Old Mrs. Chen thought she might have seen it wrong, so she rubbed her eyes. The earliest of the three dates was February 26, and the latest was March 19.
While typically these three dates span at least half a year, they seem to have decided to celebrate within twenty-some days, aiming to bring Miss Chen into the family before the spring plowing.
Old Mrs. Chen said, "Did you perhaps write it wrong?"
Old Mrs. Song leaned over to look, "There's no mistake. I've checked several times. We invited a few teachers to match the children's birth dates, and chose the best days from there."
Old Mrs. Chen said, "Back when my daughter got married, the first and third dates weren't even in the same year. Aren't you being a little hasty?"
"Hasty," admitted Old Mrs. Song frankly, "If I'd known this day would come, I'd have sent Xian over to you when he was four or five years old."
Four or five years old? Even Chen, the child bride, wasn't sold out by her parents that early.
