Zhou Jiao looked at the bright red silk brocade jacket on the kang and nodded with satisfaction. She had no idea what the material was, but the red was incredibly bright. In the sunlight, the fabric shone faintly.
She'd put a lot of thought into the material, ensuring it didn't go to waste. Just the large and small characters for "Fu" (meaning "blessings") took her two days, not to mention the subtle patterns on the sleeves and hems. Even if the material was old, she had no intention of throwing it away. The whole outfit was beautiful, like a work of art. Her son deserved better.
Hearing the sound coming from outside, she excitedly ran to the door of the outer living room, waved to the group of people outside, and immediately went out to greet them happily.
Today, Zhou Jiao was wearing a red sweater and black pants. She had just run out of the inner room and hadn't had time to put on her coat. She looked tall and graceful as she stood there.
As she ran over, Zhao Chuangguang hurried forward to greet her.
"Why don't you stay in the house, kid? Come in quickly."
Zhou Jiao said with a smile: "Isn't it great to see you all? Why are all the uncles and aunts here? You are so busy with work, it would be great if I could visit you in the provincial capital."
After saying that, he laughed at the female comrades behind Lin Lishan and winked mischievously, "After my mother, it must be my eldest aunt and my second aunt, followed by my cousin's aunt and my second cousin's aunt. Godmother, do you think I'm awesome?"
Huang Huimin nodded and pulled her inside. "Great. Our Jiaojiao is really smart. Don't rush to greet them. The rest of them are familiar to everyone. Let's go in and see our little darling first."
Zhou Jiao turned around and smiled at everyone. After watching them follow in, she said to Zhao Chuangguang, "Godfather, please help me entertain the uncles. My dad said you're all brothers and told me not to be polite with you. I'll listen to my dad. Pour yourselves some tea. The tea is by the kettle. I'll take the aunts and my mom in to chat."
Feng Wei kicked Zhao Chuangguang unhappily, "Jiaojiao, since you call your uncle Guang your godfather, you should call us your godfathers too. We agreed at the beginning that you are our daughter. Call us godfather now." As soon as he finished speaking, the other two followed suit.
Zhao Chuangguang hurriedly pushed her in, "Go in quickly. We'll be robbed by some bandits if you wait any longer."
Zhou Jiao watched them making such a fuss and shouted with a smile, "Uncles, you must fight the evil forces to the end. Remember to tell me who wins later."
Feng Wei watched as all the women went into the inner room, and patted the two brothers beside him, "How about it? Follow Brother Zheng, right? You are worthy of being Brother Zheng's child. However, I think her personality is most like mine. Really, don't laugh. A Guang is no good as a godfather. I think Jiaojiao is most like me, she should be my daughter. Those of you who have daughters, don't fight over it."
Several people pulled him down and held him down, and there was even this twisted logic.
Zhang Guoqing came in and saw them all in a commotion. In the back room, they were probably talking about something happy and laughing. Seeing the table was empty, he hurried over to make some tea.
"Okay. Stop making trouble. Our in-laws will laugh at us later. Son-in-law, quickly bring our little grandson out." Feng Wei withdrew from the battlefield and hurriedly urged him.
Zhou Jiao saw him come in and pulled him to introduce everyone, "Brother, this is our eldest cousin's aunt, whom my uncle met last time. This is my aunt, isn't she as beautiful as my aunt? This is our eldest aunt, it was my aunt who helped us get our marriage certificate. And this is our youngest aunt, and my aunt, aren't they very young? These four aunts are the lovers of the four uncles outside. This is the aunt from Uncle Feng Wei's family, this is the aunt from Uncle Liyang's family, and this is the aunt from Uncle Dahe's family. The last one is the aunt from Uncle Laowu's family. You already know the rest, so I won't introduce them to you."
After Zhang Guoqing said goodbye to them and carried the child out, Huang Huimin touched her head curiously and asked, "Girl, how do you know who your four aunts belong to? Aren't you afraid of making a mistake?"
Zhou Jiao realized that they hadn't introduced themselves yet. She had noticed this, but she couldn't say it out loud.
"Godmother, my uncles and aunts have a very good relationship. I took a look and saw how much they love their wives. It made such a deep impression on me. I'll remember it. For example, if you and godfather go out together, people will definitely recognize you."
Zhou Jiao's words caused everyone in the room to burst into laughter, and they all winked at the four men. These days, few men express their feelings to their wives outwardly; they usually pretend to ignore them in public. What happens inside the house is another matter.
After eleven o'clock, Zhang's mother brought hot water and the barber to the small living room. After greeting everyone in the bedroom, she asked Zhou Jiao to take the child out for a haircut.
Zhou Jiao had heard her mention this yesterday. Holding her child, a group of people came out to watch the fun.
The barber asked her to gently hold the child's head and not let him move. He wet the top of his head with a hot towel and quickly finished the haircut, placing it in the red cloth prepared by Zhang's mother.
Zhang's mother asked Zhou Jiao to wrap it in red cloth and put it under the Ping'an pillow first.
After the barber finished packing his tools, Zhang Guoqing came in and pulled him into the main room, refusing to let him leave and asking him to have a drink. He had personally invited the barber back from the county town. Seeing him riding his confident bike over, how could he have the nerve to give him a red envelope without letting him eat? He hadn't come here for the red envelope, but for his cooking skills as a favor.
