Perfect Encounter - Chapter 7.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 7.2
On the same day, Xu Matchmaker came to the An House.
Lu Daniang had just left a short time ago and then Xu Matchmaker visited, which made An Ruochen nervous. An Zhifu ordered his servant to come to her, saying the matchmaker had come to deliver gifts on Master Qian’s behalf and to discuss the details of the wedding banquet. An Zhifu also urged An Ruochen to speak to Xu Matchmaker personally, asking her to convey her sincere apologies to Master Qian, saying she was sorry for the lack of courtesy she showed by taking her hand away a few days ago, and to convey her hope that Master Qian will not take offense.
An Ruochen heard the request and felt a surge of nausea. Who exactly was rude? For her to apologize for this kind of thing, she can even spit out the overnight rice.
An Ruochen still went. For one, she does not want to provoke An Zhifu’s dissatisfaction. She must let her father feel that she is honest and obedient, only by doing that she may have a chance to escape. Second, she can use this opportunity to meet with the Xu Matchmaker to test the waters.
As usually, Xu Matchmaker’s mouth was full of honey, smiling and talking a lot.
”Oops, I told you that the eldest girl is lucky. You can see that Master Qian cherishes you. This set of gold and jade jewelry is hard to find. Look at it, how beautiful. And this fabric is only available in the capital. Not to mention Zhonglan City, even in the whole of Pingnan County one cannot find anything similar. Master Qian said he seemed to have displeased you. He asked me to deliver these gifts and wished you wouldn’t blame him.”
An Ruochen smiled demurely and, noticing her father glaring at her from the corner of her eye, she said, “It’s been hard for Granny Xu to make this trip. I’m fine. I’ve drunk too much at that time and just got a little dizzy.”
Xu Matchmaker covered her mouth and laughed: “Drinking too much can cause one to become a little temperamental, I know, I know. Master Qian understands in his heart. He prepared some gifts to cheer you up.”
An Ruochen continued to smile, happy with a pig, dog, cow, sheep, chicken, duck, and goose. An Zhifu heavily coughed, and An Ruochen busily said: “I need to ask Granny for help, to say to master Qian that that day I was drunk and rude. I hope master Qian does not blame me.”
Xu Matchmaker laughed so much that she trembled and took An Ruochen’s hand and said: “Okay, okay, don’t worry, I will tell Master Qian not to take it personally. Master Qian has asked me to proceed with arranging the wedding banquet with Master An, so it is clear that he loves you very much. Look, these pieces of jewelry and fabrics have been carefully selected, look at this hairpin, these earrings ……” she took one of the earrings up close to An Ruochen’s ear and gestured: ”If Miss wears …… “
Before she finished her sentence, Xu Matchmaker paused and her smile froze.
Earrings!
Earrings!!!
Looking at An Ruochen, she suddenly remembered the jade rabbit earrings.
Xu Matchmaker quickly composed herself, smiled again, and continued, ”It will be beautiful for Miss to wear.”
An Ruochen kept her smile, but her heart sank to the bottom. Xu matchmaker knew. The earring was really picked up by them. Maybe she didn’t think about whose earring it was before, but An Ruochen was sure that when Granny Xu’s smile froze just now, she must have figured it out.
An Ruochen didn’t know what to do. She continued to smile warmly, looking at Xu Matchmaker.
Xu Matchmaker kept smiling, took two steps back, put the earrings back into the brocade box, then turned to An Zhifu and said: “Master An, then this matter is settled. I will talk to Master Qian. I have something else to do today, so I’ll leave first. Please send someone to look for me if Master An has other orders.”
An Zhifu nodded his head and thanked her. Xu Matchmaker saluted and left.
An Ruochen saw she was walking fast and looked agitated. An Ruochen was even more sure about her speculation. She has been recognized and she was afraid after Xu Matchmaker leaves her house, she would go straight to Mr. Xie’s place. That day they talked about extermination as casually as talking about the weather. Since they could even dare to burn granaries and horse farms, they would not be soft-hearted when dealing with a weak woman like her.
An Ruochen hastily bowed to An Zhifu and retreated. She followed closely after Xu Matchmaker.
She couldn’t let her leave like this. She had to stop her and buy herself a chance to survive.
“Granny Xu, Granny Xu, please stay.”
She hadn’t thought about what she would do after Xu Matchmaker actually stops.
”Granny Xu, I have something important to say to you.”
Xu Matchmaker stopped and turned around, smiling at her as usual: “Eldest Miss, is there something you want?”
What should she do? An Ruochen’s heart was beating extremely fast.
”Granny rarely comes here. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”
Xu Matchmaker’s eyes flickered and she laughed, “The Chen family is still waiting for me and I also have to urge the Li family to give a confirmation. Is there anything you want me to do?”
