Chapter 136 The Jia Family's Blind Date Scandal

The chaotic scene in the yard caused by the house has finally subsided for the time being.

However, the Jia family's life did not become peaceful. Jia Dongxu's matchmaking arrangements continued relentlessly, without any sign of stopping.

Every day, Jia Zhangshi clutched the little savings her family had, racking her brains to find a match for her son through matchmakers, hoping to find a girl from the city for Jia Dongxu so that she could hold her grandson as soon as possible and uphold the reputation of the Jia family.

No one expected that after Xu Damao learned that the Jia family had gone to the backyard and shamelessly extorted He Yuzhu's house, this petty and vengeful boy's evil intentions were completely stirred up, and he made up his mind to teach Jia Dongxu a lesson.

In the past, Xu Damao would always do his dirty work himself, making a big fuss as if he wanted everyone to know that he was the one who did it.

But things are different now. Since learning martial arts and developing skills, and spending all his time interacting with He Yuzhu, he has become much more shrewd. He has learned to hide his mischief behind the scenes and will no longer foolishly step forward on his own.

Xu Damao's family was better off than most families in the courtyard, and they always had some spare money and food.

He simply spent a few pieces of fruit candy and a few pastries wrapped in oil paper, then handed them to the group of teenagers in and out of the yard, stirring things up with a few words.

The various unpleasant and malicious things said about Jia Dongxu quickly turned into rhymes that children could recite on their own, and were sung all day long in the alleys and outside the courtyards.

"Jia Dongxu, what a good-for-nothing, just lazing around and wasting his life!"

"Mrs. Jia is unreasonable; she's shamelessly trying to extort a house from us!"

Such catchy rhymes were recited by the children, and within a few days, the entire alley and even the surrounding streets knew about the shameful affair of the Jia family mother and son.

That's not all; Xu Damao's wicked intentions went far beyond that.

He would time it precisely, calculating when a girl would come to Jia Dongxu's door for a blind date, and then secretly go to find those hooligans who hung out on the streets.

They generously gave them many benefits, instructing them to ambush girls on their way to meet for marriage, using threats, intimidation, and all sorts of despicable means to sabotage the wedding.

Xu Damao has been hanging around on the streets for years, and his martial arts skills are decent. He's also a smooth talker, with a knack for coaxing and manipulating people.

In addition, he was always generous with his money and never stingy, so many people on the street who just drifted through life would give him some face and were willing to do his bidding.

Of course, Xu Damao's prestige is also largely due to He Yuzhu's past efforts.

In his early years, He Yuzhu was a well-known figure on the streets. He was a righteous man who helped Xu Damao out of trouble several times and even helped him settle scores with those thugs, resolving many grudges.

Those thugs all knew that He Yuzhu was skilled in combat and honest, and they didn't believe the rumors that He Yuzhu was a deserter.

If it weren't for the favor He Yuzhu had previously established, they would have ignored Xu Damao long ago, let alone obeyed his orders.

However, there are always those people who never leave their homes, who spend their days listening to gossip and blindly follow what others say.

When a lie is repeated many times and countless people say it over and over, it eventually becomes accepted as the truth, and He Yuzhu's reputation is thus tarnished.

Xu Damao's continuous underhanded machinations completely blocked Jia Dongxu's path to finding a partner.

Any reputable and reliable matchmaker in the city, upon learning that Jia Dongxu was repeatedly harassed during his blind dates, was too frightened to come anymore. None of the girls were willing to accept Jia Zhangshi's commissions again, fearing they would get into trouble.

At first, Jia Zhangshi didn't realize what was happening. She just felt that everything was going wrong, and several girls had inexplicably fallen through their relationship. She was filled with resentment and anger.

When she belatedly realized that someone had deliberately sabotaged her son's marriage, she was furious and searched everywhere in and around the courtyard, determined to find the culprit.

She spent several days running around, her legs aching and her mouth hoarse, but she still couldn't find a single clue and couldn't figure out who was behind it all.

Unable to find the culprit, Jia Zhangshi had nowhere to vent her anger, so she began to sit in the courtyard every day, hands on her hips, cursing and swearing, spitting everywhere, saying one nasty thing after another.

In her mind, such a wicked thing must have been done by someone in the courtyard. The Jia family had offended many people in the courtyard, but apart from that, they had never offended anyone outside.

Even though she was convinced that the people in the courtyard were behind it, Jia Zhangshi only dared to curse them indirectly in the front and back yards. She dared not step into the middle yard, much less directly vent her anger on the people there.

Because she knew in her heart that if she dared to act recklessly in the Intermediate People's Court, what awaited her would not be a good outcome, but a real slap in the face that would stun her.

Nowadays, Chen Lanxiang has become extremely irritable and intolerant of any wrongdoing. Anyone who dares to provoke her will definitely not have a good ending.

Madam Jia was very wary and dared not provoke this bad luck.

But there are always times when one is blind to the truth. One day, Jia Zhangshi was standing by the moon gate connecting the middle courtyard and the back courtyard when she ran into Yang Ruihua, who lived in the middle courtyard.