He prepared a small bamboo basket of gifts and a red envelope for the chef, photographer, and barber he invited today, to bring joy to everyone.
In the bedroom, Lin Lishan took out a set of red satin cotton-padded jacket and trousers. Seeing what Zhou Jiao was holding, she came over and saw that she had made them herself. She rolled her eyes at her. Finally, after comparing them, they were truly inferior to Zhou Jiao's.
After Zhang's mother gave Xiao Ping'an a bath and changed him thoroughly, Lin Lishan personally put on the gold locket, gold bracelet, and gold anklet for him, and took out the jade pendant given by Huang Huimin and placed it outside his clothes.
Little Ping'an was seen looking around with his eyes wide open, smiling at something. His clothes were all red, which set off his fair face. He looked even prettier than the dolls in New Year paintings, except that he was holding a big carp.
Everyone stared at him in amazement. He seemed incredibly clever, barely a month old, and his expression made it seem as if he understood. They all smiled and praised him profusely.
As soon as the photographer arrived at the Zhang family, he was invited to the main hall by Zhang Guofu, the eldest brother of the Zhang family. He declined the invitation and asked Zhang Dad to rest for a while while he was busy arranging to move chairs and stools to the yard.
Everything was ready. Zhou Jiao took off Ping'an's jewelry and stuffed the jade pendant into his underwear. After thinking about it, she decided to keep the gold locket. It was prepared by her father, a specially thin piece that would not have much impact.
Zhou Jiao took the baby with her and everyone else to the courtyard for a photo session. Besides the baby's full-moon photo and a family photo of the three of them, Zhang Guoqing also had a photographer take a group photo, a family photo, a photo of his parents, and more. Everyone took turns taking photos until they finally finished.
By the time we finished taking the photos, it was time for the banquet to begin. The cold dishes were already on the table, waiting for everyone to be seated and served the hot dishes.
As everyone took their seats and hot dishes were served, Zhou Jiao greeted them and returned to her room with the child. Zhang Meili had been guarding the room the entire time, even disappearing for a moment when the family photo was taken. Zhou Jiao then returned with the child, hoping she would take her seat at the banquet.
"Sister, give me the notebook and go eat a few bites."
Zhang Meili shook her head. "Let's take care of these favors first. Everyone will go home after the banquet. I followed Xiaowu's instructions and wrote down the favors and gifts in a notebook. The gifts haven't been touched. The red envelopes were immediately sealed after opening, and the names were written on them. The remaining ones are Uncle Zhou's five brothers. What are you going to do with them? Originally, Xiaowu said to keep your godfather's gifts first. But now five people have come at once, all with similar gifts and the same amount of money."
"Put them aside for now. I'll ask my mom later. My dad should have given me instructions." Zhou Jiao looked at the red envelopes with a headache. She hated these social interactions the most.
Zhang Meili thought about the return gifts she had prepared and couldn't help but ask her, "If everyone in the village uses small bamboo baskets for return gifts besides relatives, won't Xiaowu's gift be too generous? Some of them only bring a few eggs."
Zhou Jiao frowned and said bitterly, "Where's Mom? Go find Mom. I don't understand either. It's all Xiaowu's fault. Listen to Mom."
"Mom just said, let's see if 200 portions are enough. She said it's definitely not enough. Look, there are two people coming from your grandmother's and your aunt's house, you can't just give two portions? And our uncle's family, all the sons who separated from the family brought gifts, so we have to give one portion too. Mom said that the village should just give egg steamed buns. As for the two tables of elders, no matter whether anyone in their family returns the gift, each person should get a small bamboo basket. The rest will all be given to relatives."
Zhou Jiao nodded quickly, "Yes, listen to me. Listen to me. Let's do it."
Zhang Meili covered her mouth and laughed so hard she fell on the table. She knew Jiaojiao hated this the most. Seeing her nod happily and say "I'll do as I say" before she even finished, she couldn't help but laugh. How annoying must these social interactions be.
"Okay. That's it. Don't leave the room! There are too many things in there. If someone with bad manners comes in, they can just take anything and that's it. I'll be back soon. You stay here and don't go away." After Zhang Meili finished speaking, she looked inside with concern. Seeing her nod, she walked out.
Zhang Meili had been keeping watch all morning, afraid anything might get lost. Zhou Xiaozheng, the Cheng family, and the Lin family had sent gifts of gold and jade pendants. Now, a box was full. The villagers who had come to help had nearly dropped their eyes when they saw the gold locket on Ping'an's body. If they had known what was inside, they would have rushed over to grab it.
She still remembered the old days of fighting landlords. A whole bunch of people, all furious, rushed forward to grab things, and ended up trampling people to death. If it weren't for the soldiers who finally showed up, no one would have escaped. Now she finally understood why Zhou Jiao had been hiding. Today, even Cheng Hongli and the others hadn't entered the bedroom, and she didn't force them to leave.
She was terrified that the things she'd seen today might have been heard in her sleep. Her heart pounded at the thought of the previous third-day bath and the current ceremony. Zhang Meili was planning to privately warn Zhang Guoqing to avoid getting drunk and being tricked into revealing information.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
