Chapter 029 says pro

After a few people returned home, they quietly slipped back to the West House, found that their father and mother were not in the house, packed up all the things in the basket, and then found that the house seemed to be different.

In the main house, most of the adults in the family are there. There was also a middle-aged woman in her forties and fifties, and several children were about to go in with the curtains drawn, but they were stopped by Zheng who appeared from the kitchen behind.

"Mother-"

Zheng gestured with his hand to prevent him from speaking, and after pulling a few people into the kitchen, he said: "There are guests in the house today, and there is a matchmaker to say goodbye to your aunt, but you are not allowed to go in and disturb." ”

As soon as he heard that there was a matchmaker, Luo Ran was immediately excited, he didn't want to go in and have a look just now, but now his curiosity was completely aroused. On the one hand, I want to see what kind of in-laws the matchmaker told my sister-in-law. On the other hand, as a modern person, I really want to see if the ancient matchmaker is the kind of matchmaker mole described in the book, in costume film and television works, we can often see that the matchmaker has such a mole on her face.

Matchmaker is one of the most important professions in ancient times, this important refers not to nobility, on the contrary, the status of matchmaker is also relatively low, important refers to a great role, as the old saying goes: "There is no cloud in the sky, no rain, no matchmaker on the ground can not get married." Men and women living in a feudal society cannot get married without matchmakers. The matchmaker, that is, the introducer of ancient marriage, has a matchmaker in "Peacock Flying Southeast" in the Han Dynasty! Title: "Mother white matchmaker, poor and lowly have this daughter, it is suitable to return to the family." In addition to this title, matchmakers also have many other names, such as matchmaker, Vake, Baoshan, Iceman, Yuelao, etc. In the Tang Dynasty, Yuan Zhi wrote "The Biography of Yingying", writing that Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying fell in love, and Cui Yingying's maid matchmaker matched them, so that the pair of lovers eventually became married. Since then, "matchmaker" has become another name for matchmakers.

The meaning of Baoshan. It refers to a guarantor who is as stable and reliable as a mountain. As said in "Dream of Red Mansions": "He said that the second master is not at home, the eldest wife is the master, and there is an uncle to protect the mountain." In other words, using Baoshan as a matchmaker means that its reliable performance ensures that men and women are beautiful for life.

In addition, there are matchmakers who are called icemen. This sentence comes from "Jin Shu Suo Zhen Biography": "Filial piety makes the fox dream stand on the ice, and the people under the ice speak." Sun: 'Yang on the ice, yin under the ice; Yin and yang things also. If you are a wife, you are not covered by the ice, and you talk to people under the ice in marriage. You should do it for people. Jun is in Bingyang and Yin, the media is the media, and Bingpan is married. ’”

The allusions of the old moon and the burning of the medium are well known. In short, no matter what it's called, the matchmaker industry is very useful. In ancient marriages, matchmakers received gifts, and the newlyweds were also worshiped at the wedding, or they took out the money to thank the matchmaker.

Under the shackles of feudal etiquette, "men and women do not kiss each other." Teachings such as "different beds for three-year-olds and different seats for five-year-olds", "good women do not go out of the door", and "women are virtuous if they are not talented" have cut off the contacts between young men and women, making normal love between men and women impossible. "Three media and six certificates" and "eight characters are compatible" are the only criteria and channels for achieving marriage.

In the matchmaker industry, there are both men and women, but most of them are middle-aged women, because they are easy to enter and leave people's houses and communicate with their parents. A fisherman woman must be smart and skilled, and understand the world; the second is to be diligent and hard-working; Third, you must be able to speak well and be organized; Fourth, there must be some economic acumen who can grasp fairness and moderation in the settlement of the two parties, and everyone is happy. Where the marriage is matched, the husband and wife are harmonious, the children are prosperous, the family and the business are prosperous, and the in-laws complement each other, which will naturally attract more business. There are also matchmakers who use rhetoric and deceive in order to profit in the middle.

Of course, most people looking for matchmakers will inquire in advance and find those matchmakers with a slightly better reputation. Of course, no matter what, under normal circumstances, regardless of whether the coal is successful or not, the matchmaker will be given a certain amount of money to thank the matchmaker.

"The ancients said: The tongue has three inches, the woman is, it will rot, the flesh will be left, the tongue is not rotten, we don't believe it, today I am fortunate to see it, I know that the world is not strange, it is better to hear than to see the best example, thank you very much!" This is the pioneering work related to the romance novel "Crossing Over", in Xi Juan's "Love at the Staggered Time", the heroine satirizes a matchmaker and an old eagle. There are also many folk proverbs that satirize matchmakers: such as "matchmakers. Immeasurable Dou", "Nine out of ten matchmakers say", "No talk is not a matchmaker", etc. But after all, when the children are older, they still have to ask matchmakers to come to the door and ask them to choose an example for their children. In short, in the 360 lines of the old era, matchmaker was a very important trade.

Looking at Luo Ran's immediately excited expression, he was told by the Zheng family to stay in the kitchen obediently, otherwise he would not take them with him next time he went to town, so Luo Ran was honest, thinking that he would always be able to see what the matchmaker looked like when she left. Zheng was already very immune to his little daughter's great curiosity about various things, and when he saw that his daughter agreed, he went to the main room with a pot of freshly boiled water to make tea and pour water.

About a quarter of an hour later, the sound of talking came, and it turned out that the matchmaker was leaving, and the Qin family came out to send it. The Qin family is usually domineering, but this is polite to the matchmaker. It seems that no matter what, I still attach great importance to my sister-in-law's marriage. This allowed Luo Ran, who was secretly lying at the kitchen door, to look at the matchmaker carefully.

Forty or fifty years old, wearing a crimson cardigan cotton embroidered gown, cotton pants and embroidered shoes. Looking at the face again, there is no matchmaker mole, but there is a lot of powder, but it is not as thick as written in the book, there is a silver hairpin on the head, there is no bracelet on the neck, and there is a silver ring on the finger holding a brocade cloth.

Overall, this matchmaker is not as iconic as the "wearing red and green" and "matchmaker mole" that are known in modern times, which is moderate, not particularly annoying. Just as he was looking, Zheng Shi, who was carrying the kettle, came back and glared at Luo Ran: "Don't be so curious, let your grandmother see it." ”

"Mother, my aunt's marriage is done?" Luo Ran saw that the Qin family was very polite to this matchmaker, so he asked.

"What's the matter, your grandmother is not satisfied with this family."

"Then why is grandma still so polite?"

"Whether it is a pair of matchmakers or not, you have to be polite, and save yourself from messing around outside. I still hope to continue to give your aunt a good look. Zheng said with a smile.

Luo Ran continued to ask: "What kind of family did you tell my aunt?" Why is grandma dissatisfied? ”

"A family in Quanshui Village farms dozens of acres of land, and they dislike that they are farmers."

"Isn't our family also farming?"

"Your grandmother wants to find someone in the town, and she said that if you can't find it now, you will wait for your famous brother to be admitted to Xiucai, and then you can find a Xiucai."

"Huh? Xiucai is not necessarily good, "A good Xiucai can still look at my aunt?" What Luo Ran thought in his heart was that he didn't say the sentence "A good show can still look at my aunt".

"Children's family, why are there so many problems?" Zheng waved his hand, let a few people out, and began to prepare for cooking.