She was seething with anger, and unable to suppress her desire to stir up trouble, she immediately grabbed Yang Ruihua and began to speak sarcastically and sourly about all sorts of bad things about the He family.

He kept muttering about how domineering and unreasonable He Yuzhu of the Intermediate People's Court was, making the He family seem utterly worthless.

Chen Lanxiang, who happened to be passing by, overheard every word of these words.

Chen Lanxiang had a fiery temper and couldn't stand Jia Zhangshi's sharp tongue. Hearing her openly criticizing her family, she was instantly enraged.

Before Jia Zhangshi could finish speaking, Chen Lanxiang rushed forward in three strides, raised her hand, and slapped Jia Zhangshi's face hard several times.

The crisp sound of the slap echoed loudly in the courtyard.

Chen Lanxiang hit him while angrily berating him.

"Serves you right for gossiping! Serves you right for spouting nonsense!"

"Let me tell you, Jia Zhangshi, don't think you can manipulate anyone like that. If you dare utter another word of nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart!"

Chen Lanxiang took action for two reasons: first, she was furious that Jia Zhangshi was spreading rumors about her family, and second, it was also because of the previous house issue.

Chen Lanxiang had long since learned the truth about the Jia family's extortion of He Yuzhu's house, and she had been holding a grudge ever since.

He Yuzhu's grandmother stopped her from causing trouble for the Jia family, which is why she has been holding back her anger.

This time, she caught Jia Zhangshi throwing a tantrum right in the act, so how could she easily let go of this opportunity to teach Jia Zhangshi a lesson?

Several hard slaps were delivered, making Jia Zhangshi see stars. Her cheeks swelled up instantly, and she cried out in pain, her wails echoing throughout the entire courtyard.

Unfortunately, it was broad daylight, and Jia Laonian was at work at the factory, as was Jia Dongxu. There was no one at home who could support her.

Yang Ruihua, who was standing to the side, was so frightened by what she saw that she trembled all over. Although she felt sorry for her, she dared not step forward to help, let alone say a good word for Jia Zhangshi.

Knowing Chen Lanxiang's temper well, she was afraid that if she spoke, she would be implicated and angered. So she could only stand aside, lower her head, and pretend that she hadn't seen anything.

Ultimately, the reason why Yang Ruihua and Jia Zhangshi could chat so easily was because of the house issue.

When Yan Bugui wanted to buy a house, He Yuzhu stopped him and gave him a severe beating. After returning home, Yan Bugui talked about this to his wife, Yang Ruihua, countless times.

Yan Bugui and his wife were petty and calculating people. After hearing about this, Yang Ruihua secretly harbored resentment towards He Yuzhu, feeling that He Yuzhu had acted too cruelly.

In addition, Madam Jia Zhangshi complained about He Yuzhu all day long. The two of them got together and gossiped because of their dissatisfaction with He Yuzhu.

Yang Ruihua would often stay at home, constantly nagging her sons, repeatedly telling them to stay away from He Yuzhu and never have any dealings with him, lest they get into trouble.

Meanwhile, after He Yuzhu joined the army, life in his hometown underwent some subtle changes.

On ordinary days, not during holidays or festivals, we would still be able to eat meat at home. Although it wasn't the kind of meat that you could eat as much as you wanted, it was just a few ounces of meat, enough to let the family see some meat and satisfy their cravings.

In that era of scarcity, such treatment was already quite rare.

Back to the Jia family, when Jia Laonian and Jia Dongxu returned home from the factory in the evening, they saw Jia Zhangshi covering her face, sitting on the ground crying and wailing, throwing a tantrum.

Upon learning that Chen Lanxiang had hit her, Jia Zhangshi immediately threw a tantrum, forcing Jia Laonian and his son Jia Dongxu to go to the Central Court to get revenge for her and vent her anger.

Faced with Jia Zhangshi's tantrum, Jia Laonian shook his head, looking unwilling, and had no desire to provoke Chen Lanxiang at all.

He knew Chen Lanxiang was formidable, and he also knew that his wife was in the wrong. Going there would only bring him humiliation, and he wouldn't gain anything at all.

As for Jia Dongxu, he couldn't muster any enthusiasm for anything at this moment. He was listless and preoccupied with his repeated failures in blind dates.

He harbored a deep resentment towards his family, especially Jia Zhangshi, for not being able to find a wife.

In his view, his repeated failures in blind dates were all because his mother, Jia Zhangshi, had too high standards and was too picky, which ruined all the good marriages.

His thoughts were simple: he just wanted to find a pretty girl he could look at and settle down with; he didn't think about anything else.

He always felt that with his family's financial situation, he could easily support one more person, so there was no need to be so picky.

As for what Jia Zhangshi told him—that someone was secretly sabotaging his marriage—Jia Dongxu was initially skeptical.

Unwilling to give up, he actually mustered up the courage to go and ask the girls he had previously been on blind dates for the truth.

The timid girl, afraid of getting into trouble, hesitated and dared not tell him the truth.

