I bring bad luck to my husband, you bring bad luck to your wife.

As soon as Yang Tongchuan entered the house, he saw an unfamiliar matchmaker come out of the house.

This is the sixth one this year.

Throughout the entire county, Yang's mother had almost consulted every matchmaker she could think of.

But he just couldn't find a suitable woman.

It's not that the other party is unwilling, but that Yang Tongchuan doesn't think much of them.

Even worse, after finally getting both sides to agree and happily going to have their horoscopes matched, they discover it's extremely unlucky.

Gradually, rumors spread among the matchmakers that the Yang family had bad feng shui: no one knew what wicked things this family had done in the past, but the eldest son couldn't have children and the second son couldn't find a wife.

This angered Yang's mother so much that she fell seriously ill several times.

"You're back, dinner's ready. Change your clothes and get ready to eat."

The layout of the Yang family's house is a standard one-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house).

The main hall has side rooms on both sides. The east side room, which has the best lighting, is where Mr. and Mrs. Yang live. The west side room contains important family items, and the key is in Mr. Yang's possession.

The two rooms on the east side belong to the eldest brother, Yang Tongshan, and his wife, Mingle; the two rooms on the west side belong to the second brother, Yang Tongchuan.

The remaining kitchen and woodshed were no different from those of ordinary households.

There was also a maid in the house who was bought many years ago; she was under a contract with the family and her name was Yanzi.

The eldest sister-in-law quickly set out the food in the main hall.

The Yang family members took their seats according to their assigned positions.

After dinner, Yanzi came over to clear the table.

The two Yang brothers would usually stay in the main hall to chat with their parents for a while before returning to their respective rooms to rest.

My sister-in-law hasn't been feeling well these past few days, so she went back to her room first.

"Darling, your father-in-law came to urge us again during the day. You know what he means. Your mother and I won't get involved. You make the decision yourself." Father Yang sighed.

Yang's eldest sister-in-law has been married into the family for almost eight years, and has never gotten pregnant.

During this period, I never stopped seeking medical treatment and medication.

I don't even know how many bitter things I've endured, and I can't recall how much money I've donated to the nearby temples.

Finally, having exhausted all other options, the sister-in-law dragged her brother to see a doctor, drink traditional Chinese medicine, and even go to pray to Buddha and other deities.

They still have a statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, in their house.

It still doesn't work.

My sister-in-law just can't get pregnant.

The elder sister-in-law's family also became anxious.

The two families were old friends with a good relationship, which is why they arranged a marriage between their children. Little did they expect that it would cause the eldest brother's lineage to end.

The eldest brother's father-in-law couldn't sit still any longer. A few days ago, he came over in person and proposed a solution: his family would buy a clean girl and place her on their country estate for the eldest brother to stay for a few days. If she could conceive, the child would be adopted by the eldest brother's wife. As for what to do with the girl in the end, that would be up to the eldest brother's wife's family.

Unexpectedly, after hearing her father's words, the eldest sister-in-law fainted on the spot.

When the older brother saw his sister-in-law like this, he was terrified and refused to agree to his father-in-law's suggestion no matter what.

However, the father-in-law has already bought the girl back, and I heard that she looks somewhat like his sister-in-law.

That's why they sent someone again today to urge my elder brother to go over.

"Father, Mingle and I are like this. If we really don't have any children in the future, we can adopt one from my second brother's side. What do you think?" The eldest brother was really at his wit's end.

Ming Le is the eldest sister-in-law's maiden name.

The relationship between my elder brother and sister-in-law has always been very good over the years. My sister-in-law is thrifty, filial to her parents-in-law, and no one can find fault with her.

"Erlang doesn't even have a wife now. Where is he going to adopt one for you? Is he going to snatch one off the street?" Yang's mother's face turned red with anger after hearing Yang Tongshan's words.

"Aren't you already consulting Erlang Xiang? You'll find someone eventually."

Yang Jia Dalang didn't not want his own bloodline; he just couldn't bear to hurt his wife's feelings.

Mentioning this matter only made Yang's mother even more agitated.

After consulting so many matchmakers, they still couldn't find a suitable girl.

Forced into a corner, she had no choice but to broaden her requirements from the East Market to the West Market, and from the girl's family to the family of a young man with a respectable background.

The matchmaker Chen who came today is someone who specializes in matchmaking for young men in the West Market.

They claim that every person they introduce will succeed; there's not a single one who won't.

Yang Tongchuan sensed something was off. Wasn't this supposed to be a condemnation of his elder brother? Why was he being dragged into this?

Realizing that the battle was about to shift, Yang Tongchuan immediately tried to escape.

"Erlang, don't go! I haven't even said anything to you yet! I've been looking after girls for you before, but you didn't like any of them. So I've found you a few young men. When you're on your day off, go with Matchmaker Chen to take a look. If you like any of them, I'll go and have your horoscopes matched. Do you hear me?" Yang's mother unconsciously raised her voice at the last sentence.

"Son knows." Yang Tongchuan couldn't believe that with his reputation so bad, there would be good families willing to marry him.

For some reason, whenever his mother mentioned his little brother, the first image that came to mind was that of his little brother with red cheeks from the cold and a twitching little nose.

That young man is really tough and efficient at his work.

If it weren't for the distinctive red mole between his eyebrows, he would have thought, just from the back, that a boy from some family was out setting up a stall.

Anyway, today Yang's mother brought up his previous wife.

Yang Tongchuan felt humiliated just thinking about it.

His ex-wife's family were in the escort business, and his former father-in-law was a good friend of his boss, Chief Constable Wang, and they had eaten together a few times.

The father-in-law took a liking to Yang Tongchuan and wanted him to be his son-in-law.

Yang Tongchuan was of marriageable age, and he had met his ex-wife several times before the wedding. There were no problems, so the two got married smoothly.

Unexpectedly, on their wedding night, when he opened the door, he found his new wife holding scissors to her neck, preventing Yang Tongchuan from getting any closer.

Yang Tongchuan was sobered up on the spot.

On their wedding night, the family sat in the main hall and asked the newlywed wife what she was doing. They said that if she didn't want to marry him, she should have said so earlier, instead of making such a fuss.

It turns out that the woman had a lover before, and the two had long been engaged. However, this lover went to do business outside the Great Wall two years ago and has been out of contact ever since.

Those who traveled with him returned and said that the man had already married and had children outside the Great Wall, and that the woman should not wait any longer.

Just then, the Yang family came to propose marriage. The woman was utterly despondent and, thinking that it didn't matter who she married, she agreed.

But just yesterday, her former lover came looking for her, saying he wanted to take her to live outside the Great Wall.

After much agonizing, the woman still couldn't let go of her lover, but her father absolutely refused to let her break off the engagement.

The woman had no other choice but to resort to this desperate measure.

She knelt before the Yang family, expressing her willingness to leave all her dowry as compensation, only asking for a letter of divorce so that she could leave that night.

Upon hearing this, the Yang family felt worse than if they had swallowed a fly.

Aren't you just playing with people?

However, they dared not let the woman go rashly, in case something happened later, the Yang family was afraid they would not be able to explain it to their in-laws.

There was no other way but to have the eldest brother, Yang Tongshan, go and invite the woman's family members over that very night.

The Yang family's attitude was very clear: they couldn't afford to have this daughter-in-law; the rest of you could decide what to do.