Delicious Delicacy of the Demon Spirit

From autumn to winter, the plum trees in Li Kuer's house bloomed brilliantly.The neighbors were very impressed, saying that the plum tree was so prosperous in the first year after it was moved, it was a good fortune.

Seeing that everyone likes it, Li Kuer invites the aunts and mothers in the alley to be guests when he is free, drinking tea and watching plum blossoms, and gossips about family affairs.Ah Kui has always liked to be lively, and Mei Hua is more and more happy to sit on the threshold with Ah Kui in her arms and listen to the gossip of the parents in these women's mouths.

In the afternoon, Li Ku'er was given a half-day leave to do farm work. With the help of Ah Kui and sister Mei Hua, her hands and feet were much more agile.Within an hour, the job was done.

After returning home, I invited Aunt Liu from next door and sister-in-law Lin from across the street to be our guests. Somehow, the topic got away, and they talked about Li Kuer's marriage again.

"Look, it's almost the twelfth lunar month. In about forty days, when spring begins, Ku'er will be one year older. Let me do the math, how old is it?"

"It's seventeen."

"Oh, it's not too young. I think I have been married to your brother Lin Zi's family for a year when I was seventeen."

"Hehe..." Li Kuer felt embarrassed, and wanted to explain that he had already committed a relationship with He Weiran and would never marry, but he couldn't speak, so he had to fool around with a smirk.

It's such a coincidence to be born unintentionally, I thought this topic could be turned over here, and there was another rare visitor outside the courtyard.

Before everyone could see who was coming, the woman wrapped in a round jacket trotted in to announce the good news.

"Ouch! Happy event! Happy event!"

"Hey! Matchmaker Song! What brought you here?" Aunt Liu greeted her happily, like a pair of old sisters who were close: "Come and sit, come and sit, tell us what's going on?"

Song Matchmaker promised to sit next to Mrs. Lin, holding Mrs. Tang in her arms, and looked at Li Kuer meaningfully with her small smiling eyes, but she talked to Aunt Liu: "Just the matter you entrusted to me last time." Ah, it's settled."

"Really!" Aunt Liu was so excited that her voice became sharper: "Kuer, hurry up and pour tea for Matchmaker Song."

Li Ku'er had a faint guess, thinking that this time she would suffer a disaster, so she poured hot tea for someone, and then she heard Song Matchmaker say: "She is a sensible girl, born well, able to work, and able to read and write. Just say, how come no one wants it?"

Sister-in-law Lin didn't know about it, and now she understood: "Ah! Could it be to find a good family for Ku'er? Tell us quickly, which family's husband it is."

"Don't worry about this, just listen to me slowly." Matchmaker Song took a sip of tea slowly, and said, "Actually, I also told Miss Ku'er about a few families before... Hey, that's it. I shouldn't have said..."

Seeing that she was in a dilemma, Aunt Liu hurriedly answered: "We understand that Ku'er's parents died young, and there will always be people who would think that she was born badly. In fact, I think Mr. Li was the most learned man in our area back then. If he is still alive Well, Ku'er can be considered to be from a scholarly family. She can live up to expectations, and won the important job of the kitchen manager of the palace. What a job, now that she has no worries about food and clothing, she is not inferior to other girls at all."

"Aunt Liu, don't praise me..." Li Ku'er was ashamed to hear this, for someone like herself who works for others, can't compare to those girls who are raised in deep boudoirs.Furthermore, I don't want to show much favor in front of outsiders.

"It's not all because of this background. How many people wish their daughter-in-laws would have no one there, so that they can save a little wealth and move them to their natal homes. The main thing..." Song Matchmaker sighed, and said: "The main thing is this horoscope , not very good. I asked a Taoist priest to calculate it, and said it was the fate of a boy. Regardless of this troublesome thing, the fate of the marriage is not good, and it is difficult for the husband and wife to be harmonious after marriage."

"I can't tell... what is the origin of the boy's life?" Sister Lin was puzzled, and Li Kuer was also baffled.No one had ever told her about it.

