Carp Talk (VIII)
After discussing with Xu Hui, Wanzhe sent the betrothal gifts.
The two sides had a very harmonious discussion and hit it off immediately. They consulted a fortune teller, chose an auspicious day, and set the wedding date.
In order to prepare for the wedding banquet, the Wan family is in urgent need of manpower.
So Wanzhe bought a lot of servants to help with the preparation of the wedding banquet and the customization of new clothes. Only then did Fang Che and Fang Jingyu relax a little.
Fang Che was appointed by Wanzhe as the general manager of this wedding banquet and he was busy running around.
Fang Jingyu was different. She was only responsible for helping the cooks and never had any trouble on weekdays.
She had been so worried and anxious these past few days that she had no time to cry. The lovesickness was so far away that she didn't expect a happy ending.
So she took some time off from her busy schedule and started wandering around the house.
When passing by the pond in the backyard, I happened to see Wan Mian feeding the fish.
"A Mian!" Fang Jingyu called him, then walked slowly to his side, "What are you doing here?"
Wan Mian withdrew his hand from scattering the fish food, smiled gently at Fang Jingyu, and handed the fish food to her: "Feed the fish, is it hard to tell?"
"What's wrong? Are you worried about something?" Fang Jingyu glanced at Wan Mian's eyes, picked up a handful of fish food from his hand and scattered it on the water.
"No." Wan Mian lowered his head guiltily, pretending nothing had happened. "I just wanted to feed the fish."
Fang Jingyu certainly didn't believe it and uttered a "tsk" sound: "Don't lie to me. We've known each other for years, and I know that you come here to feed the fish whenever you have something on your mind. If there's anything you can't tell others, just tell me!"
Indeed, Fang Jingyu wanted to know Wan Mian's thoughts more than anyone else.
But she has excellent acting skills and appears calm on the surface, just to hide the worries in her heart.
Suddenly, Wan Mian's eyes became heavy.
Fang Jingyu did indeed touch upon his concerns, but he still refused to speak up and simply replied lightly, "You don't understand."
Fang Jingyu was naturally very angry when she heard this. In a fit of rage, she threw all the remaining fish food in Wan Mian's hand into the pond, pouted, and turned around to leave. Wan Mian just stood there without saying a word, watching her leave with a smile.
As for this wedding banquet, Wanzhe was completely willing but unable to do anything about it.
He was busy processing orders from the forest farm and sending money to Wang Hu. He went out early and came back late every day to deal with these orders, but in the process he also became familiar with how to operate in order to conceal the truth.
Perhaps it was because of Wang Hu's secret help, or perhaps it was because the original boss had already established a good reputation, the orders for this forest farm were overwhelming.
Seeing the money pouring in, the Wan family gradually became rich.
The days passed one by one, and the wedding banquet was ready.
During this period, Xiao Lin and Mu You were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. While working in the shop, they were thinking about how to stop this marriage.
But before he could find a suitable solution, Xiao Lin accidentally heard a piece of news from a guest - tomorrow is the wedding of Xu Niao and Wan Mian, and the county magistrate is in charge of the wedding and plans to hold a grand ceremony.
Everyone was waiting to get some wedding candy for good luck, but Xiao Lin was the only one who was uneasy.
Ever since she was thrown out of the restaurant by the guards last time, if Chu Mo hadn't come forward and given her money, she and Mu You would never have been able to set foot in Zuihonglou again.
The two of them were extremely unhappy with the feast that day.
After learning their lesson, Xiao Lin and Mu You had no choice but to take things one step at a time.
The original purpose of the meeting in Zuihonglou was to discuss the marriage contract, and no fortune-telling was done. So, on the day when Wanzhe and Xu Hui asked for fortune-telling for their children, Xiao Lin and Mu You also sneaked in, intending to do something about it.
However, God was even more pessimistic about this marriage than the two of them. After a while, the tortoise shell in the brazier exploded from the middle.
It's an ominous sign.
But who would have thought that after leaving the hall, Xu Hui discovered the broken tortoise shell before Wanzhe.
I thought he would give up after seeing this fierce look, but he actually took out a replacement piece that he had prepared earlier from his sleeve pocket and switched the subject.
Then, he took the tortoise shell of excellent quality and walked up to Wanzhe, showing off to him word by word what a good marriage this was.
Wanzhe also believed it firmly and accepted the marriage without any doubt.
