"I heard from Chunyan that Xiaomei and Doctor Xiaowang will live in Ning'an in the future, and will only come back to the provincial capital during the holidays. They are so far away, and they don't see each other every day."

Mother Zhou paused for a moment and said, "If this stepmother is good in the future, we should be polite to her. If not, she still has her own children, why should we care so much?

You see, it is also said in the opera, there is no perfect thing in this world, everything must have some imperfections in order to last long."

After hearing this, Yang's mother nodded repeatedly, "Mother-in-law, you are right. I feel much better after talking to you." Then she took her hand again, "Mother-in-law, I have another thing to trouble you with tomorrow."

Zhou's mother said angrily, "Mother-in-law, we are not strangers. If you have anything to say, just tell me. It's no problem at all."

Mother Yang smiled and said, "Tomorrow is their wedding day. Please give Dongmei a face tomorrow morning."

After hearing this, Zhou's mother hesitated for a moment and said, "I can't do that. My mother-in-law and mother are both gone. I can't be considered a completely blessed person."

Mother Yang smiled and said, "It's not like before. There are not so many rules now. Besides, people like you are not considered lucky. Who can be considered lucky?"

"Okay!" Zhou's mother agreed readily.

Face opening, also known as face opening or face twisting, is to remove the facial hair of the bride, marking the end of her days as a girl.

In the old days, the woman who opened the face of a bride had to be a blessed woman with all the parents, children and husband in order to open the face of the bride.

This ceremony still exists these days, but the requirements for the person who has the face opened are not as strict as before. As long as the woman has a husband, children, a harmonious family, and filial children and grandchildren, she can be accepted.

The tool for opening the face is a red double thread. Pull one end in each hand, stretch the thread straight between the two hands, bite the other end with your mouth and pull it into a "cross" shape, then press it against the bride's cheek to remove the sweat hair. Move your hands back and forth while opening and closing them, switching back and forth continuously.

After Yang Chunyan and the others woke up from their nap, Wang Zhen took Zhou Huaian to meet Boss Zheng. After some polite exchanges, they sent a car to take them to visit the Wuhou Temple and Du Fu Thatched Cottage. In the evening, they invited them to have dinner at a restaurant. It was dark when they got home.

The sixth day of March is Wang Zhen and Yang Dongmei’s wedding day.

Early in the morning, after Yang Dongmei washed up, Zhou's mother went to her room with her, brought a stool, asked her to sit facing north and south, and took some scented powder and applied it to her face and neck.

Opening the face is a wedding ceremony. There are also requirements for the location and sitting direction when opening the face. It must be in the bride's room, sitting south facing north or north facing south. It is taboo to face east and west.

After Zhou's mother had applied the powder to Yang Dongmei, Yang Chunyan took a hot towel and covered her face with it so that it would not hurt so much when she kneaded the noodles later.

Yang Dongmei sat there nervously, "Sister, they all said it hurts a lot when they open the face, did it hurt for you?"

Yang Chunyan had long forgotten how painful it was when she had her face done on the day of her wedding. After thinking for a while, she said, "It's about the same as when we trim our eyebrows. It's a little painful, but not unbearable."

"Just bear with it for a while, it will be over." Mother Zhou smiled and picked up the red double thread, "Xiaomei has good skin, it's pink and tender. When I finish grinding the dough for you, I promise your face will be as smooth and tender as a peeled egg."

Yang Dongmei thought about whether she was afraid or not, and she sat up straight, closed her eyes, and said, "Aunt Nian, you can strangle me, I can bear it."

Zhou's mother held the thread close to her face and sang as she twisted it, "Strike the left thread and you will have a son. Strike the right thread and you will have a beautiful boy... Congratulations on becoming the bride!"

Yang Chunyan and Yang Dasao were also singing along with her tune. Yang's mother's eyes were red, she was happy, reluctant, and a little distressed.

From today on, my daughter belongs to someone else's family, and will be a distinguished guest when she returns home... But then I thought again, the only ones who sincerely wish her well are her family members today, and as long as she and Wang Zhen live a good life in the future, that's enough.

Yang's father, eldest brother Yang, Zhou Huaian and his two children, all dressed in new clothes, were sitting in the living room outside, watching TV while waiting for Wang Zhen to come and pick up the bride.

Father Yang and eldest brother Yang looked up at the room upstairs from time to time. They felt unhappy when they thought about their two daughters (sisters) being married.

Yang Dongmei felt very uncomfortable and her face was burning. Yang Chunyan waited for the face-opening ceremony to be over, took out a few eggs and the egg whites, scooped a few spoonfuls of honey, stirred them evenly, and brought them to her room.

Zhou's mother hung up the phone and looked at Yang Dongmei with a smile in her eyes, "Miss, you look really pretty today. Your face is as beautiful as a peeled boiled egg. It's so pretty."

Mrs. Yang also nodded repeatedly, "My younger sister and older sister both have good skin, unlike me, even if I stay at home for a year, I still can't get white skin."

Mother Yang handed the prepared red envelope to Mother Zhou, "Mother-in-law, thank you for your help!"

"No trouble, no trouble." Zhou's mother took the red envelope with a smile, "Wash yourself, dress up, and put on your wedding dress. The groom will be here soon."

The groom will come to pick up the bride at nine o'clock, and the wedding will be held at the hotel booked by the Wang family at half past ten.

