The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 38 Insisting on Marrying Him

The matchmaker was a professional, and Mrs. Zhao understood the hidden meaning in her words.

"This Miss Xiao is both beautiful and talented, the direct granddaughter of the Xiao family, a prominent clan. She is a perfect match for your family. Mrs. Zhao, why did you give up on her?"

Wouldn't this affect her thank-you gift to the matchmaker?
"It was my husband's idea." Mrs. Zhao actually thought it was a good thing to bring Xiao Chunlan back as her third son's wife. She had met the girl herself; she was quiet and gentle and quite pretty. "My husband said that it's precisely because she's a good girl that my third son, who is neither good at literature nor martial arts, needs to have his temperament corrected so as not to harm her."

"The friendship between the two families is a marriage alliance, not an enmity. My third son's personality is really not good enough for Miss Xiao."

Mrs. Zhao was belittling her own son against her conscience. In all honesty, she felt that her son was actually quite good, except for failing the imperial examination and becoming a doctor.

She didn't want to make an enemy of the Xiao family, so she kept belittling her own son.

Hopefully, these words will be passed on to the matchmaker; otherwise, how will he find a wife in a few years?
Which family would be willing to marry their daughter to a good-for-nothing?

"Is Mrs. Zhao really not going to mention it again?"

"Let's not talk about it anymore." Mrs. Zhao quickly stuffed two taels of silver into the matchmaker's hand: "I would appreciate it if you could put in a good word for me, sister-in-law. Once my son Minghua has been properly trained by the master, I would like to ask you to help me find a husband."

"Alright, alright, leave it to me. I'm not bragging, there's no marriage that I, Matchmaker Hu, can't arrange."

Two taels of silver was some consolation. Although Matchmaker Hu didn't know why the Zhao family was unwilling to marry the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, her trip wasn't entirely in vain.

This matter absolutely must be handled properly.

"What? The Zhao family has been busy lately and has no plans to propose marriage?" Granny Chen was shocked by the matchmaker Hu's reply: "Busy with what? Is there anything busier than getting a daughter-in-law?"

"I don't know, but there probably are, right?"

Oh dear, this old woman is really getting old. Didn't she understand what she meant?

Do you really have to say that people don't care about your daughter anymore, and that you only feel proud if they don't ask to marry her?
"What?!" Granny Chen laughed in exasperation. "Does the Zhao family think they're so great? How dare they look down on our young lady!"

Matchmaker Hu... Look, this is probably why the Zhao family won't marry her.

"Follow the good people and you'll learn to be good; follow the palace and you'll learn to be arrogant." Even a nanny is just a servant, yet she speaks so arrogantly.

All I can say is that Mrs. Zhao is a smart woman, and making such a decision was absolutely correct.

Marry a virtuous wife, for a virtuous wife will bring prosperity to three generations.

The eldest daughter of the Xiao family was not well-known, but Matchmaker Hu had actually found out some details that were best left unsaid.

The fact that the marriage didn't happen can be considered as her accumulating some good karma.

"What did you say?"

Mrs. Xiao, Madam Wen, was shocked after hearing what Chen Mama said: "Do you know why?"

"I don't know. The Zhao family only said that the third young master is too unruly, and Master Zhao wants to discipline Xiang Nian before discussing marriage again."

“No, that won’t do. If I discipline him for a few years, I’ll be in my early twenties.” Xiao Chunlan’s eyes reddened with anxiety upon hearing this. “Didn’t Aunt Xiao always like me? I also like Brother Minghua. Mother, didn’t you and Aunt Xiao always have a good relationship? How could this happen?”

When her husband, whom she had just found, suddenly left, Xiao Chunlan felt like her world had collapsed.

"Chunlan, what nonsense are you talking about?" Madam Wen's face turned bright red: "Go back to your courtyard first."

"Mother..."

“Go back.” “I…” Xiao Chunlan ran back to the backyard crying.

"Madam," Granny Chen looked worriedly at the young lady's retreating figure, "the young lady..."

“Chunlan is young and doesn’t know any better. And Daxia has more than just Zhao Minghua.” Madam Wen was both angry and annoyed. “I still don’t understand. I was having a good chat with Mrs. Zhao.”

One was very satisfied with the son-in-law and the other with the daughter-in-law, so why did they suddenly stop talking?

What Wen was furious about was not that the Zhao family refused to talk, but that it was the Zhao family that had proposed to refuse to talk.

The Xiao family is a prominent clan, one of the four great families in Changzhou. The entire Zhao family is inferior to them. How could they dare to look down on her daughter?
"Madam, forced love is never sweet." That was all the old nanny Chen could say to her. "However, it seems that the young lady has truly fallen for you. Madam, would you like to go and see her?"

"This girl is just too naive," Madam Wen sighed. "Raising a daughter is always a debt."

Having no other choice, I could only go to my daughter's yard to comfort her.

I could hear my daughter crying even before I got close.

"Greetings, Madam."

Upon seeing this, the maidservant quickly bowed and said, "Madam, Miss..."

"Okay, all of you go down."

"Yes!"

Wen entered the courtyard.

"Get out of here! Who let you in?" Xiao Chunlan grabbed a vase from the table and smashed it at the people at the door. "Get the hell out of here, don't get in my way."

"Chunlan!"

Fortunately, Ms. Wen dodged quickly, and the vase didn't hit her on the head: "Don't be rude."

"Mother...?" She was quite frightened when she realized she had almost made a mistake, but thinking about the marriage, she immediately threw herself into Wen's arms: "Mother, I want to marry Zhao Minghua. I love him, and I want to marry him. I won't marry anyone but his daughter."

"Chunlan, why are you doing this?" Madam Wen was furious. "There are plenty of men in the world who are more handsome and capable than him. What kind of bewitching potion has he given you? How can a young lady cry and whine for a man?"

"Mother, I don't care about any men in the world, no matter how good they are. I just want to marry him."

"But the Zhao family has no intention of marrying you?"

"No, they did. You rejected them first, and then the Zhao family felt they had lost face, so they stopped coming to propose marriage."

“Chunlan, how can you blame us for this?” Madam Wen was so angry at her daughter that she laughed: “That’s how the world is. When someone comes to propose marriage, the woman’s family will symbolically refuse once or twice, to show that they are not eager to marry off their daughter, but that they have asked for her repeatedly. Only then will they cherish her and give her face…”

"That's all a lie," Xiao Chunlan said in a hoarse voice. "How could it be 'again and again'? The Zhao family is a wealthy and influential family. Don't they have any pride? Why didn't you agree back then? What are you going to do now? Is he going to marry someone else?"

“No, I absolutely cannot let Zhao Minghua marry someone else.” Xiao Chunlan tightly gripped her handkerchief: “Zhao Minghua can only marry me, he can only be my son-in-law.”

"you……"

Wen knew her daughter's personality all too well, but she still couldn't help but offer a word of advice: "Forced relationships don't work out. Chunlan, how about I have your aunt find you a better son-in-law in Changzhou?"

(End of this chapter)