Happy Together

Propping her chin up with her hands, Rachel Ruan heaved a sigh as she watched Fannie Ruan pack. It was all she could do.

"Why do you sigh? What I'm doing is in your best interests." Fannie Ruan put the candles and the joss paper* carefully into her pocket, and then turned around to look at her daughter.

(*TN: Joss paper are sheets of paper that are burned in traditional Chinese deity or ancestor worship ceremonies during special holidays.)

They were planning to return to their hometown where they might have to spend at least two days. Rachel was unwilling to go back with Fannie. Noticing that her mother was ready, Rachel lowered her head and reluctantly stuffed her cellphone and charger into her brown bag.

On the bus, Rachel gazed at the scenery outside the window while her mother babbled on and on about her blind dates.

It had rained the night before and the roads in the village were slippery. After they got off the bus, she took the bag over from her mother and held her arm.

"Rachel, I'm sorry. Mom's not able to find a way out. Look, both your campus romance and your blind date didn't have a happy ending. You really make me lose face!" It seemed that Fannie had no intention to stop talking.

Every time Fannie thought of her daughter's love story, she heaved a huge sigh. There was always idle gossip behind her back.

Something like "Look, this is the mother of that jinx".

In the past two years, Rachel had had several blind dates. Some of the men had been ideal soulmates. However, each time Rachel's relationship with them developed, something bad happened to them.

Two of them had had traffic accidents, two had two-timed her, and another two had gotten serious diseases right before marriage.

Although similar coincidences often occurred to other people, the accidents seemed to be too frequent for Rachel.

After all those misfortunes, nobody dared to be the matchmaker for Rachel because everybody was afraid of getting into trouble.

"Mom, would you please stop? In the society we're living in now, it's pretty normal to have a lot of blind dates. And accidents and diseases are happening every second, every minute and every hour. No one can claim it's my fault."

Still, in Rachel's eyes, these coincidences were setbacks in her life. And yet, she believed that she would find her Mr. Right someday.

Shooting Rachel a glance, Fannie grabbed the bag from her hand and said, "Honey, if you don't do something to expel the bad luck, I might also be cursed by you soon!"

Turning around a corner, they headed towards their old house.

Trailing behind her mother, Rachel shrugged her shoulders. She heard a car driving by. Turning around, she caught a glimpse of a luxurious black Maybach driving towards the old houses beyond the one they were headed to.

"Oh, what a rich man!" she thought, "How could he drive such a luxurious car on this muddy road without worrying about getting it dirty?"

Grumbling, she took a look at her muddy shoes and then headed to the old house.

XH Village was an ancient village with a three-hundred-year history. There were many old buildings in pristine condition, especially the old temple. The old temple was preserved very well and thronged with pilgrims. The burning incense in the temple had not been extinguished till now.

"Mr. Hiram, would you please hurry up? Your mother has been waiting for a long time. She said that the best incense-offering time was 9 o'clock in the morning."

In front of a full-length bronze mirror, a man was smoothing down his shirt. Frowning, he gave the butler a cold look.

His dark eyes resembled the starry sky and his commanding temperament was daunting. Seeing his eyes, the butler immediately shut up.

"I don't like this tie. Give me another one."

He said coolly, throwing the tie away.

Reacting quickly, the butler caught the tie in midair. He turned around to bring another tie for Hiram.

"This belt doesn't match my clothes. Give me another one." Hiram pulled the black belt out and threw it away.

The butler hurried to catch the belt.

Hiram Rong had a habit, so to speak, a hobby. He liked throwing things.

As long as he didn't like something, he would throw it away without a second thought.

As for his secretaries and assistants, all of them were strong and nimble. Exaggeratedly speaking, if there was a fly buzzing, they could even catch it with two fingers!

On the other side of the door, there was an elegant woman who couldn't wait any longer. It was his mother. She knocked on the door anxiously, urging her son to hurry.

"Hiram, the annual ancestor-worshiping ceremony concerns the Rong Family's luck for the whole year. Please take it seriously!"

Looking at himself in the bronze mirror, Hiram Rong nodded in satisfaction. He grabbed his cell phone from the ancient wood table and walked up to the door.

The butler heaved a sigh of relief and hurried to open the door for him. Joanna Fang, Hiram's mother, was anxiously waiting outside.

Fannie and Rachel stepped out of their home, which was situated in front of the majestic house of the Rong Family, and walked towards the old temple.

Walking along the road, Fannie lectured her daughter about the rites in the old temple and how to practice them. Fannie was very worried that Rachel might offend the god and stay single all her life.

