This woman had come as a matchmaker.

She smiled while pulling Liu Fen into the room, clearly not wanting Xia Xiao Lan to hear.

She even mysteriously closed the door, leaving Xia Xiao Lan speechless.

Grandmother Yu wasn’t afraid to deal with such people. Wearing her thick cotton coat, she sat by the stove brewing tea and eating sunflower seeds, pulling Xia Xiao Lan to sit and listen together.

After listening for a while, they only heard words like “brother” and “children.” Xia Xiao Lan smiled awkwardly, “We did some soundproofing when building the house.”

Grandmother Yu glared at her – no wonder their eavesdropping failed.

Grandmother Yu stopped her futile efforts, cleaned up the sunflower seed shells, and returned to her room to listen to the radio. Liu Yong’s family had bought a bulky color TV earlier, but it wouldn’t make sense to bring it back just for a few days during New Year – that would be showing off. But bringing two radios back was fine – they didn’t need antenna installation and could be used anywhere.

Li Fengmei had made fried meatballs at home and brought a bowl for Xia Xiao Lan to taste.

“Why are you standing at the door? It’s quite cold.”

Xia Xiao Lan pointed inside, “Aunt Chen wasn’t the only one.”

Another matchmaker had come?

Li Fengmei hadn’t approved of the conditions of the man Auntie Chen mentioned yesterday, and today’s prospect probably wasn’t any better.

Being rather outspoken and unafraid to lose face, she handed the bowl of meatballs to Xia Xiao Lan and pushed the door open.

“Fen, what needs to be said behind closed doors in broad daylight?”

Hearing her sister-in-law’s voice, Liu Fen felt relieved. As soon as this person started talking, Liu Fen refused, saying she didn’t plan to remarry, but the visitor seemed not to understand, disregarding Liu Fen’s rejection.

“You’re still young, how can you not marry?”

There was hidden jealousy in her tone.

Compared to when she first returned to her maiden home after divorce, Liu Fen’s appearance had changed dramatically. Back then, she looked old despite being under 40. Now, though almost two years older, she looked younger. Rural women worked hard, laboring in the fields under the sun, at most wearing straw hats. They had no concept of sun protection or skincare, nor the means for it. So it wasn’t just Liu Fen who looked old then – it was common among rural women.

No one was immune to tanning – even Caucasians could get a “beautiful tan” from sunbathing. Why else would they wear bikinis and lie on beaches?

Without any protection under direct sunlight, darkening, wrinkles, and spots were inevitable.

Liu Fen’s life in the Xia family had been even harder than most rural women’s, naturally making her darker, thinner, and more withered.

A year and a half passed, and as life improved, Xia Xiao Lan insisted on various skincare treatments for Liu Fen, completely transforming her. The Liu family had naturally fair skin – Liu Fen and Liu Yong had been tanned by the sun. Without sun exposure, they could gradually recover. Though not matching Xia Xiao Lan, Liu Fen now looked better than other rural women.

The sallow complexion was gone, replaced by a healthy glow.

Afraid of wind-chapped skin, she would always apply cream after washing her face in the morning.

Having cleaned yesterday, she didn’t need to wear old clothes today. Being in the clothing business, they had plenty of new clothes. Liu Fen had been too thin before, but now she had gained some weight and fit perfectly in size M. Her dress and appearance were thoroughly urban.

How had she become so prosperous in such a short time, just relying on her brother’s family?

As women, those living less well than Liu Fen became jealous. After pulling Liu Fen into the room, she eagerly promoted her younger brother-in-law to Liu Fen, saying that since Liu Fen’s mother and daughter had no male head of household, her brother-in-law was willing to marry into their family.

“The house your brother built looks nice but isn’t very practical. When my brother-in-law moves in, we can build a couple of sheds in the yard for pigs and cattle, or at least chickens and ducks. Such a big yard shouldn’t be left empty!”

Chen Wangda had approved a large house plot, and when Xia Xiao Lan and Gong Yang designed it, they wanted aesthetic white space. The house didn’t fill the entire plot, leaving a landscaped yard.

Liu Fen opened her mouth but couldn’t get a word in as the other woman enthusiastically made plans.

Liu Fen had received aesthetic training – Xia Xiao Lan’s main goal was to help Liu Fen and Li Fengmei develop aesthetic judgment for clothing, but aesthetics are interconnected. If a woman could coordinate clothes well, her sense of home environment aesthetics wouldn’t be too bad… How could they raise pigs in this clean, beautiful house?

Liu Fen disagreed with every word the woman said.

She mentioned that the man had two children who would move in too.

“Isn’t Xiao Lan studying in Beijing? It’s perfect to have two children by your side to show filial piety. After you marry, you can have another child if you want.”

Liu Fen finally came to her senses – why should she want other people’s children to show her filial piety when she had her daughter? Wait, she hadn’t agreed to marry the brother-in-law, how had the conversation gone so far?

“I don’t agree.”

The woman’s expression immediately changed, “How much food can two children eat? Fen, how can you be so unsympathetic, not agreeing to my brother-in-law bringing his children?”

Just then, Li Fengmei pushed the door open.

“Who’s bringing children?”

Li Fengmei looked the woman up and down, “Second Sister-in-law Tang, whose children are you talking about bringing?”

Sister-in-law Tang knew Liu Fen was soft-natured, but Li Fengmei was fierce, so her attitude became less righteous. But then she thought, Liu Fen was a divorced woman whom other men wouldn’t want, so her brother-in-law not minding should make the Liu family grateful.

Convincing herself, Sister-in-law Tang, who usually worked part-time as a matchmaker, quickly turned her earlier nonsense into something more pleasant and asked Li Fengmei:

“Don’t you think this makes sense?”

Li Fengmei was furious, “Your brother-in-law? Never mind the two kids in tow, but how did his wife end up back at her parents’ home? You think Fen doesn’t know, but do you think I don’t? A drunk who beats his wife – how dare you come to my home suggesting such a worthless man?”

“He said he’d change. His previous wife was beaten because she didn’t obey. Fen has such a good temper, that they’ll get along. Fengmei, you’re being unreasonable. The children won’t eat much – everyone says your family makes big money in the city, why are you being so stingy?”

Getting beaten for disobedience, wanting to avoid beatings by being obedient.

Such twisted logic might have worked on the old Liu Fen, but now she was more experienced and turned red with anger: “Second Sister-in-law Tang, please leave. I will never agree to this match!”

Sister-in-law Tang frowned, “Why won’t you agree?”

Xia Xiao Lan stepped in, “Because our home isn’t a garbage dump – we don’t take in trash.”

It took Sister-in-law Tang a while to realize she was calling her brother-in-law trash. She had to admit he wasn’t a good person – his wife had left years ago, and he couldn’t find anyone new. Once people heard about his drinking and wife-beating, plus two half-grown children, even women with the worst conditions ran away.

Sister-in-law Tang was somewhat afraid of Xia Xiao Lan – if she argued with the top scorer, Uncle Da would come after her.

“Fen, think about what I said. You can’t live without a man in the house – can your brother take care of you forever?”

Sister-in-law Tang glanced at Li Fengmei, implying that while a brother was a blood relation, a sister-in-law was an outsider, and Liu Yong’s constant spending on Liu Fen and Xia Xiao Lan must bother Li Fengmei.