Chapter 17 Another Chance to Watch the Fun

Chapter 17: Another Chance to Watch the Drama

Matchmaker Zhao made a match today. She went home singing, dreaming about opening her own shop someday, and then she'd show everyone around here that she, Matchmaker Zhao, was the best there was.

That night, she brought up Lu Yun's matchmaking to her husband. He'd completely forgotten about it and was surprised she was still so hung up on it. He figured Lu Yun had probably already forgotten all about the whole matchmaking thing.

Matchmaker Zhao said, "I took Lu Yun's money. How could I just drop it like that? That guy I saw today is perfect for Lu Yun!"

Her husband replied, "She never even asked you to set her up!"

Matchmaker Zhao said, "How can you be so dumb? If there's no opportunity, I'll make one!"

The other matchmaker she used to work with, Matchmaker Li, had already quit. That was actually a good thing. She was different—she'd been a matchmaker since she was young, and now with this great opportunity, she was going to build her business bigger and stronger!

Matchmaker Zhao daydreamed, "Once these two get married, with both of them doing so well, the red envelope they give me will be fat for sure. Around here, when people mention Matchmaker Zhao, they'll say, 'Go see Matchmaker Zhao—she's the best matchmaker in this whole area!' I'm talking to you—why aren't you saying anything?"

All she got in response was her husband's snoring. What a useless man!

She didn't know that guy, so she started scheming about how to create an opportunity for herself. She was familiar with that garment factory and knew people there—one of the perks of being a matchmaker.

At work, people in the factory were paying extra attention to Lu Yun, and they kept asking about her cousin.

Lu Yun's office colleagues didn't bombard her with questions, so she just did her work as usual. After work, she headed to the cafeteria with Chen Qiao.

Lu Yun said, "You were right."

Chen Qiao asked, "Right about what?"

Lu Yun replied, "About what you said—that the best part of coming to work every day is eating at the cafeteria."

That's what made them friends—their biggest daily motivation for coming to work was the cafeteria.

Today's cafeteria food was just as good as always. Lu Yun got herself one meat dish, one veggie dish, and a soup, then found a table with Chen Qiao.

Stir-fried garlic sprouts with pork was a great dish to go with rice. Lu Yun had a weird thing—she liked most dishes fresh, but she thought garlic sprouts with pork tasted better the next day than the first. It must be because the garlic sprouts soak up more flavor over time. Freshly stir-fried garlic sprouts had their own appeal too—they were crisper and more tender.

At lunch, people in the cafeteria were gossiping as usual. Someone spotted Lu Yun and started talking about her cousin.

"Today Lu Yun's cousin got into it with Sister Lü again. After the fight, she said Sister Lü was using her position as team leader to bully her."

"Sister Lü really drew the short straw. How did Lu Yun's cousin end up in her workshop?"

"And there are guys who feel sorry for Lu Yun's cousin."

"I heard Sister Lü wants to transfer her to another workshop, but the other workshop heads don't want her."

Lu Yun perked up her ears to listen—she was curious too. Chen Qiao, sitting across from her, looked like she was about to go sit at their table. If she actually went over, she might even get to chime in.

Chen Qiao said, "Your cousin is something else. She actually managed to push Sister Lü to the edge!"

Sister Lü was usually pretty good at playing office politics, so Chen Qiao really had to admit Lu Yun's cousin was something else.

In the afternoon, Lu Yun was slacking off in the office when Sister He came to find her, wanting to talk outside. Sister He waited outside for Lu Yun, who got up casually and followed her out.

Lu Yun knew Sister He had something else in mind. It looked like she was ready to come clean now. Lu Yun didn't care—if this money-making scheme didn't work out, she could find other ways to make money.

Lu Yun was really itching to make money right now, especially after seeing that small courtyard house. She could understand why her cousin was so obsessed with that courtyard house, but she couldn't understand how someone with no money could beg the owner to sell it. And buying a courtyard house on a payment plan was even more ridiculous.

Sister He handed money to Lu Yun. "This is what our family's earned recently. Like we agreed, you get thirty percent and we keep the other seventy."

Sister He told herself seventy percent was already great. Really great!

Lu Yun asked, "Your family earned all this recently?"

Sister He's lips trembled. "Everyone in our family can knit. You know, my husband is incredibly talented—even better than me!"

When she talked about her husband, Sister He got all excited, and her nervousness faded.

Sister He really hadn't expected her husband to have such a talent!

Sister He wasn't entirely honest either. She made up a story: "Our family talked it over. Since we all have this talent, we decided to knit more. Last time we agreed on five pieces a month—that hasn't changed. Those five are from my orders at the factory. The rest are from other factories or orders we picked up around our alley."

Lu Yun was speechless. The He family was truly ridiculous. She thought they might have come up with something clever, but this was all they came up with?

Lu Yun said, "Well, your family's pretty impressive."

Sister He said, "If there are other opportunities in the future, you've got to tell us. We'll definitely keep working together. See how honest our family is!"

Sister He sounded sincere, but Lu Yun had no intention of continuing to work with them. If someone was smart, that was fine, but she was afraid of people who were dumb enough to do something dumb. The He family seemed timid but calculating, and she worried they might do something stupid.

