Chapter 29: Chapter 20: Granny Hua Gets a Beating

“Oh, my! Isn’t it Grandma Wang! Where are you coming from? Have you eaten yet?”

The question made Matchmaker Wang furious—she had been planning on eating at Juhua’s house. In her mind, since she had gone to the trouble of finding a match for Juhua, shouldn’t the Yang family be endlessly grateful? In her view, she wasn’t just marrying off that scabby girl; it would help their son’s prospects too. They should have rewarded her, the great matchmaker, handsomely.

But who would have thought that not only would she not get a “thank you,” she’d be thrown out by Qingmu and wouldn’t even get lunch out of it. And it was right around lunchtime, too!

And so, Matchmaker Wang vented all her pent-up resentment on Granny Hua.

Normally, even though matchmakers loved to spin tales, for the sake of business, they rarely spoke ill of people; they just liked to exaggerate and boast. But today was different. She had to let out this bellyful of resentment, or she felt she’d burst.

So right then and there, she recounted the entire tale to Granny Hua in painstaking detail.

Granny Hua’s eyes lit up as she listened, nodding incessantly. She chimed in with agreement, sighed with sympathy, or expressed indignation on Matchmaker Wang’s behalf. The two of them stood right at the gate to Zhang Huai’s courtyard, chattering up a storm.

Before long, a few other women had gathered around them. They all listened as Matchmaker Wang went on about how the Yang family didn’t know what was good for them, treating their own scabby daughter like some kind of treasure—it was utterly ridiculous. With looks like that, wanting to marry into a good family was nothing but a daydream!

Among the listeners, there was a more principled person—Mrs. Huang, the wife of Old Cheng the cart driver, was a down-to-earth woman. After hearing Matchmaker Wang, she couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t Aunt Zheng just doing what she should? Every family treasures their daughter. She’s a piece of her mother’s own flesh; what does being pretty or ugly have to do with anything?”

Matchmaker Wang immediately shrieked, “Hey! I never said she shouldn’t dote on her daughter! I helped find a match for her girl, and I even went out of my way to find several families for her to choose from. Wasn’t I doing it for her own good? Or do you think letting her daughter stay at home and become a spinster is what it means to love her?”

Mrs. Huang muttered under her breath, “But that age is just too much, isn’t it? The man is over forty, and Juhua is only twelve!”

The countryside wasn’t like the city, where a wealthy master could take as many concubines as he liked without anyone gossiping, and large age gaps were common. But here in the village, it was basically one husband, one wife; very few people entertained such improper thoughts. An age gap that large was simply indecent. No wonder Aunt Zheng wasn’t happy about it.

Matchmaker Wang’s voice grew even louder. She leaned in, getting right in Mrs. Huang’s face. “I’d love to find a teenage boy for her, but someone has to agree to the match first! Since you feel so strongly about it, do you have a son? How about I arrange for Juhua to be your daughter-in-law? Would you agree to that?”

Spittle sprayed Mrs. Huang’s face as the matchmaker yelled. She hastily shrank back and said, “I don’t have a son.” She was furious inside but knew she couldn’t out-argue the woman, so she had no choice but to retreat.

The other women just chuckled, enjoying the drama. They would occasionally chime in with what sounded like words of comfort but only served to egg Matchmaker Wang on, who got so worked up she was spraying spittle everywhere.

Granny Hua put on a dramatic, sorrowful expression and tsk-tsked. “You can’t blame Grandma Wang. She’s telling the truth. That Huai Zi is good friends with Qingmu, and even he didn’t want Juhua! Where do you expect Grandma Wang to find a young man willing to marry a scabby girl?”

Hearing there was a twist to the story she didn’t know, Matchmaker Wang eagerly asked, “Which Huai Zi didn’t want Juhua?”

Before Granny Hua could answer, she whipped her head around to look, then pointed a finger at Zhang Huai’s main gate. “It couldn’t be Zhang Dashuan’s boy, Huai Zi, could it?”

Granny Hua lifted her chin smugly. “Who else could it be? That Juhua girl even threw herself into Jing Lake over it, trying to kill herself. Doctor Qin was the one who saved her.”

Now Matchmaker Wang was really fired up. She grabbed Granny Hua, pressing her for all the details of what had happened.

Granny Hua loved nothing more than this kind of household gossip. She was just composing her thoughts, preparing to vividly recount the tale of Juhua’s suicide attempt, when a loud roar erupted from Zhang Huai’s courtyard: “Get lost!”

The shout was so loud it made their ears ring!

The group of women looked up to see Zhang Huai standing on the steps of his main gate. His cheeks were puffed out in anger, one hand was on his hip, and the other clutched a pair of chopsticks. He was glaring daggers at them.

Several of the women hurriedly exchanged glances and tugged on each other’s sleeves, then quietly dispersed.

Granny Hua looked at Zhang Huai, a sheepish expression on her face. “Well, it’s the truth,” she muttered awkwardly. “Can’t a person even say it!”

Just then, Zhang Huai’s mother, He, came out holding a bowl. She gave Granny Hua and Matchmaker Wang a dark look and said, “We’re all mothers here. Why must you drag another person’s daughter through the mud like that? Who Aunt Zheng decides to marry Juhua off to—even if she keeps her at home to become a spinster—is her own family’s business. She’s not coming to your house begging for food. Besides, to each their own. When you arrange a marriage, does every proposal succeed on the first try? Are people not allowed to have their own opinions and ideas? Is everyone who says no automatically ungrateful? In that case, let me ask you, Grandma Wang: has every single match you’ve arranged been a success? If not, and you blame every family that refuses for being ungrateful, then who in the world will dare ask you to be their matchmaker in the future?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep