In the early years, the big families in Langzhong City paid special attention to the selection of their eldest daughters, one for the sake of their children and grandchildren, and the other for the continuation of their family style. As the saying goes: If you are not a family, you will not enter the same house. Mothers-in-law each have their own preferences and plans, and the way to choose their eldest daughters also has their own tricks. Among them, the most puzzling one is to count Mrs. Ma's choice of daughters-in-law.

The Ma family has a well-known ancestral motto: All other sons can study to achieve fame or do business, but only the eldest son must take over the family's field business after reading the book and marry a local woman.

Therefore, that year, when the eldest young master of the Ma family began to follow the old master of the Ma family to the countryside to check the land, Mrs. Ma also set up a battle in the Ma mansion to choose a daughter-in-law for the eldest son.

The Ma family has been ploughing and reading for generations, and they are the most famous family in Langzhong City. In addition, the Ma family only seeks innocence for their daughter-in-law's family background and does not seek nobility. Therefore, as soon as the news of choosing a daughter-in-law came out, the red leaves outside the city, also known as matchmakers, all crowded into the Ma family like a market.

Red leaves are so enthusiastic, not just to earn a big red envelope, but more importantly, to earn face. According to the unwritten rules of the red leaves industry, whoever can protect media of the Ma family will be the top card in Langzhong.

The Ma family chirped for several days, and after drinking more than a dozen loads of tea, the red leaves finally ended the first round of melee: five Geng posts were accepted by Mrs. Ma, and from the next day, Mrs. Ma would visit the family and visit the girl in person.

The first person Mrs. Ma looked at was the Zhang family girl.

Madam put the sedan chair and Dingli outside Zhang's mansion, and only brought a little maid into the living room. She met Zhang's parents, and after only a few words of pleasantries, she took a brocade box from the maid's hand and handed it to Madam Zhang, saying: There are three little cloth dolls in the box, please choose the one she thinks is the best. "

After a while, the maid of the Zhang family came out with a brocade box and replied with a smile, "My miss praised Madam for her skill. All three dolls are well sewn."

Madam Ma heard this and gestured for her maid to take the brocade box. Then she stood up and said to the Zhang family's parents, "Miss is worthy of being the daughter of an official. She knows books and courtesies, but unfortunately she is not suitable to be the daughter-in-law of the Ma family. Sorry for the inconvenience."

After saying this, he sat in the sedan chair and returned home with the wedding ceremony that could not be sent out.

After that, Mrs. Ma saw three more girls, but she didn't want the three girls to say the same things as Miss Zhang when they were facing the doll. Mrs. Ma sighed and thought to herself: The first four are either ladies or little family jasper, and they still can't understand the mystery of this doll, so the fifth girl Luo is just a village girl from a shabby family on Wencheng Mountain, how can I answer it? It's just that when I heard Hongye say that her parents died early and supported the door alone, but she still insisted on sending her two younger brothers to enlighten and study, I couldn't help but be moved. Now do you really have to walk dozens of miles to the countryside to see her?

Just as she was in a dilemma, the clever red leaf entered the gate of Ma's house, and she was heard from a distance: "Yo, Mrs. Ma, have you been busy these days?"

When she entered the hall, she did not wait for Mrs. Ma to speak, she took Mrs. Ma's hand and kept saying, "Oh, my lady, I dare to bother you to run around again. Tomorrow, I will bring Miss Luo to the mansion for you. Let the old man take a look and ask slowly. If you can, you can stay. If you can't go back, it's nothing. Do you want it?"

What else could Mrs. Ma say at this time? She could only nod and say, "I want it, I want it."

Early the next morning, Red Leaf brought Miss Luo to the gate of Ma's mansion.

As a courtesy, Mrs. Ma went to the gate to pick her up in person. The girl was standing in the pavilion. When she saw Mrs. Ma coming, she bowed to Mrs. Ma calmly and generously greeted her.

Madam Ma's heart suddenly cleared up a lot, and she casually said: "Miss has worked hard, you arrived so early."

"The plan for the day is in the morning. We country people are used to getting up early." The girl answered softly.

Mrs. Ma heard this and knew that the girl must have read a book. She led him203.0 to the inner hall and asked, "Is your father also a scholar?"

The girl's eyes turned red, and she immediately held back her tears and replied, "When I was nine years old, there was a flood in the East River, and my parents unfortunately fell into the water to save my three siblings. Therefore, my family was in the middle of nowhere, and I had only a few acres of thin land to make a living."

Mrs. Ma listened to her ear and thought that in her heart she had a better impression of Miss Luo. When she arrived at the inner hall and drank tea, Mrs. Ma asked the maid to hold out the brocade box.

Luo opened it and saw that the three dolls looked exactly the same, all three inches long, with delicate eyebrows and bright silk shirts. They were extremely cute and could not help but admire them secretly.

After looking at it for a while, the girl picked up the first doll and pinched it, it was soft, like a ball of cotton. She picked up the second doll and pinched it, it was also soft, but there was a small bamboo stick between the ears. The girl took the third doll and pinched it carefully, and found that there was a small bamboo stick inside the doll, which was inserted diagonally from the left ear into the abdomen. She smiled, raised the third doll and said to the lady, "This, one is the best."

The lady saw Miss Luo's actions, and the more she saw them, the more she liked them. At this time, seeing that she had chosen the right doll, she was even more satisfied. She hurriedly smiled and got up and told the housekeeper, "Prepare lunch."

Although the servant, the maid, and Hongye couldn't understand which play Madam Luo and Miss Luo were singing, this lunch preparation was equivalent to announcing that Miss Luo had been favored by Madam Luo and was about to become the young lady of the Ma family. She hurried forward to congratulate. Madam gave out red envelopes as usual, of which Hongye's red envelope was naturally the largest.

After getting married to Young Master Ma, Miss Luo was well behaved and well-behaved, and no one inside or outside refused to accept her. A few years later, Mrs. Ma made the decision and took over Miss Luo's two younger brothers, who were fostered in the family's uncle's house.

Master Ma asked the young lady many times: What is the mystery of that doll?

The young madam laughed but did not answer. Later, she could not defeat Young Master Ma and told him the mystery: "Women, you can't ignore what people say, and you can't go in and out of your left ear. You must put what you hear in your stomach."

After saying this, the young madam asked Young Master Ma to keep it a secret, and she still had to keep this topic for her to use when choosing her daughter-in-law in the future. Later, the Ma family's choice of daughter-in-law was inseparable from the three rag dolls, and the Ma family prospered in Langzhong for as many generations as it passed down.