067, Toast
067, Toast
Knowing that a wedding ceremony was taking place in the hall, Lu Mingfei and his father did not go in to watch.
In fact, according to their local customs, when a nephew gets married, the uncle should sit in the spectator seat to watch the ceremony. However, the Lu family did not invite them, and Lu Youtian himself did not want to join in the fun, so he did not go in.
Lu Mingfei didn't know about this custom, and even if he did, he would tell his father not to go. From his grandfather's attitude today, he saw clearly how the people in the Lu family's old house treated their family.
So at this moment, the father and son had the same idea in their minds, which was to quickly eat and go home, not wanting to stay here any longer.
Fortunately, not long after, I heard someone call for the meal to begin.
"Hurry up and sit down, it's time to eat." Upon hearing that the meal was ready, a woman caught her running child and sat down to prepare to eat.
Adults and children found their seats and sat down the moment they heard the meal was about to start.
There are not enough tables today, so there are many people sitting at each table, including adults, children, and elderly people who are squeezed into one table and sitting together.
The first dish served was a main course - braised pig's trotters with soybeans, with a big bowl for each table.
As soon as the pig's trotters were served, everyone started using their chopsticks to pick up the meat, and some even grabbed it with their hands.
Almost in the blink of an eye, except for the main table where no one dared to grab the food, the braised pork trotters with soybeans on the other tables were all snatched away, and even the little gravy in the bowls was snatched away.
Before Lu Mingfei even reached out his chopsticks, all the pig's trotters on the table were snatched away by the people sitting at the same table. "..."
Also not able to grab a bite of food was his biological father Lu Youtian.
When Lu Youtian saw his son standing there stupidly with chopsticks in his hands, not knowing how to grab food, he couldn't help but feel a little funny. He came over and whispered to his son, "We still have some sesame cakes on the donkey cart. I'll get you one when we go back." He didn't need to read any more to know that his son would not be able to grab any food at the dinner table.
Seeing someone grabbing the food directly with their hands, Lu Mingfei lost his appetite.
So as the dishes came up one after another, the father and son hardly touched their chopsticks while sitting there.
A neighbor at the same table saw the father and son sitting there without moving their chopsticks and asked them, "Aren't you going to eat?"
"We just came back after eating, so we're not hungry yet. You guys eat." Lu Youtian said.
The neighbors knew that Lu Youtian was doing business in the city and that his family was well-off, so they did not try to persuade the father and son and just grabbed the food for themselves.
At this time, everyone was still eating and no one had left their seats, so even if Lu Mingfei and his father didn't want to eat, it would be inappropriate for them to get up first. The father and son just sat there and watched everyone eat.
Sitting here without having to fight over the food, Lu Mingfei was in the mood to observe the people around him. He soon noticed that among the people serving the dishes were several of his cousins, as well as several aunts and sisters from the clan, who were also helping to serve the dishes. However, his eldest cousin seemed to be missing here. This made him feel a little strange.
On a day like this, why didn’t his cousin come out to help?
Just when he was wondering where his eldest cousin had gone, his eldest uncle, second uncle, the groom Lu Zhiyuan, his grandfather, and fourth uncle, followed by several cousins, came over to their table to toast everyone.
Seeing the host coming over to toast them, everyone at their table stood up one after another. Even if they didn't have any drinks in their hands, they all stood up to pretend to toast.
So everyone stood up. Lu Mingfei and his father felt embarrassed not to stand up, so both father and son stood up and stood among the crowd.
"Congratulations."
"Have a baby soon."
"The flowers blossom in pairs, and the two are tied together."
"A long and happy marriage."
"Everyone, eat and drink well."
“…”
When Lu Zhiyuan came to the table to toast the guests, he saw his third uncle standing in the middle of the crowd at a glance. His eyes fell on the young man next to his third uncle who looked a little familiar. He knew that this young man should be his cousin whom he had not seen for many years.
"Uncle, you guys are sitting here. I thought you guys hadn't come back yet, because I didn't see you watching the ceremony inside just now." Lu Zhiyuan looked at his uncle and cousin with a smile on his face.
In fact, when he was studying in the city, he had seen his third uncle and aunt selling things on the street, but he had never gone over to say hello to them.
Lu Zhiyuan had known the reason for the separation of the third branch several years ago, but he never felt it was their fault. Instead, he felt it was the fault of his uncle and cousin. If his uncle had died to save their family, they would have been able to build a large house made of blue bricks and tiles, and he would have been able to marry a wife sooner, and even a beautiful one at that. He wouldn't have to marry a fat woman because the woman's family gave him a large dowry, as is the case now.
Facing the provocation of his eldest nephew, Lu Youtian simply said, "There are too many people inside, so I won't squeeze in to join in the fun."
"My nephew is getting married today. I'm very happy that you, Third Uncle, can come back. In the future, if you are free, please come back home often. Grandpa and grandma are old and miss you all the time." Lu Zhiyuan's words were obviously an invitation to his Third Uncle and his family to come back, but in fact, he was accusing his Third Uncle in front of so many people in the village of not coming back to see his mother and brothers since he left.
