Di ruang utama, Liang Panqiu, Nenek, dan Bibi Kelima duduk mengelilingi anglo sambil mengobrol. Pintu utama terbuka lebar, jadi percakapan di luar terdengar jelas. Liang Panqiu berusaha mati-matian mempertahankan senyumnya, tapi itu perjuangan berat. Raut wajahnya kaku, senyumnya canggung menyakitkan.
*Sikap dingin dan acuh Xiao Man sudah memupus habis harapannya untuk menikahkan putrinya dengan keluarga ini. Dan kata "pembalasan" dari komentar Yu Wumei tadi membuatnya merinding ketakutan. Ia sudah mengatur beberapa perjodohan, dua di antaranya sangat menguntungkan. Tapi itu murni perjodohan biasa—semua syarat ditentukan pihak keluarga laki-laki, pihak keluarga perempuan, dan dirinya sebagai mak comblang, tanpa peduli keinginan gadis-gadis itu. Ia tahu betul dua gadis itu dipaksa menikah dan sekarang hidup sengsara, tapi apa hubungannya dengan dirinya? Ia cuma perantara. Siapa pernah dengar mak comblang harus menjamin kebahagiaan sepasang suami istri seumur hidup?*
Saat Liang Panqiu mulai gelisah, samar-samar ia mendengar deru traktor dari balik dinding pekarangan. Putrinya, Zhang Lanni, berlari sambil berseru riang, "Ibu! Ibu! Wang Ligao datang menjemput kita pakai traktor! Sepupuku, Li Hua, ikut datang!"
Liang Panqiu buru-buru berkata kepada Nenek dan Bibi Kelima, "Bibi, Bibi Kelima, Li Hua ini keponakan suami saya, sepupu Lanni. Sopirnya, Wang Ligao, suami keponakan saya. Mereka baru menggelar resepsi pernikahan beberapa waktu lalu. Bibi pasti sudah dengar kabarnya!"
Bibi Kelima tersenyum tanpa berkata apa-apa. Nenek berkata datar, "Bagus kalau ada yang menjemput. Kalian berdua boleh langsung berangkat. Di luar berangin, kami tidak perlu mengantar."
Liang Panqiu: "..."
*Ia tadi ingin mengundang keponakan dan suaminya masuk sebentar, memamerkan rumah baru pamannya yang bagus itu. Bibinya biasanya begitu ramah; pasti ia akan menyuruh Qiuyan menyeduh teh panas dan membawa keluar kue serta biskuit dari kamar dalam untuk para tamu. Dengan keluarga paman yang begitu pemurah dan kaya, nama baiknya ikut terangkat. Kedudukannya di mata generasi muda akan naik setelah ini.*
Tapi ia tidak menduga sikap bibinya. Hati Liang Panqiu menciut.
Sekarang traktor sudah parkir di luar gerbang pekarangan dan mesinnya dimatikan, suara bising itu pun lenyap. Di pekarangan, Gu Shaoqin menghela napas lega. Ia tidak masalah tinggal di desa, tapi ia benar-benar benci traktor. Suaranya cukup membuat orang tuli.
Dapeng, yang berjongkok di depan pintu dapur mengukir gasing kayu, melirik ke arah gerbang tanpa berkata apa-apa. *Cuma traktor tua rombeng, itu disebut "datang pakai kendaraan"? Truk Dongfeng besar keluargaku, itu baru namanya kendaraan.*
Zhang Lanni tidak tahu apa yang dipikirkan orang lain. Ia tenggelam total dalam kegembiraan bisa pulang naik traktor. Ia bergegas masuk ruang utama, tidak mendengar Nenek menolak mengundang sepupunya dan Wang Ligao masuk. Saat melihat ibunya berdiri untuk pergi, ia mengira ibunya akan mengundang mereka secara pribadi. Jadi Zhang Lanni langsung berbalik dan berlari kembali ke gerbang pekarangan menyambut sepupunya. Sepupunya punya kerabat lain di Desa Gongdao dan sudah beberapa kali berkunjung. Ia sudah lama iri pada pekarangan dan rumah baru keluarga Fang dan sangat ingin melihat bagian dalamnya. *Aku harus mewujudkan keinginan sepupuku!* pikirnya.
