Chapter 3 The Ancestors' Desire

"Mother, where are you going?" After she went back home, Rachel put the basket on the table, poured herself a cup of water and gulped it down.

Just now she had a verbal fight with Hiram, so she felt very thirsty.

Fannie stood in front of the mirror and adjusted her clothes. She then smiled and said to Rachel, "Rachel, that old ancestral temple is indeed a divine place. It is the best place to seek blessings from gods. We went to the temple today and outside the temple I met the Rong family."

On hearing Fannie mention the Rong family, Rachel almost choked on the water she was drinking. She wiped the corners of her mouth and immediately questioned, "The Rong family? Did you meet aunt Joanna? What did you two talk about?"

Seeing Rachel look seemingly excited, Fannie smiled and said, "Of course we talked about your marriage. You have never succeeded in any blind dates before. I believe that the ancestors of the Ruan family and Rong family died with an everlasting regret that the members of the two families weren't related by marriage. So I have to meet up with the Rong family and discuss the same."

"Meet the Rong family? You last talked to them some twenty years ago, no?" Rachel clearly didn't know what happened between the two families of the last generation. However, she knew for sure that if there was a son in the Rong family, he would surely become her man, or to be more precise, her husband.

"Yes. Joanna has invited me for a chat. I will ask her if there is any suitable man in the Rong family for you. She can select a suitable man, maybe one of their collateral relatives to get married to you."

After she finished speaking, Fannie took her handbag and walked out of the house.

Without turning her head around, she added, "Stay at home and wait for a good news from me."

Rachel got up from the sofa and realized that something was amiss. She quickly walked towards Fannie.

"Mother! Wait a minute..."

Before Rachel could say anything, the door slammed.

Rachel restlessly stood in front of the door. She was now getting even more upset.

There was a historic four-corner pavilion in the XH Village. Fannie used to go there to play when she was young. With time, the number of young people living in the village decreased. As a result, the pavilion was usually deserted.

"Joanna, I'm glad to see you here. I didn't expect that you would invite me to come here." Fannie was surprised to know that they would have a chat at the pavilion. Now it looked like she knew nothing about Joanna from the past.

"Fannie, come here and have a seat. Although I'm not a native of this place, I have been married into the Rong family for thirty years. I come here for a walk every time I am home."

Joanna Fang noticed the unchanged scenery here. There was still an uneven dirt road leading to the village. The reason they never built a wide main road here was because they didn't want people to drive with their cars into the village. They wanted to protect the environment from being polluted.

Fannie was a bit surprised to see Joanna Fang. She felt that Joanna was a noble woman from an elite family. There was no arrogance or pride in her.

She was also very easy-going and friendly.

"Joanna, I like staying here too. I enjoyed playing here when I was young. Even though I moved to the town later on, I still love the landscapes of this village." Hearing Joanna's words, Fannie knew since Joanna Fang was a nice person, she could easily talk to her about her daughter's marriage.

Joanna Fang kept nodding while she was listening to Fannie patiently, but she immediately frowned the moment she heard Fannie mention the marriage.

"Fannie, now that you have mentioned this, let me tell you the truth. In fact... I have a son. He is just a few years older than Rachel..."

Before Joanna Fang could finish her words, Fannie suddenly stood up.

She then said in a trembling voice, "What are you saying? You have a son? I always guessed that you have a son to take over the family business of the Rongs.

But, but why didn't you tell me before that you have a son who is suitable for Rachel?"

Fannie was astonished that this fact was hidden from her for more than twenty years.

She thought that if she knew that before, she wouldn't have ever asked her daughter to attend so many blind dates! !

"Fannie, it is difficult for my husband and me to persuade our son. He is an independent and assertive boy and always deals with things on his own. He has been the same since his childhood days. He never really allows us to meddle in his matters. A couple of times in the past, we mentioned marriage to him, but he just ignored it. He will never agree to the decision made by me and my husband, let alone our ancestors' arrangement of marriage for him, "

Complained Joanna Fang while sighing.

