My Fulang is a Delicate Flower Chapter 33 Part 1

Chapter 33  

Huang Manjing carried a bowl of freshly boiled ginger soup into the room and set it on the table. It was almost noon, and the young ger was still curled up listlessly on the bed.  

She stepped forward and touched Ji Taoyu’s forehead.  

"Do you have a cold?"  

Ji Taoyu shook his head. "Just a little dizzy. Probably just sleepy."  

"I told you there was nothing worth seeing in delivering grain to the city, it happens every year. Yet you insisted on getting up early in this freezing weather to watch. Now you’ve caught a chill."  

Huang Manjing turned around and brought the ginger soup over. "Drink this to ward off the cold. Sleep it off, and you’ll feel better."  

Ji Taoyu was distracted. He knew he wasn’t actually sick and didn’t want the ginger soup, but since his mother had made it, he still crawled out of the blankets.  

"Is father back yet?"  

"It’ll be a while. Are you hungry?"  

Ji Taoyu took a sip of the hot ginger soup. Though sugar had been added, the boiled ginger still had a spicy kick.  

After a few sips, he felt his whole body warming up, and his spirits lifted slightly. "I’m not hungry."  

"You’re so listless, it’s because you barely ate anything this morning."  

Huang Manjing took the bowl back. "I’ll make stir-fried pork with wild garlic for lunch. You’ll eat more with that."  

But Ji Taoyu asked, "Why hasn’t anyone in the village held a banquet this season?"  

Huang Manjing chuckled. "Not satisfied with stir-fried pork, and now you’re craving a banquet?"  

"Taxes went up again this year, and the autumn harvest wasn’t great, so fewer families are hosting events. On top of that, after what happened with the You family, everyone’s on edge. Folks don’t dare leave the village unless necessary, who has the time to buy ingredients for a banquet?"  

Ji Taoyu pursed his lips. "But the wives and fulangs in the village are still lively. Now that it’s the farming off-season, they’re all busy matchmaking."  

"I… even heard some villagers talking about arranging a match for Brother Huo."  

Huang Manjing’s brow twitched at that. "Huo Shu may seem cold on the outside, but he’s warm-hearted. He’s stern but upright. It’s no surprise the villagers think highly of him."  

"I think so too."  

Ji Taoyu gave a light cough. "Brother Huo has helped our family a lot. Maybe… mother could also help find a good match for him?"  

"Didn’t you say the villagers are already planning to matchmake for him?"  

"But which family with an unmarried child hasn’t had matchmakers knocking? Those matchmakers just want wedding money, they’d call black white to get paid. Most of them can't be trusted."  

Ji Taoyu added, "Mother has a good reputation in the village. Surely you’d be more trustworthy than them, right?"  

Huang Manjing looked at Ji Taoyu, hiding a smile as she played along. "Well, it’s not impossible. So, who do you think would be suitable? Any ideas?"  

"I—how would I know about these things?"  

Ji Taoyu felt a little guilty under her gaze. "Isn’t… isn’t this something mothers are better at judging?"  

"Then how about the Dong family’s ger? He’s seventeen this year. His parents are honest and hardworking, and he’s skilled and diligent himself. He’s also good-looking, I think he's a fine candidate for marriage."  

Ji Taoyu immediately objected. "No!"  

"Why not?"  

Ji Taoyu blinked under his mother’s direct stare. "The Dong family’s ger… he’s good in every way, but he’s too introverted and quiet. Brother Huo is already a man of few words. If the two of them got together, wouldn’t they barely speak three sentences a day?"  

Huang Manjing considered this. "That’s true."  

"If you want someone talkative, the Wu family’s fourth daughter or fifth ger would be good. They often go to the city to sell cloth, they’re quite chatty."  

Ji Taoyu bit his lip. "But if both of them are busy with business, then…"  

He widened his eyes slightly. "Then no one would take care of the home!"  

"Then what about Butcher Qiao’s second daughter? Huo Shu is apprenticing under him anyway. Your father says Butcher Qiao thinks highly of Huo Shu, he’s even been thinking of finding a reliable son-in-law to inherit his skills and butcher shop. Huo Shu would be perfect."  

Ji Taoyu opened his mouth to argue but couldn’t find a good reason.  

Perhaps it was precisely because this was such a good match, with no obvious flaws, that he felt particularly dejected.  

Noticing this, Huang Manjing pointed out the issue herself. "But Butcher Qiao’s second daughter grew up in the city and is used to a comfortable life. If they married, she’d never tolerate living in the Zhao family’s old earthen house. The Zhao family would either have to renovate or Huo Shu would have to move to the city."  

"But given Huo Shu’s personality, he’d never agree to live under his in-laws’ roof. And he wouldn’t feel right leaving Yuan niangzi, a widow, alone in the village with no one to look after her."  

Having said that, Huang Manjing looked at Ji Taoyu. "Don’t you think so?"  

Ji Taoyu clenched the hem of his clothes. "Mm."  

"So after all this, there’s no truly suitable candidate."  

Then, Huang Manjing suddenly turned to Ji Taoyu. "Our family has completely cut ties with the You family, and the Zhou family isn’t reliable either, they ran off at the first sign of trouble without even clarifying the situation. Now your marriage prospects are stalled. So… what about considering Huo Shu?"  

Ji Taoyu’s face flushed instantly. His eyes darted up nervously, avoiding Huang Manjing’s gaze. "Mother, what are you saying?! I—how could I?!"  

"Why not? Huo Shu has good character, and you understand him better than others."  

Huang Manjing pressed further. "Do you think the age gap is too big?"  

"I don’t."  

Ji Taoyu denied it immediately, then added, "Father… father would never agree."  

"How do you know your father wouldn’t?"  

Ji Taoyu muttered, "Mother knows how father is, when it comes to any man, he only talks about how much land they own, what property they have, their family background, their trade…"  

"Never mind what your father says. Do you care about those things?"  

"Of course I don’t!"  

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ji Taoyu realized he’d answered too quickly under his mother’s unwavering stare. He hurriedly explained, "I mean… if someone lacks integrity and practical skills, no matter how much they have, it’s only a matter of time before they lose it all."  

"So, after all this… do you like Huo Shu?" 

The question made Ji Taoyu’s cheeks burn.  

He had never thought about whether he liked or disliked anyone. Ever since he was old enough to understand, his family had told him that You Lingxiao was his future husband.  

No one had ever asked him if he actually liked You Lingxiao. Now, faced with such a question so suddenly, Ji Taoyu had no answer.

"You'd better think it over soon, or else Huo Shu might be talked into leaving by someone else, and then it'll be too late."  

Ji Taoyu was about to speak when a cheerful call came from outside.  

"Xiao Taozi!"  

Ji Taoyu raised his brows. "Father's back?"  

Just as he finished speaking, Ji Yangzong walked into the house, covered in dust and looking exhausted.

"Ah, why are you still in bed at this hour?"  

Seeing both mother and son at home, with Ji Taoyu still looking drowsy, Ji Yangzong went straight to him. "Staying cooped up inside all day isn’t good. Even if you shouldn’t wander outside the village, you should at least take walks within it."  

"Come on, get up and put on your clothes. The early plum blossoms at the foot of the mountain have already bloomed."  

Ji Taoyu was pulled by Ji Yangzong to the dressing table. Skeptical, he asked,  

"Really?"  

"Go see for yourself and you’ll know."