Chapter 139 Want to get married? Pay the bride price first
While talking in the kitchen with her mother, her aunt and her sister-in-law, Wang Ziru heard some noise outside and hurried out to stop her brother from going to Chen's house.
Seeing her brother rushing to Chen's house, Wang Ziru quickly walked out of the stone house and called out to the angry Hun: "Zonghao, what are you doing going to Chen's house so late?"
Wang Zonghao doesn't listen much to other people, but he is very willing to listen to his elder sister.
He stood at the gate of the courtyard and vaguely heard the atmosphere in the main hall of the Chen family. It was very bad. Many village women and girls were persuading Chen Pingping to be more positive and stop crying, and other nonsense.
"Sister, listen, we're getting married tomorrow, why did she cry in front of everyone today?" Wang Zonghao was speechless, "It's as if marrying me, Wang Zonghao, has caused the Chen family so much injustice."
"Even if the Chen family holds a big party tonight, you can't go. Have you forgotten that the bride and groom cannot meet on the night before the wedding?"
Wang Zonghao turned around and looked towards the Chen family. The big red lantern was swaying in the night wind.
He heard Chen Pingping's crying getting louder and louder, which made him feel particularly irritated.
"If I don't want to go, then I won't go. But if the Chen family deliberately gives me a difficult problem tomorrow, I, Wang Zonghao, will not be a soft persimmon to be squeezed." Wang Zonghao is a very smart boy. The Chen family has only two daughters. In the future, the father-in-law and mother-in-law will count on these two sons-in-law to take care of them in their old age.
In this case, he would have to give a dowry to the "son" who was being supported by the old couple of the Chen family. What kind of dowry should he give?
This is the real reason why he was so stubborn and refused to give the bride price.
After being persuaded by his elder sister, Wang Zonghao returned to the stone house with a disappointed look on his face and continued to play cards with everyone.
Some relatives who were sitting in the fire room inside the stone house also talked to Wang Dongsheng about the bride price.
Wang Dongsheng looked bitter. "Zonghao's wedding, in addition to holding a banquet, we also have to sew clothes for the two little ones, make two new quilts for the bride, two satin quilt covers, and buy a lot of things like thermos bottles and fabrics. It costs a lot of money. Where can we get that money?"
Most of the people sitting around the stove and chatting were elders of the Wang family or brothers of the same generation as Wang Dongsheng.
Everyone who heard this was extremely impressed with Wang Dongsheng. To organize such a grand wedding in the countryside, it would take nearly half a year to prepare for it.
Just as everyone was talking about the bride price, a relative from Lin Xiuying's mother's side, with a worried look on his face, mentioned what happened in the neighboring village last year.
"No matter what, you two families still have to get married in peace. You can't be like last year when the Huang family in Qinglong Village married off their daughter. When it was time to get married, the father-in-law blocked the wedding and insisted that the son-in-law give another 200 yuan as a gift."
"To put it bluntly, our Wang family has almost emptied our savings to hold Zong Hao's wedding. The Chen family wouldn't be so heartless, right?" Although Wang Dongsheng spoke with confidence, he couldn't help but worry about whether there would be any conflicts between the two families when getting married tomorrow.
That night, Wang Ziru and her son slept in the same chamber they had lived in before getting married.
Baoer went to bed on time every night, resting his head on his mother's arm. Suddenly, the little guy asked, "Dad said that Uncle Zhang Kang will ride his bike to Aunt Zhu Yan's house to get married tomorrow. Mom, can I go and see him?"
"Do you want to see Dad help you get married, or do you want to see Uncle Zhang ride a bicycle?"
"I was thinking about that. Uncle Zhang Kang must have bought a lot of fruit candies..." the kid said, yawning.
Children like unusual things. In those days, bicycles were rarely seen in the countryside, so it was understandable that the little guy wanted to watch Zhang Kang push his bride to get married.
"But it may not be possible tomorrow. I asked you to go to Uncle Zhang's house with your dad this afternoon, but you refused to go. Mom will help my uncle get married at Chen's house tomorrow and help him bring the bride back to Wang's house. Tomorrow morning, you can play with Brother Zhuzi."
