"Except for Dongfang Zhi — he moved fast when he took a liking to Lin Xuan — the other couples all slid into place awkwardly," Yan Geng said. "If it weren't for my mother, half of them probably still wouldn't be together."
Feng Yuxin's eyes lit up. "Wait — did my aunt play matchmaker?"
Yan Geng nodded with a weary smile. "At first it was just her. Then she dragged my aunt-in-law into it and started pairing people off left and right. That's how so many... pairs happened."
Feng Yuxin thought for a moment. "Well, it's not like I was around for three years. From what you told me, it's only those couples — and Dongfang Zhi kind of sorted out his own business."
Dongfang Zhi, sitting nearby, acted offended in that proud, petulant way he always did, as if being the one to win Lin Xuan's heart were some great achievement he should be congratulated for.
Lin Xuan watched the display and rolled her eyes. Really? He was puffed up over something like that?
"Only those couples?" Yan Geng looked ready to cry. "After my mother made one match, it was like she discovered a new talent. She never stopped. She probably matched over a hundred couples."
Feng Yuxin blinked.
She turned to Yan Xiao and asked, "What's Aunt-in-law's... hobby called? Is she doing this for sport?"
Yan Xiao cleared his throat. "Actually, she noticed that almost everyone practices cultivation now, and she has to manage a lot of things in Huang City, so she meets a lot of different people. She just... likes pairing them off."
Feng Yuxin nodded. Of course — she had turned a knack for organizing and the steady influx of people into a pastime: fixing people up. In just three years she’d paired off a hundred couples. Even Feng Yuxin had to grudgingly admire the woman’s efficiency.
No wonder Yan Geng was so bitter. His mother had played matchmaker into the hundreds — and yet her only son remained stubbornly single.
Feng Yuxin studied Yan Geng with an odd look and asked, deadpan, "With so many people in Huang City, you haven't found anyone you like?"
Yan Geng sighed. "Every time I even begin to notice someone, my mother swoops in and gets them matched before I can."
Feng Yuxin went quiet, and the others couldn't help smiling.
Mo Xuanye, sitting aloof as always, said mildly, "If that's the case, it means your true match hasn't arrived yet. What's yours will be yours; no one else can take it."
"My brother's words are comforting," Yan Geng said, touched.
Feng Yuxin laughed at the scene. Yan Geng added, "If my sister Aqin is so happy about this, then I guess it's okay for me to remain single."
Feng Yuxin grinned. "I actually have someone in mind. Want me to try and set you up?"
Yan Geng's face brightened. "Really? Is she pretty? Gentle? What's she like?"
Feng Yuxin considered his rapid-fire questions and said, "Pretty. Not gentle. She’s got a personality a lot like yours."
"If that's the case, our household might be in chaos," Yan Xiao muttered. Yan Geng, who'd always been a little wild, shot him a look. "What? You don't like that side of me?"
Yan Xiao didn't dare provoke the brother who was currently prickly about being single, so he hurriedly shook his head. "No, no. Not at all."
Dongfang Zhi couldn't help but tease. "That doesn't sound like 'not at all.'"
"Lin Xuan, your man is unbearable — divorce him," Su Bing piped up on Yan Xiao's behalf.
Dongfang Zhi glared at Su Bing. "Hey! You can't say that and expect me not to get Lin Xuan involved."
Lin Xuan tugged at Dongfang Zhi's sleeve. "Don't butt in."
He shut up. After all, with Mo Xuanye around — a man who openly adored his wife — it was hard for anyone to keep from spoiling their own woman.
"Aqin, tell my cousin — who did you mean just now?" Yan Geng practically leaned on Feng Yuxin.
Mo Xuanye only smiled dryly. "If you want to get out of being single, stay away from my wife."
Nightingale — who had been occupying a seat nearby — took the hint and made space. That allowed Yan Geng to scoot closer to Feng Yuxin without crowding her.
He shot Nightingale a grateful look and then stared at Feng Yuxin with all the puppy-eyed earnestness of someone in desperate love.
Feng Yuxin rubbed her temples. "I was only speaking offhand. I don't even know if she—"
"Tell me. Tell me. Maybe we have a connection," Yan Geng pleaded. Then, as if struck by a flash of memory, he asked, "Aqin, do you mean Chu Xiaomian from the Mandala Valley?"
Feng Yuxin nodded. "That's her."
Yan Geng’s smile faltered. He was scatterbrained but his memory was good — that’s how he’d become a decent pill-refiner. From Feng Yuxin’s description, Chu Xiaomian sounded wilder than even him: a real little tyrant. But she’d treated Feng Yuxin’s family very kindly, too.
"Too much for you?" Feng Yuxin teased, watching his face.
Yan Geng forced a laugh. "She's from the Xuanyu Realm. Why would someone like her ever take an interest in someone from the continent here?"
"Making excuses already?" Feng Yuxin said, calling him out.
"If she doesn't like me, then what?" Yan Geng countered.
Feng Yuxin tapped her chin and thought for a long moment. "I'll ask her the next time I see her."
Yan Geng went silent. He looked at Feng Yuxin and then said, "Never mind. I’ll handle my marriage myself. You have three children to worry about already; don't meddle."
Feng Yuxin glanced at him, but let the subject drop.
"Enough idle talk. Let's get to business," she said, and everyone straightened up, attention snapping back.
"The Arid Dragon Continent has no Nightshade Pavilion," Feng Yuxin announced. "Step one is to establish one here. I'll go to the auction house on the Arid Dragon Continent and use medicinal pills to draw attention. I'll spread the word that if anyone wants mortal-grade pills, they should come to the soon-to-open Nightshade Pavilion."
"Isn't that too tight a schedule?" Dongfang Zhi frowned. Setting up a place properly took time.
"It won't be," Feng Yuxin said. "I won't go to the auction house for another half month. In the meantime, I need to push myself and advance to the next level of alchemy."
She laid out her plan and timetable in detail. The room fell silent as everyone digested it. First attract a crowd with pills, then open the Nightshade Pavilion and profit. It was simple, ruthless, and elegant.
Excitement rippled through them. They could hardly wait to get to the Arid Dragon Continent and start building the Pavilion — and to see what fortunes it might bring.