Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

When Juhua heard him say that, she couldn’t help but laugh too, saying it was all Li Changxing’s fault for making her think the paddy fields would be teeming with fish once the water receded.

This made Qingmu shake his head, amused.

When they went over to Zheng Changhe, they saw a deep bamboo basket blocking the outlet of a field ditch. Several crucian carp were already inside.

Qingmu quickly lifted the basket, picked out the carp, and put them in their fish creel. "This is so much easier," he said. "Isn’t it better to just check on this every once in a while instead of running all over the paddy field?"

Zheng Changhe said, "That Changxing, always spouting nonsense!"

Juhua laughed. "He wasn’t spouting complete nonsense. The fish were probably just flowing out with the current yesterday, and he happened to be right by the ditch to pick them up. If he’d been in the middle of the field, he wouldn’t have had such good luck."

After a few days of catching and eating fresh fish, life for Juhua’s family was quite pleasant.

But every family has its own troubles, and even if the Zheng Family was doing fine on their own, trouble still found its way to their door.

People say, "A daughter in the house brings a hundred suitors to the door." That’s common enough. But if a son was outstanding, he too would have his share of proposals. And if his family had a few acres of land and lived comfortably, then that son would also have a hundred families vying for him.

The Zheng Family had acquired more land, and Zheng Qingmu was a standout young man. He was currently studying, and with no brothers to split the inheritance later on, what better choice for a son-in-law could there be? He did have an ugly sister, but she was said to be capable, so it wasn’t as if she’d never marry. And so, interested parties began to make inquiries, wanting to come and propose a match.

Those with relatives in Qingnan Village were told what had happened before the New Year—that the Zheng Family had no intention of arranging a marriage for Qingmu at the moment—and they gave up on the idea. Those with no relatives in the village hired a matchmaker to visit. And those with some familial connection to the Zheng Family simply had an elder come forward on their behalf.

And so, in the days after the wheat harvest, several matchmakers came to their door, but Mrs. Yang turned them all away.

On one hand, she wasn’t satisfied with the prospects. On the other, Qingmu himself had said he really didn’t want to think about marriage at the moment. As his mother, she certainly didn’t want to force him into anything, so she respected his wishes and politely declined.

But one day, a relative arrived. It was Zheng Changhe’s grandaunt, accompanied by her nephew’s wife.

This old woman was stern and serious, completely unlike the gentle Mrs. Wang. She hadn’t visited her grandnephew’s home in many years; instead, Zheng Changhe went to see her every year.

She cared for her grandnephew, and in years when the Zheng Family had fallen on hard times, she had lent a hand. For that, Zheng Changhe greatly respected her. Still, seeing her show up at his door so suddenly at her advanced age, he was quite surprised.

Juhua had no memory of this great-grandaunt at all. In the past, she would have either hidden from such guests or been too afraid to look them in the eye, and others, in turn, often ignored the "ugly girl."

For some reason, Juhua had a feeling this great-grandaunt’s visit meant trouble. She pretended to be as timid as ever, slipped away, and watched from the shadows to see what the old woman was up to.

After politely hosting their grandaunt for lunch, Zheng Changhe and Mrs. Yang sat chatting with the old woman, waiting for her to reveal the purpose of her visit. ’He refused to believe she had come all this way at her age just to see him!’

During the meal, the old woman lavished praise on Qingmu. Once he had left for his studies, she finally said to Zheng Changhe, "Your granduncle-in-law has a grandniece who is an excellent girl, and a good match for Qingmu. I thought I would propose a match for him, and put my own mind at ease. When you told me over the New Year that Qingmu wasn’t betrothed, I grew worried. This girl’s parents are good, honest people, not like those families whose eyes are only fixed on money. Her father doesn’t care about the size of the betrothal gift. When he heard me praise Qingmu, he was delighted."

After speaking, she waited for Zheng Changhe and his wife to thank her profusely, or perhaps to declare with great joy that they would immediately find someone to go and formalize the proposal.

But to her surprise, after hearing her out, Zheng Changhe and his wife merely exchanged troubled glances.

Annoyed, she asked, "Is there some difficulty you can’t tell me about? Are you short on silver? That’s no great matter. When the time comes, we can all chip in."

Zheng Changhe quickly waved his hands. "Grandaunt, that’s not it. Our Qingmu is focused on his studies right now and doesn’t want to get betrothed. We’ve already turned away several matchmakers for the same reason."

The old woman was not pleased. "What sort of talk is that? He can’t get betrothed just because he’s studying? He’s the only male heir in the Zheng Family! If he doesn’t marry soon, is he going to end up like you, with only a single son to carry on the name? The Zheng Family has had a single heir for two generations now. If Qingmu also has only one son, won’t that make it three generations in a row?"

Because this was Zheng Changhe’s grandaunt, Mrs. Yang couldn’t speak as freely as she might with her own family. She answered cautiously, "It’s Qingmu who wants to wait. He says he wants to build up the family’s fortune before he marries, so that we don’t continue to be poor, generation after generation."

The old woman didn’t scowl at Mrs. Yang—she was actually quite satisfied with her grandnephew’s wife—but she said disapprovingly, "What does a child know? ’First start a family, then establish a career.’ Isn’t it just as well to start the family first? He’s already grown. How much longer does he want to wait? The two of you can’t just indulge him."

Mrs. Yang saw that Zheng Changhe was speechless, and knowing it was impossible to expect him to smooth things over without offending their guest, she braced herself.

And so, she vaguely alluded to the time Qingmu’s marriage prospects had been scorned. She didn’t tell the full story and didn’t mention Juhua’s involvement by a single word—she couldn’t bear the thought of Juhua being gossiped about again. She only said that they had been looked down upon for being poor, which was why Qingmu had sworn an oath to build a family fortune before marrying.

The great-grandaunt’s niece-in-law, Mrs. Li, was a shrewd woman. She smiled and cut Mrs. Yang off. "Even if he did swear an oath, hasn’t he built up a fortune now? He bought dozens of acres of land, doesn’t that count? Or could it be that you look down on our girl and are refusing the match? Our Lian’er is a wonderful young woman—beautiful, gentle, and virtuous. She’s certainly a worthy match for Qingmu."

The great-grandaunt was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "What fortune? What dozens of acres? How come I don’t know about this, and how do *you* know?" (To be continued. If you like this work, please consider supporting it with your votes and tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)