During the Ming Dynasty, in Shexian County, Zhangde Prefecture (now Shexian County, Handan, Hebei Province), there was a young man named Fang De. His father died when he was young. Originally, the family's conditions were not good, and the father's departure made it worse. However, although the family was poor, Fang De was a very sensible child. He usually helped the landlord's family herd sheep, and when he was free, he would go up the mountain to pick up some dead branches; either keep them for household use or sell them. Although the days were a little difficult, their mother and son were very content.

After her husband passed away, Fang De's mother, Wang Shi, was much stricter on her son's education. Wang taught her children to have their own ideas, which was the most important thing in being a person, helping others not to be rewarded by others, and being a kind-hearted villager who could not be harmful or defensive.

Every time Fang De made a mistake, Wang Shi would hit his palm with a rattan, and at the same time, she would not forget to educate him: that was wrong, why was it wrong? Every time it hit her son, it hurt in her mother's heart. But Wang Shi never relented, because he knew that he did not discipline well now, and when he grew up, he was afraid that he would go astray. Every time after hitting his son, Wang Shi would secretly cover his mouth and cry for a while.

Fangde was eighteen years old and a young man. One day Fangde had lunch and went into the mountains. Since tomorrow was his mother's birthday, he wanted to make some wild games to celebrate her birthday. This time, his luck was very ordinary. It was not until evening that he caught a hare and two pheasants. But that was enough for their mother and son to eat for two days. So Fangde tied the hare and pheasant to the ends of the rope and put them on his shoulders to prepare to go home. But before he had gone far, he saw a middle-aged man sitting on the ground covering his ankle, looking like he had a broken foot.

Seeing this, Fang De quickly stepped forward and asked the middle-aged man, "Uncle, what's wrong with you? Do you need help?" The middle-aged man looked up and saw that it was a young man, so he said awkwardly, "Little brother, I'm ashamed to say it; I just finished hunting and was going home. Who knew that I accidentally stepped on a small pit and my foot sprained." Fang De only noticed at this time that there were a few hares and pheasants by the middle-aged man's side, and there were also two foxes. The harvest was much richer than his. But now was not the time to think about the harvest, and it was going to be dark, so he had to carry the middle-aged man out of the mountain quickly; because the mountain was not safe at night.

Fang De was also honest. Without saying a word, he picked up the other's prey, hung it on his body, and carried the middle-aged man on his back and quickly walked out of the mountain. After leaving the mountain, the middle-aged man saw Fang De gasping for breath and said, "Little brother, this is already out of the mountain, put me down first, rest for a while before leaving. Besides, if you want to send me home, you have to ask where I live, right?" Fang De only remembered at this time that he had been visiting the road before, and forgot to ask where the uncle lived.

The middle-aged man didn't wait for Fang De to ask, so he first introduced himself: "Brother, my surname is Wang, and my name is Ren; I live in Dawang Village." As soon as Fang De heard it, he knew Dawang Village was next door to their village, about two miles away. He had also heard of Wang Ren, although he was just a hunter, but almost everyone in the ten miles and eight townships had heard of his name. Because seventeen years ago, Wang Ren's sister married into the richest man in the town, the Zhang family, and became a young grandmother; now she has been promoted to wife. The reputation of the Zhang family has always been very good, and many of them have received favors from his family. Speaking of which, Wang Ren and his brother-in-law Zhang Jie used to be classmates and friends; and Wang Ren can be regarded as their matchmaker.

At that time, they all studied together in the private school in the town. Although Zhang Jie was the young master of a large family, he was cowardly by nature; he was often bullied by other children in private schools. Although Wang Ren came from the village, he was not afraid of the sky, the earth, and he loved to hug and fight. Therefore, he often stood up for Zhang Jie, and the relationship between the two gradually improved. Later, Wang Ren felt that he was not the material to study, so he quit school. After all, the family was not rich. Although Wang Ren left private school and returned to the village, his relationship with Zhang Jie was not alienated because of this. When Zhang Jie was free, he would go to Wang Ren's house and talk to him.

I have been here many times, and I have become familiar with Wang Ren's family, including Wang Ren's sister Wang Jing. Wang Jing is a beautiful girl, and she is also knowledgeable; and she is also a good sister who is competent. As a friend of his younger brother, Zhang Jie was also taken care of by Wang Jing. After a long time, Zhang Jie fell in love with Wang Jing; and Wang Ren, as a bystander, naturally saw it, and finally broke the layer of window paper.

Later, when Zhang Jie's father saw Wang Jing, he felt that Wang Jing was beautiful and sensible; so he asked someone to come and mention it. This old man of the Zhang family didn't care about the right match at all. Besides, he asked people to inquire about the Wang family, and the family was all good. In this way, when Zhang Jie reached the age of marriage, the two married.

After getting married, Zhang Jie planned to take the Wang family to live in the town, but was rejected. It was Wang Ren who proposed it. He said, "Zhang Jie, we married girls in the Wang family, but we don't have the habit of giving away family members! Although it was a joke, it also reflected his sense of life. It didn't take long for the matter to spread all over the ten miles and eight townships. Now Wang Ren is on fire. Some admire Wang Ren, and some say Wang Ren is stupid. After all, when you arrive at the Zhang family, it is the day when you come to stretch out your clothes and open your mouth with food; it is much better than being in his house. Although this matter has been discussed in the past for many years, it has always been talked about with great interest.