Xiao Lin and Mu You, who were hiding in the corner, were so angry. They had not expected that Xu Hui would be such a beast - for the sake of his own future, he ignored his daughter's lifelong happiness.
Sad and hateful.
There was no other way. Since Xu Hui was determined to make this marriage happen, no matter how bad Xiao Lin and Mu You tried to be, he could always interfere and turn black into white.
So they had no choice but to admit defeat.
"Why is it so difficult this time?" Mu You, who had spent a lot of time and still achieved nothing, couldn't help but complain. "Last time, Gao Qing and Gao Hui's identities were not so restricted, so the progress was smooth. This time, one is about to become the richest man in the city, and the other is directly a county magistrate! This... How can we, a group of commoners, catch their eyes..."
Xiao Lin was also a little discouraged: "It seems that I can only wait and see, until things turn around..."
But Mu You was unwilling to sit still and wait for death. His eyes rolled, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind. He grabbed Xiao Lin's fingertips, but then felt that it was not appropriate, so he immediately withdrew it and stuttered, suggesting: "How about, how about we just go and ruin their wedding banquet?"
"No!" Xiao Lin immediately rejected this bad idea. "If we are discovered, we will definitely be expelled from the city. At that time, let alone approaching Wan Mian, I'm afraid we won't even be able to see him."
"Then there are still some situations that have not been discovered!"
"It's even harder to say if we haven't been discovered. Look, the county magistrate has even replaced the tortoise shell, which means he's determined to make this marriage happen. Even if we mess up the wedding banquet, they'll still hold it. Maybe they'll even do something else. If they don't hold a wedding banquet and just get married, we'll still become in-laws."
Neither left nor right. Last time it was just luck, but is it going to end in failure this time?
Mu You scratched his head anxiously, and Xiao Lin was speechless for a moment.
It seems that this is not the time to change my fate.
Fortunately, it is not too late. The two families have just gotten married, and there should still be a chance later.
So, the days dragged on, and in the blink of an eye, it was the wedding day of Wan Mian and Xu Niao.
Fortunately, God has blessed us. The sudden rain that lasted a few days ago stopped for a long time today.
And today at dusk, it is time for Wan Mian to welcome his bride.
Inside the room, Fang Che and Fang Jingyu were carefully arranging Wan Mian's wedding attire, fearing that anything might go wrong.
As he sorted out his hair, Fang Che glanced at Wan Mian's face reflected in the bronze mirror and couldn't help laughing: "Our A Mian is going to be the groom. The Wan family will finally have a young lady!"
After hearing Fang Che's joke, Wan Mian finally cracked a smile on his stern face and retorted in unison, "If Ah Che has a crush on a girl, feel free to talk to me. I, Wan Mian, promise to help you marry that girl!"
"Oh! Ah Mian has promised me, so I have to act like a toad wanting to eat swan flesh. The girl I want to marry is Aunt Wang's daughter next door. Can you help me bring her home?"
"No problem! I'll ask Aunt Wang for your hand in marriage some other day!"
The three of them were all amused, and their laughter filled Wan Mian's bedroom. At this moment, for the three of them, nothing in the world was more beautiful than this.
When the time came, Wan Mian rode his horse and waited in front of Xu's house.
Xu Niao, wearing a phoenix crown and a red robe, was supported by her maid and walked out, stepping like a lotus, and slowly entered the sedan chair.
With shouts and music playing, the wedding procession marched through the streets of Wuhu County.
The young man riding in the front was full of vigor and vitality, and the beautiful lady sitting in the sedan chair smiled brightly. Passersby all stopped to praise them, saying that it was a perfect match made in heaven.
Holding the red silk and accompanied by congratulations, Wan Mian and his bride came to the hall.
After paying homage to heaven and earth, paying homage to parents, and drinking the wedding wine, the marriage was completed. Xu Niao was also brought into the room to wait for her husband to come and complete the last step of the wedding.
As the groom, Wan Mian offered a lot of wine at the banquet. Amid the guests' congratulations, he drank glass after glass of white wine.
He laughed freely, and it was not known whether he was drunk or genuinely happy.
The banquet was grand and lively, but it also kept Fang Che and Fang Jingyu very busy.
The brother and sister never sat down during the entire banquet, which made them sweat profusely.
After the banquet, the two of them were fully responsible for cleaning up the dishes, and this job would probably take them until late at night.
