The Matchmaker Immortal Wants to Return to the Celestial Court - Chapter 1
It’s almost done!
Qian Hongxian sprinted up the stairs with every ounce of strength she had. There was no other choice— the hospital elevator was jam-packed, and by the time she gets to the sixth floor, the person that she was looking for might already be gone!
One more floor! Qian Hongxian could no longer run; the muscles in her legs were severely protesting as they’re close to giving out. She collapsed on the handrail of the stairs, completely exhausted. Human bodies are so useless—there are so many limitations. She really wished she had the ability to teleport at this moment.
She pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen. Seeing the time, she let out a small scream. Even though her legs felt like jelly, she pushed herself forward with all her might and finally reached the sixth floor.
“Excuse… excuse me, Mr… Chen… Zhongguo’s room…?” As soon as she arrived, she rushed to the front desk, gasping for breath. Her disheveled state made the nurse instinctively take a step back.
“Ah, Mr. Chen’s room is 609. Just go down this corridor, turn left, and it’s the first room. Miss, you made it just in time— his family is all there. You should hurry.” The nurse’s voice carried both sympathy and solemnity. Qian Hongxian knew the nurse had mistaken her as one of Mr. Chen Zhongguo’s family member.
“Thank you!” Qian Hongxian immediately dashed in the given direction.
She didn’t bother knocking. Instead, she swung the door open unceremoniously.
Everyone in the room— except for the frail old man lying on the bed— jumped in surprise.
“Mr. Chen! Mr. Chen Zhongguo!” Qian Hongxian rushed to his bedside and shouted, “Grandma Wu has agreed to marry you!”
The room fell into a dead silence.
A middle-aged man patted her on the shoulder, looking confused. “Miss… are you sure you have the right person? This is… a hospital room.”
“I know.” Qian Hongxian steadied her breath and explained, “You’re Mr. Chen’s nephew, right? Your uncle signed a contract with me six months ago, asking me to find him a suitable partner. I’ve done just that.”
“What?” Mr. Chen Zhongguo’s nephew was dumbfounded, glancing at his wife beside him and then at his elderly mother. “We… We never heard anything about this. And besides… he’s already about to go.” He and his wife looked visibly upset.
“I know he doesn’t have much time left,” Qian Hongxian replied. Otherwise, why would she have risked her life running up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator? She clutched the bed’s railing, feeling weak. “But Mr. Chen told me before that his greatest regret in life is not marrying a wife. He hopes to fulfill this dream before leaving this world.” She took a deep breath and introduced herself. “I’m Qian, the manager of ‘Moonlight Matchmaking Agency.’”
She quickly pulled a business card from her bag and shoved it into the hand of Mr. Chen’s nephew.. His wife also stood up, moving closer to take a look at the card.
“I’ve heard of you!” Mr. Chen’s nephew’s wife exclaimed, pointing at the business card in surprise. “My friend went to your agency! She said the most popular matchmaker right now is someone called ‘Matchmaker Qian’. Hundreds of people who had been struggling to find a partner got matched, and all of them ended up in good marriages.”
“Ah, uh, yes, that’s me. Thank you.” Qian Hongxian forced a polite nod. “So, can I have Mr. Chen sign the marriage certificate now?” She anxiously dug into her bag again, pulling out a clear plastic folder. What if he passed away in the middle of their conversation? Human bodies are so unpredictable!
“But my uncle has been bedridden for years. He spends most of his time asleep. How did he even sign up for your agency?” Mr. Chen’s nephew frowned.
Of course, Qian Hongxian took the initiative and traveled a great distance to find Chen Zhongguo.
“Well, he called us himself. Maybe he was feeling better that day. He told us about his situation and his wish, so we took on the case.”
Mr. Chen’s nephew still looked skeptical. Qian Hongxian didn’t blame him— she also knew that Mr. Chen had been too weak to even hold a proper conversation for the past two years.
“So this… Grandma Wu… has she met Uncle before?”
Qian Hongxian nodded vigorously. “Of course! They’ve met three times.”
