Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 120 Matchmaker

The jam jars had been brought in, ten truckloads in total, and were all piled up over there in the workshop. The water pipes there had just been connected, and the family had moved their workplace there.

Before, Song Chunlin had made enough jam to fill almost 2,000 cans, but the quantity was still too small. Last year, they sold more than 6,000 cans in just over ten days. This year, they have to prepare at least 10,000 cans, otherwise it will not be enough to sell.

In addition to jam, the small snacks that were given away for free when buying jam last year were also very popular. Song Chunlin excitedly took out several large bags of bulk snacks, including small fried dough twists, French fries, potato chips, cat ears, vegetable rolls, popcorn, and a wide variety of other snacks.

Song Xiaojiu and Song Xiaobao, two human cubs, held a large bag of snacks with shining eyes and looked at Song Chunlin eagerly: "Second brother, I want to eat this!"

"Brother, eat!"

Everyone was simply too ashamed to watch. Song Qin even gave each of them a stern warning, "If you keep eating, your teeth will be damaged. Don't eat!"

Just as Song Dazhuang was about to speak up for his two sons, Song Qin immediately glared at him and said, "And you, don't think I don't know that you always feed them snacks behind my back. You also contributed to their rotten teeth."

Song Dazhuang begged for mercy: "It's unfair, wife, I only gave you a little bit..."

Song Qin looked at the tiny gap between Song Dazhuang's two fingers and laughed in anger. She opened her mouth and began to list his crimes:

"The day before yesterday, I found three potato chips in Xiaojiu's bed. He said that they were the reward you gave him for learning to read during the day. He gave Xiaobao ten chips and Xiaobao ten chips, and the rest were all yours. Yesterday afternoon, Xiaobao had a rotten tooth sticking out while eating malt sugar, and he came to me crying to complain, saying that you forced the chips on him to stop him from making noises, and today's chips too." Song Qin grabbed the shivering Song Xiaojiu and Song Xiaobao and took out half-eaten biscuits and candied haws still wrapped in rice paper from their clothes.

The candied haws had melted a little because they had been kept in clothes for a long time, and became very sticky. Song Qin shook her hands with a look of disgust, but when she failed to get rid of the candied haws, she simply used Song Dazhuang's clothes to wipe them clean.

"Look at you, is there really a father like you? You spoil your child so much that he doesn't like to eat anymore. Now he eats too much and has a toothache, and you have to comfort him. You are really asking for trouble."

The three men who were scolded hung their heads, not daring to make a sound. Song Chunlin and Song Chunsheng looked at each other, and the two brothers moved back quietly and quickly fled the war zone in an extremely tacit understanding.

In order to package these snacks, Song Chunlin specially ordered a lot of greaseproof paper, and then the whole family folded paper bags together and packed the snacks into bags of 100 grams each. Although the number of grams is not much, most of them are puffed foods, so visually it looks like there are more.

All the bags of snacks were marked and then put back into the space. Packing snacks is easier than making jam, but the family still worked for three days to pack all the snacks. After discussion, they decided to price the snacks at 25 cents a bag, buy three bags and get one free. There are a total of eight flavors to choose from, and when you buy a family meal you can also receive a beautiful gift box. The gift box was customized from the owner of the stall next door last year, and because they are not sure how many they can sell, they plan to give it away in limited quantities, on a first-come, first-served basis.

After packing the snacks, all that was left was to peel the fruit, puree the fruit, and make jam. This year, the family installed solar energy, so Song Chunlin took out several blenders at once, which made it possible to puree the fruit even faster.

The jam-making pot was also replaced with a large soup pot like those found in small restaurants. It can be used by simply plugging it in. When making jam, just turn down the heat to the lowest and have someone next to you stir it from time to time. It is faster and more efficient than making it over a firewood stove, and it is not as tiring as before.

After purchasing so many electrical appliances at once, the solar panels were a bit stretched, so Song Chunlin started to open the parcels frantically again. He didn't believe that he couldn't open a solar panel for home use.

Fortunately, he had enough stock. After opening the express deliveries for several days in a row, he finally found several solar panels of different brands and models. Song Chunlin studied them and found that they were all usable, so he installed six panels at once. From a distance, the roof of the Song family looked completely different from the roofs of other families. A small piece of strange-style panels was hung side by side on the roof, and passers-by pointed at it.

