Chapter 36: I am a man, and I like women.

Zhuang Ermei and Tian Xiang were elementary school classmates. They bonded after a physical fight, and their relationship had been decent ever since.

Earlier, when Tian Xiang was planning to meet Lu Feng for a potential courtship, Zhuang Ermei had heard the news and specifically sought her out. She asked Tian Xiang to keep an eye out for any bachelors around Red Five Street, saying she wasn't picky—as long as he could look past her flaws and had a job to support a family, that would suffice.

People from Red Five Street rarely married women from outside their circle; they preferred to keep things within their own community. Since Tian Xiang was able to arrange a blind date there, it represented a rare opportunity for the unmarried women in the vicinity, which was why both Tian Chuying and Zhuang Ermei had approached her in succession, asking her to act as a matchmaker for them.

Zhuang Ermei was two years older than Tian Xiang and would be turning twenty-one after the New Year. This was the prime age for young women to be considering marriage. Zhuang Ermei’s education was limited to primary school. Her own mother had passed away early, and with a stepmother came a stepfather who cared little for her. By the time she was fifteen or sixteen, her family had already begun trying to marry her off.

Dou Yuegui, her stepmother, had sold off Zhuang Ermei’s older sister and, having tasted the benefits of such a transaction, was eager to sell Zhuang Ermei for a good price as well. Unfortunately, Zhuang Ermei had