Chapter 10

Chapter 2, The Matchmaker

"Ah, I wonder what’s wrong with our Hongshui these days. The price of garlic has skyrocketed. Although garlic usually gets more expensive during the New Year, this year it’s ridiculously high..." Wang Ling complained, muttering to herself. "Garlic that usually costs two or three mao per catty has risen to seven or eight mao this year. I’m worried it will keep rising, so I bought a lot to store at home. After all, it doesn’t spoil easily in the winter..."

"Yang Zixuan..." The tall man standing beside her thought for a moment, finally remembering the name, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "You’re the new county magistrate of our county?"

Wang Ling gave the tall man a withering glance and then ignored him, turning to Yang Zixuan with a smile. "County Magistrate Yang, he’s just like that, always overreacting. Don’t take him seriously."

Yang Zixuan was lost in thought, staring at the garlic in Wang Ling’s hand, and clearly didn’t hear her words.

But this frightened the tall man, who thought the young county magistrate was angry. Being young and in a high position, it was easy for people to think he was arrogant. "County Magistrate Yang, I didn’t know it was you just now. I apologize for my rudeness..." The tall man was almost incoherent.

After all, in the 1990s, the invisible authority of officials was still very strong in the minds of ordinary people.

"Who are you?" Yang Zixuan finally came to his senses and asked.

"He’s Chi Xin, the son of the director of the county’s Culture Bureau." Wang Ling quickly answered.

Yang Zixuan said, "Oh," and didn’t look at him again. He patted Wang Ling on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for telling me about the garlic situation today. Keep up the good work." Then he walked away in the drizzling rain.

Wang Ling and Chi Xin were left with puzzled and bewildered expressions.

Talking about the rise in garlic prices was enough to earn a compliment from the county magistrate, which was a first for Wang Ling.

What she didn’t know was that Yang Zixuan, a former business prodigy, quickly saw the potential profit in this situation.

Although his career didn’t lack for food and clothing, having his own money could help him resist many temptations, and Yang Zixuan understood this. Since he had been reborn, with the country in a state of reconstruction, he wanted to make a name for himself in the business world, to make up for the regrets of his previous life.

Of course, he would not use his political resources.

Everything would be purely commercial.

In the 1990s, many policies in China were not yet open, and the most profitable thing was often reselling permits and the like. However, this was not something Yang Zixuan was willing to do, as it would leave him vulnerable to political enemies.

So, he decided to resell garlic.

Of course, he couldn’t do this himself. As the county magistrate, even though he was just a minor official, the county government was the foundation of the country’s power, and people would still pay attention to him.

He immediately thought of Su Chen. Without a doubt, whether in his previous life or this one, she was the person he trusted the most.

The Su family lived in a housing complex in Hongshui, but their conditions were not as good as those of Cao Mei’s building.

The Su family didn’t have a telephone, as it was still a luxury in a remote southern county like Hongshui. Most ordinary families couldn’t afford it, so Yang Zixuan had to go to Su Chen’s house in person.

Most of the leadership in Hongshui had fallen, so Yang Zixuan recommended Su Ming to be the deputy factory manager in charge of production at Hongshui Textile. After all, Hongshui Textile was once the leading state-owned enterprise in the county, and even in decline, it was still a significant player. Yang Zixuan wanted to boost the local economy and needed to place a trusted ally in the factory.

However, when Yang Zixuan arrived at Su Chen’s house, he heard a noisy commotion inside, with women’s and men’s voices, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Yang Zixuan knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a middle-aged woman who, despite looking a bit ill, had a clear look of joy on her face. She was most likely Su Chen’s mother.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The middle-aged woman looked at the man in front of her with some confusion. He was dressed simply but had a scholarly and refined air about him.

"Hello, Auntie. My name is Yang Zixuan. I need to talk to Su Chen. Is she here?" Yang Zixuan said confidently.

"Come in then." The middle-aged woman opened the door. "Xiao Chen, someone’s here to see you."

Su Chen was sitting uncomfortably in the living room. She turned her head and saw Yang Zixuan peeking in, surprised, and covered her mouth. "County Magistrate Yang..."

She didn’t finish the word "Magistrate" before Yang Zixuan’s glare made her swallow it.

Yang Zixuan entered the living room and saw several people sitting there, including a young man sitting next to Su Chen. Beside him were a middle-aged couple, who looked like his parents, and a chatty, smiling matchmaker.

Seeing the setup, Yang Zixuan understood. This was a matchmaking session.

In a small southern county, it was common to arrange marriages before and after the New Year. The matchmaker, who was likely the chatty woman, was probably facilitating the process.

Su Ming had been dating a girl, but she had always looked down on him for not being successful. The marriage had been delayed, but now that he was the deputy factory manager, he was a legitimate leader, and the marriage was back on the table. They were likely to get married by the end of the year, so Su Chen’s marriage was also on the agenda.

Seeing Yang Zixuan, Su Chen felt like she had found a savior. She immediately stood up and pouted, "County Magistrate Yang, why are you here?"

"Xiao Chen, who is he?" The young man’s voice was somewhat confrontational. He was dressed well, wearing a leather coat that was a foreign brand, which was a big deal in this era.

"I’m just a friend of Xiao Chen’s." Yang Zixuan answered before Su Chen could, smiling faintly and sitting down on a small wooden chair.

Su Chen, being a young girl, didn’t know what he was up to, pouted, and sat down on a small stool next to him.

The young man was not pleased.

The matchmaker, the chatty woman, also felt that Yang Zixuan’s arrival was a downer, but his scholarly demeanor made her hesitate. She smiled and asked, "Xiao Chen, who is this young man? I haven’t heard you mention him before."

"He works at the same unit as Su Ming." Yang Zixuan cut in.

"Oh? Are you also a cadre at Hongshui Textile? Which department?" The matchmaker asked, almost instinctively. Su Ming was nearly thirty and had been the county magistrate’s secretary for years before becoming a deputy factory manager, which was considered young. The young man in front of her was even younger, so she assumed he was just a small cadre in one of the departments.

"I’m not a cadre at Hongshui Textile." Yang Zixuan continued.

This made the matchmaker and the young man’s faces show a mix of relief and disdain.

Just a regular worker at Hongshui Textile!

"Excuse me, young man, hasn’t your department leader taught you to respect your superiors? You should call Su Ming ‘Factory Manager Su,’ not just ‘Su Ming.’ How can you call him by his name?" The matchmaker was a bit angry. "Which department are you from? I’ll have to talk to your department leader and have them teach you some manners."

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