Although he didn't like how decisive and ruthless the Third Wife's family had been over the years, Lu Zhiyuan thought about how to get money from the Third Wife's mouth when he thought about how his Third Uncle and Third Aunt must have made a lot of money in the city. As long as the Third Wife came home, this kind of thing could be handed over to his grandmother, and he wouldn't have to do it himself.
Lu Mingfei couldn't stand Lu Zhiyuan bullying his father, and couldn't help but want to say something back. But before he could open his mouth, his father held his hand.
"From today on, Dalang, you are an adult. You must study hard and get a good degree early in the imperial examinations. Don't let your grandparents down." Lu Youtian looked at his nephew with calm eyes.
The uncle and nephew looked at each other.
At this moment, Lu Zhiyuan had the illusion that his uncle had seen through his inner thoughts. Hearing his uncle's urging him to pass the imperial examinations quickly, he felt a pang of resentment. The year before last, he had taken the exam again and finished third from the bottom in the county exam, barely securing the status of a student. However, he failed both the prefectural and imperial examinations.
So after taking the exam for so many years and so many times, he is still just a student.
Today, his third uncle exposed his shortcomings in front of so many people. How could he not hate him?
"Yes, Third Uncle, you are right. Starting tomorrow, I will study hard and will not let everyone down. Let's continue eating." After leaving these words, Lu Zhiyuan walked to the next table with his wine glass.
Big Brother Lu and Second Brother Lu supported their old father and continued to walk to the next table.
Lu Wulang and Lu Liulang, who were following behind, saw their little cousin whom they hadn't seen for many years. They both wanted to say a few words to him, but their father and cousins had already gone to the next table, so they had no choice but to follow them.
After the person who toasted left, everyone who had stood up sat back down and continued eating.
However, what came later were boiled cabbages without oil or salt, so people were not scrambling for the food as fiercely as at the beginning.
Lu Mingfei noticed that, with the exception of a dish of braised pig's trotters with soybeans, all the other dishes served today were vegetarian. There was also a dish of tofu, which was considered a staple, but that tofu was also something they had brought.
Could it be that today was the day for the eldest grandson's wedding, and the Lu family only prepared a table full of vegetarian dishes, with no meat dishes? If he had known this earlier, he should have told his father not to send any pig's trotters and tofu, and he should have embarrassed Lu Zhiyuan and the Lu family!
"Dad, let's go too." Seeing someone get up and leave, Lu Mingfei also called his father to leave.
"Okay, let's go." Lu Youtian didn't want to stay here any longer, so he said goodbye to the people at the same table and left with his son.
When they left, the father and son didn't even say hello to the other members of the Lu family, they just left.
The father and son returned to the patriarch's house to get the donkey and saw the old lady at home who did not attend the wedding.
Lu Youtian asked, "Fifth Grandma, didn't you go over there to eat today?"
"I didn't go there. I stayed at home to look after the house. Your fifth grandfather and the others have gone. You are going back to the city, right?" asked Old Mrs. Dou.
"Well, yes, we are ready to go." Lu Youtian replied.
"Oh, wait a minute." Old Mrs. Dou asked the father and son to wait in the yard. She went into the kitchen and came out with a large basket and an empty earthenware jar. "I've poured out the contents. I've cleaned this jar for you. You can take it back and use it to store things."
"Here are some dried bamboo shoots and a few persimmons. I dried the bamboo shoots myself, and the persimmons have been stored for a few days. Some are ripe. You can take them back and eat them."
"Just return the jar to me, and keep these for your family." Lu Youtian took the jar and refused to take the food given by his elders.
"Here, take it. You brought a jar of meat, and I'll just give you some persimmons and some dried bamboo shoots. Take them back and eat them. Don't push them around." Old Mrs. Dou stuffed the big basket in her hand into Lu Youtian's hand to stop him from pushing it around.
"Okay, thank you, Fifth Grandma." There happened to be an empty basket on their donkey cart, so Lu Youtian picked out the things in the basket and returned the empty basket to the elder, "I'll give this basket back to you. You can keep it to carry your things."
"Okay." Old Mrs. Dou took the empty basket and said to Lu Youtian, the younger generation, "Next time you come back, don't bring so many things back."
"It's not much. We rarely come back, so it's only right that we bring you some food." Lu Youtian untied the rope that tied the donkey, pulled the donkey over and hitched it to the donkey cart. He then pulled the donkey's rope and said to the elders standing by to see them off, "Fifth Grandma, I'm taking Mingfei back. When you and Fifth Grandpa are free, come to the city to play. We have a place to stay at home. You can stay with us for a few days and then come back."
"Okay, be careful on the road and go back early." Old Mrs. Dou replied with a smile.
Lu Mingfei also said goodbye to the old lady and followed his father out the door. Then the father and son got on the donkey cart.
"Goodbye, Fifth Grandma, we're leaving." Lu Youtian turned around and waved to the elders standing at the door watching them leave, then grabbed the reins and whipped the donkey's butt, and drove the donkey away. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, muah! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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