However, there were a few straightforward and bold girls who didn't hide anything and told him the whole story clearly.

From the girls, Jia Dongxu learned that whether it was the rhymes sung by children on the street or the threats and intimidation by thugs, it was all arranged in secret.

These words were half true and half false, but no matter what, after those girls learned the truth, they refused to date him anymore, fearing they would get into trouble.

Jia Dongxu was both angry and annoyed. Based on the clues provided by the girl, he actually found those street thugs.

But what good will it do to find it?

He was all alone, had no special skills, and was cowardly. He had only gone forward to argue a few words when he was surrounded and brutally beaten by those thugs, leaving him bruised, swollen, and in a sorry state.

After being beaten, he not only failed to find out who was behind it, but also suffered physical pain for nothing, and had nowhere to vent his anger.

Furious, Jia Dongxu returned to the factory and gathered a few of his coworkers with whom he had a fairly good relationship, planning to go and get revenge on the thug and regain his dignity.

But when the workers learned that the other party was a thug who was not to be trifled with on the street, and that Jia Dongxu had no reason to stand up to them, they all backed down and refused to talk to him anymore, for fear of being implicated and getting into unnecessary trouble.

After this incident, Jia Dongxu's life at the factory became increasingly unpleasant, and his popularity plummeted.

In addition, Yi Zhonghai had run away from the factory due to various reasons, leaving him without anyone to support him. Jia Laonian used his connections to find him a technical mentor.

The original plan was for Jia Dongxu to learn a skill from a master so that he could gain a foothold in the factory and eventually become a permanent employee.

But Jia Dongxu had neither the talent to learn technical skills nor the inclination to do anything easy. He was lazy and never worked hard. He couldn't learn anything his master taught him and always tried to shirk his responsibilities.

No master would be willing to sincerely teach such a disappointing apprentice.

After teaching for a short while, Jia Dongxu's master completely regretted it, feeling that he had taken on a useless apprentice, and gave up on him directly, refusing to teach him any more skills.

In the end, it was only after Jia Laonian humbled himself, said all the right things, and begged people everywhere that he managed to persuade his master not to expel Jia Dongxu from the school.

If he were truly expelled from the school, Jia Dongxu would be unable to stay in the factory any longer and would be fired, losing even his only job.

Work setbacks, failed blind dates, and constant rejections caused Jia Dongxu to become completely depressed and develop a drinking habit.

The meager wages he earned each month were pitifully small. Apart from the portion he had to hand over to Jia Zhangshi to support the family, he spent all the rest on alcohol.

He drowned his sorrows in alcohol all day long, becoming decadent and numb, and completely lost hope for his family and his future.

Seeing that neither the father nor the son was willing to stand up for her and get revenge, Jia Zhangshi immediately sat down on the ground, slapped her thighs, and wailed loudly, her cries disturbing the peace of the entire courtyard.

She cried her heart out, throwing a tantrum and rolling on the ground, never stopping.

Jia Laonian and Jia Dongxu were so annoyed by her crying that they couldn't stand it anymore. So the father and son simply went into another room, closed the door, and let her cry and make a fuss outside. Out of sight, out of mind, they made do and went to sleep.

As the days went by, Jia Dongxu could no longer find any girls in Beijing who were willing to go on blind dates with him.

Madam Jia asked every matchmaker she could think of, but as soon as they heard of the Jia family's reputation, they all avoided her like the plague, and not a single one was willing to help.

Now that things have come to this, even if Jia Zhangshi is unwilling, she has no choice but to give up the idea of ​​finding a girl from the city for her son. It's not that she wants to give up, but that she has no other choice at all, as the Jia family's reputation has been completely ruined.

Nowadays, in other people's eyes, Jia Dongxu is a petty thief with bad character who has been working since childhood and just coasts through his job. He has never been able to get a permanent position in the factory over the years and is just a good-for-nothing.

As for Jia Zhangshi herself, she also earned a reputation for being mean, unreasonable, and fond of spreading rumors. The reputations of both mother and son were rotten to the core.

Matchmakers throughout the entire eastern part of the city would avoid Jia Zhangshi, fearing she would pester them. They all thought she was difficult and unreasonable, and better to avoid her than to provoke her.

Seeing that all avenues in the city were blocked, Jia Zhangshi had no choice but to turn her attention to the countryside, thinking of finding a country girl for her son.

She took a long-distance bus to Xicheng to find a matchmaker there to help her find a husband. She also relaxed her requirements for her son's marriage prospects, no longer being as picky as before.

A few days later, the matchmaker from the west side of the city brought news.

The matchmaker specifically sought out Jia Zhangshi and said to her, "There are plenty of beautiful girls in Songjiazhuang over in Daxing. They are all good-looking and hardworking. If you think it's suitable, I will personally go there to inquire about marriage for your son."

Upon hearing the name Songjiazhuang, Jia Zhangshi's heart skipped a beat.

This place is not far from my hometown, Zhangjiayu. The journey is not far, so if it works out, it will be convenient.

