The children of the neighboring families had all started forming their own families. Even Guo Guo, the daughter of Ni Sha who was a year older than An An, had found her ideal partner.
At that time, the neighbors wondered if An An was planning to live alone like Wen Qian, as she rejected anyone who showed interest in her.
An An's explanation was that she didn't feel a connection. Heaven knows what kind of feeling she was referring to, so An An changed her explanation to say there was no "eye affinity."
In any case, these weren't concrete reasons, and the neighbors didn't pry. After all, their generation was even less inclined to marry than today's young people.
Nowadays, young people were getting married much earlier than they did back then, and they were also much more direct in their relationships.
Sometimes, if they liked each other, they could become husband and wife on the same day – a speed that would have made headlines in the past.
The neighbors didn't say much because they were all from good families. Although they might wonder, they weren't unkind.
The villagers were different. Some tried to introduce potential suitors to An An when she came by, including a pitiful man whose wife had recently died in childbirth along with their baby.
The man indeed looked pitiful, but when An An asked when his wife had passed away, he hemmed and hawed.
The matchmaker didn't say anything either, only insisting it was for An An's own good.
Some onlookers mentioned that the man's wife had died less than a month ago, and the grass hadn't even grown on her grave yet.
An An immediately smashed the matchmaker's stall to pieces.
The man ran away in fright, claiming he knew nothing about this. The matchmaker was furious and demanded An An pay for the damages.
What happened next sent everyone fleeing: An An pulled out a wooden bomb from her person.
From then on, An An was called the mad woman, though only behind her back. Most people didn't dare say a word to her face, as she wasn't someone who went mad without reason.
Although it was despicable to look for a new wife less than a month after one's wife had died, An An's reaction seemed life-threatening.
Even though there was no law here, this was still too lawless for the marketplace.
Heaven knows An An just wanted to end the conversation and entanglement, to make them shut up.
After all, if one has the guts to play matchmaker recklessly, one should have the courage to face the consequences. An An felt that destroying the stall was already a light punishment.
How did An An's reputation spread in the marketplace? Because she was tall, which made her stand out.
Tall people were rare, so whenever An An came by, people would always take a second look.
There was no law enforcement in this marketplace. Everyone carried guns, and An An even brought explosives – real ones at first, until Wen Qian said she was being rash and made her carry fake ones instead.
Here, if someone stole, they would be shot dead, and no one thought there was anything wrong with that.
Similarly, many people heading to the market lost their lives on the way, robbed of their money or goods, their bodies often not discovered immediately.
Wen Qian knew the extent of what could be done in this lawless land, so she taught An An everything without reservation.
As long as one didn't act within the city, anything goes elsewhere. Likewise, there was no absolutely safe place, so people had to remain vigilant.
An An also carried binoculars. Although she had never killed a person, she had shot many animals, so her aim and speed were quite good.
If An An had pointed a gun at them at that time, the onlookers might have stepped aside but continued to watch the show.
When someone pulls out a weapon meant for mutual destruction rather than targeting an individual, even old ladies move faster than usual.
Fortunately, the other party immediately begged for mercy and, as a gesture of sincerity, handed over their pistol.
The Boss of the general store, standing not far behind Wen Qian, also held a gun and reminded An An, "Silly girl! Don't you want to go home?"
The original owner of the general store had long since passed away, and his son was now in charge. He was quite familiar with Wen Qian, so he spoke up when An An encountered conflict.
He was worried An An might be careless and get ambushed while picking up the gun.
But An An had no intention of picking up the gun. Her back was against an earthen wall, so she wasn't afraid of being attacked from behind. She wanted the matchmaker to destroy the weapon himself.
The Boss invited An An into his store and told her she shouldn't have confronted them on the spot.
If she really hated them, she should have nipped it in the bud, catching them off guard on their way home and quietly taking care of them.
Now that she had made enemies, they might hold a grudge or ambush her in the future.
An An calmed down and thought the Boss's uncle had a point. She wanted to go out and look again.
But how could she find any trace of people who had already run away?
The Boss teased her that it was too late to think of that now, then told her where these two people lived – the matchmaker was from the village.
An An finally calmed down and realized that the Boss had been hinting at something earlier.
Village people can't run away from their homes, and they have families. Of course, they wouldn't do anything too extreme.
As for the man who ran away, the Boss said he was so cowardly that his late wife's family had already taken back their previously born child to raise. Before leaving, they had also beaten the man up.
If anyone were to hold a grudge, this man had more enemies than just An An.
An An was surprised that the Boss knew so much detailed information about these two people, but then she realized it was normal since his store had a high flow of people and information.
However, the Boss also said that while this incident might not be good for her reputation, at least others wouldn't dare to bully her easily. If anyone tried to do the same thing again, they might think twice.
An An ate lunch at his place before leaving. The Boss even wanted to send someone to escort her part of the way, but An An refused.
When she got home and told her mother what had happened, she was scolded with the same words.
If it hadn't been too far, her parents might have gone to cause trouble, using the same method as the general store Boss.
After this incident, the matchmaker became much more cautious when making introductions. The story had spread, and he had indeed been mocked and teased.
His family didn't want him to continue this dangerous work, but he was unwilling to give it up. He believed it was his sacred, innate duty, and that he would go to heaven for doing "good deeds."
Whether he'd make it to heaven or not was another matter, but An An had certainly brought him close to death, and he was later warned by the general store Boss.
Only then did he realize that this solitary woman had connections. He apologized again, hoping An An wouldn't pursue the matter further.
Under the Boss's watchful eye, An An reluctantly accepted the compensation offered by the other party. Initially, she hadn't wanted to take it, but the person insisted, fearing that if An An refused, they might have to abandon their profession.
An An extracted a paper-wrapped pastry from the package, returning the rest to the Boss. With this gesture, the matter was finally resolved.