"I got up early in the morning and didn't do anything. It's almost eight o'clock." Yang's mother hurriedly poured some hot water into the basin, picked up a towel and squeezed out the excess water, then handed it to Yang Dongmei, "Apply it. Your sister said she wanted to put some honey on you."

"Hmm!" Yang Dongmei washed her face and looked at the others, "I feel my face is burning, as if it was scalded by boiling water."

"I'll apply some egg white and honey on you, and you'll feel better soon." Yang Chunyan took a small brush, dipped it in the evenly mixed egg white and honey, and applied it to her face, forehead and neck.

"It was fine at first, it was cool and comfortable, but now it's tight." Yang Dongmei touched her forehead and felt that the dry area on her forehead was uncomfortable, as if it was stretched tight.

"This is what the egg white looks like when it dries. You'll feel better after you wash it off." Yang Chunyan took the bowl out and washed it, then brought in a basin of hot water. "Okay, wash your face, change your clothes, and put on your makeup. Wang Zhen should be here soon."

Yang Dongmei took the basin and said, "Okay, I'll wash my face first, and then change my clothes."

Yang Chunyan nodded, "Then you change. We'll go out and wait for you to change, and then we'll do your hair."

Yang Dongmei washed her face, took out a bright red velvet embroidered cheongsam and a woolen coat from the closet, put on a tight woolen sweater and pantyhose, put on a skirt, and stood in front of the dressing mirror. Looking at the woman with a curvy figure in the mirror, she pulled her skirt embarrassedly.

After hesitating for a moment, he opened the door and looked at Yang Chunyan standing outside. "Sister, is it too tight?"

"It fits perfectly and looks good! It really looks good!" Yang Chunyan didn't expect that she would look so good in cheongsam. She thought she looked much better than the stars on TV.

Mother Yang and Mother Zhou came out from next door, and their eyes lit up when they saw her. She didn't know what to say at this moment. Thinking that her beautiful daughter was about to be taken away by that brat Wang Zhen, her nose was sour...

Mother Zhou looked at her and praised her repeatedly: "It's beautiful, Xiaomei is really beautiful, this is what you should wear for a wedding, this is what a bride should wear, it's really beautiful..."

She said "beautiful" several times in a row, and Yang Dongmei's face suddenly turned redder than when she put on blush. She embarrassedly pulled Yang Chunyan into the house to do her hair.

After the two sisters had finished dressing up, the sound of firecrackers rang out and Wang Zhen led the wedding procession outside the house.

Although there were only a few people, Zhou Huaian and Brother Yang still took the three children to stop them for a while. After receiving a large stack of red envelopes, they opened the door and let them in.

Wang Zhen smiled gratefully at the few people, went upstairs to the door of Yang Dongmei's room. Yang Chunyan and Yang Dasao nodded their heads in, then let him go, opened the door and let him in.

After the door opened, Wang Zhen saw the bride sitting on the bed at a glance. He strode up to her and said, "Xiaomei, I'll take you home!" Then he walked up to her, picked her up and was about to walk out.

Yang Dongmei's ears turned red instantly, and she patted him, "Idiot, shoes!"

"Hahaha!" Everyone laughed.

"Oh! Let me look for it!" Wang Zhen looked around with a red face, looked at Yang Dongmei's eyes, walked forward and opened the dressing table, saw the shoes hidden inside, picked them up and put them on for her, then picked her up again.

Brother Yang and Yang Chunyan got into the car with the wedding quilt, took a walk outside, and then went to the Wang family across the street.

Feng Shuhui forced a smile and stood at the door with Wang's father to welcome the guests. The layout of the house here was similar to the one opposite, also a two-story building with big red wedding characters pasted everywhere.

Wang Zhen and Yang Dongmei's wedding room was on the second floor. The room was quite big and the decoration inside looked nice. It was very interesting when they toasted. The young couple only toasted Dr. Wang and Wang's father. Feng Shuhui stood aside with a grim face, but did not dare to get angry.

Next, everyone was taken to the restaurant, where they had a meal with relatives and friends, and the wedding was over.

When they returned to Wang Zhen's house, Zhou Huaian said to Yang Chunyan, "No wonder Wang Zhen said he likes the atmosphere of our country weddings. I also think that city weddings are not as lively as our country weddings.

You see, we have to slaughter pigs to worship the gods and ancestors, with a row of big stoves and ten-story-high steamers. We start with slaughtering pigs on the first day to thank the matchmaker, and we have to eat until the second day..."

"They are already well off. Look at other people in the city. They live in such a small place. Where would you expect them to put a big stove or a steamer?"

"That's true." Zhou Huaian thought about it and said, "Yan'er, how about we also buy a water heater from Wang Zhen? It will be so convenient to take a bath!"

“The electricity flow at home is simply not enough to power a water heater. If we want to install one, we have to wait until the power station is built.” Yang Chunyan thought about the solar water heaters that will be available in a few years, and wondered when to ask Wang Zhen if they will be available in the future.

"Okay, we'll have to wait." Zhou Huaian was about to tell her about the wholesale market when the old man came out of the house, "Youngest, when are we going back?"

Zhou Huaian smiled and dragged a chair to him, "Grandpa, isn't it fun to have fun in the provincial capital? We've only been out for two days, and you want to go back?"

The old man sat down and said, "It's fun, but we've had enough fun. We've had enough fun and have looked around. It's time for us to go back home. We still have livestock and chickens and ducks to feed!"

No place is better than your own doghouse. He feels that no matter how good the city is, it is not as comfortable as his own home! (End of this chapter)