”Besides matchmaking, Granny also sells maids to some people, right?”
Xu Matchmaker hurriedly said, “Miss requires a servant girl? What kind of person do you need? I am not in the business of selling servants, that is the work of a laborer. If there is a shortage of intelligent people, I can find them for you. I’m in a hurry to do my job now. You can ask Steward An to inform me about the people you need, and I’ll get to it right away.” Xu Matchmaker finished her speech, bowed and turned around to leave again.
“Granny, are you in a hurry to report the news?”
Xu Matchmaker’s feet paused.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. Talk to me first before making a decision.” An Ruochen said in a relaxed manner.
Xu Matchmaker turned around and smiled: ”Eldest Miss’ words are getting weird. I don’t even understand them.”
“Granny is wise. How could you not understand?” An Ruochen smiled, still pondering what to do in her heart. “If Granny doesn’t mind, how about we sit in my courtyard?” She looked around, smiled, and whispered, “It is fine with me, but I am worried that what I say will make Granny uncomfortable.”
Xu Matchmaker was stunned and laughed, “Why don’t we do it some other time? It is really urgent today.”
An Ruochen looked into her eyes for a while and suddenly said, “Well then, I am only acting out of kindness, to help Granny. After all, a life is at stake, but since Granny has urgent matters she should care about, I can’t keep Granny any longer. Farewell, hope I will have the chance to see you again.”
The last sentence was whispered, but it made Xu Matchmaker panic. She tried not to show her expression and hid behind a confused look. She thought for a moment, ”The way Miss said these words makes me even more confused and curious. I’ll listen to whatever you say, and if I can help, I’ll be at your service.”
An Ruochen smiled and turned around to lead the way. She walked slowly, and General Long’s words went through her mind again. She felt terrible and might not be a match for the Xu Matchmaker. But things have come to this point and she must make a gamble. Xu Matchmaker’s face changed when she thought of the earrings, proving she was afraid. Although she pretended to be calm afterwards, that moment revealed her thoughts. An Ruochen felt that she can bet on this point.
An Ruochen led Granny Xu for a long walk until they reached a secluded place. Granny Xu said, ”Eldest Miss, this is not the direction of Eldest Miss’s courtyard, right?”
An Ruochen stopped and asked with a smile, “Whenever Granny Xu comes to my residence, you only sit in the main hall. How do you know which direction my courtyard is?”
Xu Matchmaker was stunned.
An Ruochen added: “Or maybe Granny is just that well-informed. No matter which family you go to for marriage referrals, you will inquire about all the details of the residence’s activities. The location of each courtyard in the residence or each person’s background and preferences, to be able to use the information when you need it, Granny has prepared well.”
Xu Matchmaker laughed and said, “I don’t have this kind of extraordinary means, but I’m handling the life’s big event for each family, so I naturally have to do my best. I don’t know the exact location of your courtyard, but this place is a bit secluded, not at all like where the master’s family should live.”
An Ruochen ignored her words and said, “If a girl disobeys me when I need her, how would Granny silence her?”
Xu Matchmaker couldn’t laugh anymore.
An Ruochen stopped smiling as well. She stared at Xu Matchmaker and did not speak.
For a moment, the two people fought a ‘you look at me, I look at you,’ battle, when finally, Xu Matchmaker could no longer stand it: ”Miss was outside the window that day?”
An Ruochen didn’t answer, still looking at Xu Matchmaker. When the General stared at her like this that day, her heart became weak and she guessed all sorts of things, confused. Now as she is staring at Xu Matchmaker like this, she must also be trying to figure out her intentions.
As expected, Xu Matchmaker gulped and asked again, “What do you want?”
This question has to be answered, otherwise, the momentum will collapse. An Ruochen raised her chin and said, ”Granny cherishes her life, and so do I. Granny has done some things and some girls have lost their lives. I will not say who it was, but you and I both know it in our hearts.” Actually, she did not know, but looking at the expression of the Xu Matchmaker, An Ruochen knew she was right. “When I heard about this, I was afraid that I would also share the same fate, which is why I carefully inquired about Granny and coincidentally saw Granny meeting with someone.” This sentence erased her attempt to escape from home. No matter what happened later, she could not let her father know she was trying to escape from home.
Xu Matchmaker’s heart jumped, but she appeared unmoved and said: “I would meet with someone every day, and it doesn’t matter if you see it.”
“Not only did I see, but I also heard some important things. I was afraid of being harmed, so I reported it to General Long.”
Xu Matchmaker laughed and said, “What kind of person is General Long? He would not pay attention to such jokes.”
“Naturally, he did. You have changed your plans and stopped the attempt to burn the granary. But after General Long has learned about Granny planning this with Mr. Xie, he said that Granny will likely come to me, and if I meet Granny, I should pass on a few words from him.”