I didn't tell anyone about the incident of me encountering evil spirits, and Uncle Liu also kept it a secret for us, so nobody knows about it.

During the Ghost Festival in July, we need to pay tribute to our ancestors, and during the twelfth lunar month, we need to ensure that our ancestors bless me to get into university. There are also some agricultural tasks in the fields, so I didn't go back to school and stayed at home to help.

In the following days, everything returned to normal.

When the villagers heard that I had come back, many people came to see me.

Some brought gifts, some high school students came to ask about studying, and some just wanted to chat and find out the latest news from the city.

But the majority were matchmakers.

People came from ten miles away, even from neighboring counties, and some even brought photos, discussing their good conditions.

Last year, during the twelfth lunar month, when my father held a banquet to celebrate my academic success, I didn't feel that university students were anything special. But now, I understand.

My mother was overjoyed in her heart, but she kept a calm expression on her face. She said that I still had to go to university and couldn't get married now as it would delay the girl, so let's discuss it after graduation.

Although she said that, people who came to propose marriage still kept coming, not just women, but also a man.

This person was a drum maker from a neighboring village, in his thirties, and everyone called him Old Li.

Old Li came to our village that day to deliver drums, and after delivering the drums, he brought two watermelons to my father.

At that time, everyone in our village dressed plainly, not to mention the city where people dressed in blue, green, gray or black.

But Old Li was wearing a leather jacket, had a neatly combed hairstyle, and even wore a pair of trendy glasses.

This outfit was considered extremely fashionable, not just in our village, but also in the city.

After Old Li entered the house, he started chatting with my mother, first complimenting the good feng shui of our ancestors' graves, and then praising my mother's good taste.

He made my mother very happy.

Then Old Li switched the topic:

"I heard that university students nowadays are into free love. They study during class and look for partners after class."

My mother immediately became nervous.

Old Li then listed various drawbacks of free love, such as not being able to eat together, not knowing about each other's family background, different customs for dowry, and if you find someone from another province, then during the Lunar New Year, you would have to travel between two places.

I was reading inside the house at that time, but I pricked up my ears and listened to Old Li speaking about these things in the yard. I thought he had ulterior motives.

Sure enough, Old Li continued and said that it would be better for me to find someone whom I know well, someone who can stabilize my heart. He had a niece who was about the same age as me...

After beating around the bush for a while, it turned out that Old Li had come to propose marriage for his niece.

My mother didn't directly refuse, but said that we can arrange for both sides to meet when we have time.

As Old Li was leaving, he also came inside and chatted with me. When he entered, he held out his hand, just like the city people, wanting to shake hands with me.

At that time, shaking hands was not common in our village, but I quickly extended my hand and shook his hand.

"I am Li Tianxi, pleased to meet you."

I also quickly said, "I am Jin Chaoyang, nice to meet you."

While shaking hands, Old Li glanced at my arm.

There were some marks left from when Qiuge scratched me, and there were still some faint traces.

"Does it hurt?"

I said it was nothing and rolled up my sleeve to cover up these scars.

"Good." Old Li smiled, "No wonder you're not willing to get married now. You have someone by your side."

Old Li exchanged a few more pleasantries and left.

When my mother turned around, she asked, "Did you secretly find someone at university?"

I quickly said no and that Old Li was just talking nonsense.

My mother also didn't like Old Li very much.

I heard that when he was young, he spent two years in prison for fighting, and he always acted mysterious. His niece definitely wouldn't be anything exceptional.

I was just curious about the sentence Old Li said.

What did he mean by saying that there was someone by my side?