Entah kenapa, Zhang Lanni mengangkat dagu dan melirik Xiao Man dengan pandangan meremehkan dan angkuh, seolah berkata, *Apa hebatnya kamu? Biar saja kamu tidak mau jadi kerabatku. Aku punya kerabat lain yang mengesankan untuk dipamerkan!*
Xiao Man langsung meletakkan gunting besar di tangannya dan mengikuti Zhang Lanni serta Liang Panqiu. Da Zhi kebetulan juga menangkap lirikan Zhang Lanni. *Apa-apaan ini?* pikirnya. *Sepupu-sepupu yang ini tidak ada yang berguna. Semuanya cari gara-gara.*
Ia berhenti mengikat sulur bunga dan memanggil Gu Shaoqin untuk menyusul Xiao Man bersamanya.
Di gerbang pekarangan, Liang Panqiu menyambut keponakannya, Zhang Lihua, dan suaminya, Wang Ligao. Zhang Lanni langsung menarik tangan Zhang Lihua. "Sepupu Li Hua, rumah paman buyut kami dari luar kelihatan hebat, kan? Nah, aku bilang ya, di dalamnya jauh lebih cantik, lapang, dan nyaman! Renovasinya luar biasa! Setiap kamar, untuk siapa pun penghuninya, ada tempat tidur bertingkat dan lemari modular, semuanya baru dan mengilap! Ada TV warna besar di ruang utama dan satu lagi di lantai dua! Mereka bahkan punya mesin cuci, dan katanya sebentar lagi kulkas akan diantar!"
"Benarkah? Keluarga paman buyutmu kaya sekali! Aku yakin mereka bukan cuma 'rumah tangga sepuluh ribu yuan'—paling sedikit seratus ribu yuan!"
Perempuan muda itu, Li Hua, mendengus berulang kali, wajahnya penuh iri. Ia menoleh ke Liang Panqiu. "Bibi, kalau Lanni menyebutnya paman buyut, berarti dia juga paman buyutku. Ayolah, ajak aku masuk untuk melihat-lihat! Aku sangat suka rumah besar yang baru!"
Liang Panqiu ragu sejenak, tapi Zhang Lanni sudah menyeret sepupunya masuk. "Aku kembali justru untuk menjemputmu, ayo masuk! Rumahnya empat lantai! Butuh sekitar dua puluh menit untuk melihat semuanya. Aku lihat Kakak Sepupu Xinghua dan suaminya naik ke atas. Mereka juga pengantin baru, jadi kamarnya pasti penuh barang baru yang bagus. Ini kesempatan tepat untukku mengajakmu melihat kamar mereka!,
In the main hall, Liang Panqiu, Grandma, and Fifth Auntie were sitting around a brazier, talking. The main door was wide open, so they could clearly hear the conversations from outside. Liang Panqiu tried her best to maintain her smile, but it was a struggle. Her expression was stiff, her smile painfully awkward.
’Xiao Man’s cold indifference had completely extinguished her hopes of having her daughter marry into the family. And that word "retribution" from Yu Wumei’s comment sent a shiver of fear through her. She had arranged several marriages, two of which had been extremely profitable. But they had been arranged marriages, plain and simple—the terms were settled entirely by the groom’s family, the bride’s family, and herself as the matchmaker, with no regard for the girls’ wishes. She knew perfectly well that those two girls had been forced to marry and were now miserable, but what did that have to do with her? She was just the go-between. Who ever heard of a matchmaker having to guarantee a couple’s happiness for life?’
Just as Liang Panqiu was starting to feel restless, she faintly heard the CHUG-CHUG-CHUG of a tractor from beyond the courtyard walls. Her daughter, Zhang Lanni, came running and shouting happily, "Mom! Mom! Wang Ligao is here to pick us up with the tractor! My cousin, Li Hua, came too!"
