The Lucky Farmgirl

Manbao and the others stood near the inner city gate, holding their horses. They couldn’t help but look up at the sun, then at the sun again.

Bai Shan pressed her head down and said, "Stop looking, your eyes will go blind in a while."

Manbao couldn’t help but complain, "Why is Liu Huan taking so long?"

Yin Huo also lifted the curtain to peek outside, then asked them, "Do you want to sit in the carriage and wait?"

Manbao and the others wouldn’t wait in the carriage; they directly found a teahouse nearby and went in to sit.

Yin Huo widened his eyes and followed them inside.

After the four of them had a cup of tea, Liu Huan finally showed up, strolling lazily along with his entourage, reluctantly.

Bai Shan found it odd, "Do you want to go, or do you not want to go?"

Clearly, he was very excited when he talked about it yesterday, insisting on waiting for him. If his grandfather didn’t agree, he even suggested sneaking him out from home. How come after just one night, he seemed like this?

Liu Huan couldn’t help but look at Zhou Man.

Zhou Man looked back at him innocently, "Why are you looking at me?"

Seeing her seemingly unaware expression, Liu Huan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, glanced around, and asked, "Your niece isn’t here, right?"

Manbao looked at him suspiciously, "You mean Liru? She has to attend school, you know, not like you guys who can skip school for no big reason."

Bai Erlang and Yin Huo, standing next to him, were hit where it hurts.

Because they were the ones who had specifically taken time off not to attend school.

Liu Huan patted his chest and let out a big sigh of relief. He wasn’t ready to face Zhou Liru yet, so it was best that she wasn’t around. It seemed Zhou Man wasn’t aware either.

So, his face lit up again, and he regained his energy, "Let’s go, we’re off to Yongzhou!"

The four of them stood still, staring at him. Bai Erlang asked, "What’s going on with you this morning? You were sluggish at first, and now you’re all excited."

Yin Huo reasonably suspected, "Did Minister Liu not approve your departure, so you snuck out? Haven’t you done that enough times to be used to it? Why the emotional swings?"

Manbao said hauntingly, "Is it because of Liru?"

Liu Huan jumped up in fright, exclaiming, "How, how do you know?"

Manbao: "Why wouldn’t I know? Wouldn’t I know about matters in my own family?"

Not only did she know, but she was also the one who declined the proposal.

Ms. Qian and Old Zhou’s concerns were not unfounded. Manbao also felt that the Liu family’s status was too high and unsuitable for Liru, but she still asked Zhou Liru.

However, Zhou Liru directly declined, saying, "Aunt, with a family like the Liu’s, can I become an official?"

She said, "I’m not a child anymore. Sister-in-law has mentioned that although big families outside don’t stop girls from going out for horseback riding, they are very particular about girls doing men’s work. I want to find someone like Brother or Brother-in-law. I also want to be an imperial doctor in the future."

Manbao asked, "What if you don’t find anyone?"

"Then I won’t get married," she said. "It seems that starting a family is just for procreation, which is not all there is to life. Life is long, and you can’t spend it all on this. I also want to achieve something, maybe not as famous as Aunt, but at least be remembered after a hundred years."

Moreover, she felt capable now and didn’t need to rely on a man for survival. She could support herself, and while she was alive, she could take good care of herself. After her death, she believed her family would be willing to bury her. At worst, there was always a charity hall, and with money, it wouldn’t be hard to find someone to bury her.

So marrying someone was not a necessity for Zhou Liru. If she met someone she liked, or someone like Aunt and Uncle who were confidants, she could consider it. Otherwise, there was no need to force it.

As for Liu Huan, she didn’t think they were a match.

She said, "He’s a bit dull. If I marry him, I’m worried about the future. If his family doesn’t allow me to become an official, he would probably listen to his grandparents and keep me from becoming one. Divorcing then would be quite troublesome."

So Manbao told Ms. Qian, "Mom, they are not suited for each other. Send him back to the Liu family."

She thought that unless they reached a consensus on certain matters, either the Liu family would bully Liru or Liru would bully Liu Huan in the future.

Upon learning that Zhou Man knew, Liu Huan blushed and became reluctant again, "Should I...not go?"

Manbao: "I didn’t bully you. It’s just about discussing marriage with our Liru and our family refused. How many times do families discuss marriage—ten or eight times?"

Manbao said, "When my Fourth Brother was looking for a match, he saw over half of the suitable girls around the villages within ten miles, and there were over twenty meetings. Yet, when they met again, both families were still friendly, doing what they should be doing. Why are you feeling embarrassed?"

Liu Huan, who had only been on two blind dates, was stunned, "So many times? Was it because the girls didn’t like your Fourth Brother, or your Fourth Brother didn’t like the girls?"

Bai Shan and Yin Huo fell silent, seeing how easily his attention was diverted.

Manbao waved it off, "That’s all in the past. Sometimes it was because he didn’t like them, but most of the time, they didn’t like him."

After all, Zhou SiLang’s reputation wasn’t that good at the time.

Liu Huan, who had also faced rejection on his two blind dates, asked sympathetically, "So how did Fourth Sister-in-law end up with Fourth Brother Zhou?"

Manbao tilted her head, "His looks? My Fourth Brother looks okay. In our area, after Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, it would be him. But back then, Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were too young, so my Fourth Sister-in-law couldn’t see them; she just saw my Fourth Brother."

Liu Huan, who was in the capital city full of talented people and had seen Yang Heshu many times, couldn’t understand, "Your Fourth Brother is good-looking?"

Just decently handsome, perhaps?

Manbao nodded affirmatively, "Good-looking. Look at my Fourth Brother’s eyes, aren’t they similar to mine?"

She added, "His nose is straight, his face is handsome. It’s just that he’s a bit tanned from traveling for business now. He used to be fairer when he was in the village. If he cared like a young wife, he would be even fairer, and that would look better."

So as they discussed Zhou SiLang’s looks, they rode their horses out of the inner city, leisurely sauntering out of the outer city when Liu Huan finally realized—how did he just go along with them like this?

Liu Huan felt a bit embarrassed, but at that moment, the awkwardness in his heart had lessened considerably. He simply asked, "So you’re not embarrassed looking at me?"

Manbao shook her head.

Liu Huan then looked at the others.

Even Yin Huo was riding beside them, eavesdropping on the gossip, and when he saw Liu Huan looking over, he shook his head too.

Liu Huan felt relieved and, feeling refreshed, said to them, "I’ve only been on two dates, and I didn’t know either time."

He said, "I won’t mention the first time. My family asked me to bring a fruit platter to my grandmother, so I took it in. An elderly lady inside chatted with me for a while. When I came out, they told me it was a match, but I just caught a glimpse of the girl’s face—it was over; I didn’t even know what she looked like."

"The second time was with Liru," Liu Huan said. "I at least know what she looks like, but when it counted as a date, I had no idea. It was only yesterday when my grandmother talked to me that I knew. I cluelessly ended up being rejected again."

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