"Wow! Lin Zhen, why did you buy so much stuff?"
Lou Xiao'e was very cautious, worried that being so conspicuous would arouse the neighbors' envy.
After all, most families could not bear to eat like this even during the New Year.
"Don't worry, wife. Everyone in the courtyard knows I was promoted to engineer. No matter how we eat, it counts as celebrating. No need to worry about people getting jealous."
"How about inviting the Deaf Old Lady over for dinner tonight?"
"No! If we want people to see that our family respects the elderly and cares for the young, have one of the children bring her a bowl of food. Don't mention inviting her to eat at our place."
Lou Xiao'e nodded and smiled. "All right, I'll listen to you. But I'm a little curious. The Deaf Old Lady is pretty nice, so why are you neither warm nor cold toward her?"
Lin Zhen smiled faintly. "What do you mean? I respect her too. I see her as the courtyard's elder matriarch."
Lou Xiao'e smiled. "You can't fool me. At most, you see her as an ordinary neighbor, and intentionally or unintentionally, you keep me from getting too close to her. Uh... I don't understand it, but I know you must be doing it for my own good."
"Haha, as long as you know that. Some things are better left unclear. You don't need to know everything."
Although the Deaf Old Lady held great prestige in the courtyard.
Lin Zhen did not like her.
She was a shrewd old woman, and she was selfish.
In her eyes, only First Elder Yi Zhonghai and Silly Zhu mattered.
Toward everyone else in the courtyard, she played deaf and dumb, took sides, bullied people with her influence, and pretended to be confused.
Worst of all, in the original story, she had ruined Lou Xiao'e.
She knew that her foolish grandson He Yuzhu was Qin Huairu's simp.
She also knew Qin Huairu would not bear Silly Zhu any children.
Qin Huairu felt more familial affection and possessiveness toward Silly Zhu. From beginning to end, she had never truly loved him.
In order to leave an heir for her foolish grandson.
The Deaf Old Lady had trapped the most gullible person in the courtyard, Lou Xiao'e.
And Lou Xiao'e had never wronged the Deaf Old Lady from beginning to end.
Back when Lou Xiao'e got divorced.
If she had married someone from a poor background, her ending would have been a hundred times better than marrying Silly Zhu.
She would not have ended up with Silly Zhu using her own assets to support his enemies in their old age.
The Deaf Old Lady also knew Lou Xiao'e was no match for Qin Huairu.
She also knew Silly Zhu was softhearted and had no bottom line.
In the years ahead, Lou Xiao'e would be schemed against by Qin Huairu and divorced again.
Lou Xiao'e's happiness? As long as Qin Huairu remained in the courtyard, there was no way she could have it while living with Silly Zhu!
The Deaf Old Lady understood this clearly, but she did not care.
As long as her foolish grandson had an heir, that was enough.
But later, in the original story, Lou Xiao'e left, and Qin Huairu got her wish and kept Silly Zhu firmly in her grasp.
That was why Lou Xiao'e did not end up even worse off.
Lin Zhen had seen all of this clearly before he transmigrated.
That was why he had no favorable impression of the Deaf Old Lady. They were merely neighbors.
You were a smart old woman.
As long as you did not ruin my wife in this transmigrated world, we could keep out of each other's way.
In fact, at this moment, the Deaf Old Lady was just as puzzled as Lou Xiao'e.
She had treated Lou Xiao'e quite well.
Why was this Lin Zhen not as filial to her as Silly Zhu was?
Hmm, he really was different from Xiao'e.
Xiao'e was genuinely kind and innocent, but Lin Zhen was far too shrewd!
Seeing that her husband was unwilling to elaborate, Lou Xiao'e stopped asking.
They chatted and laughed about everyday matters while she helped Lin Zhen in the kitchen.
Just as they were killing chickens and cleaning fish, Aunt Liu from the neighborhood office entered the courtyard with a beaming smile.
The moment she saw the spread at Lin Zhen's home, she broke into a broad grin.
"Oh my, Little Lin, there's still over a month until the New Year. Are you already getting ready for it?"
Aunt Liu was the neighborhood office's publicity worker and matchmaker. In truth, she was specifically responsible for bringing young couples together.
In this era, the state encouraged childbirth.
There was strength in numbers, and having children meant contributing to the nation's construction.
Therefore, every neighborhood office had a matchmaker in charge.
They specifically kept track of the men and women in their jurisdiction who had reached marriageable age.
Back then, Aunt Liu had been the one who brought Lin Zhen and Lou Xiao'e together.
Seeing the veteran matchmaker arrive, Lin Zhen said happily, "Oh, Aunt Liu, are you here to arrange marriages for our courtyard's three great generals again?"
