Chapter Twenty: The Matchmaking (Part One)

The driver, while navigating the road, made a phone call to summon someone to meet them at the eastern entrance to the city. Judging by his tone, the person was his brother-in-law. Along the way, they exchanged a few more words. The driver's impression of Zhang Can improved further, for Zhang Can spoke the local dialect flawlessly and mentioned places with such accuracy that there was no trace of error. Claiming to be from Zhangjia Village, he seemed entirely genuine.

The driver's brother-in-law was a tall man, well over six feet, with a physique as sturdy as a sycamore—he looked like a human tower. When he took the passenger seat, the car seemed to dip under his weight.

Once they left the city, the brother-in-law tried to chat with Zhang Can, but Zhang Can, lost in thought, gave only distracted replies. Soon, the man lost interest and drifted into a deep sleep. Zhang Can stared vacantly out the window, his unease growing with every passing mile.

They made good time on the main asphalt road, the driver pushing eighty miles an hour. An hour later, they entered the country lanes, where the pace slowed. Though only about four meters wide, the roads were all laid with concrete, smooth and level, but winding, so speed had to drop.

Zhang Can found the rural roads oddly unfamiliar, though they should have been known to him. When he left years ago, these were rutted tracks; now, all was paved with concrete, and new agricultural machinery dotted the fields along the roadside.

The road ended at the village entrance. The car stopped, but the brother-in-law slept on. Zhang Can quickly counted out six hundred yuan and handed it to the driver with a brief “Thank you,” then hurried down the village path toward his house on the western edge.

The old street was still paved with stone slabs, only three meters wide. At this hour, every household was busy preparing the afternoon meal, smoke curling from each rooftop chimney.

Anxious, Zhang Can quickened his pace. He passed two villagers carrying hoes, barely glancing at them, but they noticed him. “Hey… isn’t this the second son from Guonian’s family?”

Zhang Can looked up and, recognizing them through the haze of memory, replied, “Uncle Guoxing, Uncle Guocheng!”

Both men were his father’s cousins, still part of the clan’s inner circle. In Zhangjia Village, eighty percent of the people bore the surname Zhang, and Zhang Can’s generation was a young one. His father’s generation—Zhang Guonian—was the largest, so every peer was an uncle. Back in his school days, he’d shared classes with relatives from his grandfather’s generation, and then, as children, they’d skipped over formalities and called each other by name. Now, as adults, it felt awkward.

But Zhang Can’s mind was on his mother. He called his uncles and hurried on. Behind him, he thought he heard Zhang Guoxing say, “Guonian’s second son has made a fortune in Jincheng… Capable young man, really something…”

A few dozen meters on, Zhang Can realized he should have asked his uncles about his mother’s illness. He turned a corner and his family’s old house came into view: a three-sectioned home with the main hall in the center, flanked by side rooms—his eldest brother Zhang Jiye on the left, his parents and younger sister Zhang Hua on the right. The main hall was shared. His brother had married six years ago; his sister-in-law, Zhu Hongyu, was also from the village. His little nephew, Zhang Liang, was five this year. The family had divided the household in the second year after his brother’s marriage.

At the main hall’s entrance, a woman in her fifties or sixties sat shelling beans into a small bamboo tray, a little boy beside her poking at the beans with tiny hands.

Zhang Can felt a wave of confusion; wasn’t that his mother, Liu Chunju, working by the door? Stunned, eyes wide, he walked up and called, “Mom…”

Liu Chunju paused, looked up, and after a beat, joy spread across her face. She turned her head and called into the house, “Guonian, Jiye, Zhang Hua, hurry out! Liangliang’s second uncle is home! Liangliang’s second uncle is back!”

Zhang Can studied his mother closely—she called out with such vigor and strength; she hardly looked like a seriously ill woman.

Liu Chunju turned to the little boy, instructing, “Liangliang, quick, call your second uncle!”

The little boy looked at Zhang Can with wary eyes and called softly, “Second Uncle.”

“Hey!” Zhang Can replied, though his thoughts remained on his mother. He absentmindedly pulled a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to his nephew. “Liangliang, take this and buy yourself some sweets.”

He then turned to his mother. “Mom, your… your illness, is it all better?”

Liu Chunju chuckled, “What illness? This was all your father and brother’s idea. They said if we didn’t say so, you wouldn’t come home!”

Relief washed over Zhang Can. His mother was healthy; the illness had been a ruse. That, at least, was good news. But then anger rose—of all excuses, why use his mother’s health to play such a trick?

“Mom, honestly, Dad and Brother went too far. Of all the lies to tell, this one nearly scared the soul out of me!”

Liu Chunju brushed off his complaint and scolded, “You unfilial child, it’s been years, and all you do is send money, never coming home yourself. What good is money, really? Aren’t your father and I just hoping to see you with our own eyes? I think your father and brother did right!”

Her rebuke dissolved Zhang Can’s resentment. He offered a sheepish smile. “Still, Mom, if you wanted me to come back, there were better ways. This was frightening!”