“If they’re getting married, why isn’t she here now?” Mr. Chen’s nephew’s wife asked.
“Uh… because she’s in the ICU at another hospital,” Qian Hongxian admitted awkwardly. It had taken all her effort to secretly transport Grandma Wu over during those three meetings, waiting for moments when her health was stable enough.
The nephew and his wife both looked annoyed.
“This whole thing is just too suspicious. Could it be that you’re part of a scam group trying to deceive my uncle?” Mr. Chen’s nephew suddenly accused.
“Sir, I’m not a scammer. Our agency is legally registered, and I have a contract signed by Mr. Chen himself. We followed every step according to the agreement. And for the record, we didn’t charge Mr. Chen a single cent.”
“Oh yeah? Then show me the contract.”
Qian Hongxian hesitated, glancing anxiously at the frail man on the bed. Explaining the contract would take time…
“Just let her do it,” an elderly voice suddenly spoke up.
It was the mother of Mr. Chen’s nephew— Mr. Chen’s sister-in-law.
Mr. Chen’s nephew turned to protest. “Mom! What if this Grandma Wu is just after Uncle’s assets?”
“What assets?” the old woman scoffed. “All he has left are cigarettes and a lighter. He smoked his life away, no matter how many times we told him to quit.”
Thankfully, the elderly woman’s words helped smooth things over. With her reassurance, and after confirming that they wouldn’t have to take responsibility for Grandma Wu, Mr. Chen’s nephew and his wife reluctantly helped Qian Hongxian sit Mr. Chen up and guided his hand to stamp his fingerprint.
At that moment, Mr. Chen became unusually alert. He took the pen himself and signed his name on the marriage certificate. Then, his eyes slowly closed again.
Right then, the monitor’s alarm blared. His heartbeat flatlined.
“Nurse!” Mr. Chen’s nephew pushed Qian Hongxian aside and ran out of the room, shouting.
Qian Hongxian left the hospital and slumped onto a bench outside. She leaned back, her head tilted toward the sky, her mouth hanging open in sheer exhaustion.
Finally, finally, finally done!
The last and most difficult couple— Chen Zhongguo and Wu Xiumei— had been matched.
Why was it so challenging?
Firstly, when she found Chen Zhongguo, he only had two years left to live and couldn’t get out of bed or speak properly. Wu Xiumei’s condition was no better; she was frequently in and out of the hospital and had no energy to focus on finding a partner.
Qian Hongxian nearly gave up several times.
In reality, she wasn’t just a matchmaker. She was the celestial being responsible for love and marriage— the Moon Matchmaker Fairy.
One drunken night in the Jade Pool Palace, she accidentally spilled ink all over the Book of Fate while trying to record human relationships at the Matchmaker Pavilion.
That ink spread wildly across a page, and by the time Qian Hongxian realized, it was too late; the ink permanently erased the names listed there. Those people lost their destined soulmates, and without their fated partners, their lives could not unfold as originally planned.
This incident reached the Jade Emperor, and the Jade Emperor was furious.
He believed that Qian Hongxian, having been promoted to a celestial position, should understand the responsibility of her duties and wondered how she could be so careless and cause such a major blunder. As punishment, he decreed that Qian Hongxian be sent to the mortal world to personally fix her mistake— by matchmaking every affected individual.
Reincarnation is no simple matter; one wrong step and she could be trapped in the human cycle of life and death forever, giving her no chance to return to the Celestial Court.
Not being able to return to the Celestial Court means not only enduring the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death in the human realm but also, perhaps most tragically, never seeing Lord Siming again.
Despite the pleas of her mentor, the Queen Mother of the West, the Jade Emperor remained unmoved.
She had cried the whole way into reincarnation. Her human mother later said she had been an unusually fussy baby.
But now— it is over.
She had finally fulfilled her task.
She could return to the Celestial Court.
Qian Hongxian felt that her mortal body had expended all its energy. She leaned back against the chair, closed her eyes, and let her consciousness fade.