Chapter Twenty-Four: Before the Wedding

An Songyu spent the whole day working in Jiangcun before returning to Rongdi's home.

The An family home was already decorated with a festive atmosphere.

Because the couple didn't buy a house for their wedding, their new home was simply furnished at home.

An Songlin replaced all the furniture in his original room.

The furniture that was replaced back then wasn't wasted.

An Jianping had his men take him directly back to the village.

Now, the whole room is decorated in a vibrant red.

On the contrary, the newlyweds' wedding bed was still empty.

We have to wait for the matron to come and perform the bed-making ceremony.

Before An Songyu returned, An Songxiang, who had just finished get off work, was helping to prepare things.

The wedding is in two days, and most of the wedding favors have already been prepared.

What we're preparing now are the things to put the books in.

After washing her hands and changing her clothes, An Songyu carefully selected items with her younger sister.

The lotus seeds, longans, red dates, and other ingredients packed into the book box must all be carefully selected.

Choose lotus seeds that are plump and full, longans that are whole and still in their shells, and red dates that are not only red in color but also of uniform size.

The two sisters carefully selected the best candidates first, and then Bi Lizhu chose the best of the best.

After dinner, Bi Lizhu also cleaned herself up first, and then started working with extra seriousness.

She first went through the lotus seeds, longans, red dates, and other items that An Songyu and the other person had carefully selected.

The main point is to choose those that are round and uniform in size.

Then he solemnly took out the book box and first laid a layer of red silk cloth at the bottom.

This red silk cloth was originally a matching item when I bought the book box, and its size is just right.

On the laid-out red silk cloth, the first thing placed was lotus seeds.

The pure white, round lotus seeds, spread out in a layer, symbolize "continuous birth of noble sons".

Although we live in an era of family planning, the number of children they have is not entirely up to them.

But this custom continues to be practiced.

On top of the lotus seeds are longans.

Bi Lizhu carefully arranged them in a circle, symbolizing reunion and happiness.

Above the longan were the red dates. It took Bi Lizhu a long time to arrange them into a heart shape.

This represents the wish to have a son soon.

On top of the book box, the written marriage certificate should be placed.

This was written by An Jianping himself.

The wedding certificate wasn't designed in-house; it was bought along with the book box and then written on.

Perfectly, it matches the size of the book box.

After everything was placed in its place, Bi Lizhu closed the book box.

Then carefully stick the prepared Double Happiness stickers onto the lid.

Then, using the red ribbon that I bought along with the book box, I tied a pretty bow on the book box.

As a result, the whole book box looked both festive and beautiful.

Bi Lizhu picked up the book box she had already placed and solemnly put it into her son's new room.

This is one of the important items to bring when welcoming the bride.

An Songyu and Bi Lizhu watched intently until they saw Bi Lizhu emerge from the new house, at which point they breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Hearing each other's long breaths, the two sisters couldn't help but look at each other.

Seeing each other's expressions, they couldn't help but laugh.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time the two sisters had participated in a wedding so closely.

Anjia was even busier for the next two days.

Even the An Songyu sisters were completely at their parents' beck and call.

It wasn't until the last day of April, which happened to be Friday night.

Tomorrow is An Songlin's wedding.

But tonight, there is another equally important ceremony to be held at Anjia.

In the afternoon, accompanied by Uncle An, Grandpa An and Grandma An arrived.

As evening approached, all the other members of the An family who could come arrived.

After dinner, An Songlin went to take a shower and change clothes.

The rest of the family, under direction, rearranged the tables and chairs in the living room.

After An Songlin came out, under the guidance of the matchmaker, An Songlin solemnly knelt on one knee in front of An Jianping.

Even though discussing and preparing for the wedding has been going on for quite some time.

Seeing his son now, An Jianping still feels a sense of pride, like a son growing up.

An Songyu walked over carrying the top scholar's hat and red cloth. Amidst the blessings from the matchmaker, An Jianping carefully put the hat and red cloth on his son.

The wedding aunt's voice rang out again at just the right moment:

"Today is an auspicious day, and the young master is really into it!"

"Young master, from now on you will have a family to support, and happiness and bliss will always be with you."

May the young master and mistress's love be as sweet as honey, and their life as blissful as honey. Let them join hands to create a bright future, and may wealth and prosperity accompany them forever!

The people around also joined in with their blessings.

From today onwards, An Songlin is truly a grown man who has started a family and established a career.

It's no longer like before, when his parents would shelter him from the wind and rain.

After the ceremony, there are glutinous rice balls to eat.

But the older generation won't participate in this activity.

The An sisters, An Songyu and An Songlin, handed over the freshly cooked glutinous rice balls.

Then he distributed them one by one to his brothers and sisters in the family.

Today, almost everyone in Anjia who could get there arrived.

Uncle An's cousin, and Aunt An's younger cousin.

My fourth uncle's cousins.

There was also his cousin, who already lived in their house, and his cousin, who came with their parents today.

The youngest of them is my little cousin, who is only fifteen years old this year.

She is from Aunt An's family.

She happily thanked An Songlin for the glutinous rice balls he offered.

"Thank you, Cousin Songlin. Congratulations on becoming an adult today."

These words made An Songlin's face stiffen on such a fine day.

The other older cousins ​​were all chuckling to themselves.

The younger cousins ​​wouldn't understand these things.

An Songyu, on the other hand, was an old maid who could easily see the ambiguity in her cousin's words.

So I quickly pulled my little cousin to the other side to prevent my cousins ​​from teasing her later.

In the other room, the An family's brothers and sisters were taking advantage of this rare opportunity to chat.

Aunt An, who married into the neighboring village, was the first to speak:

"Third brother, are you planning to go back to your hometown to develop your career?"

"I heard that you built four houses at home and also leased hundreds of acres of mulberry-fish ponds and orchards?"

Aunt An, who had never heard of this before, widened her eyes instantly.

She couldn't help but turn to look at her third brother.

No wonder Songlin's family dared to look at houses in Hongye Haoting when he got married; they must have some wealth!

"It wasn't until your nephew was getting married that we realized we couldn't even afford to buy a house for his wedding," An Jianping said with a helpless expression.

Seeing that his second sister still seemed somewhat skeptical, he quickly called to his eldest brother:

"If you don't believe me, ask my older brother. I was desperate and wanted him to help me give up my two plots of land in the village."

"Yes, I was terrified when the third brother called," An Jianguo said with a simple, honest smile.

There was no mention whatsoever of An Jianping changing his mind in just one day.

This almost made Yuan Qionghua roll her eyes.

Today is a good day for Songlin, otherwise, I wonder if she would want to have a word with him.

"So how did Third Brother decide to build a house in the village? And why did he contract mulberry fields and orchards?" Aunt An asked curiously.

“It was my suggestion to Third Brother that we take over the orchard,” An Jianmin said first.

"Since everyone is here today, I'll say it all at once."

"A new fruit wholesale market has been built over Liangdi."

"I have already reserved a storefront there, so the demand for fruit will increase significantly in the future."

“We are all brothers and sisters. If you are interested in cooperating with me, you can also join my third brother’s family to contract an orchard.”

"As long as the fruit is good, I will definitely prioritize ordering fruit from my own family."