Zhang Ziwen and Mao Minghui's wedding was indeed very simple as he had said in advance, but it also exuded the festive atmosphere of the new couple and new atmosphere.
In the staff cafeteria, a mashup of the county post office and the supply and marketing cooperative, tables were laid out for a simple wedding banquet. The dishes were even more ordinary than those hosted by the Zhang family on New Year's Eve and the third day of the first lunar month when their aunt came to visit.
——In the words of Zhang Ziwen’s aunt who always curls her lips, it’s really shabby.
Is it really shabby?
Not really.
You have to know that nowadays, a family of more than ten people can give a so-called gift of three dollars, and not only can you taste the meat, but you can also eat white flour buns, and you can also take away the rest of the food. That is really impossible.
It wasn't that Zhang Meili hadn't made arrangements beforehand, but she simply didn't dare act rashly. Being poor was glorious these days, while the rich were confined to the cowshed.
Especially Zhang Chunming and Zhang Meili, they were not the kind of people who would be stingy with outsiders. Even if they were frugal in normal times, they would not let down the guests who came to congratulate them.
Therefore, for the wedding of their eldest son, the couple spent a lot of effort and energy before the New Year. They specially returned to the village to prepare half a pig and a lot of frozen fish.
Putting aside the meat that was brought to the bride when she was picked up this morning, and the four pieces of meat that she gave to her parents and her three brothers when she returned to her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings in the first month of the lunar year, even on New Year's Eve, their family would rather make a meal of dumplings with more cabbage and less meat as a token of their appreciation, for fear of disappointing the guests.
But no matter how much meat was left, it wouldn't be enough to feed the twenty or so tables of banquets. Old colleagues, who we hadn't originally planned to invite, showed up, and even neighbors showed up. Could we just turn them away?
Finally, it was the kitchen chef at the company who understood Zhang Meili's dilemma and used his excellent knife skills to cut the pork as thin as A4 paper to make braised pork.
Speaking of this, I really have to admire the chef's excellent knife skills. Hehe... if someone eats one more slice, the others won't be able to eat meat, right?
The wedding banquet that the sisters-in-law had been looking forward to for a long time did not even have eight large plates. They even said that they were from the city, so wouldn't it look shabby?
But since it was a banquet, of course there had to be wine. As for the wine, did he want Maotai or Northeastern Kaoliang Shao? That was out of the question. Even if Zhang Ziwen's family could afford it, they wouldn't want to attract too much attention.
Table after table filled with jars of homemade sweet potato wine and orange-flavored soda. Honestly, Zhang Meili and her husband really put a lot of thought into this.
Fortunately, the result was satisfactory and all the efforts were not in vain. The atmosphere at the eldest son's wedding was quite lively.
Especially when the colleagues of the newlyweds Zhang Ziwen and Mao Minghui presented their gifts, the guests, led by the leader of the newlyweds, applauded and congratulated them enthusiastically.
Usually most colleagues, friends, neighbors and neighbours give a small contribution, some give 30 cents, some give 50 cents, and then according to how much money they contribute, they buy some daily necessities for the newlyweds: such as aluminum pots, thermoses, washbasins, mirrors, a pair of pillowcases and so on.
But this group of energetic young people dared to break the conventions and used a unique trick. What a brilliant idea!
Besides the plaster statue of the Chairman, they also gave away a number of New Year pictures of him, each costing a few cents. There were pictures of him waving, sitting, full-length, and half-length. There seemed to be a lot of them.
These gifts were given at just the right time, adding a touch of solemnity to the special vows of the newlyweds in this red-colored era.
After the wedding banquet, it is usually time to "make trouble in the bridal chamber" at night.
The bridal chamber pranks at that time were very simple and plain, especially in the county town, where there would not be too many tricks or even malicious acts that would cause loss of life.
In those days, even in the recently liberated bachelor villages like Xialin Village, or those isolated small villages where people practiced communal marriages, as long as there were clan leaders and elders, they would not allow these immoral things to affect their reputation.
As for the private affairs of adultery and hooking up... that's just what happens in private. Not to mention that they would be buried in the pond before, even now, if there is any sign of it, they will be beaten to pieces.
The banquet was over. The days were short in winter and the earth was plunged into darkness early.
The festive moment of renovating the new house under the lights is approaching.
The brand new bride and groom were given candies by the guests who came to congratulate them. They were then asked to sing a red song and then teased Zhang Ziwen and Mao Minghui to talk about their love story.
As soon as they talked about something funny, the whole room burst into laughter. Finally, someone suggested some small questions, and everyone played some small games together. Then everyone dispersed one by one, feeling unsatisfied and reluctant to leave.
The bride and groom should spend a good night together, right?
Unfortunately, even if Zhang Ziwen wanted to see the beautiful lady, he had to restrain his lustful thoughts tonight, probably because the three Ping An brothers would be returning to Beijing early tomorrow morning.
Inside the bridal chamber, Mao Minghui first took out the gift she was going to give at the tea ceremony tomorrow morning from the wooden box that came with her dowry. Then, shyly, she glanced at Zhang Ziwen, who had truly become her lover. Her face flushed, and she whispered, "Is it really okay? I heard that my cousin Xiaoya gave each of my brothers and sisters one dollar."
Zhang Ziwen looked at her cheerfully and said with a smile, "The ten dollars you gave the three Ping'an brothers wouldn't be worth the insoles you made yourself. They value the thought more. This is what my uncle and aunt have done for me."
Mao Minghui looked at him hesitantly and said, "So I really will give my uncle and his family a pair of cloth shoes I made myself?"
Zhang Ziwen looked at her with amusement, "Are you going to keep talking to me like this for the rest of my life? I remember someone yelling at me not long ago that women hold up half the sky and that husbands and wives should be equal."
Mao Minghui laughed and said, "Just saying this makes you remember it so well. If I make all the decisions on my own without consulting you, do you believe my mother will punish me? I've figured it out. You're her biological son, and I'm a found child."
"It's okay. My mom likes to do things the other way around just like me. She likes you too. Now you have something to talk about. You can stick together all day long and don't have to talk about me anymore. I'm going to start pushing you before you finish what you're saying."
Mao Minghui smiled when she heard this. How could she not like her mother-in-law, who was cheerful and open-minded, and who said what she meant, and never said one thing to her face and another behind her back?
Especially the whole bunch of aunts-in-law, second aunts-in-law, etc., who either made sarcastic remarks about me in a veiled way, or took advantage of their seniority to give me "instructions", and every time I was rebuked by my mother-in-law.
Hehe... She likes such a mother-in-law, instead of being like her mother, who lives under the siege of sisters-in-law all her life and then sulks afterwards.
As the only daughter and the youngest in the family, although she was spoiled by her parents like her sister-in-law Yaya, her most powerless point was that no matter whether the elders from the next room acted right or wrong, she had to be forced to apologize by her parents on the grounds of family education.
She would say that some people, some people, will become even more demanding if you tolerate them for a moment, so it would be better to just break up with them and never have anything to do with them again.
"What are you thinking about? Let's go quickly and come back quickly. It's too late, uh..." Zhang Ziwen was halfway through his words when the cucumber egg subconsciously blushed and ordered with evasive eyes, "Put on more cotton-padded jackets. It's cold outside."
The newlyweds put on their coats and walked out of their new home in the east wing, only to find that everyone in the family had left, leaving only space for them.
Seeing this, Mao Minghui's face turned even redder. She lowered her head and walked to the door first to wait for him to come out.
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