Lou Xiao'e smiled as well. "Aunt Liu, have lunch at our place today."
Aunt Liu smiled. "Hold on. I'm going to find those three stubborn brats. If they refuse again this time, I won't let them off."
Aunt Liu held several photographs of young women in her hands. She had come specifically to arrange matches for Silly Zhu, Xu Damao, and Liu Guangtian.
In fact, Aunt Liu came once every few months.
The people in other courtyards gave her some face. If things were roughly suitable, they dated, and once things progressed, they got married and had children.
But these three men from this courtyard.
The moment they opened their mouths, they said, "If she isn't as pretty as Lou Xiao'e or Qin Huairu, don't bother!"
Aunt Liu had been rebuffed more than once or twice.
This time, she had specially selected photos of several pretty girls from other neighborhood offices.
At the very least, she was determined to make one match happen.
As soon as she entered the central courtyard, Silly Zhu was teaching Bang Geng how to wrestle.
Liu Guangtian stood nearby, giving useless advice.
Meanwhile, Qin Jingru and Xiao Dang sat at the entrance of the Jia family home.
The reason Silly Zhu had moved his lessons from indoors to the courtyard was so that he could chat with Qin Jingru every now and then.
Unable to get Qin Huairu, he had been quite satisfied after seeing Qin Jingru.
Qin Jingru was not much worse than Qin Huairu. She would do.
Most importantly, he could not let Xu Damao snatch her away.
Liu Guangtian had originally planned to go find Yan Jiecheng to hang out, but after seeing Qin Jingru, he no longer wanted to leave.
In truth, he faced even more pressure than Silly Zhu and Xu Damao.
After his elder brother got married, he moved away and took most of the good things from home with him.
And their father, Liu Haizhong, was biased and only doted on his eldest son.
Whenever he dealt with Liu Guangtian and his younger brother Liu Guangfu, he either cursed them or hit them.
Liu Guangtian had long wanted to get married and move out as soon as possible.
But he had been unable to find anyone suitable.
He also envied Lin Zhen and Jia Dongxu for marrying beautiful wives.
He wanted to secretly compete with Silly Zhu and Xu Damao too.
On top of that, his good friend Yan Jiecheng was going to marry Yu Li. By then, another great beauty would be settled in the Siheyuan.
He was even less willing to fall behind.
But compared with Silly Zhu and Xu Damao, his circumstances were far worse.
Especially his status at home—he simply had no face to speak of it outside.
The moment Liu Guangtian saw the shy and pretty village girl Qin Jingru, his heart stirred as well.
Why bother looking for his good friend to hang out? His friend already had a wife lined up, while he did not even have the slightest prospect yet.
Even so, Liu Guangtian followed Silly Zhu and began teaching Bang Geng to wrestle in the courtyard, though his real interest lay elsewhere.
"Ow! You're going to kill me! Am I supposed to grab the leg or hook the foot? Silly Uncle, Uncle Guang Tian, discuss it before you tell me what to do!"
Silly Zhu pointed east while Liu Guangtian pointed west.
As a result, Lin Guo threw Bang Geng down with a shoulder toss, landing him hard on his backside.
"Hahaha... Brother, get down here. It's my turn!"
Lin Jia, standing nearby, had long been unable to wait.
"He Yuzhu, Liu Guangtian, perfect. You're both here, so I don't have to look for you one by one."
Silly Zhu looked up and saw Aunt Liu.
He covered his eyes in distress. "Oh no, Aunt Liu, why are you here again?"
"What's this, Silly Zhu? You don't welcome me?"
"Welcome, welcome. How could I not? But I'm not looking at the photos. I don't like Zhu Bajie's second aunt!"
"What are you talking about? The girls I picked this time are all pretty, and they're from nearby neighborhood offices! You're not allowed to insult them!"
"All right, all right! They're all beautiful. Show them to Liu Lao Er. I don't like any of them!"
Aunt Liu was furious with Silly Zhu.
Every time she came to introduce a match, he was the biggest troublemaker and least cooperative one.
"How do you know you don't like them if you won't even look?"
"I just don't like them. None of the girls you introduce are pretty. Show them to Liu Lao Er, not me!"
With that, Silly Zhu got up and ran outside.
Liu Guangtian had originally wanted to see which girls Aunt Liu had brought up.
But after Silly Zhu put him on the spot, he could only put on a disdainful smile. "Tch! I don't like them either. Aunt Liu, save your effort. Yan Jiecheng and I agreed to go to the Temple of Heaven. I won't keep you company."
Before you continue