After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

In the kitchen, Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing went over the details of the families Zhang the matchmaker had mentioned. Zhao Qinghuan, who had come from the new house to help shell beans, sat by the stove listening for a while before suddenly speaking up, "Aunt, Mother, I know a girl I met when I was helping out at the herbal medicine shop. Her family runs a medicinal cuisine restaurant on West Street in the county town. It's not a big shop, but it has many regular customers. The girl is the same age as me, her surname is Shen, and her name is Shen Yunniang. Her father is a senior doctor, and she learned a lot about pharmacology from him since she was little. Her mother's medicinal cuisine skills are also superb. Yunniang has two older brothers, both of whom are married and live separately. She's the only one left in the family, helping her parents run the shop." Afu said, "I'll keep an eye out. I'll go back and tell Mother and Aunt." Zhao Qinghuan continued, "However, her engagement last month fell through. The man's family backed out, and I heard it was because they couldn't agree on the dowry. Now the marriage is off." Yunniang's mother was extremely anxious and asked me several times to help her look for a suitable family.

Su Xiaoyin took this to heart and asked Zhao Qinghuan to tell him the exact location of the shop so he could go and take a look.

----

That afternoon, Qingqing returned alone in her mule cart.

Su Xiaoyin was collecting the dried vegetables in the yard when she heard the gate open. Looking up, she saw Qingqing jump out of the car, carrying a bundle. She quickly went to greet her, took the bundle, and looked Qingqing up and down. Qingqing was wearing a light blue cotton jacket, her hair was tied up with a silver hairpin, her complexion was rosy, and she looked energetic, even a little plumper than before her marriage. Su Xiaoyin was pleased, but asked, "Why are you back today? Isn't your mother-in-law busy?"

Qingqing, arm in arm with Su Xiaoyin, walked inside, smiling and saying, "I missed you all, I came back to visit." Zhao Qinghuan had also returned from the county town. She had just entered the courtyard, carrying several baked flatbreads she'd brought back from the grocery store. Hearing Qingqing's voice, she quickly went to the kitchen, poured a bowl of brown sugar water, and brought it over. Qingqing took it, drank a large gulp, sat down on a stool in the main room, placed the bowl on the table, and wiped her mouth.

"My mother-in-law told me about two girls, and I was thinking of introducing them to my older brother and Aji, so I came back today specifically to say that. It's not good to send someone else to tell me these things; it's better to say it in person."

Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoyin stopped collecting dried vegetables, quickly walked into the main room, sat down opposite Qingqing, took off her apron and draped it over the back of the chair, and asked with great interest, "Which family's girl did your mother-in-law introduce? Your mother-in-law has good taste, so the girl she introduced must be pretty good."

Qingqing finished drinking the brown sugar water in the bowl, wiped her mouth, and slowly began to speak.

"They're from my mother-in-law's family, girls from a neighboring county, and related to her. They're twin sisters, seventeen this year, a year younger than their older brother and Aji. Their father was a scholar who took his wife to the capital for the imperial examinations. They went there as a couple, but returned in two coffins—they both fell seriously ill on the way and didn't make it. Only these two girls were left in the family; they were only thirteen or fourteen at the time, not much taller than each other."

The main room fell silent. Su Xiaoyin gripped the apron tightly in her hand, and Zhao Qinghuan leaned over and sat down beside her.

Qingqing sighed and continued.

"After their parents passed away, their grandparents wanted to seize the two girls' property. The old couple spread rumors in the village that their granddaughters would get married sooner or later, and the land and house could not be taken to their husbands' families but had to stay in their own family. In fact, they wanted to kick the two girls out and swallow everything. The two girls refused and went to the yamen. Although they won the case and kept their property, they completely broke off relations with their grandparents. When their parents were alive, the old couple were not good to them. One year in December, when it snowed heavily, other children were wearing thick cotton-padded coats, but the two sisters went to the well to draw water in thin clothes. Their lips turned purple from the cold. The neighbors couldn't bear to see this and brought them two bowls of hot porridge, but the old couple still made sarcastic remarks."

Su Xiaoyin frowned and interrupted Qingqing.

"Wait a minute, aren't her grandparents her own family? How could they be so heartless? She's still their granddaughter, and she has their blood in her veins."

Qingqing put down her bowl, her voice softening as if she were talking about something complicated. Her mother-in-law said that the two girls' father wasn't their biological son. The elderly couple had no children of their own, so they adopted a son from the same village—the girl's father. Later, they had a son of their own, and from then on, they treated their adopted son worse and worse—giving their biological son priority in food and clothing. The adopted son went out to find work to support himself in his teens, and it was around that time that he met the schoolteacher and began studying. When they got married, the elderly couple didn't even provide him with a decent house. The adopted son was stubborn; he gritted his teeth, severed ties with the elderly couple, signed a dissolution document, paid a large sum of money, and from then on, they went their separate ways, never to see each other again.

Chen's mother came out from the inner room and overheard this conversation. She stopped at the door, draped an old cotton-padded coat over her arm, and sat down, leaning against the doorframe. Her voice was neither loud nor soft: "Since that girl's father has severed ties with the family, his granddaughter has no relation to the old couple. What right do they have to try and seize the family property? The severance certificate is right there; the government won't recognize them."

Qingqing chimed in, saying that her mother-in-law had said the same thing. The two girls had done the same: they dug out the disownment letter their father had signed years ago, submitted it to the authorities, and won the case. The sisters had already decided to sell their house in their hometown and marry far away, completely thwarting their parents' plans. They had the money from the house sale, the few acres of land their parents had left them, and some savings—they were financially secure. The only problem was that without an elder to make the decision, their marriages remained undecided.

Su Xiaoqing came out of the kitchen, still holding a spatula, wiped her hands on her apron, sat down at the table, and hurriedly asked a question. She was anxious; Shitou and Aji were not young anymore, and it was rare for a suitable girl to come to their door, so they couldn't miss it. Qingqing laughed and said, "Auntie, don't worry."

"My mother-in-law said that the two sisters will be coming from the neighboring county in a couple of days. I'll have someone send a message back then, so you and my sister-in-law can go to town and see for yourselves. See for yourselves if it's the same as what I'm saying. My mother-in-law also said that the two sisters are both literate—their father taught them himself when he was alive. I wouldn't say they're experts in the Four Books and Five Classics, but they can certainly read account books and write contracts. They manage everything at home and outside, they're very capable and good at managing the household. My mother-in-law even praised them, saying that they can use the abacus faster than my Yang Wenhu. Yang Wenhu is such a slowpoke; when he's using the abacus in the shop, he can finish three rows while others have already done the calculations twice, and he doesn't even feel ashamed." Qingqing laughed as she said this, Su Xiaoqing laughed too, and Su Xiaoyin's lips curved into a smile.