Chapter 326

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

"I'm screwed, my great-great-uncle's come to mooch food again. That old codger — you'd think he'd just say he's here to eat and drink for free, but no, he has to use matchmaking as a pretext, saying he wants to set me up. He's really not a decent person." Song Qiushui complained to Chai Mi.

She came out from home, running to Chai Mi's place in the middle of the night. Although it was a bit late, Song Qiushui didn't care that much; she'd been too tired lately, and if she had to listen to Meng Tieshan's nagging any longer, she wouldn't be able to do anything tomorrow.

Although Chai Mi was also exhausted, since it was Song Qiushui who came, she didn't mind; she pulled her inside to talk and even took out a few bananas to eat.

Chai Xiu on the side stared with bleary eyes: "……"

Chai Youqing had drunk too much and fell asleep as soon as he returned tonight, so when Song Qiushui arrived, Chai Mi had Su Wan take the child to the East Room so as not to disturb the child's sleep.

And Su Wan was fine doing some work, but once her sleep was delayed, she'd feel unwell. So Chai Mi didn't let Su Wan stay with Song Qiushui.

Chai Xiu naturally also wanted to go stay there, but she couldn't…

She also wanted to sleep, but couldn't fall asleep, and it was agonizing.

"Your great-great-uncle is an eighty-something lifelong bachelor with no one to look after him; what's he supposed to do when winter comes?"

"He has no food to eat, no place to live — truly not a tile to shelter him, not a penny to cover his shame. And he still comes out to matchmake for others; if he had that kind of leisure, he might as well farm two mu of land himself and wouldn't have to go begging for food."

Chai Xiu's analysis wasn't wrong.

"When people get old, they can't work anymore, and their mind isn't so good either. Deaf and dim-sighted, with no hope left. They just rely on going out to introduce matches, letting everyone think they're still alive, to get a bit of so-called gregarious social attribute. Mooching food and drink might be secondary; the main thing is just wanting someone to talk to, even if others dislike them."

After Chai Xiu analyzed it like this, Song Qiushui felt a sudden clarity and immediately thought Chai Xiu was the cultured one.

Chai Mi, on the other hand, couldn't conveniently say too much else; this situation was actually just Meng Tieshan talking nonsense, and Song Qiushui knew it too, but there was no way around it.

Guessing that back when Meng Tieshan was young, he probably helped support the Meng Clan, so now that he's old and comes to eat and drink, the Meng Clan can't refuse.

Of course, Meng Tieshan doesn't come very often — once a month — so it's manageable.

"Chai Mi, I was still stringing the old codger along; I told him Wang Huirong's not bad, the two of them are a perfect match……"

Song Qiushui recounted how she'd fooled Meng Tieshan just now.

Amusing Chai Mi into laughter.

Chai Xiu pressed her lips and giggled non-stop.

Chai Mi said with a smile: "You… afraid the old man won't live long enough? He's already eighty-two, and with the New Year coming he's heading straight for Master Meng's age. You still go and ruin it for him, afraid he'll make it past that hurdle."

Since everyone actually basically came from the hometown of Confucius and Mencius crossing the pass to the Northeast, they basically retained some customs and habits from the hometown of Confucius and Mencius.

People habitually elevate the positions of the two Sages a bit higher.

So country folk often say: "Seventy-three, eighty-four, the King of Hell doesn't call but you go yourself."

It means when people get on in years, these two ages are major hurdles. Very few can get past these two hurdles; if they do, they might really live to a hundred, heading for a hundred.

Both these hurdles are Sage hurdles; only Sages live that long, so it's even harder for ordinary people.

"Meng Tieshan that old codger, it'd be good if he gets through this year." Song Qiushui curled her lip: "Over at Seven Families North Gully, just last year they were still eating from the big communal pot at the production brigade. Back when they ate from the big pot, Meng Tieshan could still survive. Now they don't eat from the big pot, so he comes out begging for food. They gave him land, but he doesn't farm it. I heard my mom say this old man was lazy and gluttonous from childhood, that's why he never got a wife. But being lazy and gluttonous has a benefit — he lives sturdy. Look, he's over eighty and his physique is really good. Seventy or eighty li, he walked here, and it didn't kill him."

"That far, he walked? That old man's physique really is good. Qiushui, next time pretend to be deaf; whatever he says, just point to your ear and say you can't hear. Saves listening to his nagging about useless stuff. What kind of match could he introduce? With his living conditions, if he can introduce a person at all, that's already not bad." Chai Mi said: "It's not early either, let's sleep. You've been busy all day, don't think about those things. Tomorrow you still have to get up and work. If you want to find a match, wait until it gets cold, in winter I'll help you look into it."