Rachel rolled her eyes. Every time before going to the temple, her mother would warn her again and again along the way.

"My dear Fannie, have you got it all wrong? I'm your daughter, not your old mother. I know everything you're saying by heart!"

Rachel often didn't act her age, and Fannie had gotten used to that. She looked at her daughter with a smile and helped her smooth her clothes and said, "I was just reminding you of it again."

The two of them entered the old temple and walked directly into the back hall. There was a special and exclusive rule for the local residents in XH Village, different from the visitors.

"Take these things with you. Listen, after entering the room, don't look around. Keep everything I've told you in mind," Fannie advised, handing a few objects to Rachel.

It was a tradition in XH Village. People had to bring tributes and candles to the old temple and worship sincerely so that their wishes would be realized.

"Got it!" Grabbing the things, Rachel quickly headed towards the door of the Buddhist Prayer Room. As soon as she was in that room, she could finally have a moment of peace.

On the other side...

The Rong Family had been the first family to become rich in XH Village. They had then donated a lot of money to the restoration of the old temple. Therefore, they enjoyed special treatment in XH Village.

The memorial tablets for ancestors of the Rong Family were arranged respectfully in a hall next to the Buddhist Prayer Room. They bathed in the blessings of Buddha.

"Hiram, you are the head of the Rong Family now. You should preside over the ceremony in person," Joanna Fang said gently, looking at her outstanding son.

All his life, the one thing Hiram had hated the most was worshiping.

He only believed in himself.

Although he didn't like it, Hiram still followed his mother's advice. Even his high accomplishments wouldn't allow him to show his discontent in front of his mother. Grabbing the basket from his mother, he turned around and headed towards the ancestral hall.

The temple seemed to be a very quiet place. All you could hear was the sound of wooden fish being beaten by the women who were guarding the place. A strong aroma of incense and candles burning filled the temple.

It was not like a traditional temple. There were no monks nor nuns living there. People who guarded the temple were mostly native elderly men and women.

Rachel was so familiar with every statues there. She had been accompanied by her mother there many times since she was still young.

After putting all the offering on the table, she knelt gently on the round and soft cushion, bowed her head and worshiped.

Everything she did seemed to be an extraordinary adoration in the outsiders' eyes.

On the other room, Hiram Rong also completed putting the offering on the table. However, what he wore that day was a total misfit for such place.

Bowing to and worshiping his ancestors were not difficult for him, but he would never bow to those sculptures that were just made of clay.

Sitting with his legs crossed, he was going to stay there a little longer until it's time to leave. He felt so bored that he took out his phone and started to check the stored documents.

He was so obsessed with his phone's data.

Nonetheless, the silence didn't last for more than a minute.

He soon heard the chattering noise that came from the other room.

It was so noisy that he couldn't read anymore. He furrowed his black eyebrows and his beautiful, bright eyes were slowly filled with anger. His handsome face suddenly became so furious.

"Shouldn't the temple be a quiet place?

Where does that annoying noise come from?", he whispered.

On the other room, Rachel brought her cushion closer to the temple guard. She was so chatty that she couldn't help herself but start chatting with the guard.

The woman guard was a native villager and she knew Rachel as well. At first, she didn't want to talk because she was afraid that she might disturb the serenity of the temple. However, Rachel continued to talk and urged her to response.

"Aunt, I have just seen an old lady donating very huge amount of money when I came in. It's like this much, " Rachel said while raising her hand to make a gesture, "I was wondering, since she's so rich, why didn't she go to do some charity? It would be much better if she helps those children who are too poor to be able to go to school..."

Rachel knew that the temple was not badly off financially. The offering of incense was also flourishing. So those people who wanted to pay money to buy their salvation was kind of just wasting.

Nonetheless, the aunt had been very familiar with such scenes already. She just shook her head and didn't reply. She knew that those people must have been very guilty inside their hearts that they felt they had to donate money to make them feel comfortable. All people knew about this.

"There is something more, Aunt. I have seen...", Rachel continued.

Hiram couldn't sit still any longer. What he wanted to do was to take a cloth and cover Rachel's annoying mouth.

The rooms were only separated by half concrete wall and half two-layered yellow curtain. Hence, the voice could easily pass through.

Rachel was happily talking with aunt. She didn't realize that a danger was coming.

She felt a cold wind blowing on her face suddenly. Moreover, she smelled a gentle and good scent of perfume around her.

For the first time, Rachel felt so comfortable with a man wearing a perfume.

"Can you shut your mouth up?" She heard a low and irritated voice coming down from above her head.

All the positive impressions suddenly disappeared. She looked up and was stunned as she saw his face that was angry yet very good looking. He was so handsome even if compared with the super stars.