According to local customs, pregnant women are not allowed to participate in weddings. As an elder sister-in-law, Wang Ziru must go back to her parents' home to help with the wedding.
Originally, the Wang family had some complaints about Zhai Ximo's absence from his brother-in-law's wedding.
Wang Ziru explained that it was Zhang Kang who first asked a man to help with the wedding.
In the afternoon, Zhai Ximo, carrying his son on his back, followed his wife to Wang's house and stayed there for a while, then went to Zhang Kang's house in the next village to attend a wedding banquet.
I heard from the man that Zhang Kang invited many old classmates to his wedding, and also invited all the old comrades who came back to visit their relatives to Zhang's house for a wedding banquet, with the main purpose of making it a lively and noisy party.
The next day, very early in the morning, it was just dawn.
Wang Zonghao got up early and knocked on his sister's door, "Baoer, hurry up and get up and wash your face."
"oh…"
When the little boy was taken out of the warm quilt by his mother, his eyes were so sleepy that he couldn't open them at all.
After washing his face, he became a little more sober.
"Wow! Uncle, you look so handsome today. I will also wear a suit when I get married in the future." Zhuzi took a look at the blue polyester suit worn by his uncle and couldn't help but envy him.
Wang Zonghao was very satisfied with the suit. He had a small pocket on the left chest and a small red flower pinned on it, which was also bought from a tailor shop.
A small farmer like him could also wear a suit hand-sewn by a rich boy like Han Dixing from Ma's tailor shop. He looked so impressive.
Wang Zonghao looked down at the shiny leather shoes on his feet for a while, and said to his nephew: "When you get married in the future, you will definitely look better than your uncle. However, the key is still my good figure, right?"
"My dad looks better in his military uniform." Baoer said this after washing her face and before buttoning up her cotton padded jacket.
"Your father is an old man! How can he compare to your uncle who is so handsome and elegant?"
Wang Zonghao was in a very sunny mood. He woke up early in the morning and ran to the back of the Chen family's house. He looked outside Chen Pingping's room for a few seconds. "Pingping, are you up?"
"Who asked you to come over?!" Chen Pingping had just woken up. She climbed out of bed and saw a man in a neat suit standing outside the window. She was feeling aggrieved but couldn't find anyone to vent her anger on.
"Wait a minute. I'll let the bride and groom come over after breakfast."
Wang Zonghao said with a grin, leaning against the window.
Seeing that Chen Pingping's eyes were indeed a little red and swollen, Wang Zonghao pretended not to notice and said in a good mood: "However, our two families live close to each other, and the wedding procession will go around the village later. Pingping, you should dress warmly."
"Hmph, if I get sick, you'll have to serve me for the rest of your life." Chen Pingping pouted and turned away from Wang Zonghao.
Wang Zonghao stood outside the window and played for a while, then went back to Wang's house, ready to go out and pick up the bride after everyone finished dinner.
Turning back to the Wang family, Wang Zonghao saw his sister-in-law and mother. Several aunts surrounded his sister, "Sister, this dress of yours was given by the Yang family? It's very fashionable, and it's a western style."
Compared to the bright red satin blouse Pingping is wearing today, it's much more fashionable.
Then I heard a few ladies pointing at the pair of brand new black mid-heeled leather shoes on Wang Ziru's feet, "You bought these shoes in the county, too, right?"
"We've never seen such beautiful leather shoes in the supply and marketing cooperative in our town."
"My sister-in-law is pretty and has a good figure. She looks good in anything she wears." Li Hui, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Wang family, couldn't take her eyes off her sister-in-law. She was dressed in new clothes and looked even prettier than the day she got married. She looked like a female cadre from a county government agency. It was an honor for her to marry into the Chen family.
Wang Ziru smiled faintly, "Yes, this whole set was bought from the county town."
Only Wang Zonghao had a complicated look. He knew that the leather shoes on his sister's feet were bought by Han Dixing.
My elder sister hasn't had any contact with the Han family for five years, but the man from the Han family is still giving money to her. It seems that her sister is not an ordinary person.
