Mr. Zheng's house became lively early in the morning, and by noon, there were loud gongs and drums and firecrackers.
Xiao Yunyu held Jinhe and followed Li Nian to the Zheng family next door for a banquet.
The Zheng family is indeed a famous merchant family in northern Jiangsu. The guests who come and go are all dressed in gorgeous clothes and look very wealthy.
Shopkeeper Liu had already greeted the old man of the Zheng family early on. Although the four of them were distinguished guests from the capital, they wanted to keep a low profile and just treat them as ordinary guests.
Although Manager Liu said so, how could the shrewd Mr. Zheng really treat them as ordinary guests?
So he arranged the four of them to sit at the top seat, and specifically instructed his trusted servants to serve them at any time.
The two best friends stood in the crowd, listening to the sound of firecrackers and gongs and drums getting closer and closer, and guessed that it must be the groom welcoming the bride.
The guests immediately headed towards the main entrance.
The two best friends followed everyone and stood at the gate of the Zheng family mansion. They saw a white-haired old man wearing a bright red wedding dress, riding on a tall dark brown horse, with a smile on his face like a chrysanthemum blooming in autumn.
Walking towards this side.
"This is the groom... I suddenly remembered a poem, what was it called? Oops, I can't remember it for the moment." Li Sisi stood beside Li Nian and whispered.
Li Nian glanced sideways in confusion. "What poem? Tell me a line and see if I know it."
"It's... well, I remember it was written by a poet to his good friend. At the time, the old man was eighty years old and married an eighteen-year-old girl. The poet wrote it deliberately to humiliate his friend."
Li Nian's mind raced. "Are you talking about... the poem Su Shi gave to Zhang Sheng?"
Li Sisi urged: "Can you read it out loud first so I can hear it?"
"I am eighty years old and you are eighteen,
You are beautiful and I am old.
We are of the same age,
There is only a sixty-year gap in between.
Eighteen-year-old bride and eighty-year-old groom,
White hair and red makeup.
A pair of mandarin ducks sleep together in the quilt.
A pear tree overshadows a crabapple tree."
Li Sisi nodded repeatedly after hearing the last line. "Yes, that's it! I only remember the last line. At first I thought it was a description of the scenery and it was so romantic. But when I was browsing the posts, I saw a netizen's explanation of this poem. I was stunned!"
At this time, the groom had been helped down from the carriage and raised his hand to lift the sedan chair.
The bride in a bright red wedding dress has a graceful figure, with a white veil covering her face. Only through the translucent red veil can one vaguely see the bride's beautiful face.
The wrinkled old hands held the bride's delicate hands like jade.
Li Nian looked at the groom, his smile as bright as a chrysanthemum, and leaned close to Li Sisi's ear and whispered, "Tell me, is it possible that they really have that kind of love where 'you were born before I was born, and I was born when you were old'?"
Li Sisi curled her lips and said, "Come on, love without the support of appearance is like a pile of loose sand. If I marry an old man like this, no matter how outstanding he is, I will..."
She tilted her head and stuck out her tongue: "Ga!"
Li Nian was amused by her and laughed out loud.
While the two were chatting and joking, the groom had already walked into the door with the bride.
The two best friends followed the crowd back.
There was no one sitting on the high hall, only two tablets, which seemed to be the tablets of the groom's parents.
"Bow to Heaven and Earth——"
"Two bows to the parents—"
"Husband and wife bow to each other—"
"Send her to the bridal chamber—"
As the host finished his last words, the groom walked out with the bride.
Next, the wedding banquet began.
The housekeeper of the mansion led Manager Liu and them to the table and sat down.
There were eight people sitting at the square wooden table. Jinhe was held by Li Nian, so she was not counted.
The servants in the mansion began to serve the dishes.
At the same time, in the kitchen of the mansion, a man in servant's clothes was looking around curiously.
"Hey? Which servant are you from and why are you in the kitchen?" A man who looked like a cook shouted loudly.
A sly glint flashed in the man's eyes, and he said with a smile, "The master is worried that the kitchen is short-staffed, so he arranged for me to help out."
As soon as he finished speaking, several servants came into the kitchen carrying trays. Upon hearing this, they immediately said, "Now that you're here, get to work. The food is being served right now."
One of the older servants had already started to serve the dishes with swift movements.
"Newcomers just don't know the rules." Someone rolled their eyes.
The older servant handed the man the tray he had just loaded and said, "Here, the dishes are all the same this time. Just start from the top seat and work your way down."
The man immediately took it with both hands: "Yeah, okay."
He walked at the back of the servants, carrying the dishes. When no one was paying attention, he quickly took out a packet of medicine powder from his sleeve with his right hand holding the tray and sprinkled it into the meatball soup.
Then he became worried and continued to sprinkle the minced meat into the fruit wine on the tray.
This thing is the favorite of the ladies in the capital. If they don’t eat the meatball soup, they will definitely try the fruit wine.
After everything was done, the man stealthily changed his position in the team, from the last one to the middle.
When he entered the banquet hall, he immediately looked for the figures of those people from the capital, and then brought the dishes in his hand to the table before anyone else.
Li Sisi's eyes lit up again as she looked at the local dishes that were served one after another.
He turned his head and whispered to Li Nian, "Now I finally understand why rich people love traveling so much. Not only do they enjoy seeing different sights, but they also enjoy eating all kinds of delicious food."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
