These past few days, the Xu family has been the talk of the town and the village of Dashi.
Everyone says that the Xu family picked up a lucky star more than ten years ago, which is already a blessing from God. There is no way to find another lucky star, but if they can marry a lucky star, that would be a wonderful story.
The number of men wanting to marry Fu Man'er almost wore out the threshold of the Xu family, but Fu Man'er never agreed, saying that only a certain kind of man could win her favor.
Before long, news broke that Xu Yi was going to marry Fu Man'er.
Everyone was surprised; these two weren't siblings, so how could they be talking about marriage?
However, some people say that the two are not biological siblings, and the Xu family's surname is Xu, while Fu Man'er's surname is Fu. Apart from growing up in the same family, the two are no different from others.
That makes sense when you hear it that way.
The Xu family was a well-known philanthropist in the area. Although they were wealthy, they never bullied the weak and had done many good deeds, such as building bridges and paving roads.
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Most people who know about this event do so with a heart full of blessings. Since the lucky star doesn't have the chance to marry her, they might as well go and attend her wedding banquet to share in her good fortune.
This wedding of Xu Yi and Fu Man'er was the biggest celebration the Xu family had held in the past decade. Normally, the family doesn't spend much money, but for this wedding, everyone in the Xu family went all out to make it as extravagant as possible.
Xu Yi trusted his elders to do things, and he didn't interfere much, but as he watched, he felt it was a bit exaggerated.
"Mother, do we need this much red carpet?" Xu Yi looked at the red carpet that took up half of the backyard and fell into deep thought. Could it be that all the red cloth in town has been brought home?
"I still think it's not enough." Liu Fang looked at the mountain of red carpets and frowned, but then her brows relaxed.
"Go find your second uncle and ask him to have someone bring some back from outside."
As for why they had to get them from outside, just as Xu Yi had thought, the high-end red carpets in town had already sold out. In fact, Liu Fang had only had half of them bought. When she sent someone to buy them a second time, the shopkeeper said that the rest had already been bought.
At the time, Liu Fang wondered, "Who is so generous as to buy such an expensive red carpet?"
"No, Mother." Seeing Liu Fang about to leave in a hurry, Xu Yi quickly grabbed her. "Isn't this red carpet just meant to run from the intersection to the door of the new house? Do we need to buy another one?"
Xu Yi estimated that there were enough beds in the courtyard to make ten round trips.
Liu Fang glanced at him. "Who said it was paved from the intersection to the door of the new house?"
"?"
"It's paved from the village entrance to the door of the new house."
"Oh dear, I can't talk to you anymore. Your second uncle is going to the caravan later, and I have to hurry and tell him, or I'll miss it."
Ignoring Xu Yi's bewildered expression, Liu Fang hurriedly walked out.
"Start laying them from the village entrance?" Xu Yi glanced at the pile of red carpets and thought that it would be a bit difficult to start laying them from the village entrance.
He didn't even need to reach out and touch it; just by looking at the embroidered patterns on the red carpet, he knew it was of excellent quality, especially if it were laid from the village entrance.
It would probably only require a few hundred taels of silver, which is still a few dozen taels short of a thousand taels.
I wonder what Man'er would think if she knew how expensive the red carpet she would be walking on tomorrow would be.
Given her greedy nature, she might not even be able to walk properly by then.
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There's no need to wait until tomorrow; Fu Man'er will know today.
Because she overheard Lady Ru discussing with Qi Jun that they planned to pave the road the wedding procession would travel on the next day with a red carpet.
It's important to know that, apart from the route from Dashi Village to the house, after picking up the bride, the wedding procession will circle around the town before returning home.
That would mean paving all the main roads in the town, which is way too extravagant.
Fu Man'er refused without even thinking, which neither Madam Ru nor Qi Jun understood.
Qi Jun even brought out his own private savings, saying, "Don't worry, I won't use your money or the Xu family's money. I have plenty of money."
His box was full of silver notes and gold. Fu Man'er glanced at it unintentionally and was almost blinded by the sheer amount of gold.
“It’s not about the money.” Fu Man’er quickly looked away. “Tomorrow is an auspicious day, and many families are having weddings. What if we lay out the red carpet and it makes people uncomfortable?”
"Besides, the Xu family has kept a low profile all these years, so it's best if we don't be too ostentatious."
At that time, Fu Man'er was unaware that the Xu family had changed its usual ways.
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"What's wrong with you? I'm not stopping anyone from leaving the room." Qi Jun leaned back in his chair, his arrogant demeanor returning.
"The people who lay out the carpets will be a short distance ahead of you. As you walk, they will lay them out, and I will have people watching on both sides. Once you have passed, the others can proceed."
"If anyone has any objections, just send some money or treat them to a small gift at the wedding banquet, and that will be fine."
Upon hearing this, Fu Man'er exclaimed, "Oh dear, I wonder how much manpower, material resources, and financial resources this will consume."
“Your brother is right.” Madam Ru also agreed with Qi Jun’s statement. “Marriage is a lifelong matter and cannot be taken lightly.”
