With that thought, Li Changyu slowly calmed down. He smiled at Juhua and said, "Juhua, you helped Sanshun come up with this idea. When he makes some money, he’ll be so grateful. And Sanshun, when you get a wife someday, you’d better thank Juhua properly—her idea today will help you save a lot of money for the betrothal gifts. Won’t getting married be much easier for you then?"

Poor Liu Sanshun. First, Zhang Huai had exposed that his parents were trying to find him a wife, and now Li Changyu was putting him in a bind—his words clearly drew a line between him and Juhua.

He shot back at Li Changyu angrily, "Of course I’m going to thank Juhua. Why should I wait until after I get married to thank her? It’s not like I’m in a rush to get married. Are you saying I shouldn’t thank her if I don’t? Hmph! Both my older brothers are married, and my eldest is about to have a son. I’m not in any hurry at all. You and Huai Zi, on the other hand, shouldn’t you be getting engaged and married soon? Your parents are waiting to hold their grandchildren."

He didn’t know what was on Li Changyu’s mind; he was simply angry about what he’d said, so he dragged Zhang Huai into his retort.

Li Changyu glanced at Zhang Huai with a grin, cleared his throat, and said, "My older brother is engaged too, you know. He’ll probably get married after the New Year. So someone in our family is carrying on the line, which means I’m in no hurry. Huai Zi, you’re the eldest son. The pressure’s all on you!"

He smiled gleefully.

Zhang Huai, however, didn’t get angry or flustered. He looked at Li Changyu and said with a faint smile, "My parents told me that my marriage is my own decision to make."

After he finished speaking, he pressed his lips together and looked toward Juhua.

Juhua’s heart had skipped a beat when she heard Li Changyu say, "Huai Zi, you’re the eldest son. The pressure’s all on you!" ’I wonder if Aunt Zhang is also helping Zhang Huai pick out a wife,’ she thought.

Then, a scornful thought surfaced. ’Let her look, who cares? Didn’t she go to Liu’er’s mother last year to propose a match for him?’

’Hmph, what’s it to me! I haven’t made up my mind about anything, anyway. It’s not like I can’t get married if it’s not to Zhang Huai.’

And yet, a sense of irritation and unease began to grow inside her. She hadn’t yet realized how strange her own reaction was. She cracked melon seeds in silence, her unfocused gaze landing on Little Shitou and Gou Dan as they wrestled and played.

When she heard Zhang Huai say the words "my marriage is my own decision to make," she couldn’t help but look at him. She saw him staring at her, his gaze intense, and she froze. ’Did he say that just for me?’

’To reassure me?’

’Ridiculous. What do I have to be worried about?’

’Then why were you so upset just now?’

Juhua questioned her own heart, and with a start, she realized that she seemed to... she seemed to have started caring about everything to do with Zhang Huai.

’Have I really fallen for him?’

She quickly dismissed the thought. ’Ridiculous! I’m too old for this. How could I let myself be so easily charmed by a kid like him?’

’Still, it’s a worrying sign. It’s a dangerous habit to fall into. If you get used to someone’s attention, affection, and care, and then one day you suddenly hear he’s going to marry someone else, you’d probably feel just as I did a moment ago.’

She sighed. ’It’s true what they say: once you’re fed and warm, your mind turns to lust. Now that life is good and I don’t have to worry about where my next bowl of rice is coming from, I’ve started thinking about all this nonsense.’

’Then again, what’s the point of overthinking it?’

’Huai Zi is a good man, and his answer just now was even better. If things keep going like this, marrying him would be a natural development. I should stop all this pointless worrying. If he doesn’t stay true to his feelings, it’s not like I’ll be desperate for him. I’ve lived two lives—if I can’t even understand something this simple, I might as well have wasted them all.’

Qingmu didn’t usually pay attention to others, but he always kept an eye on Huai Zi and his sister. Seeing Juhua looking dazed and staring blankly back at Zhang Huai, he quickly tugged on Zhang Huai’s arm and laughed. "Well then, you’d better choose carefully. Don’t bring home someone who’ll cause a fuss."

Although Zhang Huai had said what he did to reassure Juhua, he could see she still looked dejected. It seemed Changyu’s remark had bothered her after all.

’It makes sense,’ he thought. What Sanshun and Changyu said would have been a normal joke directed at anyone else, but it was different for him. ’Isn’t this just reminding Juhua of what happened a year ago?’

For a moment, he felt both heartbroken and furious. Snapped out of his thoughts by Qingmu’s tug, he turned his head, his gaze dark, and stared fixedly at Li Changyu for a long moment.

Li Changyu felt a pang of regret as soon as the words left his mouth. This was the second time he’d made Huai Zi feel bad.

While his words hadn’t been a big deal on their own, he knew better. He had been on the boat when Huai Zi personally told him he liked Juhua and wanted to marry her. To say something like that in front of Juhua tonight... it was as if he were deliberately trying to make things difficult for him.

Being stared at so intensely by Huai Zi, he looked utterly discomfited.

He had also noticed Juhua’s vacant expression, and while it made him feel bad, a sense of pride welled up in him. ’I, Li Changyu, have been a scholar for many years. Am I really going to resort to such cheap tricks to compete for a woman’s affection?’

He composed himself and smiled at Zhang Huai. "That’s a good thing. You’ve always had good taste. Once you’ve found the right person, just have your mother go propose the match. It’s bound to be a success. Qingmu, what about you? Don’t tell me you also get to make your own decision about marriage."

Seeing Li Changyu’s placating smile, Zhang Huai finally lowered his gaze and listened as he turned to speak with Qingmu.

Before Qingmu could even answer, Little Shitou spoke up, "Brother Qingmu isn’t in a hurry either. There are plenty of girls who’d be happy to marry him. My mom was just saying the other day that if Brother Qingmu isn’t married in two years, I have a distant cousin who will be all grown up then. She’s really virtuous, and Mom said she’d set them up!"

Everyone was just about to roar with laughter when Gou Dan piped up, "My mom said the same thing! My great-aunt has a granddaughter, and she’s very virtuous too..."

Before he could finish, the crowd couldn’t hold back any longer and erupted in laughter. Zheng Changhe and Yang Family also chuckled—they were naturally pleased to see their son held in such high regard.

Li Changyun laughed and said to Qingmu, "You’d better hurry up and get engaged. Isn’t it awful, being this sought-after?"

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)