Xiao Yang had been waiting at the village entrance since early that morning. As soon as he spotted them, he ran over.

"Chunlan, Grandpa, you’re here!"

Wang Chunlan looked at Xiao Yang and nodded with a quiet "mm-hm," her face growing a little red.

Cuiyun’s mother said grumpily, "And what, you don’t see this old lady? I see, once you have a wife, you forget all about your own grandma."

Xiao Yang hurried to his grandmother’s side and hugged her arm, giving it a little shake. "Oh, Grandma, listen to you! How could I ever forget you? You must be tired from the journey. Let’s get you home so you can rest."

Only then did Cuiyun’s mother smile and tap Xiao Yang on the head.

"You’re here! Please, come in."

Mr. Wang was older than Mr. He, but his voice was loud and clear. "This is a nice courtyard. Newly built, I take it?"

Mr. He nodded. "Yes. My oldest grandson here, he followed my youngest son to Beijing City to run a small business. He earned a bit of money, came back a few years ago, and put up this house."

Mr. Wang glanced at Little Chen. He was a good judge of character. Nodding at Little Chen, he said, "You can tell just by the look of this boy that he’ll have a promising future."

Everyone loves to hear their children praised for having a bright future, so Mr. He was beaming. He invited Mr. Wang into the house. There, of course, he got a look at the girl. She was quite pretty, though a bit tan. ’But that’s to be expected,’ he thought. ’No one who works the fields in the village is fair-skinned. It’d be stranger if you weren’t tan after being in the sun all day. That’s not important. What really matters is her character.’

Mr. He and Mr. Wang started talking about their respective villages, and the conversation naturally drifted to the matter of their grandchildren’s marriage.

Mr. Wang said, "I’ve had a hard life. My wife died young, and my son and daughter-in-law passed away in a kiln accident years ago, leaving me with just this one granddaughter. I raised her all by myself. She’s a good, capable girl and very filial—never gives me a thing to worry about. But a girl has to marry eventually. I don’t care if her husband’s family is wealthy, as long as he treats my Chunlan well. Xiao Yang is a good kid, steady and reliable. I know they can build a good life together. The only thing is, this girl is stubborn. She insists on staying home after getting married, says she’s worried about me. At my age... forgive me for being blunt, but even if I dropped dead tomorrow, I’d say I’ve lived a full life."

"Grandpa—" Wang Chunlan protested.

Mr. Wang just smiled at her. "All right, all right. I won’t talk about it anymore, happy?"

Wang Chunlan addressed them directly. "My condition remains the same. I don’t need a bride price, but after we get married, we either live at my house, or my grandfather moves here to live with me. Otherwise, this marriage is off."

Xiao Yang looked anxiously at Wang Chunlan. "Chunlan..."

Mr. He spoke up. "The He Family is a well-established family in Da Liushu Village. Xiao Yang is the first of his generation to marry, so of course we will offer a bride price. However, I must be clear on one point: our Xiao Yang is not marrying into your family. You know our situation. Xiao Yang’s father passed away, and his mother had a hard time raising him and his brother. We can’t let her go through all that hardship just to see her son join another family and abandon her. That’s unacceptable. We could never agree to that."

Mr. Wang nodded. "That’s only right."

"Would you be willing to move to our village, Mr. Wang?" Mr. He suddenly asked.

Wang Chunlan looked toward her grandfather. Having lived as long as he had, what was there that Mr. Wang couldn’t accept? Parting with his granddaughter was the only thing that truly mattered to him; everything else was trivial.

"I can make a living anywhere," he said. "I just can’t bear to be apart from my granddaughter. Do you have a house available here?"

In the end, they unexpectedly settled on a solution: Mr. Wang would move into the old He Family home. The old family home had plenty of rooms, most of which were now vacant. The room that once belonged to He Lang had been sold to the second son, but it was currently empty. They could build a wall around it to create a separate courtyard. By living in the same village, no one’s life would be disrupted.

Mr. He said, "The house is in good shape. I’ll take you to have a look in a little while."

Mr. Wang agreed.

The issue was resolved in a way no one had expected. And no one was happier about it than Xiao Yang. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"But what about the household registration?"

Mr. He replied, "That’s not a problem. I’ll speak with the village head and have your registration transferred to our village along with your granddaughter’s."

"That would be good."

And just like that, the matter was settled. The next step was to discuss a wedding date for the young couple.

They finally set the date for sometime before spring, when no one would be too busy.

The He family had Mr. Wang and his granddaughter stay for lunch. Afterward, Cuiyun’s mother left with them, and Xiao Yang walked them all the way to the village entrance before turning back.

Mrs. He teased, "See that? People always say a daughter’s heart flies away when she’s grown, but it’s the same for a son."

Gao Cuiyun smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. "Dad, you really do have all the solutions."

Mr. He chuckled. "Problems are rigid, but people are flexible. You just have to find a solution. That girl seems like a good person, too. Once she marries into the family, you’ll have some company."

Gao Cuiyun nodded. ’She’s about to become my daughter-in-law, after all. I’ll be sure to treat her well,’ she resolved.

The very next morning, Xiao Yang went to the old family home to start building the wall. He’d already hauled over all the bricks left over from their last construction project.

His family didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his antics. Seeing his grandson’s enthusiasm, Mr. He figured he had better hurry up and take care of the promise he’d made.

He went back inside, grabbed a bottle of fine liquor they’d brought back from Beijing City and half a packet of tea, and headed off to find the village head.

With Xiao Yang’s marriage settled, Gao Cuiyun turned her attention back to Little Chen, resuming her usual lectures.

"See? Xiao Yang’s engagement is settled. So what about you?"

Little Chen just looked at his mother and smiled.

"’What about me?’"

Cuiyun said, exasperated, "About getting married, of course! How can you not be the least bit anxious? Everyone in the village your age is already married. How much longer are you going to wait?"

Little Chen sighed. "Mom, I’ve already told you, you can’t rush these things. It has to be fate. It’s no use being anxious. Look at Third Uncle—didn’t he wait until he was twenty-eight to get married?"

Little did He Lang know that his late marriage had become a precedent for the younger generation to follow.

"You want to follow your Third Uncle’s example on this? Your Third Uncle has high standards; he went on countless blind dates and never found anyone he liked. But you? You haven’t been on a single one. Why don’t I have someone set you up on a few dates before the New Year? You might find a girl you like."

Little Chen waved his hands dismissively. "Let’s not. I don’t want to get married yet. Mom, you’re about to have a daughter-in-law, so just focus on Xiao Yang and Chunlan’s wedding for now. You don’t need to worry about me. When I finally feel like settling down, I promise I’ll come back and have you introduce me to some girls. How about that?"

"By the time you feel like getting married, all the good girls will already be taken! Who do you think is going to wait around for you?"

Little Chen nodded quickly. "Right, you’re right. I’ll definitely take it more seriously. I’m just going to go check on how Xiao Yang’s wall is coming along." And with that, he made a hasty retreat.

Gao Cuiyun watched Little Chen’s retreating figure and sighed. ’I’ve put too much pressure on him all these years,’ she thought, ’and so he keeps putting off his marriage.’