In the past, when the wedding ceremony was held, there would be a band of musicians playing instruments, such as suonas and flutes, following behind the oxcart that carried the dowry and food. They would make a lot of noise and it was very lively.

Nowadays, weddings are all modern, and the amount of money spent on gifts and banquets is already quite extravagant, so Li Jin didn't arrange for a band to play music.

As soon as you enter Guanyutai Village, you'll see groups of people gathered along the roadside watching the excitement.

When Li Kang arrived at Liu Dagai's house, he felt a little unhappy.

The area in front of Liu Dagai's house was quiet and deserted; there wasn't a single person there!

The date and time for the ceremony were set long ago. Even if you didn't want to wait outside in the cold, you should have at least sent someone to keep an eye on things.

The man's family arrived, but the woman's family didn't even show their faces. This is a show of force to the Li family!

Li Kang, with his fiery temper, immediately showed it: "Wei Jun, didn't you tell your father-in-law that you're giving gifts today?"

Li Weijun was also a little unhappy, "I already told them!"

"Xiang Chao, set off a firecracker and hear the sound!"

Li Xiangchao took a firecracker out of his pocket, put it on the ground, and then took out a match and lit it.

"Whoosh—bang—crash—"

A few moments later, several people rushed out of the door, led by Shan Yongju.

She came running over, beaming, "Brothers-in-law, your wives are all here! Come in and warm up!"

You can't hit someone who's smiling. On this joyous day, despite their dissatisfaction, the group still politely entered the house.

Liu Shufang and the others sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), looking around at everyone in the room. Surprisingly, Ma Jinfang, the matchmaker, was not there.

However, the necessary procedures still had to be followed. Hao Yulan said, "In-laws, tomorrow is the auspicious day, so we've come today to exchange gifts."

Li Xiangchao and Li Tang carried Cui Zhuang Shi Luo from the oxcart to the main room.

Those watching the spectacle, both inside and outside the house, started whispering amongst themselves as soon as they saw the contents of the lorry.

"So much! There's meat, and even ribs!"

"Yes, and they even got four watermelons. Watermelons aren't cheap!"

"Hey, don't blame Liu Dagai for bragging all the time, the son-in-law he found is really rich."

"Liu Yuxiu's betrothal is quite remarkable in our village these past few years!"

"Yes, it's a hat-trick."

While enjoying the envious glances from others, Shan Yongju and Liu Dagai kept their eyes glued to the contents of Luo's container.

Chicken, meat, glass noodles, hmm, quite a lot.

The wine, four dry and four fresh, is barely acceptable!

Um?

Why weren't the mother-in-law and father-in-law given clothes, or even the bride's clothes?

Liu Dagai called Li Kang and Li Tang aside, "In-laws, is there anything else we haven't brought down?"

Li Tang calmly pulled his hand away from his, saying, "I've taken them all off."

Liu Dagai raised his voice slightly, "This isn't right! Where are the clothes? Where's the gift money?"

The room fell silent immediately, everyone straining to hear what Liu Dagai had to say.

Li Kang called Li Weijun over, "You talk to him yourself!"

Liu Yuxiu stopped hiding in the side room and served sugar water to the aunties and grandmothers. They sat there awkwardly for a while.

It's unclear how Li Weijun negotiated with Liu Dagai, but in the end, Liu Dagai didn't insist on asking about the clothes and the gift money.

There wasn't much to say. After exchanging pleasantries, everyone prepared to return to Lijiapo, as there were still a lot of things to do at home!

"My dear in-laws, we're leaving now. See you tomorrow."

Logically, at this point, Liu Dagai and Shan Yongju should have put the rooster, half of the pork ribs and pork, and half of the vermicelli that Liu Dagai and Shan Yongju had given them back onto the oxcart.

To everyone's surprise, the couple stood up to see their guests off, but made no gesture of returning the greeting.

Li Kang's eyes widened, and Li Weijun quickly whispered a few words in his ear.

Finally, the group returned to Lijiapo in an empty car.

Seeing the empty oxcart and the several people whose faces didn't look too good, Zhou asked, "What happened?"

Whether it was from being beaten or from being frightened by her dead mother-in-law, Li Wanshi was unable to get up from the kang (a heated brick bed), and Zhou Shi was the only elder helping to take care of things.

Xiao Hong whispered the situation to her grandmother.

Mrs. Zhou raised her eyebrows in surprise, but the wedding was tomorrow, so what could the in-laws do even if they were unreasonable?

Judging from Zhao Sufang and Li Jin's expressions, they weren't surprised at all.

Zhou instructed several people to suppress the matter for now, and to ensure that nothing went wrong during this joyous occasion.

......

Li Jinshan is the general manager of Lijiapo, similar to the chief manager of Bincheng. He oversees all aspects of weddings and funerals, including sending invitations to relatives, borrowing equipment, purchasing supplies, organizing banquets, finding helpers, arranging seating, and entertaining relatives and friends.

Li Xiangdong was assigned by Li Jinshan to manage Wang Zhenbo's accounts. All the gifts people gave had to be recorded so that it would be convenient to return the gifts later.

These days, people give gifts ranging from 50 cents to brown sugar or white sugar, and sometimes even bed sheets or pillowcases.

Wang Zhenbo was in charge of bookkeeping, and Li Xiangdong was in charge of receiving items.

Today, friends and relatives from the village have been arriving one after another to give gifts, while the rest of the relatives and friends will generally arrive tomorrow on the actual day.

When guests arrive, the host has to provide meals, though in later generations it was a banquet, now it's communal cooking.

Now that the cabbages have been harvested, I cut the ready-made cabbages into chunks and stew them with tofu, glass noodles, and thinly sliced ​​meat.

Another dish is stewed potatoes with sliced ​​meat.

The staple food is steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat flour and sorghum flour in a large pot. Usually, steaming buns at home is the women's job, but for happy occasions, the men are the ones who knead the dough, shape it, and steam it.

Due to the significant difference in strength between men and women, the steamed buns made by men are more chewy and sweeter.

While waiting for the meal, the chef stood by the pot with a spoon in his hand, and behind him, each person held a bowl and a pair of chopsticks, queuing up to wait for the chef to serve the food.

A big bowl of steaming hot, oily stew is served, and then two large steamed buns are taken from the steamer. One bite of bun and one bite of stew, and it tastes incredibly delicious.

It was simple and inexpensive, but it was the kind of meal that Li Xiangdong longed for for decades but could never afford.

In later generations, people would go to restaurants for their weddings, or use mobile catering services.

The food looked appealing, but it was all just reheated cold rice and dishes from the delivery service; it tasted like leftovers.

Even worse, the dishes served are pre-made; the food from the cans isn't even poured into the plates, just served as an open can!

Isn't that ridiculous?!

Now it's different. Fresh Chinese cabbage is just pulled from the ground, washed, chopped, and put into a wok. It's stir-fried over a wood-fired stove with high heat. How could it not taste good?

With Li Chang's culinary skills also contributing, everyone ate the big pot of food until their bellies were round and full!

In his past life, Li Xiangdong secretly asked Li Jin how Li Chang's cooking skills were so good, but Li Jin gave a vague answer.

Later he learned that Li Chang's father was actually a cook who cooked for Cao Kun, the "bribed president," and that Li Chang's mother was a maid who served the ladies in the inner quarters of the house!

It's not surprising that Li Chang and Li Guoqing possess some extraordinary skills.