But then she thought again that if she asked the matchmaker to make the trip, it would cost the matchmaker a lot of money, and she couldn't bear to do it. All she could think about was saving money.

So she immediately changed her mind and made an excuse to the matchmaker, saying, "It's too far, it's really inconvenient, let's forget it, could you help me look at other places?"

The matchmaker, unsuspecting, assumed that the journey was genuinely long and readily agreed, saying she would look for a suitable girl for her.

After leaving the matchmaker and returning home, Jia Zhangshi didn't mention Songjiazhuang to Jia Laonian and Jia Dongxu at all, but secretly began to make her own plans.

She figured that instead of spending money to hire a matchmaker, she should take her son to Songjiazhuang to find a match herself. This would save her the cost of a matchmaker and also allow her to visit her parents' home in Zhangjiayu on the way, killing two birds with one stone.

After making up her mind, Jia Zhangshi found Jia Dongxu and said to him under some pretext, "Dongxu, I want you to come with me back to my parents' home to see your maternal grandparents."

When Jia Laonian heard this, he was extremely unwilling.

He had always had a terrible relationship with Jia Zhangshi's brothers, who were his brothers-in-law. They were constantly at odds and wished they would never see each other again. He had no desire to have anything to do with the Zhang family.

In the past, when Jia Zhangshi asked him to go back to her parents' home, he always made various excuses to refuse and tried every means to avoid going back.

Jia Zhangshi knew her husband's thoughts, and only dared to throw tantrums at home. But if she were to travel such a long distance to her parents' home by herself, she would be afraid. She was too timid to go out alone, so she had not been able to go back to her parents' home for so many years.

As for Jia Dongxu, he was also unwilling to go back to his wife's family home.

Before, the world outside was not peaceful, and he did not want to take the risk of going out, fearing that something bad might happen to him. Moreover, he would have to spend money to buy gifts when he went back to his parents' home, which he felt was not worth it.

In her heart, Jia Laonian was just a tool to support the family, but her son was her precious child, and she couldn't bear to let him take the risk alone.

Jia Dongxu hadn't seen his maternal grandparents' family for many years, had long forgotten those relatives, and had almost no feelings for them. He didn't want to go back from the bottom of his heart.

Besides, going back to one's parents' home requires spending money on snacks and gifts. Wouldn't it be better to save that money for personal consumption, like buying wine and delicious food?

Seeing that Jia Laonian was adamant about not wanting to go, and Jia Dongxu also looked resistant, Jia Zhangshi rolled her eyes, secretly pulled Jia Dongxu aside, lowered her voice, and said mysteriously.

"Dongxu, your mother isn't just taking you back to her parents' home. I've found a beautiful girl for you back in our hometown, and we're just waiting for you to come back and meet her. Are you going?"

Upon hearing that there were pretty girls and that he could go on a blind date, Jia Dongxu's previously listless eyes instantly lit up, and he became energetic and immediately interested.

He rushed forward, eagerly asking, "Mother, is it true? Where is that girl? Is she in Zhangjiayu?"

Jia Zhangshi smiled and shook her head, replying, "It's not in Zhangjiayu, but not far from Zhangjiayu, in Songjiazhuang, Daxing."

Jia Dongxu's curiosity grew, and he pressed for more information: "How old is that girl? What's her name? How pretty is she? How does she compare to that pretty girl from the Central Court?"

Faced with her son's barrage of questions, Jia Zhangshi couldn't answer them and could only vaguely say, "I don't know the specifics either. We'll find out when we get to Songjiazhuang and have a look at the person. It'll definitely be fine."

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu's expectant expression vanished instantly, replaced by a disgruntled grumble: "Huh? Mother, you don't know anything, yet you say there's a girl. You're not just making up a lie to trick me into going back to my uncle's house, are you?"

Jia Dongxu didn't believe it at all, thinking that his mother was fooling him, otherwise how could she not even know the girl's basic information?

When Jia Zhangshi saw that her son did not believe her, she was extremely anxious. Fearing that it would delay the search for a wife, she had no choice but to tell him the truth: she wanted to save money and would personally take him to Songjiazhuang for a blind date.

After the whole story was explained, Jia Dongxu's doubts were completely dispelled. The thought of meeting a beautiful girl and having the blind date go smoothly filled him with anticipation. He immediately nodded in agreement and agreed to go back to the countryside with his mother.

So, taking advantage of a weekend when the factory was closed, Jia Zhangshi gritted her teeth, bought some candy and pastries as gifts, and the mother and son packed a few simple bags, took a long-distance bus, and headed straight for Daxing.

This was the first time in Jia Zhangshi's life that she had taken a long-distance bus ride, and she felt both nervous and unaccustomed to it.

She hadn't driven for long when she started feeling dizzy and nauseous, and she felt extremely uncomfortable.

Before long, she couldn't help but lean against the car window and vomit incessantly until she reached her destination, feeling extremely weak.

Fortunately, resources were scarce in those days, and there weren't many people traveling by car. Moreover, many people would get carsick, so when others saw this, they didn't say anything, nor did they look down on or criticize her.

