Lu Gui took a few steps and then turned to ask the old doctor, "Grandfather, won’t it work even if our family gives her all the medical books we have passed down?"
The old doctor glanced at him and said, "What medical book have we got? It’s just a collection of our own prescriptions and some peculiar case records. How could that be considered a medical book? She’s a self-learner, and the medical books she has are far more profound than ours."
"It’s strange, where did their family get these medical books from?"
"If she doesn’t have them, couldn’t her husband?" said the old doctor. "Plus, I’ve inquired about it. She often goes to the Bai Family to read and do homework. The Bai Family is so wealthy, they must have many books at home."
The old doctor sighed, "Besides, would I deceive Zhiniang? You’ve often accompanied me on house calls, and you know the Zhou Family too. Don’t you know what their family’s reputation is like?"
Indeed, Lu Gui had been to Old Zhou’s house a few times and to Qili Village even more frequently. Some patients couldn’t be brought here, so Grandpa would make house calls, and most of the time he accompanied him.
But what impressed Lu Gui about the Zhou Family was that they had many people, and there was a mother and daughter with poor health at home.
Lu Gui frowned and said quietly, "Their family has too many people."
The old doctor asked him, "Their family has many people, have you ever seen them quarrel?"
Lu Gui shook his head, "Not that, but still..."
"That’s what I mean, just the fact they don’t quarrel tells you a lot about their family’s discipline. Your mother has a broad view, always wanting to find the best match for your sister. But what’s the result? It’s been two years searching for a marriage proposal without settling anything, and in the process, she has managed to offend Matchmaker Wang."
Lu Gui stiffened and replied, "Mother is doing it for the good of my sister."
"Oh, give it a rest. She’s the one really looking out for your welfare," the old doctor leisurely leaned back in the rocking chair, swaying as he spoke: "When choosing a husband, first look at the man’s character, second at the family’s virtues, and only third at wealth and influence. Yet your mother has it all backward, focusing so much on the third that she overlooks the first two."
Lu Gui dared not speak, for a child must not criticize his mother.
The old doctor’s words were not meant for him but rather for Lu Zhi to overhear behind his back, "Our household, though, is indeed smaller, with fully counting only three women. But does that make us any less noisy? Besides, if your sister still doesn’t fancy Zhou Wulang after seeing him, then just let it be."
He said, "As for now, we don’t even know if the Zhou Family is willing."
"They must be willing. My sister is quite well-known in these ten villages and eight towns," replied Lu Gui.
Lu Zhi, hiding behind the door, snorted quietly and turned to go back into the room.
Indeed, Lu Zhi was quite famous. As soon as Manbao mentioned her at home, Ms. Qian remembered her, "I recall this young girl. When the old doctor used to treat patients, she would often follow him around."
Ms. Qian looked at Manbao and smiled, "When you were little, you always fussed about getting acupuncture. She has held and soothed you before."
Manbao asked, "How come I don’t remember?"
"Silly girl, you were young at the time. Your eldest sister and I took you to see the old doctor for treatment. As soon as he wanted to insert a needle into your arm, you started crying at the sight of it. Then she brought over some candy to coax you," Ms. Qian said with a laugh: "It seems like yesterday, and now the little girl from back then is about to get married."
"Mother, do you also think this marriage proposal will go through?"
Ms. Qian smiled and said, "I don’t see much of a problem, but I still have to ask your Fifth Brother."
So the next day, on Winter Solstice, Ms. Qian led Zhou Wulang and Manbao to Dali Village, along with Zhou Silang’s family, of course.
Today they were visiting Ms. Fang’s parents’ home in Dali Village on the pretext of a family visit.
As soon as they arrived at the Fang residence and settled the gifts, Lu Gui’s wife and Lu Zhi came over, carrying a small basket for needlework.
The Eldest Sister-in-law Lu stood at the door and saw them, she said to Sister-in-law Fang with a smile, "What a coincidence, you have visitors. We were just saying that my sister-in-law should come over to do needlework with you. Do you still have that pattern you bought last time?"
Sister-in-law Fang was startled but quickly dredged up a memory of "the pattern mentioned last time," hastily welcoming them inside with a laugh, "It’s my sister-in-law coming home for the festival, and her grandmother also came to visit. Please, come in first. I’ll go and look for it in the room. It’s been several months; I’m not sure where I’ve put it."
Eldest Sister-in-law Lu smiled at her and pulled her sister-in-law inside.
Meanwhile, Ms. Qian had been whispering with Mother Fang, who was now informed that they were here for a prospective matchmaking.
All her children being married, Mother Fang was very interested in matchmaking, hence she was happy to offer them space. She smiled and took the initiative to greet Lu Gui’s wife and Lu Zhi, inviting them to sit down.
Lu Zhi wasn’t a stranger to Ms. Fang, as the two were close in age and their homes were diagonally across from each other, sharing a rather good relationship.
Ms. Fang pulled Lu Zhi down to sit, whispering as she pointed to the young man standing by Manbao, "That’s my Fifth Uncle. What do you think, he’s not bad-looking, is he?"
Lu Zhi only glanced up briefly before lowering her head, her ear tips turning slightly red.
Ms. Fang covered her mouth to suppress her laughter.
Zhou Wulang was also stealing glances at Lu Zhi, his face flushing.
He had been through quite a few matchmaking sessions, but Lu Zhi was the first person he had met who was so fair, almost comparable to his youngest sister.
Manbao had already left her Fifth Brother and scurried over to Lu Zhi, crouched down beside her and said, "Sister Lu, my mom said you held me when I was little, did you?"
"Ah?" Lu Zhi looked closely at Manbao, struggling to remember. There were many children who came to her home for medical treatment, and she had held many of them; how could she remember them all?
On the other side, Ms. Qian had started talking to Eldest Sister-in-law Lu and called Zhou Wulang over for a chat.
Youthful men and women meeting for the first time naturally were shy and did not speak much, so the adults did the talking, occasionally engaging them to prompt some dialogue.
Their understanding of each other began from this point.
Zhou Wulang, as well as Lu Zhi, who had been through quite a few matchmaking sessions, were familiar with this routine. Only this time, the person responsible for the pleasantries on her side had changed from her mother to her sister-in-law.
Once the basic details were exchanged and pleasantries concluded, Eldest Sister-in-law Lu, feeling the Zhou family wasn’t so bad, turned to her sister-in-law and said, "Zhiniang, it’s rare for your cousin to be back; why don’t you take them outside to play? The scenery out there is really quite nice."
Lu Zhi: ... In the middle of winter, with the cold and frost, what kind of scenery could there be?
However, she sneaked a peek at Zhou Wulang and, recalling what her grandfather had said yesterday, she stood up and said to Ms. Fang, "Sister Fang, shall I take you down to the foot of the mountain to play?"
Eldest Sister-in-law Lu immediately cheered up, laughing, "Why bother with the foot of the mountain, let’s just go up the mountain and have fun, and we can pay our respects to Taishang Laojun before coming down."
Ms. Fang holding her son: ... How do I decline if I don’t want to climb the mountain at all?
But soon after, Ms. Fang led her son, along with Zhou Si, Zhou Wu, and Manbao, out of the house.
Looking to her right and left, Ms. Fang promptly thrust her son into Zhou Si’s arms and started walking ahead, "Let’s go. I haven’t paid respects to Heaven Master for quite a while."