It was not yet eight o'clock, and the Wang family's wedding party had breakfast first.
After breakfast, a group of young men from the village, including some strong men, carried logs as thick as bowls and brought ropes, and set out to Chen's house to pick up the bride.
In the yard, a string of firecrackers suddenly rang out.
The Chen family was having a feast at this time, and the woman usually prepared two meals to thank the villagers.
Dinner the night before, and this meal the next morning.
Hearing the Wang family's firecrackers, many of the village women who were helping the Chen family ran out to watch.
According to etiquette, the wedding procession has to have another feast when they arrive at the bride's home.
Wang Ziru and another cousin walked in front and went straight to the Chen family.
When they arrived at Chen's house, the chief steward also set off a string of firecrackers first.
Then the wedding procession went to the seats reserved for them to eat.
The Chen family's banquet was also quite good. There was a bowl of braised pork with preserved vegetables, a plate of shredded cabbage and lean pork, and the rest was various seafood and fish, and a bowl of potato chips.
"Zong Hao's sister, come here." Wang Ziru was sitting at her seat and eating when suddenly a relative of the Chen family came up behind her and whispered in her ear.
Wang Ziru looked puzzled, thinking to herself: It may not be so easy for the Wang family to come and pick up the bride today.
She turned her head to look at her cousin and asked in a low voice: "Sister, are they calling me in now to say something?"
Wang's cousin held the bowl in her hand and said with a wry smile, "I don't know either. Go in and see what's going on."
After finishing the meal in no time, Wang Ziru took her cousin to the accounting office set up by the Chen family in the inner room. The accountant was also a clan member of the Chen family. According to seniority, he was Chen Pingping's great uncle. The two sisters thought that the Chen family was asking them to get married to ask for a favor.
Naturally, she had prepared this money in advance.
Wang Ziru and her cousin understood what he meant and immediately took out their share money from their pockets.
At this time, Chen Pingping's parents, eldest uncle, second uncle, third uncle, in short, all the aunts and uncles immediately filled up the account.
Chen Pingping's uncle also knew Wang Ziru and her cousin, so he said, "My dear niece, this time we are really going to make it difficult for your parents. We have discussed it and we all agree that your brother Zonghao should take the betrothal gift when he marries our Pingping."
Wang Ziru and her cousin were stunned when they saw the action of taking out money. It turned out that they were not hinting that the sisters should come in to ask for favors, but...
Deliberately asking the groom for a gift on the wedding day?
Before Wang Ziru could speak, she heard her cousin laughing beside her: "Auntie, uncle, haven't we already discussed the betrothal gift? Why are you bringing it up again today?"
"Wang Zonghao married a virgin girl. Go and see if there is anyone in the eight villages around here who didn't give a dowry?"
"Yes, we gave more than 200 yuan as a betrothal gift. We also gave things like sewing machines, radios, watches and bicycles. Nowadays, many families have these things when they get married, but your Wang family has none of them!"
Chen Pingping's uncles were talking so hard that spit was flying everywhere.
It would have been fine if they didn't mention the bride price, she was even planning to ask for a five-dollar favor.
Wang Ziru stuffed the money into her pocket and said calmly, "I can't make the decision on this matter. I have to go back and discuss it with my parents."
"Hey, don't go back. Just call your father out from the gate of your yard." said Chen Pingping's uncle.
In the accounting office, Chen Pingping's uncles looked up and down at Wang Ziru's new clothes, which were more decent and beautiful than those worn by the bride.
Chen Pingping's uncle couldn't help but grumble, "My niece, you can dress so well. If you come to help your brother get married, if you help your parents a little, how can you afford the 200 yuan betrothal gift?"
"So, what you mean is that if my brother doesn't give me the gift today, I won't be able to take it away?"
Suddenly, there was silence in the accounting office, and no one stood up to answer her, but the answer was obvious.
"Okay, I'll go back and ask my dad to come out, and you two can discuss this matter face to face." Wang Ziru walked out of the accounting office quickly and went directly to the gate of the Wang family's yard. She shouted to her brother who was joking with his aunts in the yard, "Zonghao, go ask Dad to come out."