With the auspicious date set, the wedding is just around the corner.
The next day, Mr. Lu secretly went into the city to buy gifts for the bride's family.
This gift was usually very meager, especially for families who didn't care much about their daughters. Father Lu withheld half the money and bought a pair of scallions to ward off evil spirits; two sprigs of mugwort (symbolizing love); twenty-two raw dumplings; and he also put various grains in the wine pot, symbolizing taking root and sprouting.
These odds and ends wouldn't cost much, but Lu's father wanted to buy some new bedding, a wedding dress, and wedding shoes—these were things a respectable bride should have.
However, when he reached the tavern entrance, he hesitated for a moment, then felt the heavy silver in his pocket and went inside.
Meanwhile, Ah Mian, who was confined to her home, was extremely bored.
Lately, she has been feeling the stares and whispers of people whenever she goes out, so she has become too lazy to go out and let others gossip about her.
On the other hand, she already knew that the betrothal gifts were for their family, so she smoked the meat and fish and tried her best to eat them all before leaving home.
However, Lu's father soon discovered the plan. Under the cover of night, he took all the remaining fish and meat away and hid them somewhere.
Time flew by, and the wedding day arrived in the blink of an eye.
The Meng family is having a wedding banquet today, with music and cheers filling the air, making it a very lively occasion.
The bride, A-Mian, was wearing her mother's old wedding dress and shoes. Under the red veil, her face looked tired, and she even yawned.
She was dragged out of bed before dawn.
Not only that, she didn't eat much either. The ceremony was complicated and tedious, and by the time she finished the ceremony and returned to her room, she was starving.
She didn't see her husband's face at all; the only time they bumped heads was when they bowed to each other. It seemed to be an iron head, as it hurt her forehead badly.
She waited and waited in the room, even though she wasn't supposed to lift the veil according to the rules. But she waited so long that her neck ached.
Originally, her family's return gift wasn't very presentable, but Lu Amian insisted on bringing Adou along, which made her seem quite generous. A donkey isn't cheap; even an old donkey like this would cost over ten taels of silver.
She put the red veil aside, but her mother's wedding dress was inexplicably a little too big for her. She didn't dare to move much outside, but seeing the red dates and peanuts on the table, she hurried over to fill her stomach.
Meng Chijian was entertaining relatives and friends outside. It was supposed to be a joyous day for him, but he didn't smile much and remained as quiet as usual. He did drink every toast offered, though his expression remained normal.
As night fell, his wedding attire could no longer conceal the chilling aura emanating from him, as if he were not getting married today, but rather being targeted for some kind of revenge.
So much so that later on, no one dared to bother him anymore, and they didn't even dare to let him drink too much alcohol.
These relatives and friends had mostly heard about the Meng family's situation. As a family of blacksmiths with a skill, they had never had a bad life.
In Meng Chijian's generation, he was the third child in the family, with two older brothers and a younger sister. The family lived a prosperous life. However, fate is unpredictable. Ten years ago, due to the turmoil of war, the blacksmith's family was the first to be "requisitioned" by the government. It was said that only two people should go, so Meng Chijian went with his eldest brother. A few years later, only he returned.
The Meng family was devastated upon hearing the news, and Meng Chijian was a completely different person—he was no longer the boy who traveled in place of his father, yearning for distant places and eager to try new things; he became indifferent and withdrawn, severing ties with almost all his relatives.
No one dared to ask him what had happened during those years.
As for marriage, he has been putting it off again and again, and now it has reached the point where Mencius' mother is willing to hang herself to force him to get married.
He was already twenty-four years old, an age that was practically unheard of for someone still unmarried in the countryside.
He was initially uninterested in the person recommended by the matchmaker, but for some reason, he became willing again recently.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