On the other side, the drunk Wan Mian held his forehead and kicked open the door, staggering into the new house, almost tripping over the threshold and falling.
A loud bang was heard at the door, and Xu Niao, who was sitting upright on the bed, was frightened and almost stood up to support her husband.
Fortunately, what followed was the sound of Wan Mian holding the door frame, so she sat back on the bed and waited for Wan Mian to salute.
Wan Mian was drunk and shook his head violently to sober himself up, but he still couldn't stand the blurry smell of alcohol in his eyes.
He moved left and right, swaying, and it took him a long time to walk up to Xu Niao. Then he picked up the wedding scale tremblingly and took off her red veil in one fell swoop.
At this time, Wan Mianfang saw Xu Niao's appearance.
In fact, after some careful dressing up, she looked quite lovely.
Her lips are red and tempting, her face is flushed, and her lowered eyes reveal a shyness that is truly touching.
Wan Mian, taking advantage of his drunkenness, also felt that the woman in front of him was very lively.
He rushed forward, clasped Xu Niao's jade fingers, pulled down the bed curtain, and then slowly pulled off her belt and wedding dress.
After the tenderness, the hot night soon made the couple tired and sweating, and the breath they exhaled was pale.
Wan Mian's cheek was now pressed against Xu Niao's collarbone, their sweat mixed together, and every inch of her skin on her chest could feel his heavy breath.
The cicadas outside the window were chirping loudly, but they couldn't block out Wan Mian's breathing.
Xu Niao's cheeks were flushed and her hair was messy. Seeing that Wan Mian didn't move, she couldn't help her curiosity, so she secretly lowered her eyes and glanced at Wan Mian's nose and eyelashes out of the corner of her eye.
She couldn't help but raise her hand, wanting to touch the roots of his hair, but just as her fingertips brushed against his hot breath, Wan Mian spoke.
So Xu Niao quickly withdrew his hand.
Wan Mian's tone was clearly breathless, yet unusually calm: "You...why did you choose me..."
When he said this, Xu Niao didn't understand what he meant and let out a faint sound of confusion.
Then, Wan Mian straightened his arms, propped himself up, looked straight at Xu Niao, and said word by word: "There are so many families in this city. You are a daughter of an official, why did you choose me, the son of a lowly merchant?"
Wan Mian's long black hair fell down, brushing against Xu Niao's arms. Trapped between his arms, she was momentarily flustered and answered casually, "Because... because... I don't know..."
"You don't know either?" Wan Mian imitated Xu Niao's shyness and chuckled, "Could it be that it's because my Wan family is rich?"
"Well... maybe..." Xu Niao's thoughts were disrupted by Wan Mian's sudden drunken words, and he subconsciously chose to agree.
But she couldn't tell whether this answer satisfied Wan Mian.
There was another chuckle from his mouth, the meaning of which was unclear, and then he fell on her again.
"Money...it's all about money..." Wan Mian murmured to himself, "That's right, besides money, I don't have any other strengths..."
Xu Niao glanced down, his tone slightly puzzled. "Having money is great, isn't it? Your family is rich, and my family is powerful. This is what most people dream of..."
Wan Mian didn't say anything else. Instead, he rolled off Xu Niao, lay down beside her pillow, with his back facing her, and closed his eyes and fell asleep: "I'm tired, go to sleep."
Xu Niao turned her head and looked at the back of his head, as if thinking about something.
Although the wedding night has passed, the sky has not yet brightened. It seems that it will rain for several days in the near future.
I don't know why, but it's going to rain so much in this small southwestern county. It's as if there's a big hole in the sky, and all the rain accumulated over the years is about to fall.
After sobering up, Wan Mian only felt a severe headache, as if someone was trying to tear his head open.
He supported his head and sat up, but found that Xu Niao, who was supposed to be lying next to him, was nowhere to be seen.
When he moved to the edge of the bed, he found that Xu Niao had already arranged his shoes and socks and hung his clothes neatly beside him.
For a moment, Wan Mian was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.
Although he had some impression of last night, his memory was extremely vague. Even though he knew that he was ungrateful to Xu Niao's kindness, he still put on all his clothes and walked out of the bedroom.
After washing up, Wan Mian felt hungry and went to the kitchen.
When he arrived at the kitchen door, he found that Fang Jingyu had already cooked porridge for them.
The fragrance of rice drifted generously into Wan Mian's nostrils on the breeze, causing his stomach to growl even louder and thus attracting Fang Jingyu's attention.
