bookrebus Chapter 274 Visit to Song Desheng's Home
Chapter 274 Visit to Song Desheng's Home
Li Ju'an and Lin Mei's families had grown up together since childhood, knew each other well, and their relationship was a free choice. Lin's mother had already given her consent, and Lin's father also agreed, so the matter naturally fell into place. The act of receiving the red ribbon is also called "thanking the betrothal," which is essentially an engagement ceremony. With both sides agreeing, they chose an even-numbered day to hold the ceremony.
Song Lanhua, the mother, arrived at the Lin family home carrying a fruit basket. She arranged a time with Lin's parents, and the groom's relatives and friends gathered at the bride's house. The matchmaker led the groom and his entourage, carrying engagement clothes, money, and several red ribbons, to the bride's house. They were then seated at the table, accompanied by the bride's elders.
There was no matchmaker between the two families; the elders would simply lead Li Ju'an into their homes. Then, Lin's mother would cook noodles, serve them in bowls to the neighbors, and let everyone in the village know that her daughter was engaged.
There is also a simpler way to express gratitude to the bride's family in the area, where the groom's matchmaker accompanies him to deliver betrothal clothes and money to the bride's family, signifying that the engagement is settled.
These past few days, Li Ju'an has been busy running around the county town, frequently visiting Song Desheng's house.
Upon hearing that Li Ju'an was coming to collect the red ribbon, Song Desheng immediately offered his congratulations, laughing heartily as he said, "When I got married last year, I practically emptied my savings. Not to mention anything else, just these three items alone could have killed me. Luckily, my mother-in-law didn't mind, otherwise I would never have been able to scrape together these three items, and my wife wouldn't have married me."
The three essential items for weddings in the 1980s were a wall clock, a television, and a bicycle.
At that time, Song Desheng really didn't have any children, so he had to hire a carpenter to make 72 legs to please his mother-in-law. His family was well-off, owning a tenement building, and the woman's family wasn't bad either. If it weren't for their free-choice relationship, and only considering arranged marriages, he might not have been able to get married so quickly.
Li Ju'an chuckled upon hearing this, and thinking about marriage in the future, he teased, "Song Desheng, if you have to empty the wallets of six people to buy a house for your wedding, will you still get married?"
Song Desheng was stunned and exclaimed in disbelief, "Getting married, preparing three major items, how did it empty the wallets of six people? What kind of wedding is it, a golden wedding or a silver wedding? Even foreign royalty don't get such expensive weddings."
Li Ju'an said, "Buying a house will empty the wallets of you and your wife, as well as both sets of parents."
Song Desheng's eyes widened in disbelief. He raised his voice and exclaimed, "My goodness! What kind of house is this? It must be made of gold!"
Li Ju'an laughed heartily and said, "I'm going to go into the mountains to graze later. If you have time and want to come, you can come along."
"Okay."
Song Desheng was very enthusiastic and proactive, taking out his wedding gift list from last year and comparing it item by item with Li Ju'an's. When he got married last year, the bride's family didn't request a radio, television, or tape recorder; instead, there were two copies of the gift list, one for the bride and one for the groom. The gifts included furniture, cash, clothing, and miscellaneous items, such as cloth, cotton, and grain and oil.
Song Desheng brought two sets of clothes, a headscarf, and two pairs of socks, but his mother-in-law demanded that he "take care of everything," meaning that the bride's family would have to pay for the items according to the gift list. After discussing it, he decided to carry a "food stack," which is a wooden container similar to a round cage, to the bride's family on a chosen day.
During festivals, local temple fairs, and the spring and autumn clothing seasons, he would give money to the woman to buy clothes, regardless of the length of the marriage until he got married. The amount was not much, and he followed the general trend in the local towns.
Getting married and engaged involves many complicated and tedious matters.
Song Desheng said that when he got married, it was right around the time of the land redistribution to individual households, and having an extra person registered in the household meant getting more land. So the old bachelors in his village were even more anxious, doing everything they could to catch the last train. At that time, matchmakers were born into a good era and became incredibly popular overnight, known as "matchmaking gossips."
Putting everything else aside, just take Zhang the matchmaker. He was so popular that he was sought after by everyone from neighboring villages to neighboring households.
Besides matchmakers, there were also matchmakers-men, busy arranging everything everywhere, even busier than post office operators.
The Song family's daughter-in-law warmly boiled water and brought over fragrant new Longjing tea, saying with a smile, "Li Pao, please sit down. I have to thank you for taking care of our Song Desheng. Otherwise, with his clumsy hands, I really wouldn't feel at ease letting him go into the mountains alone."
His sister-in-law was very eloquent, but Song Desheng looked somewhat uncomfortable, as if someone had offended him and he had no way to back down. Li Ju'an said, "Oh, sister-in-law, Song Desheng is really something. Last time, that bear was taller and fiercer than a person, but Song Desheng charged at it all by himself and just kept shooting until he took it down."
A bear is just a bear. In the winter of the Xing'an Mountains, a bear that doesn't stay in its den but wanders around is rumored by the mountain people to be a snowman, a snow monster, or a snow mountain monster, which is very strange. The locals make the rumors more and more bizarre, and they even put the snowman and the weasel spirit and the old white wolf that can turn into a human and chew on them together, passing on the story with great relish.
Upon hearing that Xiong Ba had been shot down, Song's wife turned pale with shock, looking at Song Desheng with worry and fear. "You rascal, why did you go into the mountains to hunt such a dangerous thing? What would I do if something bad happened to you?"
Song Desheng was a little embarrassed. He patted his wife's hand to comfort her for a while and said, "I'm just standing here. Don't worry, honey, I'm fine. Next time that bear comes out, we'll grab a gun and shoot it in the face. I guarantee it'll regret it."
Song's wife was still very worried, her heart pounding wildly. The more she asked Li Ju'an about the details of his mountain run, the more terrified she became.
Li Ju'an realized that this couldn't go on forever; he had to quickly change the subject.
He asked Song's wife if any of the family's other relatives had gotten married in recent years.
She then opened up and said that her brother was serving in the army, and when he came home to visit, her mother told him to get married before he was discharged.
Li Ju'an laughed and said, "That's right. Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse. Once you take off this yellow cotton-padded jacket, what else can you expect?"
The Song family's daughter-in-law chuckled and said, "My brother is just shy; he blushes when he sees a girl. He once said that the organization also had this intention when he came back this time."
Speaking of his brother-in-law, Song Desheng shook his head and said, "My brother-in-law, my mother-in-law went around asking everyone in the village and neighborhood to find a match for him. She was so angry with him that she insisted that he ride a bicycle every time he went out, with his sleeves rolled up high and his watch showing. My wife even hung a pen around his neck. Do you think that's acceptable?"
Li Ju'an laughed along with the two of them.
Despite his usual swagger and nonchalance, Song Desheng is actually quite meticulous. His brother-in-law wears a pen around his neck, leading the women to believe he's an educated man. However, to be honest, while he's not particularly outstanding in other areas, his illiteracy is a major drawback.
Li Ju'an said, "If you want to be literate, you can do it in the army, right?"
Song Desheng slapped his thigh and, listening to what Li Ju'an said, exclaimed, "That's exactly what I told my brother-in-law. I said if you were literate, wouldn't you have started working in the army long ago? Why wait until now? And guess what my brother-in-law said?"
"Say what?"