Since August 15 last year, after the cowshed of Uncle Luo's house was burned down in the middle of the night, Qiu Zheng has never been seen again.

Although everything was said in the village, Qinglian still insisted that Qiu Zheng must have encountered something unforeseeable, so he had to leave Houpo Village in a hurry. Qinglian didn't believe that Qiu Zheng would, as some people guessed, because she didn't want to stay to repay Uncle Luo Xudong's life-saving kindness, so she deliberately created a farce of a fire in the cowshed, so as to cover up the ungrateful impression left on the villagers of Houpo Village.

Counting on my fingers, it has been four months since I came to the house of Zhen Qingshen, the second uncle of Shuntian City. Qinglian knows that I am afraid that it will be difficult to see that again in this life, seeing people who don't laugh or talk, and whose body is thin, but she can always catch hares and pheasants unexpectedly, and even kill a teenager who weighs sixty or seventy pounds of wolves. In particular, at that time, his father also praised Qiu Zheng for his cleverness many times in front of him in private. even said that if he could have the opportunity to study like other children, Qiu Zheng would definitely be able to get a famous background.

Sitting in front of the window, Qinglian looked at the goose-yellow buds on the weeping willow branches that were returning to green under the sun in early March in the yard, and thought to herself that in Houpo Village at this time, the young leaves of the willow branches by the Nanxi should be more than an inch long, right?

I remember that in the afternoon three days ago, my father, who had come back from a morning outing, saw his mother and himself as soon as he entered the door, and he said:

"Today, I actually met an old man in Suncheon City. ”

It's just that when the mother and daughter asked which old man it was, the father seemed a little hesitant, and then said casually:

"Oh, it's an old acquaintance I met when I was out of the game, and you didn't even see each other. ”

Qinglian also found out that after coming to Suncheon City, some changes had occurred in Xiucai's father, but she didn't care much about it for a while.

Just before going to bed that night, my mother suddenly came to Qinglian's room and asked with a smile:

"How old is Lian'er?"

"Mother, you won't forget your daughter's age, will you?"

Qinglian, who thought her mother was joking with herself, deliberately squeezed into her mother's arms and coquettishly.

"It's not that my mother forgot, but my mother didn't believe it, Lian'er was already a big girl. ”

"Mother, what's wrong with you? I've just turned twelve, how can I become a big girl?"

"Lian'er, twelve years old is not young. My mother and your father were only thirteen years old when they got married. ”

Hearing this, Qinglian was nervous for no reason, and raised her little face to look at her mother's eyes in a daze.

"What's the matter, Lian'er? Mother is here to tell Lian'er a good news. ”

"Mother, I don't hear any good news, I'm going to sleep. ”

Qinglian's mother didn't expect to say anything, but before she could say anything, her daughter guessed that she didn't say anything, and she showed an extremely reluctant expression.

"Lian'er, don't worry, my mother will naturally not force you. It's just that when your father came back in the evening, he said that a son in the same family was fifteen years old, and he was born last year, and he was going to take the county exam next year. Because of the speculation that the two of them talked about, they both revealed the meaning of marrying their children and in-laws. ”

Seeing her daughter Qinglian hiding in the quilt, and deliberately turned over, leaving only the back of her head, Qinglian's mother reached out and stroked her daughter's exposed hair, and said with a smile:

"Your dad just has a little bit of meaning, and he hasn't decided yet. The mother also wanted to inquire in many ways. You are the only one by my mother's side, and your eldest sister is so far away from us, I don't know how long it will take to see each other. ”

As he spoke, he spoke, and the words that were originally full of smiles gradually became sad.

"Mother, let's go back to sleep first. ”

Naturally, she didn't want to be sad because she reminded her mother of her eldest sister who was more than 2,000 miles away, so Qinglian turned around and persuaded softly.

"Well, sleep, I'll talk about it later. ”

didn't wait until later, just overnight, and just after midnight the next morning, a matchmaker came to the door.

As soon as Qinglian heard that she was coming for her marriage, she turned around and returned to the room.

It wasn't until an hour later that the mother walked in, still smiling at Qinglian and said:

"Lian'er, you also saw it just now, the matchmaker is the one your father invited in the same year. ”

"Mother, I'm still young, I don't want to ...... so early. ”

After all, the girl's family is thin-skinned, so Qinglian just lowered her head after saying half a sentence.

"Lian'er, my mother didn't agree right away, I always have to inquire clearly before making a decision. The mother is reluctant to let the baby girl marry in the future and suffer the crime. ”

On this day, Qinglian didn't know how she came over, the first time she tasted the taste of tea and rice, and the first time she tasted insomnia.

Qinglian really wanted to tell her father and mother, she had always thought about Qiu Zheng in her heart, although she never thought of marrying Qiu Zheng, but if she let herself marry another stranger, it would be really difficult to accept.

As the saying goes: The fate of the parents is the words of the matchmaker, and the fate of Qinglian is not in her own hands.

What's more, Qinglian herself also understands that unless there is a miracle, it will be impossible to meet Qiu Zheng again in this life.

It was also based on this consideration that Qinglian held back for a few days and didn't have the courage to say what was in her heart.

Today is the third day of the first month of March, and there is an old saying: the second dragon raises its head in February, and the third dragon gives birth to Xuanyuan in March. This day is also known as the "Shangsi Festival", which is a festival to celebrate the birth of the ancestor of the Chinese nation, Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor, but I don't know how to evolve into a teenager and girl going out, an indispensable important day in late spring and early summer.

Qinglian, who has never closed her eyes all night, the tiredness on her face, and her lazy demeanor, how can she hide from her mother's eyes.

"Lian'er, today is the third day of March, and this place in Shuntian City is very popular, and I will go out today. After a while, follow the second uncle's sister Yu'er and them, and go out of the city together. ”

Qinglian didn't want to be locked up in the house all day, and after coming to Suncheon City, she went out with her mother and the second uncle's sister Yu'er a few years ago, and went to the street to buy some dried fruit snacks for the New Year.

Besides, I don't know what's wrong, Qinglian doesn't want to see her father very much in the past two days. Even when eating, the father and daughter had to sit opposite each other, Qinglian would deliberately not look up.

Under the persuasion of her mother, she barely ate a few bites of breakfast, and Sister Yu'er of the second uncle's family came over with her personal maid Dongmei.

"Have you finished eating? Hurry up, just now the housekeeper in the house came back and said that the street was lively. Especially in the fields outside the East City Gate, there are handsome men and beautiful women everywhere. ”

As she spoke, Yu'er first covered her face embarrassedly and laughed.