Song Qiushui and Chai Mi are different; she actually holds an open attitude toward finding a match.

Having a match would be best.

But not too anxious either; she wants to find one who's at least passable. Too subpar definitely won't do.

Her age isn't actually that old, but in this era, at her age most are already married. Song Qingshan and the Meng Clan press her, and she herself feels she's reached the age to find a match.

Originally if it weren't for Chai Mi dragging her into business, setting up a stall, Song Qiushui would have nothing to do all day but scheme about food and drink, and then scheme about whether she could marry out.

Now that she's busy, she has no time to scheme about those things.

"Anyway, gotta find a reliable one. But in our village my image isn't great… everyone says my temper's bad, not as good as yours. And…"

Song Qiushui pursed her lips: "And they say I'm hard to feed, bad constitution. The girls from the Old Song Family are all sickly. Look, my cousin sister gave birth to a sickly child, and it even dragged me down."

"Don't listen to their nonsense."

"It's true. Only those few old codgers from my maternal grandpa's family come to introduce matches for me; in our village, not a single one. Not one… all blind, looking down on this Great Immortal." Song Qiushui sighed helplessly.

Chai Mi smiled and patted Song Qiushui's head: "Sleep. Maybe it's not like you think…"

"What's it like then?" Song Qiushui kept pressing.

Chai Mi spread her hands, indicating it was time to sleep, otherwise she wouldn't get up tomorrow, and with all that work, who'd do it.

Chai Xiu, however, got interested and explained to Song Qiushui: "Actually it might be like this. Village people have thin eyelids; they think your dad's an accountant, that's also the village's real power faction controlling life and death. What kind of young man could be suitable for the daughter of such a big shot? None… not a single one. So no one introduces matches for you. This thing, around here we emphasize matching family status; your Old Song Family clan is also pretty big, so probably no one thinks anyone in the village is worthy of you."

After Chai Xiu's bout of sweet-talking, Song Qiushui immediately cheered up: "Mm, Xiu'er's right. No one's worthy of me."

The three chatted idly a while longer, then went to sleep.

Night deepened.

Everything was quiet.

Early next morning, Song Qingshan got up very early to tidy the courtyard. Yesterday he'd just finished that warehouse; although he'd cleaned up a bit, there were inevitably unclean and in-the-way spots, so he took a broom and swept inside and outside the courtyard.

Meng Shi also got up quite early; she tidied up simply and started cooking.

Last night when Meng Tieshan came it was so late, he just slept at the house; couldn't very well have him walk in the middle of the night.

Meng Shi was cooking here, then went to check the storage room.

Not looking was fine; one look and she was shocked.

The chicken originally pickling in the basin was all gone.

Meng Shi's head spun; she was completely dumbfounded, a bit paranoid as she called to Song Qingshan: "What are you still sweeping the courtyard for? The chickens are gone, all gone!!!"

Meng Shi's shout, carrying a sob, directly scared the still-groggy Song Qingshan into throwing his broom.

"What the hell?!" Song Qingshan rushed to the storage room door in a few steps, only to see the twenty cleaned, pickled white-cut chickens Chai Mi had delivered yesterday, together with that large basin, all vanished without a trace! The storage room was empty, leaving only a lingering smell of pickling spices.

"Oh, heavens!" Meng Shi slapped her thigh, tears instantly falling. "What are we going to do! Twenty chickens! Chai Mi is going to explode! Last night... last night they were clearly still here! I saw them put here with my own eyes!" She pointed to the empty space in the corner of the storehouse, trembling all over. This wasn't just about money; it was a task the old couple had just agreed to, and they hadn't even worked a day before such a major mishap occurred! Chai Mi's temper...

And it was losing face.

The storehouse had just been built, and everything was lost on the first day—wasn't that a laughingstock?

Chai Mi had been vending for two or three months, and her things were fine at her own home, but they were lost as soon as they were moved here.

Wasn't this slapping the Song family's face?

Once outsiders say that the Accountant's family can't even keep their own things, what about the village's things? Wouldn't they all be lost?

So in this matter, losing chickens and some money was a small thing; the main thing was losing face.

The Old Song Family couldn't afford to lose this person.

Song Qingshan's face turned white in an instant, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He abruptly looked toward the side-room window where Meng Tieshan had stayed the night, his gaze suspicious. Could it be... Second Uncle? He had been poor his whole life; seeing so much meat, did he develop a wicked thought? But he was so old—could he move twenty chickens? And silently?