Lu Yun said, "Give me the money from the factory orders. I don't want the rest. The orders from your alley and other factories—those are all your own finds, right?"

Sister He said, "We did use your name a little."

Lu Yun said, "Then I'll take ten percent on those."

Sister He said, "I knew from the day you came to our office that you were a good person—a fair and honest one!"

Lu Yun said, "Once it warms up, I won't be wearing your knitted sweaters anymore. Our cooperation ends after the New Year. After that, however you make money is your business."

Sister He didn't think much of it—after the New Year, when it warmed up, nobody would be knitting sweaters anyway!

Lu Yun said, "And after that, you're not allowed to use my name anymore either."

In reality, even if the He family wanted to use Lu Yun's name then, it wouldn't do them any good. Their garment factory was full of skilled workers. Some people were jealous of Sister He and wanted a piece of the action. People in the factory were already starting to copy Sister He's business, but because Lu Yun wore Sister He's sweaters and had made them limited edition, everyone kept coming to Sister He.

Once Lu Yun stopped wearing Sister He's sweaters and wore something else, the factory would move on to a new trend. If she didn't wear Sister He's sweaters anymore, people would just say that style wasn't in at the factory anymore.

When Lu Yun got home, she started counting her money. The He family really was incredibly talented and tireless. Even with only ten percent on many orders, she still made over a hundred yuan from Sister He. Now Lu Yun had over eight hundred yuan. It was honestly getting her a little excited.

The most cunning person in the He family was Sister He's husband. As he listened to Sister He happily chattering about how Lu Yun only took ten percent on some orders, he felt a bit down. He was the one who'd had the bad idea in the first place. If he hadn't, Lu Yun probably would've kept working with them. Now she probably didn't want to work with them anymore.

Aunt Li came home with her son, beaming. She'd bought a ton of groceries, clearly spending a good chunk of money. She'd even splurged on abalone—abalone wasn't cheap at all back then, and Aunt Li had gritted her teeth to buy it.

When Aunt Li brought home the abalone, everyone in the compound who'd never seen one before came over to look.

Aunt Jiang asked, "Is that abalone? Why'd your family buy something so rare? Who's coming to visit?"

Aunt Li said, "Visiting—my son's getting married. This abalone is for entertaining our future in-laws. Tomorrow my daughter-in-law and her family are coming over for a meal!"

Aunt Li kept glancing toward the Sun family's house. Despite all the commotion in the compound, not a single person from the Sun family came out.

Once she and her son were back inside, Aunt Li could barely hide her joy. "This daughter-in-law of yours is better than that Zhao Lan. Nobody in our compound has a daughter-in-law as good as yours! Your father must be blessing you from above!"

If the Sun family dared to cause trouble, she'd fight them one by one. If they came in pairs, she'd take them on in pairs. It'd be the perfect chance to settle old and new scores at once!

Aunt Jiang came to pry for info about Aunt Li's daughter-in-law, but Aunt Li kept her mouth shut. Aunt Jiang said angrily, "You won't even tell me? We're old sisters! Your lips are really sealed tight!"

Aunt Li said, "Once she marries in, you'll see for yourself."

Lu's parents guessed what kind of wife Li Zhuang had found.

Lu's father said, "Aunt Li dotes on this son so much. She treasures him since he's all she's got, and she'd rather go without eating herself just to give him more to eat. How else would Li Zhuang have gotten that build? The kind of daughter-in-law she'd pick for her precious son would definitely be someone obedient and sweet."

Lu's mother agreed, "Even if she found a daughter-in-law from the countryside like the Sun family did, Aunt Li would still treat her well. From the look on her face when she came back today, she seems really satisfied with her daughter-in-law."

Lu Yun said, "I can't even picture what kind of daughter-in-law would satisfy Aunt Li."

The next day, Lu Yun was in such a hurry that even the head of their logistics department noticed. Figuring she had something urgent to take care of, he let her head out early. Since there wasn't much work in their office anyway, Lu Yun thanked him, grabbed her stuff, and took off.

When she arrived at the compound, the Li family was already cooking. Aunt Li clearly thought a lot of her in-laws and future daughter-in-law, and it showed in the dishes she was preparing. Folks in the compound noticed Aunt Li had already cooked up nearly eight dishes! Lu Yun also bumped into Li Zhuang outside the alley, where he was waiting for his future in-laws and bride.

Aunt Jiang piped up, "Aren't you cooking way too much?"

That was already the ninth dish.

Aunt Li said, "There are a lot of people."

Li Zhuang arrived with over a dozen people. Seeing those beefy men and rough-looking women, everyone was totally stunned. What kind of family was this? How had Aunt Li found such in-laws for Li Zhuang? Then they looked at the youngest girl among them, standing right next to Li Zhuang. She must be the one he was going to marry. She seemed completely out of place with the rest of her family.

Li Zhuang, on the other hand, looked like he fit right in with them.

Some of the compound residents recognized these people. Aunt Jiang spoke up first, "Aren't these the ones who came to cause a scene last time!"

They were Li Cai's family—Sun Zhi's first blind date. The Lis had come demanding the Suns apologize, and the whole compound had gotten a good show out of it back then. Now it looked like they were in for another show!

Author's note:

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