“Hehe,” Lu Qi giggled, “Don’t you think it is a good idea? You just have to let out the news, and you don’t even have to show up in person! You only have to order the servants of Jin Shi Zhai using Bi Teng Shan Ren’s name to do that! We will have the Lin Family to speak on our behalf, wouldn’t that save us a lot of trouble?”
Lu Xiao Shu thought so too. As long as Lu Qi and I keep ‘Bi Teng Shan Ren’ to ourselves, who else would know? This is indeed a safe idea!
Lu Xiao Shu beamed radiantly at Lu Qi, “I didn’t expect my brother to be this clever, to have thought of a perfect plan to have the best of both worlds so quickly!”
Lu Qi scorned, “So you have always looked down on me!” and he thought to himself: I casually said that just to tease you…
“No, no! I’ve never looked down on you!” Lu Xiao Shu giggled.
“Hehe,” Lu Qi smiled dotingly and questioned, “By the way, what’s happening between you and Lin Fang?”
Lu Xiao Shu was slightly annoyed by the question, but she acted confused on the surface. She blinked her big innocent eyes and looked at Lu Qi, “Lin Fang? I haven’t seen him! He hasn’t come to play with us for a long time. How would I know what happened to him!”
Lu Qi instantly regretted asking the question after listening to her answer. He glanced at her and thought: Xiao Shu is still young, and she only knows how to play all day long, how would she know anything about love relationships?
Wouldn’t it be my fault if her curiosity was aroused when she didn’t know anything about relationships in the first place?
Lu Qi replied, “Yes, maybe he’s busy lately, he really hasn’t come to play with us for a long time!” He casually switched the topic and went into the house with her.
Of course, Lu Xiao Shu didn’t want to continue the topic. She didn’t know how many times she had scolded Lin Fang in her mind: That bastard, he’s so disloyal and he’s not a good friend! It’s been almost a month since the temple fair, and he didn’t appear once. He didn’t even order Cricket to give me an explanation.
Hmph, he’s a young master from a wealthy family after all, he only allows the others to obey and praise him, he’ll be bad-tempered once someone criticizes him! Hmph, it was his fault, who asked him to boast and lie? And yet he doesn’t allow the others to criticize him?
Hmph, he’s even more unreasonable than me!
Since our ideals don’t align, I will ignore him in the future!
Lu Xiao Shu furiously thought to herself.
Of course, there was no problem for Bi Teng Shan Ren. Lu Xiao Shu went to find Jin Shi Zhai as an image spokesperson. She expressed that Bi Teng Shan Ren noticed there were no big rivers around the village, so he wanted to benefit the people by donating tens of thousands of money. She requested Jin Shi Zhai to take the lead in discussing with the county magistrate, and summon local squires and the men of wealth to repair canals and build reservoirs for the benefit of the future generations.
Of course, his partnership with Jin Shi Zhai would also be further improved.
Bi Teng Shan Ren had become famous because of his art paintings. Jin Shi Zhai promptly went with the flow by opening several branches in Jiangnan at one go. He certainly would not want to offend Bi Teng Shan Ren.
Besides, repairing the canals and reservoirs was an act of kindness that benefited the people. Moreover, the Lin Family had been involved in some particular industries that could not be known by the public. In this century, the people had strong beliefs in karma, the Lin Family were not excluded. Therefore, they were willing to spend on charitable causes like repairing bridges and paving roads, helping the poor, donating to temples, providing porridge and clothes during the winter, and so on. Repairing canals and reservoirs were just one of the charities that they could do.
The county magistrate was pleasantly surprised when the Lin Family told him the news. The fame of Bi Teng Shan Ren was at its peak, Gu Xi Town must have been important enough for Bi Teng Shan Ren to be concerned! If he permitted the repair work, with the fame of Bi Teng Shan Ren, it would also benefit his career without doing any harm.
However, the county magistrate was slightly doubtful, so he took a blank bamboo fan and requested Bi Teng Shan Ren to draw and write on it.
Jin Shi Zhai’s shopkeeper thought to himself: This man really knows how to make money. A fan painting from Bi Teng Shan Ren is now worth at least two thousand. In a few years’ time, the value of it will be more than that.
However, this was proposed by Shan Ren, I guess he won’t refuse this request? He took the blank fan and promised to notify Shan Ren.
Lu Xiao Shu had no choice but to draw a painting of a sparrow on bamboo for him. The county magistrate was delighted when he saw the painting, and he immediately began the repair work.
And for the wealthy men and squires who are arty and cultured, they refused to lag behind after seeing the active involvement of the county magistrate and the Lin Family.
The project turned out to progress very smoothly!
Hence, every village in Gu Xi Town had regarded the project as a major one that was going on in full swing!
The project was a big deal. Miao Chu He, as a representative of the Miao Family’s Village, had to return to the village. Miao Cui Lan and Lu Zhong had nothing going on at that moment, Miao Chu He decided to return to Miao Family’s Village with his wife. He planned to stay there for a month or two before coming back.
Madame Xia had become history in Miao Family’s Village, and Miao Tian Bao was still under home arrest. Miao Family’s Village, without the two of them, seemed less annoying.
That day, Lu Zhong was selected as part of a young and strong labor force from the village to repair the canal. Miao Cui Lan, Lu Xiao Shu, and Lu Qi were waiting at home with Nanny Xu. They had also worked hard to dig a small reservoir in their backyard to store water.
The small reservoir that the Lu Family dug was next to a ditch. They extended the depth downwards as they planned to dig a depth of four to five meters before introducing the water from the ditch into it. Then, they would install an opening at the end to discharge water. It was equivalent to the original water that turned to a corner before flowing into the original ditch.
During the high tide period, the water in the reservoir flowed continuously. Once the water flow decreases or even dried up, the reservoir could be used to store water.
Lu Xiao Shu and Lu Qi helped to deepen the fish pond next to the reservoir. They also planted some mulberry branches and small pomegranate trees next to it to seal in moisture.
The family was busy when a middle-aged woman’s voice suddenly was heard from the front yard, “Hello? Is Mistress Lu home?”
The voice was obviously coming from a middle-aged and slightly old woman, but the woman spoke in a coquettish and coyly manner which gave goosebumps to whoever heard it.
Lu Xiao Shu burst into laughter, she chuckled, “Why does she sound like a matchmaker!” All of them laughed.
Miao Cui Lan glared at her, “Shush! You don’t have any self-control of what you say, do you? What nonsense are you saying?”
Lu Xiao Shu stuck her tongue out and continued her work.
“Mistress Lu! Is Mistress Lu home?” The middle-aged but coyly voice was heard again, but this time, the tone of voice was raised.
Lu Xiao Shu and her siblings looked at Miao Cui Lan, they wanted to laugh when they heard that voice.
Miao Cui Lan let out a long sigh. She handed over the work to them and cleaned her hands and feet before she went out.
Miao Cui Lan was dumbfounded when she saw the person in the front yard. She was wearing a crimson red dress, her hair was in a bun with a red silk flower, and she was wearing gold earrings and embroidered shoes with a small handkerchief in her hands. She was exactly a matchmaker!
Xiao Shu had jinxed it…
Miao Cui Lan recovered from being dumbfounded and asked, “You, you are……”
“You must be Mistress Lu! Geez, look at you, were you working in the fields? Hehe, Mistress Lu is very diligent indeed! Good to say that I, Li Hua, didn’t come here for nothing!” The matchmaker looked at Miao Cui Lan and giggled as if she was close to Miao Cui Lan.
Miao Cui Lan smiled, “Li Hua? You…came here to find me?”
“Of course!” Li Hua grinned, “Hi, since I’m here, we are not in a hurry. Mistress Lu, why don’t you freshen up and change your clothes? It’ll be much more comfortable! I’ll wait, don’t worry!”
Miao Cui Lan also noticed that her clothes were stained with mud, and she was sweating all over her body. She nodded and smiled, “Li Hua, please have a seat in my house, I’ll go change my clothes!”
“No problem!” Li Hua chuckled and stuffed her handkerchief into her armpit before following Miao Cui Lan into the house. She looked around the yard and complimented it endlessly.
Miao Cui Lan smiled without replying. She poured a cup of tea for her before going back to her house to change.
Actually, Miao Cui Lan didn’t like matchmakers to come to their house. In the past two years, matchmakers had come to match-make Lu Qi, Xiao Xue, and Xiao Shu. Both husband and wife thought that their children were still too young, they didn’t want to think about it. They wanted to wait for a few years more for their children to grow up. Hence, they politely declined all the matchmakers.
However, as long as their child remained unmarried, sooner or later, they would need the matchmaker. Even if two families were satisfied with each other, they still had to hire a matchmaker to exchange Geng cards, and to carry out a series of ceremonies so as to truly get married, as the saying goes, “There is no marriage without a matchmaker.”
*Geng card is a card to be exchanged on the engagement which states the couple’s names.
Hence, Miao Cui Lan didn’t want to offend them.
Not long after, Miao Cui Lan had changed into a light blue dress and her hair bun was tied neatly. She sat down and talked with Li Hua.
“Li Hua, why have you come to our house?” Miao Cui Lan questioned while smiling.
“Of course it’s because there’s good news!” Li Hua smiled and chuckled, “It really is good news!” She gave Miao Cui Lan a look.
A matchmaker that was dropping by, could it even be bad news?
Miao Cui Lan didn’t answer, she smiled in silence.
Li Hua didn’t need her to answer, she grinned, “Well, you must have known about Zhou Yuan Wai from Zhou Family’s village right? Master and Mistress Zhou have specially asked me to ask for your permission for his son to marry your eldest daughter. Haha, I’ve seen your eldest daughter, too. Oh my, she’s really a good-looking, well-behaved, well-educated, gentle and virtuous girl, just like a flower! How would an ordinary guy be worthy of her! Well, she’s blessed! The Zhou Family has a good impression of her! The Zhou Family has countless land properties. Zhou Yuan Wai and his wife are kind people that do charities, there’s no one that doesn’t know the Zhou Family in the village! Besides, their family has only one son, who is good-looking and also well-educated since he was young. He is the perfect match for your daughter! Hehe, it’s a great honor for me to matchmake this couple! This will definitely add up to my good deeds!”
