Shi Meiling returned to the house still fuming: "Wang Jinfeng just came over, eyeing our bicycle. She's so shameless! If it weren't for the fact that she's an elder to the children, I would have really wanted to beat her with a broom!"

"Don't worry about her. If it doesn't work, I'll talk to my older brother and ask him to take care of her!" An Tanxiao comforted him.

"What big brother? They've cut ties with you. Even if you call them big brother, they might not acknowledge you. They're probably afraid of getting into trouble because of you!"

"Alright, alright! You're right, I won't call you 'Big Brother' anymore!"

"That's right. If you don't want to be relatives, then don't associate with them. Don't covet anything we have, and don't envy what they have! They see we have a bicycle and then eagerly try to get closer to us. What kind of people are they?"

An Tanxiao pulled Shi Meiling's hand: "Don't be angry. Who they are has nothing to do with us. We just need to live our own lives. We don't care what they do."

"You're right, I'll see how they manage to live their lives."

…

An Qingbai went to find Zhuang Zhimeng and handed her the bankbook.

Zhuang Zhimeng calculated their savings accounts, and they had nearly 30,000 yuan in total, which was quite a lot in this day and age.

Zhuang Zhimeng opened her savings account after she went to the countryside. She saved all her money in cash and kept 500 yuan for emergencies.

Do you know how much money we have right now?

"I don't know! It must be at least 6,000 or 7,000, right?"

"Your money plus mine, it's almost thirty thousand!"

Seeing her excited, money-grubbing expression as she held the bankbook, An Qingbai affectionately patted her head and said, "I'll earn even more money for you to spend in the future!"

"Okay! I'll wait!"

Because they had things to do the next day, Zhuang Zhimeng and An Qingbai chatted for a while before An Qingbai went home.

The next morning, Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia went to the educated youth settlement.

When they arrived at the educated youth settlement, the matchmaker was already there and was doing Liu Xiaocao's makeup, just applying blush and combing her hair.

Liu Xiaocao wore a new peach-colored dress today, which was prepared for her by Er Lengzi's mother.

Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia presented her with the gifts they had prepared beforehand.

Liu Xiaocao accepted it: "Thank you for coming today!"

"It's nothing. We're all educated youth sent to the countryside. It's only right that we look after each other."

Liu Xiaocao nodded, and because she was doing her makeup, she didn't say anything more.

At 10 a.m., Er Lengzi went to the educated youth settlement to pick up his bride. There was no wedding procession; he was all alone.

He wore a big red flower on his chest and a new satin shirt, which his mother had specially made for him.

There was no elaborate door-opening ceremony. They simply picked up Liu Xiaocao, who was also wearing a big red flower, and then walked around the village, giving each villager and child a piece of candy before heading home.

Upon arriving at the house, the village's women's director was invited to witness the reading of Chairman Mao's quotations and a passage from the Little Red Book. After taking the oath in front of Chairman Mao's portrait, the ceremony was complete.

Then Liu Xiaocao was taken to the bridal chamber, and Zhuang Zhimeng and the other relatives and friends of the bride also went along, and saw what a bridal chamber looked like in this era.

The wedding room was simply furnished, with several newly made quilts and a mahogany chest on the kang (a heated brick bed).

You can tell the wall has been painted, which shows they take Liu Xiaocao quite seriously.

The wall is decorated with a portrait of a great man, a large red "double happiness" character, and a photo of the two of them, indicating that they must have obtained their marriage certificate.

The most extravagant item was the thermos given by the male educated youth, and there was also an enamel mug given by Jiang Yanxia on the kang table.

In the corner, there was a washbasin stand with a red Double Happiness enamel washbasin and a white towel hanging on it.

That's all. This era advocates hard work and frugality, and everything is very simple.

Liu Xiaocao's dowry consisted of everything she owned at the educated youth settlement. I heard that Er Lengzi's family gave her a bride price of 100 yuan.

It's time to start the feast. The women and children sit at one table, and the men sit at another. There's also some bulk liquor on the men's table.

It wasn't a big event; it was just a small gathering of close friends, with four tables set up.

Zhuang Zhimeng, Jiang Yanxia, ​​and the female educated youth were all invited to sit at the table for women and children.

Each table has an even number of dishes, with fewer meat dishes and more vegetable dishes, but fish, four-happiness meatballs, and stewed meat are indispensable.

The meat was something Er Lengzi's mother had to go through several places to finally gather.

The villagers who came to eat at the feast were already very satisfied; they rarely get to eat meat.

Most of the gifts given at the banquet were 1 or 2 jiao (0.1 or 0.2 yuan), and 5 jiao (0.5 yuan) were very rare.

You have to be quick and sharp when eating at a banquet, otherwise the women and children at the same table will have eaten everything if you're not careful.

Zhuang Zhimeng was inexperienced at attending a banquet for the first time, and the meat and vegetables were gone while she was talking to Jiang Yanxia.

Every time a meat dish was served, it disappeared visibly in no time.

By 2 p.m., the banquet was almost over.

If there's leftover food at the meal, the people who helped can serve it and carry it away as a way of thanking them.

That concludes the discussion.