Jia Dongxu sat to the side, enduring the unpleasant smell in the car, carefully taking care of his mother the whole way, busy with everything and never having a moment's rest.

After a long wait, the bus arrived at the station, and the mother and son got off. Jia Dongxu immediately started panting heavily, as if he had just been freed from a hardship.

As for Jia Zhangshi, she was already so dizzy and weak that she sat slumped on a roadside stone, half-dead, and it took her a long time to recover.

Sitting by the roadside, Jia Dongxu couldn't help but ponder to himself.

This bus ride is such a nightmare! It's so crowded and uncomfortable, and it makes me carsick. I wish I had a bicycle. It would be so much more convenient and comfortable to go out, and I wouldn't have to suffer like this anymore.

After resting for a while, Jia Zhangshi finally recovered and slowly stood up with Jia Dongxu's help.

The mother and son trudged towards Zhangjiayu, the country road uneven and difficult to traverse, making their journey extremely challenging.

After a long and arduous journey, we finally arrived at Jia Dongxu's maternal grandfather's house, which is Zhangjiayu.

After more than ten years, when she returned to her parents' home and saw her parents and brothers, Jia Zhangshi was overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't hold back her tears.

She rushed forward, hugged her mother, and burst into tears. Her cries were heart-wrenching and filled with grievance, as she vented all the grievances and unhappiness she had suffered in her husband's family over the years through her sobs.

Her parents felt very sorry for their daughter when they saw her so upset, and they quickly comforted her.

When it was time to eat, Jia Dongxu was completely shocked by the scene before him.

My mother had three maternal uncles, and several of them had married and started their own families, each with their own wives and children. The total number of people in these families was more than twenty. The whole family was crammed together, making it both lively and crowded.

Rural people are generally warm and hospitable, and Jia Dongxu, who came from the city and had a formal job in a factory, was seen as a promising person by the villagers.

During the meal, Jia Dongxu's cousins ​​took turns toasting him, calling him "cousin" affectionately.

Jia Dongxu loved to drink, and with everyone praising him, he became complacent and lost control, getting completely drunk and confused.

After getting drunk, Jia Dongxu was not thinking clearly and was talking nonsense. He agreed to all the requests from his cousins ​​without thinking.

He kept saying that he would help them find work in the city and ensure that they could all move to the city and work in factories so that they could live a good life.

He completely forgot these words after getting drunk, and had no recollection of what he had said at all.

But his cousins ​​remembered every word he said, and they were all overjoyed, waiting for Jia Dongxu to help them find jobs in the city.

The next morning, Jia Dongxu woke up with a splitting headache and had no recollection of what had happened the night before.

But his uncles had already approached Jia Zhangshi, their faces full of anticipation, and asked, "Sister, Dongxu said last night that he could help the children in the family find work in the city. Is it really possible? Give me a definite answer."

Upon hearing her brother's words, Jia Zhangshi was instantly stunned, her face blank with confusion. She had no idea that her son, drunk the night before, had uttered such words and made such a promise.

She was both angry and anxious, and couldn't help but curse her son inwardly for being so useless, for not being able to casually agree to such an important matter.

You have to understand, getting into a factory in Beijing these days is extremely difficult. There are few openings, the requirements are high, and without spending money and pulling strings, it's simply impossible to get in. With Jia Dongxu's abilities, how could he possibly manage it?

Madam Jia was well aware of the difficulty of this matter, but she couldn't directly refuse in front of her family and spoil everyone's fun.

Moreover, she had other purposes to achieve when she returned to her parents' home this time, and she couldn't afford to offend her brothers.

So she could only force herself to remain calm and said to her brothers with a smile, "Brothers, don't worry, I've got this in mind. When we get back, I'll ask Jia Laonian to ask around and see if there's any way to help."

Then, she changed the subject, saying, "However, there's no sure thing about this. It's quite difficult, and it might cost a lot of money to get it done."

When Jia Zhangshi said this, she didn't even ask whether the family had money; she knew perfectly well what was going on in her mind.

Rural people already live in poverty; they are already lucky if they can have enough to eat and not go hungry, and they simply don't have extra money to bribe officials.

She said this to deliberately throw the problem to her brothers, making them beg her for help, so that she could then make her own demands.

Sure enough, after hearing what Jia Zhangshi said, the uncles looked troubled but did not want to give up the opportunity to enter the city. They all lowered their stance and begged Jia Zhangshi to do more for them.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Jia Zhangshi took the opportunity to reveal her true purpose for returning this time.

She looked at her brothers and said, "Brothers, I heard that the village recently distributed land. Before I got married, I also had land in the village. Do you think I can come back and get a share?"

"I don't farm myself, but my family can help me with the farming. They can send me some grain every year. I won't let you help me for nothing."

When the uncles heard about this, they exchanged glances and thought to themselves that they still needed Jia Zhangshi to help the child find a job in the city, so they naturally had to agree to this small matter.