Hiram was also surprised to see Rachel. Her face was not a kind of a gossiping face. On contrary, her face was tiny and delicate with bright, black eyes on it. She looked at him in astonishment, and her long eyelashes seemed to be trembling like the startled butterflies.

Moving back a few steps, Rachel looked to the place where Hiram just came out. Then she realized and said, "Are you from the Rong Family? Sorry! I didn't know that someone is in that room."

As to all of the people in XH Village, no one was unfamiliar with the power of Rong Family.

Even the temple was built with their funds. Thus, it was just reasonable for them to have their special room for worshiping.

Hiram lowered his anger a little bit when Rachel made her apology. However, he soon heard...

"But are all people from Rong Family impolite? Even though I may be loud, is it really necessary to threaten me like that?" Rachel raised her eyebrows as she said those words with a displeased voice.

How dare Hiram ask Rachel to shut up?

Rong Family was not new to Rachel at all.

The so-called agreement between Ruan Family and Rong Family had been mentioned by the elders ever since she was young. She even heard about it for more than a thousand times.

Deeply inside, she really had no good impressions about the Rong Family.

Hiram's already cold face turned even colder immediately. "Threaten?" he said in a very cold voice. It seemed like the whole room was covered with a layer of ice. "Did you mean I was threatening you? If so, I'm glad to practice on so-called 'threaten' to make it true."

Before completing his words, he walked closer to Rachel. He held out his long arm, wrapped it around Rachel's waist and said, "I hate gossiping woman. Since you like gossiping so much, how about I give you a horn so that you can use it to make all people hear your words?"

It all happened so sudden that Rachel didn't have time to act before she had been rudely cuddled by Hiram.

"Oh! my dear kids. You are in the temple. Rachel Ruan, can you stop quarreling with him?" It seemed that they would have a fight any second. The woman guard stood up quickly and convinced them to stop, but she said it in her local dialect.

After what the woman said, Hiram Rong furrowed his eyebrows even more. He did not grow up in the XH Village, so he didn't understand what she just said. But there was a word that was very clear to him, "Ruan".

'She is from Ruan Family?' Hiram whispered to himself.

What a coincidence! Ruan Family was not new to Hiram either.

He didn't have good impressions about Ruan Family too.

Wait wait.

Ruan Family?

"Tell me! How are you related to Simpson Ruan?"

Hiram remembered, when he was still very young, his grandfather would lie on his rocking chair and said, "Hiram, I have found you a very beautiful wife-to-be. This girl is so gentle and virtuous. I'm sure you'll love me for doing this. You are very lucky, my little boy.

By the way, from now on, you better be good to her. Oh, right! Remember, her name is... Let me think."

"My name is Rachel, and Simpson is my father. How did you know my father?" Rachel looked at the man in front of her with great curiosity. Both her parents were from XH Village, and there were only two big family names in the village - Ruan and Rong.

But her father passed away long time ago. Why would he mention her father?

Hiram laid-back his eyebrows and put a cold smile on his face again. How ridiculous was his grandfather saying she's "gentle and virtuous".

'I'm afraid grandpa has already had a blurred vision since then, ' Hiram thought.

Rachel backed off one step as soon as Hiram loosened her arm around her waist. Her face showed annoyance. That man clutched on her waist so rough and so tight that it really hurt.

"It seems that you don't like me and the Rong Family." Hiram answered but not to her question. Looking at his darker eyes, no one could tell what he was thinking that time.

"Of course! Brutal, barbaric, and likes to threaten people! I heard that the Rong Family started the business with freight. No wonder. People from that place are so rude." Rachel was working in the marketing industry. And she was the the leader of the best marketing team. There was not doubt why she was very good at conversing.

Rong Family had sent gifts to Ruan Family for many years, though they had never showed up personally. It was very clear that they looked down on Ruan Family but kept pretending to be generous. Rachel hated this deep down in her heart.

Hiram pretended to pat the dust from his body acting like he did not want to have any traces of that shallow woman. After that, he said, "What an easy woman. Since you look down upon Rong Family, it's better if you don't go against your conscience and join our family."

"I swear to God! I will never join you. By the way, why have you thought about that? Joining your family? Are you kidding me? Even if you beg me, I will never do it!" Rachel couldn't resist herself to laugh out loud. She thought that man was really entertaining. How could he think she would like to join their family?

"Very good. You better remember what you just said."

Hiram seemed to be not intimidated by what Rachel said and smiled instead. He looked at her bright, white face then slowly and clearly said, "Do remember what you just said! I will keep an eye on you!"

"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.