However, the Song family did not care. When others asked about it, they just said that they found it from other places and hung it up because they thought it looked good. The ancients did not know about solar panels, so apart from thinking that the Song family had abnormal aesthetic taste, they did not think about anything else.

After being busy for more than half a month, the family finally managed to make 10,000 jars of jam and 10,000 bags of various snacks. This should be enough to sell until the last day this year, right?

This was the third time Zhou Ning had rejected his uncle's request this month. He still asked the same question: why didn't his uncle give such a good marriage to his own daughter, but to himself instead?

The uncle and aunt were choked by his words and their faces turned red, but they still couldn't come up with a reason. After all, everyone in the village knew how they treated Zhou Ning. No fool would believe that he hoped Zhou Ning lived a good life.

Seeing that his great uncle's family was getting more and more pressing, Zhou Ning felt inexplicably uneasy. He still hadn't figured out what kind of family the Feng family was. Although from what everyone had found out, the Feng family was indeed a good match, the only son of a wealthy family, with good looks and good character, Zhou Ning just felt that there was definitely something wrong here.

What was really wrong was that in recent days, the villagers had been pointing fingers at him. Whenever Zhou Ning turned his head to look at them, those who were talking would stop and look at him with a puzzled expression.

Those friends who used to hang out with him often gradually distanced themselves from him. Zhou Ning was turned away at his good friend Xu Xiuying's house for the fourth time. He realized belatedly that he seemed to have been isolated by the entire village without realizing it.

Zhou Ning vaguely felt that it was his uncle who did it, but he had no evidence. The villagers were now avoiding him like the plague, so he couldn't go up and inquire about it even if he wanted to.

Just when he was extremely anxious, the matchmaker came to his door and proposed marriage to him in person, bypassing his grandparents.

"Congratulations, Ning Ge'er. Congratulations, Ning Ge'er." Zhou Ning heard the matchmaker Zhao Li's voice from a distance. Her voice was so loud that all the neighbors came out to watch the fun.

Zhou Ning opened the gate with some displeasure. When Zhao Li was about to go in, Zhou Ning dodged and blocked his way.

"Ning, what's going on? I have great news to tell you, why don't you invite me in?"

Zhou Ning refused to give in and asked Zhao Li with a cold face what she wanted.

It was the first time that Zhao Li was turned away. She felt unhappy and thought about the recent rumors. She was even more disdainful of Zhou Ning's attitude.

"Oh, young man, do you really want me to explain myself clearly? Let me tell you, there are so many people in the surrounding area who have come to me for matchmaking. I didn't intend to bother with your matter, but your lover is a sincere man and insisted on paying a large sum of money to ask me to propose marriage for you. Don't be ungrateful and ruin your life."

Zhou Ning's head turned red after hearing this. He was so angry that his voice was shaking. He pointed at Zhao Li and accused her, "Why are you talking nonsense? I am an innocent boy. How could I have a lover? Don't make up stories like that."

Zhao Li sneered, "You're innocent? What innocence do you have? You dare not admit it, right? I have found out everything. It's spread all over your village. You are a vixen who lost her virginity before marriage in order to marry into a wealthy family. So, am I being frank? Did I hit the nail on the head?"

Zhou Ning felt his mind buzzing, and Zhao Li's words actually echoed in his ears. What about marrying into a wealthy family and losing virginity before marriage? What on earth was Zhao Li talking about? How come he didn't understand a word she said?

"You're talking nonsense!" Even a gentleman like Zhou Ning couldn't help but swear at this moment. Only now did he understand what it meant to be in trouble when you are at home.

No wonder the people in the village always looked at him strangely these days, and no wonder those who were familiar with him distanced themselves from him. It turned out that the problem lay here!

Zhou Ning thought of this, grabbed Zhao Lishi's collar, and asked him fiercely: "Let me ask you, who is so disgusting that he dares to spread such a false story to ruin people's reputation! Is it my good uncle, or the Feng family?"

Zhou Ning pulled the corner of his mouth, and his delicate face looked a little ferocious at the moment.

"That Feng family's eldest son must be some kind of dog-skin plaster who has transformed into a spirit. Otherwise, how come such an outrageous rumor has spread in the village when I have never even seen him?"