He immediately patted his chest and assured her that he would definitely help Jia Zhangshi with the land allocation, so she could rest assured.

He also reminded her again to keep the matter of her child working in the city in mind and to take good care of it.

Having received confirmation from her brothers, Jia Zhangshi felt relieved. With her goal achieved, she didn't want to linger at her parents' home and was already thinking about arranging a blind date for her son in Songjiazhuang.

Moreover, during this period, Jia Dongxu had been urging her several times, both openly and secretly, as he was eager to go to Songjiazhuang to meet girls and had no intention of lingering at his parents' home.

After resting for a while, the mother and son found an excuse and managed to decline the warm invitations from the mother's family to stay, and hurriedly left Zhangjiayu.

As soon as they stepped out of the village entrance of Zhangjiayu, Jia Zhangshi's smile vanished instantly. She turned around and launched into a tirade against Jia Dongxu, her tone full of reproach.

"Look at you, Jia Dongxu! How can you be so useless! You've had a few drinks and you've become so arrogant, saying whatever comes to mind and making any promises you want!"

"Do you know how difficult it is to help your cousins ​​find work in the city? It's not something that can be done easily! You're just making things more difficult for me!"

At first, Jia Dongxu was completely bewildered by the scolding, not knowing what had happened at all, and stood there in a daze.

It wasn't until Jia Zhangshi explained to him in detail the things he had said the night before when he was drunk and made a rambling promise to help his cousins ​​find jobs in the city that he finally understood.

Only then did he realize why his cousins ​​had been so enthusiastic towards him yesterday, offering him drinks and trying to curry favor—it turned out they had this in mind.

This incident made Jia Dongxu truly realize the difference between city dwellers and country folk. He especially noticed that city dwellers like himself, who had formal jobs, were highly regarded in the countryside, which made him feel a little vain.

The mother and son asked for directions as they walked, following the country roads, and finally arrived at Songjiazhuang.

Upon arriving at the entrance of Songjiazhuang Village, the mother and son did not go directly into the village. Instead, they sneaked around to the small river at the edge of the village and wandered around the riverbank.

Because at this time of year, most of the young women and wives in the village come to the river to wash clothes and vegetables, making it the best place to see girls.

As soon as Jia Dongxu arrived at the riverbank, his eyes were fixed on the girls washing clothes. He couldn't move his feet and his gaze swept over the girls.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that the girls in Songjiazhuang were all beautiful and stunning, even more so than the girls he had seen in the city.

Seeing her son's pathetic state, Madam Jia gently nudged him and asked with a low laugh, "Look at you, so full of yourself, your eyes are practically glued to the screen. So, has anyone caught your eye?"

Jia Dongxu nodded repeatedly, saying excitedly, "Yes, there are several, and they're all exceptionally good-looking!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Jia was overjoyed and quickly asked, "How many more? Which ones have you chosen? Show them to your mother."

Jia Dongxu pointed to the riverbank and said, "The one in the red floral dress, the one in the blue cloth dress, and the one on the far right in the white dress, they're all good-looking."

Following the direction her son pointed, Madam Jia looked carefully and was quite satisfied. She smiled and said, "Hmm, you have a good eye. These girls are indeed the most decent-looking and beautiful among them."

Jia Dongxu's face was full of anticipation, but then he frowned and said worriedly, "But we don't know whose family these girls belong to, and we don't know how to go up and talk to them."

Jia Zhangshi said confidently, "Don't rush. After they finish washing the clothes, we'll quietly follow them and see which house they go to, then we'll know."

The mother and son whispered to each other by the river, their eyes fixed on the girl on the bank. Their furtive behavior was quite conspicuous.

But they didn't realize that their actions had already been observed by the village's patrolling militia.

Just as the mother and son were figuring out how to find out about the girl's family background, a stern rebuke suddenly came from behind them.

"Who are you two? What are you doing lurking around here? Hands up!"

The voice was urgent and sharp, startling the mother and son so much that they froze on the spot.

The two of them instinctively turned around and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

This sight terrified the two of them.

Two men dressed in militia uniforms were seen holding guns, their dark muzzles pointed directly at the mother and child.

The cold muzzle of the gun instantly terrified Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu, causing their legs to buckle and their bodies to tremble. With a thud, they both knelt on the ground.

The two had never seen such a scene before. Terrified, their minds went blank, and they obediently raised their hands, not daring to resist in the slightest.

Terrified, Jia Zhangshi turned deathly pale, her lips trembling. She instinctively uttered a nonsensical phrase: "Good sir, spare our lives! We are law-abiding citizens, not bad people! Please don't hurt us!"

Upon hearing this, the militia leader's face darkened with anger, and he shouted sternly, "What kind of heroes are you! We are the militia of Songjiazhuang, and we've been watching you two for a while now. We've seen you lurking around here for ages, so tell us honestly, what are you doing?"

Jia Dongxu trembled with fear and stammered, "I, we're from Beijing. We've come here to visit relatives."

The militiamen, clearly unconvinced, continued their stern questioning: "Visiting relatives? Visiting whose relatives? Tell me the name, and I'll send someone to the village to fetch them and bring you here!"