Fannie, who was blunt and straightforward, patted the table and said, "Joanna, do you know why Rachel has never found herself a compatible husband through all these blind dates? She has met some seven or eight men till date. But every time, Rachel wanted to start a relationship with them, some unfortunate things would occur to these men. Some of them were hit by the cars on the road; some had flat tyres. Now no one dares to date or marry Rachel."

"I think I have finally figured out the reason for it.

I believe that our ancestors died with some regret. They couldn't be related by marriage while they were alive. Now they are deliberately preventing my daughter from dating other men, so that your son and Rachel can be together forever."

Joanna Fang sighed and shook her head, saying, "But Hiram is a master of his mind. He always takes his own decisions. We don't have the authority to make decisions for him on this matter."

"Don't! Joanna, don't say that. You are Hiram's mother, so as parents you and your husband can surely make a decision about his marriage. Now if you don't agree with me, I'm afraid that you might face a divine punishment."

When she just finished these words, Fannie subconsciously covered her mouth with her hand.

She realized that she just said something unkind, but she thought that sometimes such things could be so mystical. And this time she had to help her daughter strive for her chance to marry Joanna's son.

"You..." Joanna Fang was now very angry so she looked away from Fannie and clenched her fists.

Fannie immediately sat down and gently said, "Joanna, don't be angry. I'm very outspoken. I apologize if in any way I offended you. We are both parents. Simpson and I have only one daughter. Simpson died a long time ago. Rachel is a grown-up lady now and should get married, but she still hasn't found a right man for herself.

I believe that our ancestors know what has happened to us and are trying to help us even when they are dead."

Rachel's father and Hiram's father didn't have any sisters. In the generation ahead of them, there was a son and a daughter respectively in the Rong family and the Ruan family, but the girl and the boy from the two families couldn't get married to each other, because the girl was fifteen years older than the boy. So, naturally when the boy grew up, the girl became old...

So till date, the ancestors of the two families haven't been able to fulfil their desire.

After hearing Fannie, Joanna Fang slightly sighed and said with sincerity, "Fannie, to be honest, I have the same thoughts as you. In today's time, the family business of Rong family need not be maintained by way of marital alliance. If Hiram is willing to marry your daughter, our ancestors' desire can be fulfilled. We will definitely be happy if that happens.

The year Rachel was born, my husband dreamt of the same thing for a couple of days. In his dreams, our ancestors would tell him that they wanted our son and your daughter to get married to fulfil their life long desire."

Fannie kept nodding while hearing Joanna. "Now that our ancestors had the same wish, why don't you talk about it to Hiram?"

Joanna Fang nodded and said with pride, "Hiram is extremely hard working. He always does his jobs perfectly. He has never disappointed us. Although he doesn't want us to interfere in his matters, he is filial towards us.

I think since we have met today, my son and your daughter might be pre-destined to be the perfect match for each other. I will have to try again. If I insist Hiram on marrying Rachel, he perhaps will..."

Upon hearing Joanna Fang, Fannie smiled and said, "That's great if you are willing to give it a try. Please do that as soon as possible. Inform me once you get any news."

Fannie kept smiling after she came back from the four-corner pavilion. She lit some incenses in front of the memorial tablets of her ancestors. She believed that Simpson was blessing them from heaven.

With a remote control in one hand, Rachel was sitting in the living room. She was eating a freshly picked apple that the aunt from the next door gave her. She kept staring at Fannie.

'She looks so happy today. Did she win a lottery?' Rachel thought.

"Fannie, did you win a lottery? If so, I'm willing to share your happiness. Would you like to give me some money too?" While chewing the apple, Rachel smiled and said these words to Fannie who was putting away the clothes.

Fannie folded a dress and looked at her daughter with a smile. "I'm not interested in the lottery, " she said.

"Well then does that mean that you have found a gold mine?" said Rachel smilingly while raising her eyebrows.

After she folded the clothes and placed them in the wardrobe, Fannie beamed with joy and replied, "Don't think of me as a person who only cares about money. I will tell you about it only after it is settled. I'm afraid that you will be disappointed in the end if I tell you now and it doesn't happen as planned."

Rachel took a bite of the apple and was confused about Fannie's words.

The next morning

Before Rachel woke up, Fannie was very excited and came running into Rachel's bedroom.