Xiaoguo the Matchmaker

Zhuang Zhuang let Mrs. Kong help him to put on more layers while he remained frozen on the spot, looking like a wooden figurine.

“I… noticed that the windows were open. I was about to close them.”

Zhuang Zhuang trembled as he looked into the other party’s sympathetic gaze and told a lie in his childish voice.

Madam Kong didn’t suspect anything. She nodded and added a few more pieces of charcoal to the brazier in his room.

“I’ll ask your master to check tomorrow if the windows have come loose. We can’t live with broken windows in winter. When you fall sick, you’ll feel awful and it’s even worse for your mother. The last time you fell sick, you might not have noticed it since you were unwell, but your mother had come to pick you up with red swollen eyes. She must have been worried sick about you not eating or sleeping well.”

Zhuang Zhuang’s nose tingled, and tears were welling up in his eyes again. Before, it was only him and his mother, and her thoughts were always focused on him. But now that there were more people around them, his mother couldn’t focus all her attention on him anymore. That made him very sad.

Madam Kong didn’t say anything else. She pulled him back to the bed and watched him lie down before saying, “Quickly go to sleep.”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded obediently.

Madam Kong made sure that the boy was well wrapped up in the blanket before she left the room.

After closing the door, the smile on her face froze and she sighed softly to herself.

She saw the little guy open the windows himself earlier. Sigh… She really felt like telling him the truth so that he wouldn’t feel so sad anymore.

Madam Kong raised her hand and then put it down. After hesitating for a moment, she turned and walked away.

She couldn’t say it. If she did, the surprise would be ruined…

Suppressing her impulse to tell the boy the truth, she walked away for a short distance before turning back again.

Thump, thump, thump…

“Zhuang Zhuang, it’s Madam. Your mother told me something and I almost forgot to tell you about it.”

Madam Kong held her breath and listened intently to the sounds behind the door. Then, she continued speaking, “Your mother said she will come and pick you up in a couple of days and you will be staying with her for a few days. She didn’t say why, but you don’t need to worry about it. Rest early, I will leave now.”

With that, Madam Kong returned to her room with relief. She did not let the cat out of the bag. It was just a reminder. She hoped that Zhuang Zhuang would not try anything silly again.

She didn’t expect the little guy to worry so much at such a young age.

Zhuang Zhuang closed his eyes to hide his tears.

For some inexplicable reason, he had opened the windows just now, hoping to fall sick. In that way, his mother would pay more attention to him and she would belong solely to him again.

He really didn’t expect himself to have such foolish thoughts. His mother always loves him and she mentioned before that he was her heart. Therefore, he shouldn’t hurt himself just to grab her attention.

He didn’t hate everyone. He was just feeling unaccustomed to the additional family members, who were taking his mother’s attention away from him. He was feeling unaccustomed to the long separation away from his mother. He was only feeling unaccustomed, that’s all…

And more importantly, he was filled with anticipation when Mrs. Kong told him that his mother would bring him home in a few days. Was it because of his birthday?

Although he didn’t know why his mother and the others were suddenly hiding things from him, it didn’t matter as long as they remembered his birthday.

A smile quickly appeared on the little man’s face as he closed his eyes while chanting in his heart, “Let the days pass quickly.”

—-

Time passed quickly. It was the day before Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday.

The snow had stopped falling before daybreak. Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling were building a snowman outside the house. When they saw Xiaoguo, they greeted her happily.

“Sister Xiaoguo, look. Which snowman looks better, Yu Ling or mine?”

When Yu Ling heard this, she immediately said before Xiaoguo could speak, “Of course it’s mine! Isn’t that right, Sister Xiaoguo?”

She was very confident that her snowman was looking good—it even had arms and legs. “It definitely looks better than Xiao Zhu’s snowman which has branches for its limbs!”

Xiaoguo pretended to be conflicted as she thought about it. Looking at the expectant gazes of the two of them, she became dumbfounded.

She couldn’t find a winner between the two snowmen. But in terms of ugliness, they were definitely on par with each other.

One snowman was covered in branches. With two potatoes as eyes, its body was pitch-black.