Jia Dongxu panicked and quickly changed his words, saying, "We're from Zhangjiayu, we're here to visit relatives."

Upon hearing this, the militiaman sneered and said with a face full of suspicion, "Zhangjiayu is a full ten miles away from our Songjiazhuang. Why don't you go to Zhangjiayu to visit your relatives, but instead come to our Songjiazhuang and sneak around by the river? Do you think we're fools? Stop lying to us and tell us honestly, what exactly are you trying to do!"

Seeing that the two men refused to confess and were full of lies, the two militiamen stopped talking and pulled the bolts of their guns. With two crisp "click" sounds, the bullets were chambered.

The cold, mechanical sound completely terrified Jia Zhangshi, causing her to break down. She felt a warm sensation in her lower body, and a warm flow ran down her trouser leg. She was so frightened that she wet her pants on the spot.

Jia Dongxu, standing to the side, fared no better. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, his face ashen, unable to utter a word.

Seeing that the militiamen were truly enraged, Jia Dongxu knew that if he didn't tell the truth, the consequences would be unimaginable, so he hurriedly cried out and said...

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything! This is my mother. We're not bad people, and we're not here to cause trouble. We've come all the way from Beijing to find a partner!"

Upon hearing this, the militiamen exchanged glances, still looking suspicious, and asked, "A blind date? Why didn't you come with a matchmaker? Whose daughter are you interested in? Tell us!"

This question stumped Jia Dongxu; he opened his mouth but couldn't answer for a long time.

They came secretly to save money on the matchmaker, without following her at all, and they didn't even know whose daughter she was, so there was no way to know.

At this moment, Jia Dongxu was filled with resentment, secretly blaming Jia Zhangshi for insisting on doing it herself to save money on matchmaker fees. As a result, the marriage didn't go well, and he was even arrested as a spy.

Meanwhile, Jia Zhangshi, who was standing to the side, was already so frightened that she was completely disoriented. Her face was ashen, and her mind was blank. She couldn't even stand up straight, let alone answer questions, and she couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

Seeing that they couldn't answer, the two militiamen became even more certain that there was something wrong with them. Their eyes hardened, and they shouted sternly, "Can't answer? You think you're spies trying to cause trouble in the village!"

Terrified, Jia Dongxu shook his head repeatedly, waving his hands frantically, crying and protesting, "No, we're really not spies! We're innocent!"

To prove his innocence, Jia Dongxu dared not hide anything any longer and told the whole story, from beginning to end.

He clearly explained where he lived, which factory he worked in, his mother's family home was in Zhangjiayu, the exact address of his maternal grandmother's house, and the reason why he came to Songjiazhuang for a blind date, without daring to hide anything.

After hearing his words, the two militiamen exchanged a glance, and one of them asked the leader, "Squad leader, what do we do now?"

The militiaman, referred to as the squad leader, frowned and pondered for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "Take them back to the village office first, investigate the matter thoroughly, confirm whether what they said is true, and then take appropriate action."

After saying this, the two militiamen holstered their guns, lowered the muzzles slightly, and said sternly to the mother and child, "Get up and come back to the village office with us!"

Jia Dongxu was so frightened that he nodded repeatedly and replied, "Yes, yes, we'll go with you."

After saying that, he struggled to get up from the ground and reached out to help Jia Zhangshi, who was slumped on the ground, her body weak.

Then, escorted by two militiamen, the mother and son walked step by step toward the Songjiazhuang village office.

Along the way, their appearance attracted the attention of villagers who stopped to watch, pointing and gossiping, their eyes full of curiosity and doubt.

Stared at like that by everyone, Jia Dongxu was so ashamed that he wanted to disappear into the ground and bury his head in his crotch, not daring to look up at anyone.

Escorted all the way, they finally arrived at the village office, and Jia Zhangshi slowly recovered from her shock.

After regaining her senses, she took advantage of being an ordinary citizen and began to babble on and on to the two militiamen, muttering, "We are the people, you are the militiamen, you can't treat us like this, we are innocent."

She kept babbling on and on, until the two militiamen turned pale and became impatient. They raised their guns again and shouted at her.

Upon seeing this, Jia Zhangshi was so frightened that she immediately shut her mouth and dared not say another word.

Upon arriving at the village office, the militia squad leader didn't ask any further questions. He simply ordered his men to lock the mother and son in a small, dark room in the village office and assigned a militiaman to guard the door to prevent them from escaping.

Another militiaman immediately ran to report to the militia captain, and also sent someone to invite the village chief to the village office to handle the matter together.

The village chief and the militia captain quickly arrived at the village office, listened to the reports from the two militiamen, and carefully considered what Jia Dongxu had told them.

Both of them knew that the mother and son did not seem to be spies. At most, they were just acting suspiciously and causing misunderstandings. Even so, the matter could not be handled hastily. They had to confirm the facts to avoid any mistakes.

