By the time the old woman followed Wanyue's directions and found her way to the Li family's home in Huai Tree Alley, it was already late afternoon.
She was used to being treated like a queen at home, always taking an ox-cart whenever she went out. As a result, after walking this distance, her legs felt like they were about to give out.
Her legs ached, she was gasping for breath, and she was both thirsty and hungry. As she shakily knocked on the Li family's wooden door, she could barely stand and had to lean against the wall for support.
She knocked several times in a row, but not the slightest sound came from behind the wooden door.
Just as the old woman was beginning to suspect she had come at a bad time and the Li family was out, the neighboring courtyard gate opened with a CREAK. An old woman of about the same age walked out.
The old woman hurried to ask, "Excuse me, is no one home at the Li residence?"
"Oh, they're home. All three of them—the mother and her children—are inside. But around this time, the Li family's eldest son is studying. To keep from disturbing him, Mr. Li doesn't open the door for just anyone."
The old woman was dumbfounded.
For the first time in her life, she had heard of such a way of dealing with people.
People said country folk had no manners, but even country folk knew that a visitor was a guest and should be treated with hospitality.
'And yet, these people in the county seat... This woman was an official's wife, the mother of a scholar, yet look at the way the Li family behaves. What is this nonsense?'
The neighbor looked at the old woman with a puzzled expression. "Where are you from, ma'am? What brings you here?"
The old woman stammered, "My grandson studies with Li Cun..."
"You've come to the Li family to find your grandson? They haven't had any visitors these past few days."
"No, I'm here to..."
"Oh, you're not here to borrow Li Cun's annotated books for your grandson, are you? If so, you've definitely come to the wrong place. That Mr. Li is a tough one. When it comes to anything related to her son's studies, she's incredibly strict. She's terrified someone will steal and copy his notes, which might affect his chances of passing the exam to become a Scholar."
The old woman suddenly caught a whiff of something burning and immediately cried out, "Oh dear! I've got meat on the stove for my son's soup..."
With a SLAM, the old woman shut her courtyard gate and disappeared from sight, leaving the old woman alone in the alley.
She looked up at the sky, then back at the tightly shut elmwood gate. Gritting her teeth, she finally raised her voice and began to pound on the door with all her might.
"Mr. Li, open the door! I'm from the Zhao Village..."
After she had shouted several times, just as her hand was turning red from the force of her knocking, the rather imposing wooden door was finally pulled open from the inside.
A woman appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in a straight-collared navy blue jacket with a round floral pattern over a brown pleated skirt. Her hair was combed back immaculately, and she had a tall, slender build, but her expression was exceptionally stern and rigid.
This had to be Mr. Li, just as she'd expected.
Mr. Li's eyes were ice-cold. Because of her height, she naturally seemed to be looking down on people with a condescending air.
Her expression was indifferent, the set of her mouth was severe, and she had deep lines etched around her nose and mouth. A timid girl, upon seeing such a mother-in-law, would be so scared she'd cry three times a day.
At that moment, the old woman began to genuinely doubt Wanyue's plan.
'Li Cun's mother was clearly no easy mark. Could Wanyue really handle her?'
'Wanyue had said she would do anything to live a good life, even bring her mother-in-law water to wash her feet every night. But if her mother-in-law really dared to torment her like that, the old woman was sure Wanyue would sooner or later raise all hell.'
'She could be devious, and she had a terrible temper. If she were to get into a brawl with this Mr. Li, it would be a truly ugly sight.'
While the old woman was lost in her jumbled thoughts, Mr. Li had already scanned her from head to toe.
'She confirmed she had never seen this old woman before. But since the woman kept insisting she was from the Zhao Village, could she be an elder sent by the main branch of the Chen family to discuss the marriage?'
'This was a breach of etiquette!'
'Even if they were accepting the proposal, a matchmaker should have been the one to come.'
'Truly country folk. Ignorant, ill-mannered, and with no sense of propriety.'
Mr. Li's tone was stiff. "Who are you? What business do you have at my home?"
The old woman swallowed her discomfort and announced herself again, this time placing heavy emphasis on the fact that she was the matriarch of the Chen family—Chen Song's mother!
Mr. Li certainly knew who Chen Song was. Part of the reason she had taken a liking to Chen Wanqing as a potential daughter-in-law was precisely that her father worked for the county government.
'Having a man in the family who works in a government office brought countless unseen benefits. If it hadn't been for her late husband, who had been a head jailer, they would never have been able to build the modest fortune they had now.'
Mr. Li's expression softened at once. A smile spread across her face as she graciously invited the old woman into the house.
'Even so, she was still suspicious. She had vaguely heard that this old woman was a stepmother and was on bad terms with the main branch of the family. So why, for something as important as a child's marriage, had Chen Song and his wife asked her to represent them?'
Mr. Li's eyes twinkled as she said politely, "If I had known it was you at the door, I would have opened it right away. Please forgive me for keeping you waiting. I've been terribly rude."
"It's no trouble," the old woman replied. "This house is close to the main street, so anyone could just wander up. With just you and your children at home, it's right to be cautious."
As she spoke, the old woman's eyes swept around the courtyard.
'To be honest, she was extremely disappointed.'
'From the outside, the courtyard had looked quite grand. The high-quality elmwood gate was coated in a glossy layer of varnish, making one think it was the home of some wealthy master.'
'But once inside, the letdown was immense.'
'All told, the courtyard contained just three main rooms and a kitchen. There was no well, and the space itself was small. It felt terribly cramped, as if you could walk from one end to the other in just a few strides.'
'This was it?'
'This was it.'
'Wanyue had gone on and on about how wonderful and wealthy the Li family was, but one look inside showed it was all just a polished exterior.'
'A glance inside the house revealed it was only a little tidier than a farmer's home. Celadon teaware replaced the crude earthenware bowls of the village, and there were a few extra decorations she couldn't name, but other than that, it was nothing special.'
The old woman's heart sank.
"Mother," a voice said, "Qiaoxin told me someone from the Zhao Village has arrived. Has the Chen family agreed to my marriage with their eldest daughter?"
Li Cun, dressed in a sapphire-blue long robe, pushed the door open and entered. As he finished speaking, his eyes fell upon the old woman sitting at the table. Assuming she was the matchmaker who had worked on his behalf, Li Cun gave her a deep bow, his gaze fixed on her with burning intensity.
"You've come from the Zhao Village, so the Chen family has agreed to our proposal? When would be a good time for us to pay them a visit? And what sort of betrothal gifts would be most appropriate for the engagement?"
"Eldest Son!"
Mr. Li was trembling with anger, but she had to restrain herself so as not to damage her son's reputation in front of an outsider.
'But her son's behavior was a bitter disappointment to her as a mother.'
'She was very, very displeased with her son's conduct.'
'She was just a girl whose engagement had been broken twice, yet her son, who had always been so calm and intelligent, was acting as if he were possessed, utterly obsessed with her.'
'Her son had begged her year after year to marry the Chen family's daughter. He'd started when he was ten and went to study with Mr. Zhao, and he still hadn't given up the notion.'
'And as fate would have it, the Chen girl's own marriage prospects were rocky. Engagements were made and then broken, time and time again, giving her son false hope.'
'Now that her husband was gone and her son had grown bold, he was openly defying his own mother, absolutely insistent on bringing that Chen girl into the family.'