Daily Life in the 70s-Chapter 19 - Speaking of Matchmaking (Thanks to Jiebushi Jie for the reward)

Yang Peijun's wedding was set for New Year's Eve, just the day after tomorrow.

At home, they planned to slaughter the two pigs they raised. Half of the meat would go to the team, and the rest would be for the banquet. Yang Dahai was busy arranging the slaughtering and cooking, and they also needed to give the relatives an early heads-up. Zhang Minghua took her daughter-in-law door-to-door to borrow bowls, dishes, tables, and chairs, and to trade for ingredients like cabbage and eggs.

The rest of the work was led by Yang Peiying, who made sure the house was cleaned from the inside out.

Yang PeiMin believed this was something she could do, so she joined the ranks of those helping out.

Polishing tables, organizing kitchen items, sweeping the floors—these were her strong suits. After all, even though she had only a mild case of cleanliness obsession, it was more than enough for this household.

"Sister, I think this table is already clean enough. No need to wipe it anymore. Do we need to bother cleaning under the table legs?"

"Sister, you're even cleaning this crevice!"

"Sister, we're running out of water at home. I think it's fine now, no need to wash it anymore."

"Sister, aren't you tired? Why don't you take a break? You've been working most of the day!"

"Sister, you should just go lie down. If you wear yourself out, you'll suffer again. Look, it's almost noon and time for lunch. I'll take care of the rest."

Yang Peiying finally mustered the courage to grab the cloth from Yang PeiMin's hands and push her out of the kitchen when it was time for the others to return. She refused to let her continue working. PeiMin was known for being meticulous, which was a nice way of saying she was overly fussy—an example being how she would wash a bowl five or six times and not allow a single stain in the cracks of the cabinet, not to mention wanting to wipe down the smoke-blackened kitchen walls. Yang Peiying promptly stopped her and ushered her out.

Yang PeiMin couldn't understand why her careful work was seen as bothersome. She sighed with sorrow, went back into her room to fetch a rocking chair, and laid it out in the courtyard to soak up the sun.

"Why is Minmin lying out here?"

Yang PeiMin opened her eyes to see Zhang Minghua and Third Aunt carrying in the borrowed bowls and cutlery. It was Third Aunt who had asked the question.

"This child is still a bit weak. Getting some sun is good for her health," Zhang Minghua explained.

Yang PeiMin sat up and called out to them. Seeing that they were about to sort out the bowls and dishes in the courtyard, she also walked over to help, but Zhang Minghua hurriedly ushered her back inside.

The two women took low stools and washed the dishes in silence. Chen Zhaodi, Third Aunt, was not a person of many words. Most of the time, you would only see her getting on with work. But now, she couldn't help asking about her sister-in-law after watching Yang PeiMin's retreating figure, "Big sister, Minmin is nineteen now, isn't she?"

Without looking up, Zhang Minghua said, "She'll be nineteen after the New Year, why?"

Chen Zhaodi nervously twirled a stray lock of hair by her ear, camouflaging her discomfort, and said, "Peidi is one year younger than Minmin, also eighteen now."

This time, Zhang Minghua looked up and glanced at her, asking, "What about Peidi?"

"We had someone come to propose a match for Peidi yesterday, from a village on my mother's side," said Chen Zhaodi, a trace of a smile appearing on her weather-beaten face.

"The potential groom's family is quite good. He's the eldest at home... they took a liking to Peidi for being hardworking and strong..."

Zhang Minghua finally understood why she had started asking about her own daughter. It turned out to be a bit of boasting.

Their youngest sister-in-law had six children, five boys and one girl. The girl was Yang Peidi, the eldest of the family, who learned to look after her younger brothers before she could even walk. By the age of three, she was helping at the stove, and by five, she was earning work points alongside the adults. She never spent a day in school, and by the time she was twelve, she could earn as much as ten work points like any adult woman.