Therefore, the village chief immediately arranged for a villager familiar with the surrounding villages to rush to Zhangjiayu to verify whether what Jia Dongxu said was true. If it was true, then people from Zhangjiayu would come to Songjiazhuang to pick up the person.

After everything was arranged, everyone waited at the village office for news, just waiting for someone from Zhangjiayu to come and verify.

Meanwhile, Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu, who were locked in the dark room, were hungry, scared, and filled with remorse.

They waited from morning until afternoon, for most of the day, without eating or drinking. The two were so hungry that their stomachs were practically sticking to their backs, and they were filled with fear and anxiety, afraid that they would be treated as spies.

It wasn't until the afternoon that the villagers who had gone to Zhangjiayu finally arrived at the Songjiazhuang village office, accompanied by the village chief of Zhangjiayu and Zhang Dayong, the eldest brother of Jia Zhangshi.

When the two arrived and learned the whole story, their faces turned deathly dark; they were both angry and ashamed.

What kind of nonsense is this?!

If you're going on a blind date, just do it properly. Come with the matchmaker honestly and meet openly and honestly. Why do you have to sneak around to save money?

Instead of entering the village, he lingered suspiciously by the river. As a result, he was arrested as a spy, and the whole Songjiazhuang knew about it.

Although the misunderstanding has been completely cleared up, after this incident, it's obvious that the Jia family's son will have absolutely no chance of finding a partner in Songjiazhuang in the future. No family would want to marry their daughter to such a family.

In fact, the mother and son had already been spotted by the young women and wives washing clothes by the river when they were wandering around.

At first, everyone thought it was a matchmaker bringing a man to meet a girl, and didn't think much of it.

But later, when things got out of hand, they were arrested by the militia, and the whole village knew that it was Jia and her son who had sneaked over to meet the matchmaker to save money, and their furtive behavior caused misunderstandings.

This caused the people of Songjiazhuang to have an extremely bad first impression of the Jia family mother and son.

My first impression was that the mother and son were extremely stingy, unwilling to even spend money on the matchmaker; my second impression was that they were rude, ignorant of rules, and acted absurdly, making them an unreliable family.

After the matter was resolved and the misunderstanding cleared up, Zhang Dayong and the village chief of Zhangjiayu Village could only apologize repeatedly to the village chief of Songjiazhuang Village and the militia captain with embarrassed faces, saying countless kind words before they were able to lead Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu out of the dark room.

Afterwards, the mother and son sheepishly followed the crowd back to Zhangjiayu.

Upon returning to her parents' home, Jia Zhangshi was scolded by her parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law in turn. Everyone felt that what she had done was extremely shameful.

She not only disgraced the Jia family, but also brought shame upon the entire Zhang family.

Now, every household in Zhangjiayu knows that the Zhang family's daughter took her son to Songjiazhuang for a blind date, but was arrested as a spy and became the laughing stock of the whole village.

Because it was getting late and there were no more long-distance buses back to Beijing, the mother and son had no choice but to spend the night in Zhangjiayu.

That night, the mother and son endured countless scornful looks and insults in Zhangjiayu, and their days were filled with torment.

The next morning, the mother and son didn't want to stay a moment longer. They bid a hasty farewell to the mother's family and hurriedly took a car back to their courtyard house in Beijing.

Because he was delayed in the countryside for an extra day, Jia Dongxu was unable to go to work at the factory on time. It was only because Jia Laonian specially contacted the factory leaders to ask for leave for his son that he was not counted as absent without leave.

After a long and arduous journey, the mother and son finally returned home. They both kept quiet about the shameful incident that had occurred in Songjiazhuang, deliberately concealing it from each other.

When confronted with Jia Laonian's questions, the two gave vague and perfunctory answers, saying that everything was fine at the bride's family home and that the marriage was progressing well, thus glossing over the matter.

But ever since returning from Songjiazhuang, Jia Dongxu has become increasingly listless. He is dispirited every day, unable to muster any interest in anything, and sullen all day long.

Madam Jia saw this and was anxious. She knew that her son was upset because of the arranged marriage, and she also knew that if she didn't find a solution, her son would never be able to get married in his life.

Having no other choice, Jia Zhangshi had to swallow her pride and go back to the matchmaker from the west city she had contacted before, hoping that the matchmaker could help her think of a solution again.

Little did she know that the matchmaker had personally visited Songjiazhuang after she left, and had already heard about the shameful farce that Jia and her son had caused in Songjiazhuang.

The matchmaker was utterly disgusted by the actions of the Jia family mother and son, and when she spoke of them, she couldn't utter a single kind word.

Through the matchmaker's words, the people of Songjiazhuang had an even worse impression of the Jia family mother and son, completely extinguishing Jia Dongxu's hopes of finding a partner in Songjiazhuang.

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi came to the door, and the matchmaker was furious when she saw her.

Before Jia Zhangshi could even speak, the matchmaker pointed her finger at her nose and launched into a tirade of abuse. The more she cursed, the angrier she became, and in the end, she had Jia Zhangshi dragged out of the house and refused to speak to her again.