Thinking of this, Fang De sighed. It turned out that this was Wang Ren. Wang Ren looked at Fang De and knew that the little brother had heard of him, so he asked him, "Little brother, which village is it from? What is it called? Thanks to you today, brother, I have to thank you well!" Fang De helped others without expecting anything in return. If you want to give a fake name, they are all from a nearby village. As soon as you inquire, you will know that it is nothing more than a little effort; so Fang De told the truth: "Uncle, my name is Fang De, and I live in Fangjia Village. There is no need to thank you, and I didn't spend much effort. Don't worry about it. It's getting late, I'll take you home first."

As he spoke, he carried Wang Ren on his back and walked to Dawang Village without waiting for him to answer. When Fang De returned home after sending Wang Ren home, his mother had already prepared the meal. After a simple meal, he processed the hare and pheasant before stewing them. After all, at that time, it could not be stored without a refrigerator.

The next morning, Fang De woke up and started to clean up the house; after that, he went out to buy vegetables. Although the two of them were the only ones celebrating his mother's birthday, Fang De wanted to give his mother a good meal. With this meat, he couldn't have less dishes. He was eighteen and much more capable than before, so he naturally wanted to make his mother feel better.

Before noon, Fang De prepared the meal. He put the food on the table and was about to say a few congratulatory words to congratulate his mother when suddenly a voice came from outside the courtyard: "Little brother Fang De, brother has come to see you!"

When Fang De heard this voice, it sounded familiar. When he went out, he saw that it was Wang Ren, whom he had helped last night. However, at this time, Wang Ren was supported by a middle-aged man, and the middle-aged man had a lot of things in his other hand.

There was no reason for a guest to stand outside the door when he entered the door, so he quickly let the two of them into the room. The two sides first made a courtesy, then Wang Shi asked Fang De to bring a stool, and then they sat down together. Only Wang Ren politely said, "Sister-in-law, the two of us came uninvited, please forgive me."

Wang Shi also responded politely. After that, Wang Ren and the two of them congratulated Wang Shi together. After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, Wang Ren only heard Wang Ren say again: "Sister-in-law, thanks to Fang De this time, otherwise I might not be able to come back. Fang De is a good boy; he doesn't want to repay good deeds. Yesterday I gave him silver, but he didn't want it; I gave him mountain goods, but he didn't accept it. He said: I didn't want to repay you for helping you! It's really rare!"

Then she paused and said, "I like this child very much, and I want to tell him about a marriage. I don't know what sister-in-law, what do you think?" When Wang Shi heard that, this was exactly what she wanted; now that Fang De was old enough to start a family, she also hoped to start a family as soon as possible and have a grandson as soon as possible. This was a hit, but then Wang Shi was worried again; because her family was very poor, she couldn't get a decent betrothal gift at all.

Seeing this, Wang Ren comforted her and said, "Sister-in-law, don't worry about the betrothal gift; this family has no requirements for the betrothal gift, just give something symbolically." After saying that, he also asked the middle-aged man next to him: "Do you think so?" The middle-aged man hurriedly nodded and said yes. It is said that the most important thing in marriage is the character of the person, and as long as the person is good, everything else is not a problem. That's it, this matter is done.

A few days later, Fang De got engaged, and only then did he know that the girl was the daughter of the middle-aged man who came to Fang De's house with Wang Ren. And the middle-aged man is even more famous in these ten miles and eight townships, even if he has never seen him, he has also heard of his name; it is Zhang Jie, the richest man in town, and the contemporary head of the Zhang family. At this time, Fang De's mother and son were stunned, and they never expected to become in-laws with the richest man in town. What happened?

It turned out that the day after Fang De sent Wang Ren home, Wang Ren's sister and brother-in-law came to see him. He told them that he sprained his foot while hunting yesterday and was carried home. And he kept praising Fang De, and then said, "Sister, brother-in-law, aren't you looking for a husband's family for Tingting? Why don't we go and see Fang De, if you like it, then let's settle this matter." Finally, he added: "Anyway, you don't care about your origin." In this way, Wang Ren and Zhang Jie sat in a carriage to find Fang De. And Zhang Jie also changed into Wang Ren's clothes to prevent Fang De from suspecting his identity. The driver of the car happened to be from Fangjia Village. He knew the mother and son of the Fangjia and knew their character. Along the way, he also told the two of them about Fangjia.

Later, when they arrived at Fang's house, they had almost finished their meal. Zhang Jie felt Fang De was a good person, so he hinted at Wang Ren, meaning that this young man was good, and he agreed. Only then did Wang Ren take the initiative to talk about matchmaking.

A month later, Fang De and Zhang Ting, the young lady of the Zhang family, got married. Originally, the mother and son of the Fang family were quite worried. What if Zhang Ting could not suffer after going through the door? After all, she is the eldest lady. But their worries are obviously unnecessary. After Zhang Ting went through the door, she was not picky about food, clothing, and housing; she was also diligent and sensible. In addition, Zhang Ting brought a lot of dowry from her mother's family, naturally including silver; the Fang family has lived a happy life since then.