not that whiz!’ Lin Cheng thought this and pulled the door open with a swish, before he could make a sound he was hit on the forehead by Aunt Chen.
“Aiyoo, Cheng Zi I’m sorry! I didn’t expect you to open the door so quickly, I’m really sorry for not seeing it!” Aunt Chen withdrew her hand with an awkward expression.
Lin Cheng rubbed his head which had been hit red by Aunt Chen, waved his hand and said, “It’s alright! By the way, why did Aunt Chen have time to come over here today?”
Aunt Chen clapped her hands and laughed, “Oh today ah, my daughter and her husband are coming to visit me, so no matter what, I have to cook some good meals right? However, we’ve run out of smoked meat at home, so I thought I’d come here to buy two catties of pork from you!”
“Oh, I thought, what’s the matter!? Come in then! it’s just coincidentally that there’s some pork left today, you can see it first if you like it or not.” Lin Cheng moved out of the way to let Auntie Chen in. He then went to take the pork that was placed on the carriage.
After entering the door, Aunt Chen looked around and said, “Cheng Zi, it’s not that Aunt wants to nag you, you’ve grown up and are no longer a child, why don’t you get a wife? Look at you, you’ve just come back from the stall, you’re half dead tired and you still have to cook for yourself. Listen to my advice, hurry up and get married! How good would it be to have someone who knows whether you are cold or hot.”2
Lin Cheng almost fell to the ground when his feet slipped as he turned around and said speechlessly, “Auntie, you don’t have to worry about that, I’m fine, living on my own. Besides, what if I marry someone who’s a spendthrift?”
“Cheng Zi ah, If you’re not at ease, why don’t I introduce you to someone bei? Just exactly, my daughter’s sister-in-law is not yet married. I’ve met that girl, she’s not especially pretty but she’s skillful. Nowadays, you need someone who is good at life. Most of those who are good looking are not good at anything. Look at the Dachun family at the edge of the village, isn’t his wife pretty? But she’s not good at anything, is she? Instead of pampering her like a young lady from a wealthy family, why not find someone who you can live a life with?” The more Aunt Chen said, the more she was afraid that Lin Cheng would not be able to think straight and marry a seductively charming one who could not do anything.
Lin Cheng scratched his hair and said, “Auntie Chen, you can’t say that too, it doesn’t necessarily mean because you are good looking then you are not capable in everything. A person can’t just tell someone he met that he can do this, that, and this, right?”
Lin Cheng thought to himself, ‘Mai Zi is good-looking ah! He also can do everything and know how to spend his life (they also get along), right? That’s why, if I want to marry a wife then I should marry someone like Mai Zi!’
“Hey, you kid! I’m just giving you an example, look at how impatient you are! Don’t tell me you have someone that you like, from which family?” Aunt Chen patted Lin Cheng’s shoulder and gave him a meaningful smile.
Lin Cheng rubbed the goose bumps on his body and said, “Auntie, don’t smile like that! Just look at you and I am frightened.”
“What are you talking about!” Aunt Chen thought it was funny, she slapped Lin Cheng’s shoulder and said, “Cheng Zi, your aunt is a veteran, don’t give me that. Moreover, you know what my work is. I’m a matchmaker! Do you think that I still don’t know what you are thinking about? Tell me quickly, which family is she from? A girl or a ger?”
Lin Cheng thought that when the time comes, he would have to find a matchmaker to propose a marriage anyway, so he might as well just ‘push the boat along with the current’3and let Aunt Chen help him. After thinking about it, he said, “Auntie, I really can’t hide anything from you. I indeed really have someone that I like. Originally, I was thinking of finding someone to propose the marriage for me. I didn’t expect, auntie, you came and delivered to my doorstep.”
“Let’s see if you, this boy, dare to lie to Aunt again.” Auntie Chen laughed heartily and suddenly remembered the person she had just passed by so she pulled Lin Cheng to her side and said, “Cheng Zi ah, you must have fallen in love with that person’s niece, right? What’s her name? That’s right, it’s Li Xiaoju, isn’t it? I’m telling you, please don’t ah! That Li Xiaoju is known in their Li Jia Village as a tricky (cunning) girl, so if you marry her, you’ll be in trouble.”
Lin Cheng didn’t expect her to bring up Li Xiaoju, so he quickly waved his hand and said, “Auntie, don’t blindly guess, it’s not her. I don’t want to hide it for you. Honestly speaking, the one I’m interested in is Mai Zi.”
Aunt Chen was confused for a moment before she said, “What? Mai Zi? Yo, so what they say in the village is true, huh? You, this boy, are really something! Mai Zi is not bad, he can work, but he’s too thin, so I’m afraid he won’t be able to give birth to children.”
“There’s no hurry in bearing children’s matter, let’s talk about it later!” Lin Cheng speechlessly said this while he tied the two catties of pork with twine and slipped it to her, “Auntie, I’ll give you these two catties of pork as a gift, if the marriage proposal is successful, I’ll give you a big leg of pork.”
“Aiyo really?” Aunt Chen didn’t expect to get the big profit. Shen then took the pork meat and said, “Cheng Zi, I’ll take care of the marriage proposal for you. I’ll go back first to see the good day for the marriage, after that I’ll tell you again!”
“Okay, Aunt Chen, you take care!” Lin Cheng amusedly looked at Aunt Chen who excitedly and hurriedly left the house. He closed the door after seeing that she was already far away. He giggled foolishly for a while before he remembered that he had to cook. It seemed that he should marry Mai Zi sooner…