Chapter 404 We're all family, don't be so polite.
The red candles burned all night.
The bridal chamber was filled with the fragrance of wedding candles, red gauze curtains swayed gently, and some morning light shone through the cracks in the wooden lattice windows.
Birdsong filled the air, and the chickens and ducks in the backyard were let out, chattering and quacking incessantly. A beautiful dawn had begun.
Zhao Ergou tiptoed out of bed, and as soon as he moved, the person next to him opened their eyes.
"Sleep a little longer," Zhao Ergou said softly. "It's still early, no rush."
Cao Yingying propped herself up, feeling as if her body was falling apart. Fortunately, the room was dimly lit, so her blushing face was not visible.
She whispered, "It's time to get up and go pay your respects to Mother."
“You know my mother always gets up late.” Zhao Ergou pressed her shoulder. “You were tired last night. Sleep for another half an hour, and I’ll come and wake you up later.”
His burning hand touched Cao Yingying's bare neck skin. She shuddered and immediately burrowed under the covers, nodding vigorously: "Then you should go out and get busy. I'll lie down for a little while longer."
Zhao Ergou chuckled, tucked the blanket in, and felt refreshed.
During these first few days of his marriage, he didn't need to go to the Grand River Banquet. All matters there were handled by Da Wang. After half a year of training, Da Wang was already able to manage all the affairs of the Grand River Banquet, so it didn't matter whether he went or not.
In the dimly lit courtyard, Zhao Sanniu and Zhao Sidan were practicing their martial arts, while Zhao Dashan had already gone to work in the fields.
Zhao Ergou picked up the axe from the ground and started chopping firewood. Before he had finished chopping one pile of firewood, he saw someone come out of the house. It was Cao Yingying.
She wore a simple dress, with only a plain silver hairpin in her hair. She wore no jewelry on her ears, neck, or wrists, a stark contrast to her wedding attire the day before.
"Good morning, Second Sister-in-law!"
Zhao Sanniu and Zhao Sidan greeted each other together.
Cao Yingying smiled and said, "No need to be so polite."
They had lived together for a month before, and she felt that a normal relationship was fine.
But as soon as Zhao Dashan and Wu Huiniang came in, she immediately curtsied and said, "Good morning, elder brother and sister-in-law."
Zhao Ergou couldn't help but ruffle her hair: "I just told San Niu and Si Dan not to be polite, why are you being so polite yourself, just like before."
Cao Yingying blushed and whispered, "With so many people watching, don't touch my hair..."
The more Zhao Ergou looked at her, the more he liked her, but there were too many people in the courtyard, so he couldn't make any more advances. He coughed and said, "I'll go see if Mother is awake yet."
Cao Yingying then turned and went to the kitchen.
Her mother-in-law said that on the first day of marriage, the newlyweds should cook breakfast for their mother-in-law so that they can get along well in the future.
She had been specially instructed at the Cao residence, so she wasn't flustered at all when doing it.
Wei Hongying quickly stopped her, saying, "Second sister-in-law, we can do these chores. You should go back to your room and rest. Don't get your clothes dirty..."
"I'll do it, you watch the stove for me."
Cao Yingying kneaded more dough. There were many people in the family, and she couldn't just make it for her mother-in-law, otherwise it would seem like she, the new second sister-in-law, was being lazy.
She had just finished kneading the dough when Cheng Wanwan appeared at the kitchen door.
She quickly wiped her hands and curtsied, saying, "Good morning, Mother."
"You silly child, why are you acting so distant now that you've married into the family? You're not allowed to be so formal with your manners anymore." Cheng Wanwan pulled her hand. "Our family rules state that a new bride isn't allowed to do any work for the first three days after she enters the house. So don't go into the kitchen; it makes Hongying feel uncomfortable."
Cao Yingying had been specially taught manners at home, so she dared not refuse to do the work and was about to insist.
Cheng Wanwan continued, "On the first day of our marriage, we need to serve tea to my mother-in-law. Let's not waste any more time, let's go."
Wei Hongying had already prepared tea and a tray, and the main room was also tidied up. There were two futons on the ground, and the two elders, Cheng Wanwan and Cheng Yuanyuan, were sitting in the main room. Other peers and Zhao Yuezhu, the only junior, were also there.
Zhao Ergou and Cao Yingying knelt down on the prayer mats and offered tea to the elders.
Cheng Wanwan prepared red envelopes for both of them, each containing two taels of silver, not much, just a token gesture.
Cheng Yuanyuan didn't have any money on her, but Cheng Wanwan had advanced her wages, so she gave her nephew and nephew's wife 100 coins each.
One hundred coins is not much to Cheng Wanwan's family, but it is a huge sum for Cheng Yuanyuan, and that's all she can afford.
Immediately afterwards, the new bride took out gifts, made a set of clothes for each of the elders, prepared a pair of insoles for each of her eldest brother and sister-in-law, and prepared a purse for each of the younger peers. Zhao Yuezhu prepared a mutton fat jade pendant.
Sanmao didn't know what was in the purse, so he opened it and a golden bean rolled out.
Cheng Yuanyuan was startled: "This...this is far too valuable..."
These gold beans were part of my nephew's wife's dowry. How could she just give them away like that? Giving them to her own brother would be one thing, but how could she give them to outsiders like Sanmao, Daya, and Erya...? Her three children took three purses, which meant three gold beans. How much money is that...?
She quickly emptied the gold coins from the three purses and stuffed them back into Cao Yingying's hand: "One purse is enough, you can't take this!"
“Auntie, this was originally a gift for my younger siblings to meet us.” Cao Yingying quickly pushed it back. “These gold beads were specially made by my father. Don’t be fooled by the fact that they are gold; three of them together only amount to an ounce. They’re not anything valuable.”
Cheng Wanwan silently calculated in her mind that in this era, one tael of gold was roughly equal to ten taels of silver, and one gold bean was worth three taels of silver.
In a whole year, the villagers couldn't even save two taels of silver. This girl could spend more than a year's income in one go. She really wasn't afraid of being targeted by thieves.
She said, "Elder sister, please accept what Yingying gave you, but when you go to the old house to offer tea later, you must not give her any more gold beans."
There are too many gossips around the old house; if this gets out, it will make her second daughter-in-law seem foolish and rich.
Cao Yingying nodded repeatedly: "I will follow Mother's arrangements."
Cheng Wanwan told her to exchange the remaining gold coins in her purse for loose silver. She put about two or three qian of silver in each purse, which is about two or three hundred copper coins.
After finishing their tea, Zhao Ergou and his wife headed towards Old Zhao's house.
By this time, it was already bright outside. Cheng Yuanyuan carried a hoe and prepared to go down to the field to check on the flower seedlings.
"Big sister, wait a moment," Cheng Wanwan said. "There were so many congratulatory gifts from yesterday that I didn't have time to count them. Big sister, could you help me count them?"
Cheng Yuanyuan nodded in agreement and followed them to the warehouse.
The warehouse was filled with all sorts of things, a dazzling sight. Cheng Wanwan glanced at it and knew roughly what was missing.
She chuckled softly, "By the way, where's my brother-in-law? Is he still sleeping?"
“I just went to his room, thinking I’d tell him to go home early, but he was gone. He probably didn’t sleep well and left in the middle of the night.” Cheng Yuanyuan said, her face full of shame. “Luckily, he didn’t do anything shameful, otherwise I would have just killed myself.”
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