Chapter 32 mate choice

mate choice I am the eldest son and grandson, so I started talking about my daughter-in-law before I was eleven years old.At that time, I was at a loss about the matter of the daughter-in-law. Somehow, it was already mentioned.It was my great-grandmother's family, who lived in the countryside in a small county in northern Jiangsu.My family has lived there for a long time, and probably took me with me; it's just too stupid, and there is no shadow left in my memory.Grandma often lay on the cigarette couch and talked about things over there, mentioning the names of this and that countryman.At first everything seemed to be only in that white smoke.As time went by, I became familiar and intimate without knowing it.Apart from the place where I lived, I thought the countryside called "Huayuanzhuang" was the most interesting place at that time.Therefore, hearing that the daughter-in-law is fixed there, it seems to be a matter of course, and there is no objection.Every year, people from the field over there come, dressed in short blue cloth, holding a pipe in their mouth, and bring a lot of barley flour, dried sweet potatoes and so on.They also occasionally mentioned that young lady to the family, who was about four years older than me, tall and had small feet; but at that time, my enthusiasm was actually those barley flour and dried sweet potatoes.

I remember when I was twelve years old, there was a message from there that the young lady had died of tuberculosis.No one in the family felt sorry for her; probably she was still young when they saw her, and as she got older, she couldn't figure out what kind of person she was.My father was an official in another province at the time, and my mother was very anxious about my marriage, so she asked a tailor who often came to make clothes to be a matchmaker.The reason is that there are many tailors leaving, and the ladies can be seen.The idea was not wrong, the tailor said a rich family, two young ladies, one was born to his concubine;He said there was a blind date over there.Mother agreed, and set a date for the tailor to take me to the teahouse.I remember that it was winter, and when the day came my mother asked me to put on a gown of red Ningxia silk, a mandarin jacket of black Ningxia silk, and a black satin melon skin hat with a red hat knot, and told myself to be more careful.In the teahouse, I met the gentleman on a blind date, with big ears, about the same age as me now, wearing a robe and mandarin jacket, as if he was wearing filial piety for someone.This man looked kindly, he kept looking at me, and asked me what book I was studying.When I came back, the tailor said that he was very careful: he said that my "human being" was long, not short-lived, and he watched me walk, afraid that there might be something wrong with my feet.Finally let people take a fancy to it, it's time for us to look at others.Mother sent her trusted old lady to go.The old lady's report is that the eldest lady is much bigger than me, and the armchairs are full when she sits down;The other side seems to be angry, and if they don't agree, the matter will be ruined.

At the poker table, the mother met a lady who had a bright daughter.My mother had a heart, and came home and said that the girl was the same age as me, and she was still a child jumping around.After a few days, I asked someone to check the tone there.The officials over there seem to be younger than my father's. It was the year before the restoration, and they still paid attention to these things, so they were willing to be relatives.Ninety-nine percent of the time, things suddenly went wrong.A widow old lady used by my uncle and grandmother was familiar with the family's affairs, so she somehow taught my mother to inquire about it.Ask her to ask, but her words are cryptic.In the end, the question came out. It turned out that the little girl was brought here, but her family loved her very much, just like their own.Mother's heart is cold.After two years, it was heard that she had contracted tuberculosis and was addicted to opium.Mother said, fortunately, it was not settled at that time.I already know something, and I think so.

In the year of liberation, my father fell ill with typhoid fever and invited many doctors to see him.Finally, a Mr. Wu was invited, and that was my later father-in-law.One day, the footman who used to call the doctor came back and said that there was a young lady in the doctor's family.Since my father is ill, my mother should naturally be more worried about me.Hearing this, he continued to ask questions.The servants were just chatting casually, and couldn't tell why.When the doctor came, the mother asked him the bearer if the lady belonged to his family.The bearer said yes.The mother discussed it with the father, and asked the uncle to ask the doctor what he meant.I was at my father's bedside that day and heard their conversation.When the uncle found out that the young lady had no family, he said, what about a family like X Weng?The doctor said it was fine.That's the end of the conversation, and then the blind date; it's still the mother's trusted old lady.This time the report is not bad, it is said that the feet are bigger.The matter was settled like this, the mother taught the bearer to go back and said, let the lady wrap her feet.After the wife got married, she said that she had escaped during the blind date and saw another person.As for the letter sent by the bearer, it caused a little disturbance.The father-in-law told the mother-in-law that I taught you to bind her feet, but you didn't believe me; look, what people said!The mother-in-law said, just don't wrap it up, let's see how his family is doing!But in the end a compromise was adopted until the wife married over.

Made in March 1934. (Originally published in No. 3, Volume 13, "Young Women" in 1934)