"I didn't ask in detail. It's just that the other party was able to inquire so much, so they told me that it was not suitable and had to be replaced. Hey... that is why you have been delayed until now... But it is also fate, the first two days I was doing a marriage for someone in the town, and the family next door to the groom approached me. They are also from a family who have studied for generations. The surname is Qi, and the youngest son, Qi Wenyuan, is eighteen. No one can tell for sure. The young man is gentle and dignified, with a bookish air, which girl would not like it, but it is a pity that the Qi family has three sons, one son married the other, and the house is small. I am afraid that the girl's family will be wronged. I Thinking about it, Miss Ku'er lives alone anyway, so she simply let the three young masters move here in the future. Mr. Qi is not a pedantic person, he thinks it's good, and I heard you can read and write I am even happier after learning a good cooking skill in the palace. I just dragged on about your boy's life, heh, do you know what Master Qi said?"

Aunt Liu and Sister Lin stretched their necks cooperatively: "How do you say it?"

Song Matchmaker triumphantly raised the tea bowl and took another sip, and said, "He said, the child is silent and strange, what is life, his Qi family has generations of scholars, how can he believe this? As long as the girl's family background is clean and good-natured , the old couple are satisfied. Tell me, where can you find such an enlightened in-laws?"

"It's Hu Mingli's family, after all, he was born as a scholar." Aunt Liu and Sister-in-law Lin sighed in admiration, but Li Kuer was thinking: Why are you so silent?When I was able to read "The Analects of Confucius" for the first time, I didn't believe Confucius' words, and now, I don't believe it even more.If this is married, regardless of all kinds of intentions, I am afraid that I will be taught if I burn a piece of paper to my parents in the future.

But Aunt Liu was obviously very satisfied, and looked at Li Kuer eagerly: "How is it? I sound good, just like your father, he is a scholar. It's just that you still have to make up your own mind. I think it's quite appropriate, why don't we meet up someday, and then we'll settle the marriage."

"This..." Li Kuer faltered, not knowing how to refuse so as not to hurt each other's face.

"Hey, what else is there to hesitate? Such a good family, you have to hurry up." Song Matchmaker patted the hard stone table, anxious for her: "The conditions of the third son of the Qi family, if you take it out, you can say that a rich man will come back. Not sure, I still look at your Aunt Liu's face, I have to find a good marriage for you anyway, so I will tell you such a good person first. Kuer girl, such a good person, miss you But you may not be able to meet the next one. It’s not like I said, your condition is not easy to find, and with the life of a boy... it will be even more difficult.”

Speaking of the boy's fate... Li Ku'er glanced at Mei Hua, seeing her frowning and looking at him, her heart skipped a beat, it seemed that it was really not a good thing.

"Look, I'm a boy, so I don't want to harm others. In fact, I believe in these things."

"So that's what happened..." Matchmaker Song sighed comfortably, and then said slyly: "What are you afraid of, let's go and see the third son of the Qi family first, after all, marriage is the first big thing, and as for this boy's life, it's too late." I don't know if it's credible or not, I'll ask a Taoist priest later, if I can crack it, then nothing will happen? Well, let's just make it so, I still have two families to run after. Listen to the explanation It's going to snow heavily today, and when the snow stops, I'll arrange for you to meet again."

"Oh, that's great. I'm sorry, Song Matchmaker." Aunt Liu politely sent him away, but Li Kuer was full of bitterness and hatred.This time it was miserable, and there was a lot of trouble.

Li Kuer didn't plan to go out until Aunt Liu and Sister Lin had gone home to cook dinner.Before leaving, Mei Hua told her: "Bring Miss He back tonight, Aoi and I are going to make carrot soup later, and I want to ask her for advice."

Li Ku'er naturally complied, but she couldn't cheer up anyway.She thought about how angry she would be if He Weiran found out that she had agreed to the blind date out of nowhere.Hey...you should just refuse straight away, just say "I don't want to marry a scholar".

He walked back to the back kitchen of the palace with heavy steps, and it was a busy scene again. The mutton soup was always boiling in the pot, and the whole yard was filled with the smell of meat.He Weiran was cutting scallions on the desk, when he saw her coming, he quickly put down the kitchen knife, turned around and took out a bowl of mutton soup from the pot: "Is it cold? Come here, drink a bowl of soup to warm up before doing work .”

Li Ku'er stepped timidly into the kitchen, took the small bowl, and sipped slowly while breathing.Seeing her like this, He Weiran couldn't help but patted her head and asked, "What's the matter? It seems like a different person."