"Bang!" The side-room door opened. Meng Tieshan rubbed his eyes, yawning as he came out, muttering, "Old Third, what are you shouting about so early? Still letting people sleep? What's this calling..."

He said this while sniffing his nose. "Huh? Why is there a meat smell?"

He obviously had no idea what had happened.

Meng Shi looked at his clueless expression and cried even louder, weeping with desperate accusation: "The chickens are gone! Second Uncle! Twenty chickens are all gone! The chickens Chai Mi wanted!"

"Gone?!" Meng Tieshan was also startled, craning his neck to peer into the storehouse. "Impossible? Such a big basin of chickens, could they grow wings and fly? Did you remember the wrong place?"

He obviously hadn't thought of himself, merely finding it unbelievable.

Song Qingshan said nothing, his face dark as iron, as he began carefully inspecting inside and outside the storehouse.

There were messy footprints on the ground; he clearly remembered sweeping once last night! He abruptly looked at Meng Tieshan: "Her great-uncle, did you... get up to urinate last night?"

"Get up to urinate?" Meng Tieshan was stunned, then nodded. "I did. People get old, they urinate more. What's wrong?" He still didn't understand Song Qingshan's hint.

"When you got up, the storehouse... this side, did you hear any noise?"

Meng Tieshan then caught the meaning; his old face instantly turned red, his beard bristling with anger: "Song Qingshan! What do you mean?! You suspect me of stealing chickens?! I, Meng Tieshan, have lived this long; poor I may be, but I've never taken a single needle or thread from anyone! I... I may be poor, but I have backbone! If I beg for food, it's given by others, not stolen by me! You... you little scoundrel dare to slander me?!" The old man trembled all over, pointing at Song Qingshan's nose and cursing.

Song Qingshan was cursed until his face alternated red and white, and he felt he had been a bit rash, but the chickens being gone was a fact.

"I didn't say it was you! I'm just asking, when you got up to urinate, did you see any suspicious people? Or... did you encounter a weasel?"

"I encountered your fart! I just urinated in the courtyard and went back to the house! Pitch black, what could I see? Besides, weasels don't steal dead chickens; they just drink blood, they steal live chickens." Meng Tieshan swore oaths, spittle flying.

This side was noisy; Chai Mi and Song Qiushui happened to push the Inverted Donkey over, preparing to move their tools into the storehouse to start today's work. From afar they heard Meng Shi's crying and Meng Tieshan's shouting.

"What's this?" Song Qiushui ran two quick steps and rushed into the courtyard. "Mom! Dad! Great-uncle? What are you arguing about?"

Chai Mi also quickly followed in, and at a glance saw the empty ground at the storehouse door and Meng Shi wailing and wiping tears. Her heart sank: "Auntie? Where are the chickens?"

"Gone! All gone, Chai Mi!" Meng Shi, as if grabbing a lifeline, rushed over and grabbed Chai Mi's arm. "Twenty chickens, even the basin is gone! They were still curing in the storehouse last night! I... I'm sorry to you, Chai Mi..." She was so angry she almost fainted.

"Gone?!" Song Qiushui shrieked, her eyes instantly red. "Damn it!!! Who the fuck did this?! Stealing right on top of Old Lady! Looking for a beating!" She rolled up her sleeves, looked left and right, wanting to immediately drag out the thief and give him a beating. "Dad! Tell me, what do you do for a living?! How did this become such a disaster? Losing one or two I'd accept, but how did you... Damn it! And they're all completely gone!!!"

Song Qingshan's face was full of shame; he opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

Chai Mi didn't rush to get angry; instead, she first walked to the storehouse door and looked carefully.

The footprints on the ground were very messy, including their own and some blurry unfamiliar shoe prints of various sizes.

Besides these, there weren't too many clues.

This was different from later times, with cameras everywhere; as long as you checked the monitoring, you'd know who did it.

Now, even if you had some suspicions, if you didn't catch the person in the act, it was useless.

As long as the thief didn't admit it, doing anything was meaningless.

But Chai Mi was also angry, just not showing it. She calmly comforted: "Don't rush, don't rush, rushing is useless. It's not worth much; worst case, we don't sell today, it's no big deal. Qiushui, don't be too agitated; this isn't your fault. They say don't fear the thief stealing, fear the thief eyeing your things. There's no door; whoever came just carried off the basin directly, there was nothing to be done."

Chai Mi said this with her mouth, but in her heart she was very displeased: Damn it, stealing my things? Watch me not deal with you to death.