Song Enzhi was older than Shen Ci, already twenty-two years old.
In this era, that made her an old maid.
Yet she not only had no partner, but she also hadn’t even dated anyone.
Thinking since Shen Ci and Meng Chuyue wouldn’t be marrying this year, Song Ting thought they could get Song Enzhi married off early instead. Otherwise, her marital arrangements would have to be pushed to the year after next, or their family would have to hold two wedding ceremonies next year.
There were many taboo against having two weddings in one year, and he wanted to avoid that.
So he pushed Song Enzhi to marry and, seeing that she didn’t respond after being told, he sought advice from Shen Ci.
Shen Ci also felt that Song Enzhi’s situation wasn’t quite right.
Worrying that she may have suffered some unknown, profound hurt, she took the time to talk to her.
She blurted out the betrayal very naturally, "Dad asked me to hurry you into marriage."
Song Enzhi laughed, "Are you worried that I have psychological issues?"
Song Ci shook her head, "You’re kind and magnanimous; you wouldn’t have psychological issues. I’m just afraid you may have encountered a scumbag, and after one bite from a snake, you’re now scared of the well rope for ten years."
Song Enzhi smiled faintly, "I haven’t met any scumbags, just someone short-lived. His departure made me fear separation by life and death. But I will get married soon; I’ve already agreed to let friends introduce me to potential partners."
Shen Ci, "...Can you tell me about this person?"
Song Enzhi shook her head, "We never made our relationship public, so dad doesn’t know about this. I want to keep this secret forever. Can you understand?"
"I understand. I just wanted to find a way to comfort you, but since you don’t need it, there’s no need to tell me. However, big sister, it’s good that you have the intention to marry, but there’s no need to rush into matchmaking. Better to be alone than with the wrong person."
"What a saying, ’Better to be alone than with the wrong person.’ Hmm, don’t worry, I won’t do anything foolish. I’m not penniless, so I won’t treat marriage as a necessity."
"Mm, now I’m relieved."
Shen Ci and Meng Chuyue found out that Song Enzhi was actually a clever person.
She had arranged all her matchmaking dates to take place in the private rooms of Medicinal Food Hall.
And after each meeting, she asked everyone for their impressions.
As a result, the first few candidates were all rejected.
Either their appearance didn’t score ninety points, or their temperament didn’t score a hundred.
In short, everyone felt those people weren’t a match for Song Enzhi, until they saw the eighth candidate.
Everyone inwardly exclaimed: the number eight really is auspicious.
The eighth matchmaking candidate, really truly, was outstanding in every aspect.
Well, from what we could tell so far, very outstanding.
Handsome, probably scoring ninety-two points.
With a demeanor of exceptional quality, he could score ninety-five points.
He arrived in an expensive car, dressed in costly, tasteful clothes, seemingly no ordinary man.
Everyone favored this candidate, but after a short while, Song Enzhi came out grinning, telling everyone there was a mistake: Although this gentleman was here for a matchmaking date, he was actually supposed to be in room eighteen, not their usual room eight.
The prime culprit for this mix-up, Zou Xiaojun, covered his mouth and chuckled, "You can’t blame me. He told me he was waiting in room eighteen for a lady and to lead her in if she came looking. I asked him if he was here for matchmaking, and he said yes. Thinking he had the room number wrong, I pressed him on which room it was. I confused him."
At that moment, the gentleman also came out. He smiled at them, then went off counting the room numbers to find room eighteen.
Everyone had an even better impression of him and asked Song Enzhi with a laugh, "Why did he come out later than you?"
Song Enzhi said with a smile, "He said our tea here tastes good, and he didn’t want to waste the cup he had in his hand."
Zou Xiaojun shook his head, "He probably did that to spare you from embarrassment. He seems like a really nice guy, doesn’t he? How about we first see what his date is like? If they’re a good match and hit it off, that’s that. But if not, Sister Enzhi, you could give it a shot. It’s rare to encounter such a person."