“A young lady should get married in style. Don’t worry about money. The Qi family is very wealthy, and my brother and I have a lot of private assets. We will never let the Xu family look down on you.”
Madam Ru understood very well that a young woman needs to have confidence in order to avoid being bullied.
She forgot that Fu Man'er was no ordinary girl; she was a child raised by Xu Jiajiao, so how could she let her suffer?
Fu Man'er was very grateful to Qi Jun and Madam Ru for thinking so thoughtfully of her, but there were some things she didn't need to spend. In the end, Fu Man'er insisted on doing so.
Madam Ru and Qi Jun finally relented and agreed that the red carpet would only extend from the house to the entrance of Dashi Village, which is the route the wedding procession would take to pick up the bride tomorrow.
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Even so, the journey was not short, as Madam Ru had mentioned to Qi Jun.
"Looks like we bought enough red carpet last time. I was even thinking of having someone find out who bought the other half so we could buy it back at a higher price."
Fortunately, Fu Man'er stopped them; otherwise, these two families would probably have spent a lot of money on this red carpet.
As they were talking, Qi Yi came in from outside. After bowing, he said to Qi Jun, "My lord, I just saw that the Xu family had someone bring over a cartload of 'double happiness' characters, saying they were going to put them up for every household along the way."
"Luckily, I was prepared." Qi Jun smiled smugly. "Just take it and carry it out."
He took out a handwritten letter from his sleeve.
In the capital, lanterns and decorations are everywhere during festivals. He wants to bring back that festive atmosphere to the city for his wedding tomorrow.
Qi Yi accepted the order and left in a hurry. Fu Man'er hadn't seen him for several days, and even when she did see him, he would leave in a rush like this.
At first, Fu Man'er was curious. Qi Yi was the leader of Qi Jun's personal guards, and in theory, he should be guarding Qi Jun every step of the way. But after hearing what Qi Jun said, Fu Man'er seemed to understand something.
"You sent Qi Yi to keep an eye on the Xu family?" Otherwise, how would they know so much about what the Xu family is doing?
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Faced with Fu Man'er's questioning, Qi Jun was not afraid at all. Instead, he spoke with reason and evidence, "We are not focusing on the Xu family, but rather on how the Xu family is doing. We cannot afford to fall behind."
"If I were to fall behind, where would I, a dignified young marquis, put my face?"
These past few days, Fu Man'er has gotten used to Qi Jun's way of speaking. On the surface, it's to save face for himself, but in reality, it's to support Fu Man'er.
It's just that his mouth is a bit annoying to talk to, so Fu Man'er said to him, "Such a handsome young man, it's a pity he has such a mouth."
“I’m not trying to compete with the Xu family. No matter what, we can’t be worse off than the Xu family.” Qi Jun added, afraid that Fu Man’er would blame him.
Fu Man'er didn't say anything. Sometimes, simply refusing isn't a good thing. It's just a marriage ceremony, so let them do whatever they want.
Seeing that she did not object, Madam Ru and Qi Jun understood that they could spend money freely.
"Oh, right, Man'er, there's something I need to tell you." Lady Ru suddenly remembered something.
"Um?"
"It's the day you get married tomorrow."
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According to local custom, when a girl gets married, her elder brothers or younger brothers carry her out of her room. Xu's other three brothers, and even Xu Zheng, are all vying for this task.
However, it has not yet been decided who will carry Fu Man'er on her way to her wedding.
Early this morning, Liu Fang came to see Madam Ru, meaning she wanted to hear Madam Ru's plans, because Fu Man'er's younger brother, Qi Jun, also came with her.
"What do you mean, Mother? How about Qi Jun carries you out on his back when you get married tomorrow?"
As she spoke, Madam Ru became cautious, and even Qi Jun, who had been leaning back in his chair, unconsciously sat up straight.
He reached out and tugged at the jade pendant at his waist, as if doing so would make him less nervous.
"It's not that I absolutely have to have Qi Jun, but I mainly want to discuss it with you. Do you think it's alright?" When facing Fu Man'er, Madam Ru softened considerably and lost her unwavering decisiveness.
"If you feel uncomfortable, then have your brother from the Xu family come." After all, Fu Man'er has not called her mother yet, and Madam Ru is still worried that Fu Man'er might feel uncomfortable.
Fu Man'er's gaze fell on Qi Jun. Boys grow faster, and although Qi Jun was younger than Fu Man'er, when the two stood together, he was already a head taller than her.
"What are you looking at? Don't think that just because I'm younger than you I can't carry you. Let me tell you, I could carry ten of you." Qi Jun's words were a bit exaggerated.
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Fu Man'er was slender, and Qi Jun had practiced martial arts since childhood, but it was only for self-defense. Carrying ten Fu Man'ers on his back would be a bit too much.
After Qi Jun finished speaking, he pretended not to care and turned his head to the side. He was actually quite afraid that Fu Man'er would refute what he had just said.
Finally, Qi Jun only heard Fu Man'er softly say, "You don't need to carry ten of me, carrying one is enough."
At that moment, Qi Jun, the little tyrant of Beijing, was overjoyed and couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.
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