He looked down and noticed the hundred-yuan note was still in his hand—his nephew hadn’t taken it. “Liangliang, take it!”

Liangliang shrank back, refusing to reach for the money. “I don’t want it. Mama told me not to take money from others.”

Zhang Can huffed. “I’m your second uncle—how is that ‘others’? Take it, your mother won’t mind. No one else would get it from me. Be good, Liangliang, take it.”

Having rushed home empty-handed after years away, Zhang Can felt embarrassed not to have brought gifts. Now that he knew his mother was well, he resolved to buy presents for the family the next day from town or the county seat. There was time; he could stay a while before heading back to Jincheng.

He pressed the bill into Liangliang’s hand, but the boy still refused, shrinking away. Before Zhang Can could insist further, several people spilled out of the house—his father, brother, sister-in-law, and younger sister.

Zhu Hongyu called out, “Little Uncle is back!” Then she said to her son, “Liangliang, this is your second uncle. If he gives it, you can take it.”

With his mother’s permission, Liangliang finally accepted the money. Zhang Jiye grabbed one of Zhang Can’s hands, Zhang Hua took the other, and together, laughing, they shepherded him inside.

Once seated in the main hall, Zhu Hongyu hurried to brew tea, smiling as she brought it over. “Father just called Little Uncle this afternoon, and here you are before dark! That’s fast. I remember when Liangliang’s father and I went to Jincheng for work, the train took a whole day and night!”

Zhang Can smiled. “I flew. Two hours to the provincial capital, then hired a taxi straight here—only an hour and a half drive. Barely over three hours in total. It really is fast these days!”

Zhang Hua blinked and asked, “Second Brother, what’s it like flying? Aren’t you worried about falling out of the sky?”

Zhang Jiye playfully tapped her on the head. “Nonsense—don’t jinx your brother!”

Liu Chunju entered with her beans, urging Zhu Hongyu, “Hongyu, start mixing the glutinous rice flour. I’ll make the filling. Liangliang’s second uncle is home, the family’s all together—we should make tangyuan!”

“Mom, I’ll help you make tangyuan!” Zhang Hua jumped up and hurried into the kitchen.

Watching his sister’s retreating figure, Zhang Can smiled. “Dad, Brother, Third Sister must be nineteen now—she’s grown into a beautiful young lady!”

Zhang Guonian sighed. “Son, it’s a pity about your sister. She did well in school, but we had no money then, couldn’t send her further. That’s on me. Here in the countryside, what future is there? So little land, barely any income from farming. A year’s work doesn’t even cover fertilizer. If things are good for you in Jincheng, take your sister with you—find her a job. That’s better than staying here.”

Zhang Can nodded without hesitation. “Of course. She’s my sister. Of course I’ll take care of her. Dad, Brother…” He paused, then added, “But about today, you two really went too far. You scared me half to death!”

“I think it worked out perfectly!” his father retorted with a hearty laugh. “You rascal, your mother’s hair has turned half-white missing you these past years, but did you ever come home? You’re twenty-five now, right? Look—everyone your age in the village is married. Third Uncle’s son Zhang Ze had a fat son last year; Second Great-Uncle’s Zhang Kuan already has two kids. And you…?”

At this, Zhang Can flushed and shifted uncomfortably.

Zhang Guonian continued, “Ah, but I can’t really blame you. It’s on me. I had no means, the family was poor, couldn’t even secure you a wife. That’s how things are now. But when you asked me to borrow fifty thousand at high interest, then paid it back in a few days and handed over five thousand in interest, it hurt—five thousand is almost a year’s income for us! Thank goodness you sent home five hundred thousand after that. Son, you don’t know, but your sending that money shocked all of us—me, your brother, your mother, your sister, your sister-in-law!”

Zhang Can reassured them with a smile. “Dad, Brother, you don’t need to worry. That money is all honest earnings. I’m the appraiser at an antique shop in Jincheng—salary’s a million a year. Money’s not a problem!”

“Little brother, what’s an ‘appraiser’?” Zhang Jiye asked, puzzled. He’d never heard the term.

Zhang Can hesitated, then laughed. “Brother, it’s like a manager—at an antique shop, it’s called an appraiser. I’m in charge of identifying and valuing antiques, jade, that sort of thing.”

Relief spread across Zhang Guonian’s face. “So it’s a proper job—good. When you sent that huge sum, everyone in town knew in a day. The post office clerk is your third maternal cousin Xiaozhu, and word spread like wildfire. People have been wondering how you make so much money. Now I can finally set my mind at ease.”

Zhang Jiye grinned. “Dad, you shouldn’t have worried. My little brother’s never been one to steal or cheat. Heh heh…”

He chuckled, then turned to Zhang Can. “You don’t know, but you’re famous now. A few years ago, everyone knew our family was poor, and no girl in or out of the village would look at us. It was tough finding you a wife. But now, after you sent that five hundred thousand, matchmakers have trampled our threshold flat! So your sister-in-law and I thought, you’re not young anymore—might as well call you home and get you married. But… heh heh, as for using Mom’s illness as an excuse, that was all Dad’s doing, not mine!”