"A Mian, just be patient for a while, the porridge will be ready soon." Fang Jingyu comforted Wan Mian while stirring the porridge in the pot with a big spoon.
Seeing this, Wan Mian half-closed his eyes, pursed his lips slightly, and walked lazily to Fang Jingyu's side. He asked in a lazy voice, "Ah Jing, I drank too much last night and now I have a headache. Can you bring me a bowl of water?"
Fang Jingyu naturally had no time to take good care of Wan Mian. She immediately picked up the bowl of water that she was going to add to the porridge and handed it to Wan Mian, while she was still carefully stirring the rice porridge in the pot.
Wan Mian took the bowl childishly, muttered a few words, and then drank the water.
After wiping the water droplets from the corners of his mouth with his sleeve, he noticed that what Fang Jingyu had been painstakingly cooking early in the morning was his favorite shrimp porridge.
"A Mian, you're here just in time. Come and help me taste the saltiness." Fang Jingyu said, and then took a small spoon to scoop half a spoonful from the pot, blew on it, and brought it to Wan Mian's lips.
Wan Mian took the spoon and tasted it carefully, then replied, "Not bad, just the right amount of saltiness. Ah Jing, you really understand my taste."
"Even if this porridge tastes good, there's no need to smile so brightly."
Wan Mian himself didn't even notice that he always couldn't help laughing in front of the Fang brothers and sisters.
Perhaps because the three of them were playmates who grew up together, they already knew each other's thoughts.
But just as the two of them were laughing heartily, Xu Niao appeared at the door without them noticing.
Wan Mian saw it out of the corner of his eye and immediately stopped smiling.
Xu Niao also noticed the change in his expression, but just glanced at him and didn't say anything.
"Young Madam, you are here. The porridge is ready. If you are hungry, just scoop a bowl here to fill your stomach first!" Fang Jingyu is not like Wan Mian. She has always been warm and kind, and Xu Niao is no exception. As she spoke, she washed a pair of bowls and chopsticks and served porridge to her.
The wedding banquet was already held, but Fang Jingyu's heartbreak could not be healed in a day. No matter how relaxed she pretended to be, her eyes that could not look directly at Xu Niao quietly exposed everything.
But Xu Niao just thought she was shy and didn't think too much about it.
Seeing her approaching with a faint smile, Wan Mian took a step back and hurriedly said goodbye to Fang Jingyu: "Ah Jing, I'm going to go see how the new house my father is building is going. You can make some porridge and bring it over."
After saying that, Wan Mian left in a hurry.
"Hey, you..." Fang Jingyu was about to speak out to stop him, but she never expected that when she turned around, he had disappeared. "The young lady is still here, why are you running away..."
Xu Niao looked at Wan Mian's departing back with a lot of thoughts in his mind. He turned around and approached Fang Jingyu.
As she helped her serve the porridge, she opened her mouth and said, "Ah...Ah Jing?"
Fang Jingyu was stunned by Xu Niao's call, but before she could come back to her senses, Xu Niao continued, "Mian Lang called you like this, you two must have a special relationship, right?"
"Young Madam, please don't misunderstand me. My brother, A Mian, and I grew up together, so our relationship is naturally special. But we are just friends. Besides, we are just servants. No matter how good our relationship is, it can't compare to the love between you two as husband and wife. I..."
"I understand." Xu Niao gently put down the bowl of porridge and picked up another empty bowl. "It's just that since I met Mian Lang, he has never smiled at me as sincerely as he did just now. When I saw him smile, it seemed like he was putting it on purpose."
It seems that Xu Niao's loneliness is not due to her relationship with Wan Mian, but because of her anxiety about the relationship between them as husband and wife.
If that's the case, then it's easy to say: "Young Madam, don't worry. A Mian is also getting married for the first time, and he doesn't know how to love you. You can spend the rest of your life with A Mian in a leisurely manner, let him discover your goodness, and then he will never be able to leave you again!"
Fang Jingyu's words made Xu Niao smile.
Looking at Xu Niao's smile, Fang Jingyu suddenly remembered something and immediately turned to Xu Niao and said, "By the way, Madam, a few days ago, A Mian said he wanted to go shopping today. If you have time, why not accompany him to the market? Wouldn't that enhance the relationship between husband and wife?"
Xu Niao was stunned, not knowing how to make a decision.
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