She was known in the village as a very diligent girl, and everyone who mentioned her gave her a thumbs-up. She was also strong-built, which, in the villagers' words, meant she looked like "a good breeder." When it came to selecting a bride in rural areas, the priority was to choose one who was robust and hard-working. Other things like appearance, height, education, and culture, were not even considered. Therefore, in some people's eyes, ten Yang PeiMins couldn't compare to one Yang Peidi.

Zhang Minghua felt somewhat displeased, thinking of Chen Zhaodi, who seemed to want to squeeze every last bit of value out of her daughter before flaunting it. What is there to flaunt? Even if her own feelings favored her eldest daughter slightly, she had never starved Yang Peiying like Chen Zhaodi did with hers, much less beat and scold her.

But she didn't show it on her face, "Congratulations, but are you really willing to let Peidi marry off so soon?"

"Not willing at all, her dad and I talked about it, and her brothers are still young... We decided to have her stay at home and help out for a few more years..."

Hearing this, Zhang Minghua secretly curled her lip even more.

Visit freewёbnoνel.com for the best novel reading experience.

However, when it was time for lunch, Zhang Minghua still looked a bit off.

Yang PeiMin glanced at her, "Mom, is it that the food isn't to your taste?"

"Foolish girl, we should count ourselves lucky to have enough to eat, choosing is asking for lightning to strike!" Zhang Minghua scolded her lightly.

Yang Dahai's gaze also swept over them, "Is there something that hasn't been prepared?" He thought his wife was troubled over Yang Peijun's upcoming wedding preparations.

"I've notified those who will help with the wedding chores today, and they'll come over these days to prepare. Everything's pretty much arranged, but with all the comings and goings, you get a lot of idle chatter. With Minmin's recent illness, I'm worried she'll get caught up in gossip – and that's not something we want to become the talk of the town. Plus, Sister Qin's daughter has her big day the day after tomorrow, a day earlier than Peijun."

"Let Minmin stay over there for a night tomorrow to keep her company; it would be as if I were attending in my place." Zhang Minghua's wariness derived from what she had seen at Chen Zhaodi's, knowing that when these wives came over to help, they would criticize Minmin for not working, and she could not stand others gossiping about her daughter in her presence.

Yang Dahai nodded without objection.

Yang PeiMin, however, curiously asked a few questions.

"Your Cousin Qin is three years older than you, and when you were little, didn't you like following her around? When you go to send her off at her wedding, you can learn from her, see how others speak and act, so you're prepared when your time comes."

Ah, the way her mother could turn a couple of sentences into a major life event, what was going on?

Could it be that Zhang Minghua's sixth sense was kicking in?

After lunch, while Yang Dahai and his wife were discussing matters on the kang in their room, a matchmaker walked through the Yang Family's door.

"I'm here today to propose on behalf of Director Huang Jianxin of the Cooperative Society in Da'an Town for your eldest daughter."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Minghua sent her daughters out and invited the guest to sit, but for the life of her, she couldn't recall who this Huang Jianxin was. Why would someone come unannounced to propose marriage?

The matchmaker, Aunt Li, noticing the bewildered expression on the faces of the Yang husband and wife, explained, "You see, the other day, wasn't your younger sister shopping at the Cooperative Society in town? She happened to meet your daughter, and well, he took a liking to her. Our Director Huang is a young and promising man, good-looking, and comes from a well-off family..."

Zhang Minghua finally remembered – it was the comrade who had stepped in to help solve their problem.

Yang Dahai, seeing his wife's recollection, quickly asked what was the matter.

Indeed, she had mentioned something to Yang Dahai when they returned that day after the incident, and Yang PeiMin had also received a lesson from Yang Dahai about being more considerate in sticky situations. But as for Director Huang, they had only briefly touched on the topic, merely thinking that he had intervened perhaps for the reasons Yang PeiMin suggested, not wanting the Cooperative Society's reputation to be tarnished. They hadn't taken it seriously and just considered Director Huang to be a person of great integrity.