Liang Panqiu hurriedly said to Grandma and Fifth Auntie, "Auntie, Fifth Auntie, this Li Hua is my husband’s niece, Lanni’s cousin. The driver, Wang Ligao, is my niece’s husband. They just had their wedding reception a short while ago. I’m sure you’ve heard about it!"
Fifth Auntie smiled but said nothing. Grandma said flatly, "It’s good that someone is here to pick you up. You two can be on your way, then. It’s windy outside, so we won’t see you out."
Liang Panqiu: "..."
’She had wanted to invite her niece and nephew-in-law inside for a bit, to give them a tour of her uncle’s beautiful new house. Her aunt was usually so agreeable; she would have surely told Qiuyan to make some hot tea and bring out sweets and cookies from the inner rooms for the guests. With her uncle’s family being so generous and wealthy, it would reflect well on her. She would have more standing with the younger generation after this.’
But she hadn’t expected her aunt’s attitude. Liang Panqiu’s heart sank.
By now, the tractor had parked outside the courtyard gate and its engine was off, silencing the racket. In the courtyard, Gu Shaoqin breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t mind living in the countryside, but he absolutely despised these tractors. The noise was enough to deafen a person.
Dapeng, who was squatting by the kitchen door carving a wooden spinning top, glanced speechlessly toward the courtyard gate. ’It’s just a beat-up old tractor, and she calls that "arriving in a vehicle"? My family’s big Dongfeng truck, now *that’s* a real vehicle.’
Zhang Lanni had no idea what anyone else was thinking. She was completely absorbed in the joy of getting to ride the tractor home. Rushing into the main hall, she didn’t hear Grandma decline to invite her cousin and Wang Ligao inside. When she saw her mother stand up to leave, she assumed she was going to extend the invitation personally. So, Zhang Lanni immediately turned and ran back to the courtyard gate to greet her cousin. Her cousin had other relatives in Gongdao Village and had visited a few times. She had long been green with envy over the Fang family’s courtyard and new house and was dying to see the inside. ’I have to make my cousin’s wish come true!’ she thought.
For some reason, Zhang Lanni lifted her chin and shot Xiao Man a disdainful, arrogant sideways glance, as if to say, ’What’s so great about you? So what if you don’t want to be my relative? I have other impressive relatives I can show off!’
Xiao Man immediately put down the large shears in her hands and followed Zhang Lanni and Liang Panqiu. Da Zhi happened to catch Zhang Lanni’s glance as well. ’What the hell?’ he thought. ’None of these cousins are worth a damn. Every single one of them is asking for a beating.’
He stopped tying up the flower vines and called for Gu Shaoqin to follow Xiao Man with him.
At the courtyard gate, Liang Panqiu greeted her niece, Zhang Lihua, and nephew-in-law, Wang Ligao. Zhang Lanni immediately grabbed Zhang Lihua by the hand. "Cousin Li Hua, our great-uncle’s house looks amazing from the outside, doesn’t it? Well, let me tell you, it’s even more beautiful, spacious, and comfortable inside! The renovation is incredible! Every single room, no matter who it’s for, has bunk beds and modular wardrobes, all brand-new and shiny! There’s a big color TV in the main hall and another one on the second floor! They even have a washing machine, and I heard they’re getting a refrigerator delivered soon!"
"Really? Your great-uncle’s family is so rich! I bet they’re more than just a ’ten-thousand-yuan household’—they must have at least a hundred thousand yuan!"
The young woman, Li Hua, gasped repeatedly, her face a mask of envy. She turned to Liang Panqiu. "Auntie, if Lanni calls him Great-uncle, then he’s my great-uncle too. Please, take me inside for a look! I just love big, new houses!"
Liang Panqiu hesitated for a moment, but Zhang Lanni was already pulling her cousin inside. "I came back to get you, so let’s go! It has four floors! It’ll take us a good twenty minutes to see everything. I saw Cousin Xinghua and her husband go upstairs. They’re newlyweds too, so their room is bound to be full of all kinds of new, nice things. It’s the perfect chance for me to give you a tour of her room!"
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