The other snowman had a round body, two super long legs, and a pair of discordant arms.

In any case, the more she looked at them, the more bizarre they looked.

After much deliberation, Xiaoguo came to a less hurtful conclusion.

“They both don’t look good.”

That’s right. She only said that they didn’t look good. She didn’t use the word ugly. It was a very heartwarming answer.

“Ah…”

Just as expected, the two of them immediately wailed once Xiaoguo said that. What kind of answer was that…?

Xiaoguo laughed and said, “I’m going to the county to pick up Zhuang Zhuang later. Are you coming with me?”

The two girls shook their heads in unison. At this moment, they were keen to find out the winner. If there is no conclusion, then no one is going to leave.

“When you get back, I’ll show you what the most beautiful snowman in the world looks like.”

When Xiao Zhu heard Yu Ling’s words, she immediately smiled and accepted it. “It will be created by me.”

Yu Ling gave her a sidelong glance and snorted. “Let’s find out!”

“Hmph!”

Neither of them believed the other, each thinking that their own snowman was the most beautiful.

Turning their heads with their backs facing each other, they started working on their snowmen, determined to outdo each other.

Xiaoguo shook her head helplessly and then stretched her body lazily before walking away. She should go take her breakfast first.

When she was going to leave the house after taking her breakfast, the two of them were still building their snowmen.

“I’m leaving. Hurry up and eat before the food turns cold.”

“Got it!”

“Be careful, Sister Xiaoguo…”

Without even turning their heads to say goodbye, they immediately immersed themselves into building their snowmen again.

Retracting her gaze helplessly, Xiaoguo closed the door, and drove off.

Before picking Zhuang Zhuang up, Xiaoguo made a trip to the noodle shop.

“Sister Xiaoguo, I bought a set of beautiful clothes for Zhuang Zhuang…”

Ruyi said proudly to Xiaoguo, clearly very satisfied with her gift.

“As long as it’s not pink.”

Xiaoguo looked at her and said, “Zhuang Zhuang will definitely have nightmares if he sees the color pink.”

“Don’t worry, The clothes are not pink.”

They were peach pink.

Xiaoguo looked at Ruyi’s smirk and felt that things were definitely not simple.

“Remember to bring Shu Botong along for lunch tomorrow.”

As soon as Xiaoguo finished speaking, Ruyi responded reluctantly.

“Why should I bring him along? Just giving him a bowl of longevity noodles is good enough.”

Xiaoguo took a sip of tea and slowly sized up Ruyi.

Ruyi was feeling uncomfortable from her gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“Ruyi, let me ask you something.”

Xiaoguo put down her teacup and looked at the nervous girl. “Do you still wish to be my sister-in-law?”

“Sister Xiaoguo…”

Ruyi immediately covered her mouth shyly and looked nervously at Qin Anming, who had just walked over. After confirming that he didn’t hear Xiaoguo, she said weakly, “What’s the use of wishing on my part?”

“Do you want me to find out for you?”

Judging from her words, it looked like she still had feelings for Qin Anming. That would make things easier. If not, such a nice girl could end up with someone else.

Ruyi was thinking of letting things take their own course, but she hesitated when she turned to look at the busy Qin Anming. In the end, she nodded and gave consent to Xiaoguo without saying a word.

She liked Brother Anming, but he always maintained a distance from her. If there was no third party involved, their relationship would stay like this forever.

It was good to find out what his thoughts were. Then at least she would have some clarity on the matter.

In this aspect, Ruyi was much braver than Qin Anming.

Xiaoguo smiled and looked at Qin Anming, who was busy working at the side. She didn’t believe that he had no feelings for Ruyi. If he didn’t, why did he stumble when he walked past her just now?

“Playing matchmaker every now and then can be fun. Hehe…”

“I’ll get going.”

After bidding farewell, she went to look for Shu Botong. No matter what, she had to inform him. Otherwise, he would get very upset if she really left him out.

Xiaoguo truly believed that if he found out that he was left out of the party, he would walk all the way to Peach Blossom Village to settle scores with her. Even if he didn’t know the exact address, he would go from house to house to find them.

Sometimes, Shu Botong could be very stubborn in that way.