Zhao Li was originally a little angry at him for pulling her collar and yelling at her, but when she heard Zhou Ning say that he had never seen the eldest son of the Feng family, her expression suddenly became a little strange.

He was a little uncertain: "Didn't you decide to be together because you both liked each other? You haven't even met him?"

Not only was Zhao Li surprised, Zhou Ning was equally surprised. He didn't understand. He had no contact with the Feng family at all, so how could they keep staring at him?

Zhao Lishi had already understood from Zhou Ning's expression that he had been tricked. He pulled Zhou Ning's hand off with force and straightened his clothes with a gloomy face.

"Answer me seriously, have you really never seen the eldest son of the Feng family?"

"No, if I tell you even a lie, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!"

The oaths made by the ancients were usually very serious. They would say "May God strike me with lightning and I will die a miserable death". With these eight words, Zhao Li believed Zhou Ning's words a little more.

But at the same time, Zhao Li also expressed her doubts: "If that's the case, then why did your uncles spread the news that you and the eldest son of the Feng family were in love and had secretly decided to spend your lives together, and... and..."

Zhou Ning frowned, feeling that this was not a good thing to say, but he still instinctively asked back: "What else?"

Zhao Li gritted her teeth and said, "She even secretly got pregnant with him..."

"Crack!" This was the sound of Zhou Ning stepping on a wooden stick and breaking it.

Looking at the broken wooden stick on the ground, Zhao Li silently took a step back.

Zhou Ning has calmed down. "You should have heard about how my two uncles treated me. How credible are their words? I'm pregnant with a pearl, not a pig. I did have some in the rice soup I ate last night. If the Feng family doesn't mind, I'd be happy to put it in a basin and give it to their family so they can enjoy it."

Zhao Li: “…” That’s not necessary.

After Zhao Li left, Zhou Ning slammed the door shut, and the neighbors who were watching the fun returned to their homes one after another.

In fact, these people are not unaware of the character of Zhou Ning's two uncles, but it is human nature to like gossip. No matter whether the gossip is true or false, as long as public opinion prevails, some things will be subtly transformed into truth.

Zhou Ning knew that the matchmaker's visit this time was actually a warning to him, reminding him to always remember that in this village, his two uncles had more say than he did. If he still refused, he didn't know what dangers would be waiting for him in the future.

Zhounian felt that he couldn't just sit there and wait for death, so he hid some valuables at home, packed a few sets of clothes, went out, and went straight to Aunt Wang's house.

The two villages were not far apart. Aunt Wang was just about to have dinner when Zhou Ning arrived. Aunt Wang looked at Zhou Ning, who was panting due to his anxious journey, and was a little surprised that he would come to her suddenly. It was not a festival at this time of the year, so she guessed that he really had something going on and had come to her for help.

"Ning, what happened?"

Zhou Ning looked at Aunt Wang, and all he had in his courage to confront Mrs. Zhao Li was gone. All that was left was a feeling of grievance.

After listening to her nephew's account of what had happened, Aunt Wang became so angry that she wanted to take a knife to chop someone, but fortunately she was held down by the crowd.

Uncle Wang pinned his wife down on the chair and tried to persuade her earnestly, "If you run off and fight with someone like this, won't that just confirm the fact that Ning Ge'er did that?"

Aunt Wang also understood that if this matter became a big deal, it would not be good for Zhou Ning. Since ancient times, men have been allowed to be romantic, but girls have to be crushed by the word chastity. Now the news has spread throughout her natal village. If it gets bigger and spreads to other villages, then Brother Ning won't be able to explain himself even if he has a hundred mouths.

But she couldn't bear it, so she asked her husband angrily: "So what do you think we should do?"

Uncle Wang's eyes rolled. Hey, isn't the current situation exactly the same as what happened at the Song family that day?

However, it was the eldest son of the Song family who was forced to marry that day. People were more tolerant of men. Although the Song family's affairs also caused a big fuss, in the final analysis, it was only the Liu family who was embarrassed. The Song family was the object of everyone's sympathy.

It is not known whether these two children have a special fate, but even their experiences in marriage are somewhat similar.

Uncle Wang said, "Now that things have come to this, I estimate that your two good cousins will definitely spread the rumors further. By then, no one will be interested in Ning'er's marriage. Then the Feng family will just take advantage of the opportunity."